La Pucelle: Tactics to US

[Survival Kid]

You know, I tried La Pucelle in the store tonight before I settled on buying it, and I fell instantly in love with it. This game kicks Disgaea square in the crotch. Much more fun, much less aggrivating. Leveling is a pleasure, as opposed to the chore it was in Disgaea, and the combo system is one-hundred billion times better than that random crap in Disgaea. I am well pleased.

Hmm... Maybe I should check it out then.

[Diff-chan]

Why the fuck do I have to babysit you all the time? Keep this shit out of Gaming Discussion! The next time you get banned, it'll be by me, and you're not coming back.

It was entrapment...

[Captain Vegetable]

Woah. It's 5:00am here in PA, and I didn't even realize it. I've been playing La Pucelle for the past four hours or so and lost tract of time.

Good night.

[Jeremy]

"Ow, my tract!" Anyhoo, the only games I trade in are review copies of games that I don't think I'll play any time soon, or are available on the Xbox.

[ChaoofNee]

You wouldn't notice any of these things unless you'd played the J version. Mastiff probably changed it to meet Sony's standards and/or to not piss off the American Christian Right in Mastiff's first big game.

Excellent. I just wanted to make sure they didn't change the plot or anything. I hate it when people assume that Americans are gonna go apeshit offended whenever they see a religious term.
The main game and plot are intact, so I won't be missing anything that the JPS2 players had. That's all I need.
Thankee.

[Dolemite]

Here's IGN's wrap-up...they loved it, in many ways even more than they loved Disgaea. I'm so all over this game.

We can definitely see fans of more character-driven RPGs enjoying La Pucelle more than they did Disgaea. With its better storyline, heavier emphasis on characterization, and stronger verbal and musical approach, it can be a lot more endearing than its more technical younger counterpart. But for diehard strategy fans that want to spend an entire season finding new ways to eliminate Tempetes and Dagons, La Pucelle's smaller feature set and easier difficulty may prove a little less tempting; especially if they find out that some of the game's content has been censored from the Japanese release.
Small issues aside, La Pucelle: Tactics is still very much a powerful gaming experience and serves as a terrific companion piece to Hour of Darkness. And it goes without saying that every role-playing PS2 owner out there needs to give this a try. Our only regret is that this game didn't come out earlier and before Disgaea; as it would have made experiencing both games a whole lot sweeter. Either way, it's still extremely good stuff.

-- Jeremy Dunham


Ratings:

8.0 Presentation
Disgaea's easy-to-use interface saw its genesis with La Pucelle. The character designs and storyline are also much better that of the follow-up and load times are almost non-existent.

6.5 Graphics
Personality goes a long way in making the technically outdated visuals of La Pucelle more appealing than logic says they should be. This could be one of the most colorful games on PS2.

8.5 Sound
La Pucelle's subtle soundtrack is both beautiful and dramatic and is a big improvement over Hour of Darkness. Additionally, the English and Japanese voice-overs both are top of the line.

9.0 Gameplay
It's a little bit easier than Disgaea and takes a few shortcuts with its battle system, the but strategy is still among the deepest around and it manages to do almost everything right.

8.5 Lasting Appeal
Despite not having as many special areas as Disgaea, there's still a great deal of longevity in Tactics. From its monster training mode, bonus stages, and multiple endings, it's pretty robust.

8.8 OVERALL

[Shin Johnpv]

doesnt whats his name from disgaea make a cameo in this or is that in phantom brave

and could some one tell me the order that they came out in japan is it the same here (ie disgaea, la pucelle, then phantom brave)

[Dolemite]

La Pucelle, Disgaea, then Phantom Brave.

[AaronChance]

doesnt whats his name from disgaea make a cameo in this or is that in phantom brave

and could some one tell me the order that they came out in japan is it the same here (ie disgaea, la pucelle, then phantom brave)

All the cool characters from Disgaea appear in Phantom Brave after the story of that game is over. Sadly, no characters from La Pucelle appear, though there is one from the Puppet Princess series, which predates the SRPG trio.

And yes, La Pucelle is better than Disgaea... unless you really like numbers. I mean to the point of arousal at seeing large stat numbers.

[Dolemite]

And yes, La Pucelle is better than Disgaea... unless you really like numbers. I mean to the point of arousal at seeing large stat numbers.

Not I. In fact, one of the things I hate the most about RPGs is the constant leveling up you have to do...I take it that La Pucelle isn't that bad in this regard?

All the cool characters from Disgaea appear in Phantom Brave after the story of that game is over. Sadly, no characters from La Pucelle appear, though there is one from the Puppet Princess series, which predates the SRPG trio.

Doesnt the main character from La Pucelle appear in Disgaea, along with Marjoly from Rhapsody?