Product ReviewsJeanne d'Arc (Sony PSP, 2007)

An RPG to add to the collection.

If anyone has read up on history or has heard of Joan of Arc, this RPG is loosely based off of that story. I haven't yet played an RPG that's based off of our own history. In most cases, RPGs are based in a fantasy world and in a time that doesn't really exist but this one is based in our world, specifically France, around the time of the 100 Years War.

Your main character in this game is a young girl, Jeanne. The quest starts out after Jeanne's village is destroyed by the English. She pulls a team of friends together in her quest to save France from the English.

The gameplay is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. Small characters, grid-based maps, turn-based fighting. There are limited amount of turns for each encounter and one turn consists of a player phase and an enemy phase. These phases allow each character in your team (ranges from 3-7 at any given time) to perform an action. To complete the level successfully, you must complete the objective before the maximum turn amount is reached. And, to make things a little more interesting, you automatically fail if a specific goal is achieved (such as the death of a particular nobleman).

The artificial intelligence in this game can be difficult. This is not an easy game although it is, by no means, difficult to learn (humurous cartoon-like tutorials make learning controls, combat information, the magic system, etc. an easy thing to do). The enemy will separate your party members in order to win. The enemy also knows how to use team work against you, so you really have to manage your battles carefully.

I think the game could have used more development in the physical aspect of combat. As I played, I realized that there weren't too many options to upgrade weapons. However, there were several ways to upgrade your skill list (magic). You simply purchased units of "skills" and then distributed them amongst your party members (the same goes for anything you purchase and intend to use for battle). In some cases, you might find treasure that will give you a skill to use. This comes from exploring the map as best as you can while fighting. In addition, after defeating opponents, you will also receive items that you can use. Items, not skills, can be implemented freely throughout combat (think Final Fantasy VII when you always had Aeris heal or use a potion on Cloud). That gives you an excellent advantage over your opponent as I have not seen them do the same thing. Unfortunately, there is no way to upgrade skills to make them more powerful. Your character's level, and leveling up, directly impacts how strong you are, how fast you are and how powerful your magic is.

Overall, the plot was fresh & unique and I feel as though it is unique in that it is loosely based off of a story in our history. Character development was minimal but this game focuses a great deal on character relationships.

And for the other important stuff: Graphics were great (considering the type of game it is), the animation scenes were of high-quality and were accompanied by voice actors (similar to anime), sounds effects were appropriate and also unique. The best part about this game is that you can save it just about anywhere with the quick save or normal save feature.

Jeanne d'Arc is definitely an RPG to add the collection. Whether you pay $10 or $20 for the game, is irrelevant. If you don't play this game at least once, you'll be missing out on an instant-hit.

Caitlin
D4 Reviews & GuidesRead full review...

Another lovely crafted RPG from Level 5

In this game, you control young Jeanne d'Arc and her companions in their quest to drive off the evil english invaders, to free France and end the Hundred Years War. Dont expect a historically correct simulation, you fight against goblins and skeletons and use magic spells. The gameplay is like Shining Force, Vandal Hearts, Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, you and the enemy take turns on a squared map to reduce the enemys hitpoints. Its basically chess with lifebars. This is nothing special because it has been done so many times before, but in every aspect of the gameplay you find Level 5s astounding attention to detail. The game is presented in wonderful manga-like graphics and great music and beautiful handdrawn anime-like cutcenes. Jeanne d'Arc has a teen rating (alcohol reference, fantasy violence, mild language). Overseas buyers mind that the PSP has no regional code so you can play it everywhere in the world.Read full review...

Jeanne D'Arc review

This is a great strategy RPG for the PSP in the same style as Final Fantasy Tactics. There is about 8 chapters, and if you are used to the type of game like Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, etc, you'll be right at home. It's fairly easy till about the 2nd chapter, where the difficulty seems to ramp up considerably higher. The game never really pulls it's punches, and often there's objectives like 'Don't let character X die'. And all enemies go right for that character it seems.

The story is fairly engaging, and moves very fast. It's not as deep as Final Fantasy Tactics, the story is fairly straightforward, there are surprises, but things aren't pulled out of left field like the original story of FF:Tactics.

