Jeanne d'Arc

"Arguably the best Strategy RPG on the PSP"

When I found out about Jeanne D`arc, my first impression was this: "Right, so this game is about Joan of Arc, the national heroine of France, I'm definitely not playing a game based on that, it's probably a history lesson on the Hundred Years War".

However, I had a go on it and I was pleasantly surprised. Straight away, I knew this game would be amazing. Now that I have finished the game, I shall give you my honest opinion on the game, and if it's worth your hard earned cash.

Graphics: 10/10
Considering this game is a strategy RPG on the PSP, the graphics are unsurpassed. You will experience well made pixels in all its extreme fluidity, which are colourful and vibrant. This game does not excel in graphics in the normal sense, but in a way which complements the game play perfectly.

You really have to play the game to appreciate the effort put into the graphics; thumbs up to the graphic artists. The game also has animation cut scenes, where the graphics are on par with many new animations. This helps tremendously in explaining the very in depth story.

Sound: 10/10
There is only voice acting in this game during the animation cut scenes, the voice actors have done a excellent job, every syllable is a joy to hear. Oh, did I mention that the French accents are amazing yet hilarious? Jeanne D`Arc has a brilliant soundtrack, it suits the game perfectly yet you almost forget it's playing; it just blends in with the other aspects of the game. Some of the music is addictive; you may catch yourself humming some of it!

Game play: 10/10
Just as you would expect from any other strategy RPG, Jeanne D`Arc makes you reminiscence; of Final Fantasy Tactics. Just imagine the last strategy RPG you played, but every game play issue is fixed, and perfected in every single way. You have Jeanne D`Arc.
The game may not be hard, but it is challenging, you will find yourself reattempting a stage several times before completing it.

Also, the way you can customize this game is very engaging, you will find yourself modifying each characters weapons and skills for a long time, so you can beat a particular stage. It's rather self-satisfying when you attempt a stage 10 times, and lose, then you adjust your characters a little then finding yourself completing the stage marginally.

There is a turn limit in this game, for example, you would have a turn limit of 20 to complete a stage. Normally, the game is very well designed so you will find yourself completing the stage with 1 or 2 turns left. This is probably to prevent anybody using cheap strategies to complete a stage. The number of characters you can use to complete a stage varies, depending on the difficulty. Don't think that you can only use up to 5 characters on a battlefield, as later you will use more.

Replay-ability: 10/10
This game boasts an incredible 40 hours worth of game play, but that's just finishing the main story. After you complete the game, you can continue and complete many additional parts of the game (which is just as fun as completing the game itself). At times, you may wonder why they didn't skip the main story and add in a few extra stages, the game is just so much fun, you just want to get in their and incorporate some strategies into defeating the enemy!

In my opinion, it will take the average gamer around 80 hours to do everything in the game, but people have been known to play over 100 hours to get their characters to max level and obtain the most powerful weapons, etc.

But is it worth your hard earned cash? Hell yes.

So there you have it, it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that this game gets a 10/10!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/07

Game Release: Jeanne d'Arc (US, 08/21/07)