wacky
Prier was right all along - you can grab whatever lesson you wish from that. Mastiff
did go out of their way to tone some of the religious overtones down, namely removing
crucifixes that were in churches and used as ornamentation (I think girls call
them 'earrings'). I don't really mind the symbols one way or the other, but I
understand they not wanting to get sued, and it really doesn't affect the game
in any way - unlike Croix's edited-out cigarette, which makes him look like he
has an affinity for jazz hands. It isn't all heavy-handed melodramatics, though;
just don't be surprised if you do a little eye-rolling in-between the hijinks.
As convoluted as the story is, it really isn't all that of a detriment.
The characters can get a little annoying with their soap opera antics, but they
also have some genuinely funny moments and, for the most part, are pretty likeable.
Some applaud should be given to Mastiff for going out of their way with the voice-over
work, which is one of the main reasons why the game retains much of its humor.
The voices are crisp, matching their on-screen personas very well. Much of the
game is spoken, with an option to either skip it in lieu of simply reading the
subtitles, or switch the language to Japanese if the high-pitched voices become
too much in the English version. There are plenty of run-of-the-mill gags but
a few truly funny parts needed perfect timing, and the voice actors nailed their
cues. Their tones match the whimsical music quite well, giving the game a very
light-hearted feel, along with the lush, if dated and somewhat pixilated, 2D/3D
graphics - which can also make some of the moments intended to be more dramatic
seem a little strange: *boink* zoing! (Insert: little swirls over the player's
head here) "I miss you, mom and dad".
As I mentioned earlier, the game
sports high production values. With crisp vocals and, from what I can tell, a
strong translation (no sloppy subtitles), La Pucelle was treated right
by Mastiff.
Of course, the graphics and sound are really just accentuating
the solid gameplay mechanics. For those who haven't played many strategy titles
before, La Pucelle: Tactics isn't the easiest to get into, but it certainly
pays off after a brief learning curve. Aside from position advantages--rear and
back attacks as well as attacks on higher elevation cause more damage--there are
also some traditional RPG combat stables like item enhancements, namely, elemental
attacks, which is when the player has an item that can cause additional damage
to an enemy susceptible to that particular element. There are also oodles of items
to grab off the battlefield or purchase in the town's shop, with each character
able to hold about five; these items gain enhancements during combat and can also
allow the welder to use spells, which means a simple unit can become devastating
when given plenty of armor and the ability to let lightening and fire fly. The
items can also be enchanted through dark magic, but at the cost of a unit. And
the unit won't be a main character.
What really differentiates La
Pucelle from other titles is its purification system. Since the main characters
are soldiers for the church, their purity can turn the hearts of bad guys into
those of heroes - and given enough time, even turned friends can gain the power
of purification. Since the battles are handled on an invisible grid within a turn-based
system, the player has to make the choice to either make a move or stand their
ground and purify an enemy. Enemies have different levels of resistance, and there
are also different levels of purification, but once an enemy is sure to convert,
the player has to defeat that enemy in combat to make them selectable in their
army. Based on an 8-player party system, the player calls forces from a portal
on the battlefield--with the ability to send them back in if they get too weak
or to keep them near the level's entry point to make a quick escape if needed--meaning
the game ends whenever all members are knocked out or the 8 members on the map
are. Luckily, the player simply has to return to the world map to replenish all
health, but that isn't as easy as it sounds during later parts of the game.
Each level within a map's area will have paths. Some paths lead to cutscenes that
don't seem to mean anything, others lead to more difficult areas, while some are
paths to that area's boss. Like Evolution: The Sacred Devices, I found
La Pucelle didn't really prepare me for the bosses; I would have to double
back and repeat the entire map sets again to have enough strength to take them
on. As luck would have it, the game is set up in that stronger-than-normal enemies
aren't set to be fought in every area, so the backtracking isn't a constant problem.
Not all areas have to be explored, either. The completest types can play through
the same map set over and over to gather more troops and all the items they can
find, or those wanting to play quickly can decide to not go back once they find
the right course. It's a linear system that seems to not be, which is pretty clever.
The pace of the game doesn't always favor the player, though. But me,
I always go for the harder enemies, lick my wounds when hurt, then go back. If
I can't kill moderately strong enemies for average experience, I go for the big
enemies for all the experience I can grab. My style was only beneficial in that
I would grab powerful allies for my army early on and coast for a few stages,
but that advantage only lasted so long. Because of such, the game really does
require the player to think on their toes and to also take advantage of another
aspect of the purification system. Enemies respawn at various intervals at respawn
points; from these points there is a line of energy that comes out. The player
can purify these points to close them and also send energy down the lines from
the spawn points; there are different kinds of energy, so they can be combined
for devastating attacks. The ticker here is that, not only do some points require
multiple purifications, but the energy they exude only goes in one direction,
and that is the direction of the character within its path. So, if I have a guy
looking to the right and he is in the path of the energy, the energy continues
to the right, if I turned him to face left, the energy with alter its direction
to go where he is looking. This makes an interesting puzzle element to the game,
leaving the player to set out their characters in weird formations for maximum
affect whenever a point is purified. There are also items that can change the
course of a stream if there is no one around, further adding to the possibilities.