I can't recommend this to newcomers to the strategy or RPG (Or strat-rpg) genre. However for those that are aquainted with this genre of game, definately. Maybe as a second game, I'd recommend this before FF:Tactics, and then tactics when your done with this.

The battles are fierce, and quite often you'll be outnumbered. You get up to 15 chars to deploy, usually no greater than 7 at a time. Often your outnumbered 2-1, sometimes 3-1.

This game encourages you to stick together on the grid. When you stick within so many squares of eachother you receive defense bonuses, when you have 5+ chars next to eachother, they really add up. Every time you strike someone, behind them a 'burning aura' appears for that turn, where a character can move onto the space, and do considerably more damage. There's transformations, spells, skills, and very basic armor/weapons to purchase, find, and a skill/magic combining system.

If you enjoy games like Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics, or RPG's in general. There isn't a huge world to explore, you move to points on a map. However the anime sequences are well done, but don't add much to the actual experience. The world and characters are well animated, the load-times are minimal (On a slim w/UMD cache on at least) and the game moves at an almost frenzied pace. The 'world map' looks huge, and it may not seem like too much, but spots that aren't shown are always popping up. Haven't completed it yet, but could recommend it to those who are fans of this genre. Get this, FF:Tactics (If you haven't played it yet on PS1) and Disgaea for the PSP.Read full review...

Level 5 making a name for itself

I am the first to admit that strategy RPGs are not my thing, but I heard so many glowing reviews about this game that I had to take a chance. Thankfully, the game far exceeded the expectations I set, and made me a huge fan of developer Level 5. Succeeding in making a SRPG accessible to a person such as myself is a pretty big accomplishment. The menu system makes complete sense, the characters are likable and the art direction is very appealing, especially considering the level of detail jammed onto a PSP UMD. I loved Professor Layton on the DS, and Jeanne d'Arc is even more enjoyable. Level 5 has opened my eyes to its abilities as a developer and will likely see me instantly purchasing anything released in the future.Read full review...

One of the best RPGs I've ever played, and certainly the best on the PSP.

When I first saw this game, I looked at the cinematics and the design, and I was like "What the crap?!". But when I actually played for the first time, I instantly fell in love with the game.

Story - 10/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Originality - 10/10
Awesomness - 11/10

A must buy for anyone looking for an immersive, exciting and well-made RPG for the PSP!

What's best about the game, is the fact that you get sucked in to it right when you hit the power button. Someone who says "I'm only gonna play for half-an-hour likely ends up playing for hours on end.

What people might find unappealing about this game is likely the graphics, since they are a bit choppy and mediocre, but nontheless, the game is spectacular.

You'll find also a nice asortment of powers and innate abilities that can be applied to the characters, including a affinity system that works around 3 elements: Sol, Luna and Stella, which are like a triangle of strengths and weaknesses (Sol is good against Stella, but weak against Luna, and the sequence changes, almost like like the "Sword - Axe - Spea" system in Fire Emblem)

All in all, a worth-while game.Read full review...

Jeanne d'Arc

This is a great SRPG! Definitely one of the best on the PSP. The story progression is steady and offers a unique twist between history and fantasy. Game play is standard for an SRPG. You play on a grid based map and fulfill certain conditions to complete a mission. There is a turn limit on these missions and if you reach this limit, the mission is a failure. It's never been a problem for me. I usually finish missions with at least 5 turns to spare. You can also customize each playable character with different equipment and skill stones (which gives the characters abilities and stat enhancers to help with battle). I recommend this to anyone who like games like Disgaea or Valkyria Chronicles.Read full review...

Not quite Final Fantasy Tactics, but still a great game!

Well, I've been through the first 5 battles or so. I have to say that I like it so far; it's doing a pretty good job at keeping my interest (which is saying a lot lately for some reason).

