Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3 includes two games: La Pucelle: Ragnarok and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. These role-playing games are published by NIS America. Both are similar but have their own differences, so let’s discuss them.
Games can be played in any order. Turning on Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3 unlocks both. This is useful if you prefer one game over the other. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
La Pucelle: Let’s talk about Ragnarok. Because that’s the first game I played. This is a tactical strategy RPG where you play as a brother and sister duo who are demon hunters as members of a church. Go on an adventure with your teacher to defeat the Prince of Darkness. Her sister Prie is on her way to becoming a Maiden of Light, but honestly… I didn’t care.
When I play RPGs, I love powerful characters and the relationships they form along their journeys. La Pucelle: Ragnarok didn’t do it for me. Prior was an idiot and all she did was whine and complain. I didn’t, so I skipped a lot of the lines. I messed up the story too. Because I didn’t have any feelings for these characters.
Gameplay is simple and sometimes repetitive. As with most tactical strategy games, combat is more interactive on the battlefield than simply pressing an attack button. All characters have melee attacks, but some have magic. He is capable of two actions per turn, per character. You can move them to attack enemies. Most battles were aimed at killing all enemies in the room or defeating the boss. Areas in the game have multiple rooms that must be cleared before proceeding to the next room. You can always return to the church between rooms to heal or revive fallen party members.
A unique aspect of combat is the presence of energy portals on the battlefield. Stepping on these will “purify” the portal and make it disappear. These portals, if not closed, allow more enemies to pass through within a few turns. Portals can also be aimed in the direction of enemies to harm them as they purify for additional attacks. You can hire them for your team.
Then repeat the rinse. Aside from that, there isn’t much to the game. The purification is unique, so the battles are fun when you’re just starting the game. Other than that, the game was too repetitive for me. The lack of connection to the characters and story made the whole game boring. However, depending on your choices throughout the game, the chapter will have a different ending. So there’s some replayability there, but again, the gameplay itself was just too repetitive to go back and play more.
We then moved on to Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. I enjoyed this game more than its predecessor, but there is one big problem. First, let me tell you what I liked about it. This game is similar, following a cornet playing the horn and singing. She can also talk to dolls. These puppets come to life and can join your party. Also, some of the monsters you defeat in battle want to join your party. (Alternatively, you can sell these monsters for extra money.)
I enjoyed this game more as the characters went on an adventure to save a prince who had been turned to stone by a witch. Gameplay involves exploring different areas, such as different towns and forests. Engage in wild battles with monsters and engage in tactical strategy battles. This game contains simpler combat. For example, you can move your character around the battlefield and attack with melee weapons (a horn in Cornet’s case) or magic. Characters can then learn experience points and level up to learn new skills and moves.
I had a big problem with this game because I was stuck all the time. There are so many places I want to go and so many people I can talk to. There is no tutorial or help in the game. I knew very well what to do next, but I didn’t know how to do it in game. I didn’t know who to talk to or where to go next. Most of my time was spent wandering, trying to get to the next part. Then I got stuck and wandered again.
Overall, both games had fun graphics and pixelated characters. The music was fun and the voice acting was great. However, I wished there was more connection with the characters as the gameplay needed more variety. If you are a fan of tactical strategy games, pick this one up.