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La Pucelle: Tactics is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Nippon Ichi Software. It was released in Japan in January 2002, and in North America by Mastiff in May 2004. Much like Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (also developed by Nippon Ichi), La Pucelle is a turn-based strategy RPG with an isometric battle view.
Gameplay Combat takes place on an isometric map of varying size and shape. Each battle starts with a set number and arrangement of enemies, a Base Panel, and a number of random Dark Portals scattered around the map. The player starts combat by clicking on the Base Panel, and drawing out their party members one at a time. Combat proceeds like many Tactical RPGs, but with a few notable changes. Whenever a spell or special attack is used, it resolves immediately; normal attacks are set, but don't take place until the end of the turn. Each combat takes place on a separate screen, and not only involves the attacker and their target, but also any friendly units immediately adjacent. All attackers and targets get one chance to attack. While the attacker always strikes the unit they attacked to initiate the combat, all other participants in the combat will attack random targets. All party members get experience from the combat if the team inflicts any casualties, even if they didn't strike any fatal blows. Dark Portals and Dark Energy "Dark Portals" are gates to the "Dark World." They commonly release a stream of "dark energy" which spills over the ground in one direction until they meet a character (or enemy) or an obstacle. Obstacles stop the energy, while the stream will be redirected in the direction a character on the stream is facing. A character facing in the opposite direction of a stream of dark energy will stop it just like an obstacle. If left uncovered for a number of rounds, a dark portal will release a new enemy onto the map. Dark portals usually come in only three colors: Due to their initial positioning or redirecting, their streams can be made to intersect, which merges them into new colors and effects: When two steams intersect, the one whose intersection point is closest to its portal will redirect the other stream in its direction. Items called Change-ups can also be used to force a stream of energy to go in a certain direction. Purification Purification is the ability of members of La Pucelle to use the holy power of the Goddess Poitreene. In battle, purification is used both to closing Dark Portals and to convert monsters. When a Dark Portal is purified, the character's Purification Power is subtracted from the portal's hit points. If the Purification Power is greater, the portal is closed, which sets off a chain reaction along the stream of dark energy in that element which damages enemies standing on it (ie: red inflicts fire damage). Aqua energy heals your characters or purifies monsters if they're standing on the line. At the end of the reaction, the energy released becomes experience points for the items carried by the character who purified the portal. If a stream of dark energy more than fifteen panels long can be made to intersect itself, it activates a Miracle, a massive summon-like attack that affects not only the entire line, but also anything within the loop made by the energy. This also immeditatly purifies any Dark Portals within the loop, which, with clever use and positioning of characters, enemies, and Change-ups, can cause a cascade effect with multiple Miracles. Monsters, when converted, join your party after they've been defeated. Each purification increases the chance of a monster converting. If the message "Will convert, no matter what" appears, a monster is guaranteed to join you. Monster training A monster that has joined your party can be trained. Training consists of a number of actions that you choose from a list that is randomly generated after each battle. Each action either increases the monster's Happiness or increases their statistical growth rate while decreasing their Happiness. A monster whose Happiness is decreased to 1 or below will run away, while a monster at Happiness 10 (the maximum) can use purification. A trained monster can be used in battle, or can be sent to the Dark World, where they are used in the many wars between the Demons that live there. The monster's Happiness and Training help determine its fate in the Dark World, which can lead to it sending strong items back to you. In exchange for introducing a monster, the Dark World representatives will combine the weapons carried by the monster for you, which merges their stats, effects, and bonuses into one item. The Dark World Each level has a "Dark Energy Index," a measure of how much dark energy is in the area. Acts during battle such as leaving Dark Portals unpurified, attacking your allies, and opening presents will increase the Dark Energy of an area, while completely purifying the map will decrease it. When the Index reaches 100 or greater, a full-sized portal will open randomly on the map. Unlike the portals that can be purified, this portal goes both ways, and can be used to enter the Dark World itself. The Dark World is a series of randomly-generated levels full of enemies and Dark Portals. Gameplay is as normal, except that Purification cannot be used to recruit monsters. Instead, a fully-purified monster, when defeated, will give up an item it was carrying rather than join you. The exception to this rule are the Haniwas, strange-looking demons that will join you if fully purified. A level in the Dark World can be completed by defeating all enemies, or by moving a character onto the level's exit gate. Battles in the Dark World occur immediately one after the other, until every 10 levels, where you have the option to return to the real world. Depending on your performance in the Dark World, you may be given a bonus item upon completing the area. The strength of the enemies in the Dark World varies. The higher the Dark Energy Index of the area the portal appears in, the stronger the enemies in the Dark World will be. Enemy levels increase as you go further into the Dark World as well. Story La Pucelle takes place in a kingdom named Paprica. The story centers on a small church called the Church of the Holy Maiden, in the city of Pot a Feu. In addition to the normal roles and duties of a Church, they also have a group of trained Demon Hunters called La Pucelle. Two of La Pucelle's newest members are Prier, a sixteen-year-old girl, and her twelve-year-old brother Culotte. It is said that the Dark Prince, favored servant of the fallen angel Calamity, will rise to scourge the land. But legend tells that when the Prince arises, a warrior known as the Maiden of Light will challenge him and restore the balance of Light and Dark. Prier hopes to be the Maiden of Light. The game's story is broken up into chapters. Each chapter has a number of endings, depending on the information La Pucelle discovers before reaching the chapter's end. Characters
Censorship When La Pucelle was released in North America, almost every instance of a cross was removed from the game. This included the many crosses adorning the clothing of Prier and Alouette, altering the shape of Croix's gun (though strangely not changing his name), and altering spell animations with the exception of holy panels. The "Dark World" was originally "Hell" (or what Disgaea's translation refers to as "The Netherworld.") Croix's prominent cigarette was also removed from both his character portraits and his sprites. This includes a very strange pose of Croix taking a drag from a cigarette with a cigarette missing. Mastiff offered an explanation for these changes in an interview with 1up.com just before the game's release. According to Bill Schwarz of Mastiff: "There are well organized forces that work hard to punish software makers and sellers for what they consider religious transgressions. As a very small and brand new publisher without deep pockets we need to pick and choose our battles. Had we thought the crosses were meaningful we would have fought. But they weren't. And we'd much rather have the game widely available then face disappointed gamers who cannot find the title. It was the right decision, though as we grow as company we may make different calls in the future." Trivia it should be "poitrine") for example, would literally be "Goddess Breast". Prier is the verb "to pray" (while the translation in Disgaea, "Priere", would be prayer). A culotte is a kind of short pants or underwear. Alouette means "lark", Croix means "cross", Homard is "lobster", Papillon is "butterfly" and Eclair means "lightning" or "flash" (also, éclairé means "enlightened"). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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