[Gamers' Day 2007] Joan of Art
Jeanne d'Arc proves Level-5 can make pretty lookin' PSP games too. Hands-on impressions inside.
Published: May 17, 2007
Yummina hummina, Jeanne d'Arc looks good. No, seriously, really freakin' good. It's not just that Level-5 (yes, they of the Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy and Dragon Quest VII fame) knows how to make cel-shaded graphics look real damned purdy, it's that they have a whole approach to art -- in this case a blend of cel-shaded characters and what look like almost like oil paintings for backdrops -- oh, and our "whooaaaa" reaction was after we'd seen the absolutely gorgeous 2D anime-style cutscenes (of which there are a good half-dozen hours, all told) that lead off the game.
Once we started digging into the actual Strategy RPG meat of the game, though, we were just as impressed. As the title would suggest, the game is based on the tale of young Jeanne d'Arc, the woman who claimed to have visions from God, was apparently strong enough in her soothsaying abilities to push back the invading Brits while rallying and uniting France, and then was rewarded by being burned at the stake. She also saw catgirls and goblins too, but we guess that was probably left out of the history books. Well no longer!
Now, the true (okay, fake) story of Joanie can be told. Though the game initially seemed to play out like most turn-based strategy RPGs (not unlike, say, the upcoming Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions or Disgaea, both of which are starting to make the PSP the preeminent SRPG platform, at least for ports of awesome PS one and PS2 games), there were, however, some differences that Level-5 made sure to throw in.
The biggest is probably the Burning Aura System, and it's essentially the biggest helping hand Level-5 is extending to newcomers to the genre. As most SRPG nuts know by now, if you're attacked by an enemy in a turn-based game, that enemy is then open to a stronger counter-attack from the sides or rear because they can't move until their next turn. Here, it's actually indicated with a ring of fire behind the attacker that either the attacked or a fellow teammate can jump in to put the thump on 'em for extra damage. Since these Auras disappear after a full round, it's smart to capitalize on them while you have your turn.
Of course, there are extenuating circumstances in play here. See, you'll eventually build up a crew of more than a dozen friends, each with their own innate abilities and weapon types (no more disposable grunts, hooray!), which in turn dictate striking style, radius and power. The catch is that you can only have a maximum of nine of them on the field at any time, and each mission will limit that to varying degrees (all the way down to one in some cases), so you may not have the raw troop numbers to capitalize on Burning Aura opportunities.
Luckily, that's where the Unified Guard System comes in. In a move similar to Disgaea's damage-increasing combo bonus system, teammates standing side-by-side are given a defense bonus, thus making them more resilient to attacks. It's an interesting option, and might be just the thing to keep struggling players alive for that much longer. A more direct way of helping out is the let a character build up Spirit Points to kick off a transformation attack that gives them a massive offensive bonus (so much so that if they can do a one-hit kill, they can go again that round, which could lead to all sorts of fun little runs).
The other major way to buff characters should come as no surprise to Level-5 vets. Skill Stones are equippable gems imbued with stat bonuses. They can be freely swapped between your troops, so it's possible to configure per-fight armies out of just a few buddies, but the real bonus comes in (wait for it...) combining them with a fairly deep crafting system. Since there are limited SS slots, merging and strengthening abilities becomes part of the strategy, though obviously as characters level up, they'll get more slots (up to six).
We were given just the briefest of hints and the basic run-down of the battle system, but we're absolutely dying to get more hands-on time with the game. Now that the localization is nearly finished, we should hopefully be getting a build soon. When it happens, you'll know about it.
Once we started digging into the actual Strategy RPG meat of the game, though, we were just as impressed. As the title would suggest, the game is based on the tale of young Jeanne d'Arc, the woman who claimed to have visions from God, was apparently strong enough in her soothsaying abilities to push back the invading Brits while rallying and uniting France, and then was rewarded by being burned at the stake. She also saw catgirls and goblins too, but we guess that was probably left out of the history books. Well no longer!
Now, the true (okay, fake) story of Joanie can be told. Though the game initially seemed to play out like most turn-based strategy RPGs (not unlike, say, the upcoming Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions or Disgaea, both of which are starting to make the PSP the preeminent SRPG platform, at least for ports of awesome PS one and PS2 games), there were, however, some differences that Level-5 made sure to throw in.
The biggest is probably the Burning Aura System, and it's essentially the biggest helping hand Level-5 is extending to newcomers to the genre. As most SRPG nuts know by now, if you're attacked by an enemy in a turn-based game, that enemy is then open to a stronger counter-attack from the sides or rear because they can't move until their next turn. Here, it's actually indicated with a ring of fire behind the attacker that either the attacked or a fellow teammate can jump in to put the thump on 'em for extra damage. Since these Auras disappear after a full round, it's smart to capitalize on them while you have your turn.
Of course, there are extenuating circumstances in play here. See, you'll eventually build up a crew of more than a dozen friends, each with their own innate abilities and weapon types (no more disposable grunts, hooray!), which in turn dictate striking style, radius and power. The catch is that you can only have a maximum of nine of them on the field at any time, and each mission will limit that to varying degrees (all the way down to one in some cases), so you may not have the raw troop numbers to capitalize on Burning Aura opportunities.
Luckily, that's where the Unified Guard System comes in. In a move similar to Disgaea's damage-increasing combo bonus system, teammates standing side-by-side are given a defense bonus, thus making them more resilient to attacks. It's an interesting option, and might be just the thing to keep struggling players alive for that much longer. A more direct way of helping out is the let a character build up Spirit Points to kick off a transformation attack that gives them a massive offensive bonus (so much so that if they can do a one-hit kill, they can go again that round, which could lead to all sorts of fun little runs).
The other major way to buff characters should come as no surprise to Level-5 vets. Skill Stones are equippable gems imbued with stat bonuses. They can be freely swapped between your troops, so it's possible to configure per-fight armies out of just a few buddies, but the real bonus comes in (wait for it...) combining them with a fairly deep crafting system. Since there are limited SS slots, merging and strengthening abilities becomes part of the strategy, though obviously as characters level up, they'll get more slots (up to six).
We were given just the briefest of hints and the basic run-down of the battle system, but we're absolutely dying to get more hands-on time with the game. Now that the localization is nearly finished, we should hopefully be getting a build soon. When it happens, you'll know about it.
