Jeanne d'Arc

"A joy a look at, but at the end of the day it's a very standard tactics game that doesn't match FFT or even MGA2."

I wonder why everyone is going so apey over Jeanne d'Arc? Granted, it's obvious a lot of work went into every portion of the game, but they spent all this effort crafting a sub-par experience. Seriously IGN: is this game a must buy? Really?

Don't get me wrong- the developers at Level 5 put a lot into the graphics department, character sprites and the included animated cut scenes that move the story along and all- but with any game, it's the game play that makes it or breaks it.

Jeanne d'Arc is a good game though! It's just very, very okay. Again with the graphics, the game is very bright and colourful and on a whole just great looking, and during battle there are very few hitch-ups; load times are wisely kept to a minimum during battle, but they will test your patience as you... load up the save screen! Check out a shop (which you'll probably do twice!) And access the ability-crafting section of the game. Now that's a shame. Especially as Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops simply obliterated the dreaded words, "load times" from the PSP's cabinet.

The sound is a mixed bag. Voice acting is alright, though you'll only hear it in cut scenes (which you can watch anytime in the theater, which is another nice touch) but a lot of the battle cries and in-game music are overused to a criminal degree. I'm also glad they thought to put in cuts scenes, because reading all that text is hard on the ol' head, but these are anime cut scenes, and I was never a big fan. Personally, I would've preferred something along the lines of FMV's, or the cell shaded ones from Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, or even something stylistic and cool, like the cut scenes out of the sublime aforementioned Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, also for the PSP.

But here's the game-breaker in my opinion. What made Final Fantasy Tactics: the War of the Lions so much fun in my opinion was the job system. That's where Jeanne d'Arc falls short- characters gain their abilities by equipping accessories (in game name: stones.) Those of you who've played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance are right now thinking "Oh, so you just equip an item to learn the technique or spell. Simple!" Well not quite- see, the characters will only have the technique as long as the accessory is equipped, and each character starts off with three accessory slots, amounting to a total of six.

Now that- is a killer. A huge, huge part of play. Part of the fun of tactics gaming (in my mind) was creating your own unique rag-tag version of FOXHOUND or whatever; here this is negated. You can't tailor them with arduosly gained abilities and make them unique, you can only give them something for a short time and take it away as easily as they got it. Also, there's an affinity sub-system in play (similar to the rock, paper and scissors stuff we've seen in Red and Blue way back) but these can be changed before battle. It's not that big of a deal, I guess, changes someone's affinity on the fly, but it just stuck to and bothered me.

Also, all the characters come unique with their own stories, granted, but its so much more fun 'making' them unique according to the player. On top of that, most of these characters of your have pretty shallow back stories and lines and motives, making the whole overview of the game pretty bland- the game has little personality. The story has a few good twists here and there, but mostly it's just... on to the next town. On top of that, some characters are very prominent in the early stages of the game but slowly fade away entirely as you keep along. For over half the people that join your party, you don't find out what happens to them when the game is over.

Multi player is also absent from the game, which given the PSP's wireless capabilities is a letdown. Had this game online I would've upped the score- but Jeanne d'Arc is already getting plenty of good reviews as it is. And I can see why- the story is lengthy and challenging, the game looks great and it's sold at a lower price. However, because of the abilities system, players won't draw the same giddy glee they will as they will from other PSP titles, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, or even Metal Gear Acid 2. As it stands, it's certainly strong and a no-brainer IF you're new to tactical game play, but beyond that I advise you to seek for something with a little more personality.


Graphics-- 9
Sound-- 5
Game play-- 6
Longevity-- 7
Story/Charm/Personality-- 4

Overall: 6 (not an average)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/07

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