La Pucelle Tactics is another strategic RPG from the talent of Nippon Ichi. It was originally released in Japan in 2002 to wide acclaim; now thanks to Mastiff it’s available in the West. Although arriving here in the wake of Disgaea, chronologically speaking, La Pucelle is a prequel.

The story revolves around Prier, Alouette and Culotte who are part of La Pucelle, a group of demon hunters whose quest it is to rid the world of evil through purification. No small job then. Compared to Disgaea it’s a lot darker with a more compelling storyline containing some fine plot twists, there’s less of the adult humour but it’s none the worse for it. It does take a little while to get into as the plot doesn’t start to open up until the third chapter, but perseverance is rewarded with a wealth of interesting characters.

Those expecting a deep, technical game will not be disappointed; here strategy is paramount. Disgaea was a (fantastic) power levelling stat fest; here there is need to better balance defence and attack. All battles take place on the familiar isometric map, your characters and enemies represented with animated sprites; those with a keen eye may even notice some which have appeared in Disgaea. Whilst some might ask where the pixel shaders and dynamic light is, SRPG fans will be happy enough.

Dark portals are introduced in the tutorial along with purification and both are important game concepts. On each map there are several dark portals releasing streams of dark energy into the world. Coloured either red, green or blue, they are randomly placed on the map each time you enter. These flows can be manipulated by placing your characters on them allowing you to aim them at your enemies. Combining them can lead to massive chains if done properly; it’s tricky to master but a very rewarding tactic. This will do a lot of damage to your enemies, but they can also spawn new monsters if left alone for too many rounds.

To destroy them and so start the chain reaction, you must use your characters to purify them; this leaves them unable to attack for that round, leading to the need to balance which character performs which role. Purifying portals also increases the level of your equipped items and so aids your character stats; this can be slow going unless you master the art of power chaining.

Purification has one further use: recruiting monsters into your party. It can take several rounds of repeatedly purifying the creature you wish to enlist, depending on your purification level and the level of the enemy, whilst they can spend the round attacking you. Once the creature has displayed signs of attraction, from “showing some interest” to “will definitely convert”, you need to kill it. Only then will you know if it will join your team.

Once a creature has been captured it’s possible to train it, making it stronger in attack and defence. Care is needed though; each creature has a level of happiness which will increase or decrease depending on what you make it do. Push the creature too hard and its happiness will drop too far, causing it to run away. Being nice to captured creatures has its advantages: maximise its happiness and it’ll be able to use the purification command, normally only available to your human characters.

When a battle commences you’ll be given a victory condition: defeat all the enemies, defeat a boss or get to the next map. The latter is an interesting aspect to the game and can be used to good effect. At any point, apart from in some boss battles, you can leave the map by stepping into an exit point. This means when everything goes pear shaped retreat is an option, taking any experience points won back with you to the world map as well as regenerating your character’s health and spell pool in the process.

A big emphasis is placed on team attacks. With a maximum of eight characters allowed on screen at once, it’s quite possible to use a few of them in up to three attacks per round. Placement on the map also has a bearing on the amount of damage an attack will do; higher ground gives and advantage, as does stabbing your enemy in the back. There is a minor quirk to the way a battle happens: it’s possible to organise your normal attacks and execute them all at once in the order you’ve specified. If however you want to use a special ability or purification, its action will take place immediately.

When an attack is committed, the screen switches from the isometric map view to a 2D side on perspective. Here the affects of your commands and the counters of your enemy. Should a foe be destroyed experience is gained from the encounter, increasing your stats and possibly giving you a new skill. Complete your turn and the AI takes over for its part of the round. You’re unlikely to end the game with characters much over level fifty, so the key to winning is team positioning and judicious use of dark portals.

As progress is made through the game’s chapters, and so through the story, you will sit through many a cut scene. These can sometimes take a long time, and there are points in the game that you may need to have to sit through them again should a battle be lost, leading to the game over screen. It’s somewhat annoying as there’s no way to skip it all leaving you tapping X until it’s over. In the game options there is the choice of listening to these cut scenes in the original Japanese or the newly worked Western translation. These work well alongside the magnificent score, which conveys joy, sadness, mystery and excitement; in fact any of the emotions you’re likely to experience through the story.

On first inspection it would seem like a poor man’s Disgaea. Indeed the game isn’t quite as polished, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this is light weight game. La Pucelle has a lot of depth but it’s something not fully appreciated until several hours have been expended. This is when discoveries are made on how to create better weapons or open up the dark world.

It’s a tough game as making progress can be slow going and tactical battles can take a very long time to win. There are a couple of points in the game where if certain characters aren’t levelled up, it will be a struggle. There are two boss battles where only one or two characters participate; if these are weak death can happen in only a few rounds. This leads to you going back to a map over and over until enough experience is gained. You can speed this up somewhat by killing your own team members with specials, but it feels like being cheated by the game.

These minor quirks aside, La Pucelle is a solid game with a strong and well developed story. The hidden worlds and multiple endings provide plenty to do, certainly enough to keep any SRPG fan occupied until the highly anticipated Phantom Brave arrives.