'La Pucelle: Tactics': backward in a good way

There's quite a bit of plot and so-so sounds.
By JUSTIN HOEGER
SACRAMENTO BEE
There's some charm left in the old ways, to be sure. "La Pucelle: Tactics" is a backward video game in many respects, but in the best of ways. It's a charming, unique adventure.
Developed by the same company that made the complex and quirky strategy game "Disgaea: Hour of Darkness," "La Pucelle" is actually an older game -- such are the vagaries of the domestic-release schedule.
The visuals are rooted firmly in the era of the original PlayStation, with a few nods to the current crop of systems in terms of resolution and animation. It looks a lot like "Disgaea," with the same anime-style characters, isometric battlegrounds and similar wacky sense of humor. The game play isn't as nuanced or polished as that of "Disgaea," however.
The premise
Players take on the role of a band of demon hunters out to stop the resurrection of a great evil, and fight a lot of lesser evils on the way.
The game starts with the trio -- siblings Prier and Culotte and their teacher, Sister Alouette -- that makes up the demon-hunting squad La Pucelle, an offshoot of the Church of the Holy Maiden.
There's quite a bit of plot here, involving the usual ancient evil waiting to rise again and a share of twists and turns, but that's for the player to discover. The hunters are charged with fighting evil in medieval Europe, and so they do, with weapons and magic, and with their own converted foes.
Purifying ability
The game's human characters have an ability called Purify, which has dual uses. The first is to persuade enemy monsters to join the party over the course of several turns; with enough wheedling, a foe will reappear on the player's side once defeated.
The second comes heavily into play during the game's battles. Each map is littered with colored diamond-shaped Dark Portals, which project flows of debilitating Dark Energy around the area and serve as spawn points for new enemies. Obviously these are bad news, but there are ways to turn them to our heroes' advantage. That's where the Purify ability comes in.
Standing in the flow of the dark energy weakens a character, but also allows it to redirect the flow toward enemies. Purifying the portal will cause a surge of energy to travel along it, damaging any enemy standing in the flow; what's more, forming a complete box from the flow and then purifying its source will summon a Miracle that obliterates any creepy-crawlies inside the borders. Different Dark Energy types create different Miracles, each with their own effects.
Graphically, "La Pucelle" is pretty primitive, but effective. The backgrounds are blocky and colorful, and the characters are hand-drawn, flat sprites instead of polygonal models. They're well-designed and -animated, and fit the game perfectly.
Everything comes together into a distinctive and appealing style -- pretty much everything, including the monsters, is super-cute -- but it's hardly cutting-edge.
Same goes for the music; it's peppy, but not great, and the sounds are just OK. The voice acting also grates a bit, with some shrill delivery and poor writing.
Those who don't mind the dated presentation will find a lot of sound tactical game play in "La Pucelle: Tactics."
X"La Pucelle: Tactics," by Mastiff for Sony PlayStation 2, is rated T for teens.