If 15 or more squares are in the line of energy being purified, a miracle will
occur, where a god is shown and the player is given either health or assistance
in killing the monsters. All of this is a little confusing at first, but it ends
up playing an important part of the game--interestingly enough, it isn't absolutely
necessary to learn and take advantage of--allowing the player to deal serious
amounts of damage to multiple enemies with one attack. However, I did notice that
I could set a soldier in a line of energy and simply cancel that movement so that
not only could I have the line purified and enemies hurt but I could also re-use
that character to have them attack.
Each character in the army can become
an asset. If the player has a bat that is weak, then they can be used to gather
treasure or stay near an exit point in case things heat up. Along with the items,
soldiers in the player's army are also constantly being enhanced. Experience in
combat can allow for them to unleash devastating special moves. These special
moves are performed before the end of the movement round, but they also come with
a sacrifice: the character doesn't gain any experience from killing an enemy with
one. So these moves are often used to soften up enemies before the combat phase,
but even then they are used up and can't participate in group combat. Group combat
is a huge part of the game and occurs when the player has supporting troops alongside
the soldier attacking the enemy. The supporters don't attack for as much damage,
but the benefits are they bringing down a stronger enemy more quickly, they can
stack themselves (the supporter and main character can switch roles if both are
assigned to attack), and a weaker character can get in on huge experience boosts
whenever stronger comrades take down a weakened foe. For whatever reason, defending
enemies would get to attack first, without any spell or chance ability playing
a role, and sometimes killing my attacking soldier - this kind of negatives the
bonus of attacking first. I could never tell what caused this, but I did find
it annoying when it would happen. When attacking with multiple soldiers, the other
troops have a tendency to skip the more opportune targets. There are also problems
with objects obstructing the view, from them not becoming transparent whenever
units are nearby.
The spells that can be learned will also have chess-like
limitations. A spell that cases fire on multiple opponents might only be cast-able
on a single square or on two that are diagonal to each other. Although the player
can switch at what angle the squares are in, it becomes important to get familiar
with units to know how to use them efficiently - despite having dozens of troops
in an army, rarely do any of them become useless. Of course, after a while these
spells will not only gain strength, but also in the areas they can be cast. But
to gain strength in them, they have to be used. Using them not only makes them
more potent, but it also increases the casting points necessary. Much of the game
has this kind of sacrifice-for-reward system, and it tends to do a good job in
keeping the game balanced.
Some units will already know spells, while
others will be more melee-oriented. The units are a varied bunch, and this is
when the game's randomness comes in handy. Troops will be zombies, plants, bears,
mushrooms, ghosts, and things that can't really be described. The variety is cool,
and it kind of hooked me in a Pokémon sort of way - I wanted to
get one of each type.
When the player isn't fighting, they will either
be in the world map or in town. The world map is where the player recuperates,
saves, goes from point A to point B (quick travel is always a plus), and also
trains their troops. Troops can be trained to increase their effectiveness, but
taking the wrong approach to them will make them unhappy and can actually cause
them to desert. A mixture of kindness and sternness is needed to effectively train
them. This isn't really something that has to be fooled with, but it's a nice
little feature nonetheless.
In town, the player will meet town's folk,
shop, and can find out more information about different aspects of the game. Despite
looking 3D, the town is navigating on a 2D plane, kind of like the earlier Monkey
Island titles. The town is kind of a let down because the characters only have
one or two saying per chapter, and only rarely reference something they said to
the chapter before it. Because of this, the world the players are supposed to
be living in seems very robotic and stagnate, while the gameworld presented to
the player is very imaginative and lively.
Conversing with town folk
will also show that, quite often, the game is just strange. Jokes about a married
woman cleaning Croix's underwear will be followed by a sister wondering if her
husband, Prier's boss, is having an affair with another sister, right after the
player gets into town from battling a bear named 'LoL :)'. There are also the
cast of supporting characters that the player meets, like the cat pirates who
fly under the banner of the Savage Kitten and Crossbones. Some of this stuff is
funny, some is, dare I say, cute, and some is just weird. It almost goes hand-in-hand
with the uneven flow of the story. The cat pirates were always cool, though.
Overall:
8/10
La Pucelle: Tactics is a solid
strategy title with enough RPG elements to please fans of both genres. The quirky
humor is hit-or-miss--although I did, if I may quote my bear-friend from earlier,
"lol," in a few spots--with an off-balance story that has way too many monologues.
The combat, despite needing to backtrack every so often and some questionable
choices on the part of the computer-controlled allies in combat, is exceptional.
With imaginative characters, tons of upgradeable items, and cool, unique features,
it excels as a strategy title and provides gamers with a whole new way to spend
100+ hours.
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