Sublime Strategy
Jeanne d'Arc is so damn good we couldn't think of a non-retarded headline for the review.
Published: August 25, 2007
This, combined with the Burning Aura circles that appear directly behind a character after their attack and give anyone standing in them a huge attack bonus is the absolute heart and soul of the strategic experience in Jeanne d'Arc. There is literally no strategy game that offers the same kind of giddy delight that comes from being two or three turns from losing a battle, only to have a couple of transformed characters charge through and completely wipe the floor with the whole of the opposing forces. The strategy comes not from completely killing enemies, then, but weakening them so that a single strike can polish them off, thus adding a free turn.
It's a clever balance, too. After all, it's good to have some ultra-powerful characters, but it's just as important to level up the whole team, though the fairly low limit to the number of characters that can be in any given battle means that you'll inevitably end up with favorites. Still, because the classes are locked and the size of your party is ever-growing, you'll go into some fights with multiple archers for range, or magic users to attack multiple enemies. The constant set of skills and abilities that your army gains is undeniably addictive, and it's one of the main reasons why Jeanne is so hard to put down.
At the heart of all characters are the gems that make up or bolster their core abilities. These range from passive things like more health or magic or attack to more obvious skills that can be used in battle to hit an line of enemies or a grid of two or thee around a character. Gems are dropped by any killed enemy, and more can be bought in stores (along with weapons and armor for the characters), but since this is a Level-5 game, there's also a synthesis element, allowing you to combine gems to create more powerful versions. It doesn't really come into play until later on in the game when you've stored up enough gems from enemies to start crafting the building blocks for different things, but since the game keeps track of recipes, it's good to at least dabble all the time.
I know it's become sort of their trademark, but sticking with cel-shaded graphics was a brilliant move on Level-5's part, mainly because it makes things so easy to see -- even when you're zoomed out (there are really only a couple of zoom views anyway). In fact, the presentation as a whole is fantastic; the world and all the combatants in it pop with great vibrancy and the anime cutscenes look so damn good on the PSPs screen that even those used to playing the thing often will be surprised.
The audio, too, is superlative. From the clang of weapons attacks to the wonderfully majestic score, about the only sticking point I had with the audio was the fake French accents. They weren't horrible, but the certainly didn't sound all that natural either -- even with apparent coaching from an actual Frenchman. Still, everything else about the audio, including most of the other voices, is great stuff, and is absolutely worth busting out a pair of headphones for the duration of your trip back through France.
It really is remarkable that Level-5 managed to nail the genre, and on their first attempt, no less. Jeanne d'Arc is familiar enough to entice fans of the genre, but it's both different and engaging enough to lure in those that either haven't played an SRPG before or who may have been turned off by something like Final Fantasy Tactics' overly-complex storyline. The game occupies a sweet spot that is frankly amazing given the fact that, again, this is Level-5's first attempt at the genre. Not only did they do it right, but they did it on the PSP, which is hurting right now for great RPGs of any sort. If ever there was a must-have, this is it.