It feels like a healthy mix between Final Fantasy Tactics and Dark Cloud 2. I didn't realize Level-5 made it until I powered it up, so I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely borrows from the slightly cartoony graphical style of Dark Cloud 2 without copying it too much. The characters are somewhat chibi in appearance in the game, so sometimes it looks fine and sometimes it looks rather silly (with the guy characters who are supposed to be gruff and manly, yet have large chibi heads). It's not too much though; you really don't notice it after awhile.

As far as the gameplay goes, it's exactly like Final Fantasy Tactics, just dumbed down. It's a little more accessible to new players than FFT was. I find myself wishing there was a little more customization and complexity to it, but it still plays great. There are a number of little differences, notably a chain system where the grid space behind the enemy who was just hit will glow red, and if another character moves to that space and attacks the enemy, extra damage will occur. This can be repeated more than once within the same turn, so you can achieve a sort of volley of back to back attacks on an enemy to dispatch him quickly. The battles move at a reasonably quick pace; maybe quicker than most grid based strategy RPGs besides Disgaea games.

The story is interesting enough, and it's highlighted with anime style FMVs that really do add to things. There are no voiceovers during basic scenes and battles, but the characters are fully voiced in the FMVs. It's a very nice touch. Jeanne d'Arc = Joan of Arc if anyone wasn't aware, so the story is basically a fictional interpretation of the life of Joan of Arc and her divine instruction to liberate France of the English evils. Note that the English evils are quite literal in this game, as little Henry VI is possessed by some sort of dark "Fiend" and is moving to take over everything with his demonic army. It's sort of a simple approach to historical fiction (opposed to the extreme complexity of something like Assassin's Creed), but it's pretty well done as far as I can judge so far.

All in all it's pretty good so far! Definitely worth $10-15 if you're a fan of Final Fantasy Tactics styled games. I have to say that Jeanne not only looks nearly identical to a young Ramza, but also acts a lot like him. They're both hotheads in their youth; time will tell if Jeanne cools down like Ramza does near the ends of FFT.Read full review...

This is a Review(By Me)

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!

I am completely obsessed with RPG's, and this one takes the cake!
I also own Final Fantasy Tacitcs: War of The Lions for the psp, I got into the tactics series when I played FFT Advanced for the GBAsp and it was awesome, but Jeanne D'Arc is by far my most absolute favorite Turn-Based RPG game for the psp!!!

The graphics are great! I mean, with FFT the characters were tiny little
"chibi-like" people, in Jeanne D'Arc they are much taller, and the multitude of different weapons is amazing.

And the anime play-scenes.....OH MY GOD!!! (if I could make the letters bigger,trust me I would) THEY ARE TOTALLY FLIPPIN' SWEET!!!!!!!!!! I have played FFX and the play-scenes on it were very good, it was like it was real, The Jeanne D'Arc play-scenes are what seemms to be a hand drawn anime, and it is amazing I was kinda thinking it wouldn't be that great but it prooved me wrong.

The gameplay is great, it lets you see the whole entire battlefield even the nooks and crannies you cant go into, the zoom is also very helpful to see the hard places where they are surrounding you.

Overall it is an awesome game and I would reccomend it to anyone and everyone.

Dill_277Read full review...

Jeanne d' Aex

If your a hardcore RPG or a fan of game's like Final Fantasy Tactic(GBA) or Final Fantasy Tactic War of the lions(PSP) you would also love this game the setting starts with a upbeat, the storyline is breathless and leaves you yearning for more on how jeanne and her companions but help save france and the world.... the images are strictly anime-lized and the cutscene are spectacular with narrative that even have the french accent! This game is a turn based RPG which mean it is not like final fantasy or poke mon where you go into a cut scene after meeting a monster etc. instead a battle is engaged every map where numerous monster or enemy appear on the battelfield seeking to thrust their swords into you. the game set up is like Final Fantasy Tactic with the skill you can gain from cards and special moves. i highly recommend this game and gamespot gave this game a 8.0!Read full review...

Amazing Tactical RPG

If you love tactical rpgs in the vain of FF Tactics you're going to love this game.

Also the cut scenes are like being a free animae to watch as toy play the game.

A high quality PSP title. A must have in my opinion.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: cdwarden