I have obtained Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc.) for the PSP recently, and thought that I would post my thoughts of it as a recommendation, since the PSP is in dire need of good role playing material.
But please BEWARE, FOR AHEAD, THERE BE SPOILERS.
MY half-assed Jeanne D'Arc review-
It seems to lack some of the depth which other tactical role playing games are famous for, and it offers really nothing new to the formula. Some neat innovations are the Burning Aura and Unified Defense additions during combat, as well as the ability to combine skill stones into new ones.
But it is
fun, and so charming.
Some drawbacks are that free battle scenes always feature the same set of enemies with the same statistics over and over again, 9Until you complete the game, then you may go back to these stage for different, stronger enemies.) which makes for some tedious level grinding; however, the game progresses very well, one hardly ever needs to spend hours trying to gain levels. Everything is well paced, so far.
The battles, as I have just pointed out, are your standard tactical role playing game battles; they are just as fun as any well made turn based tactical fights, but do not expect any grand innovations.
And I really like how they make you interact with the story by giving you different choices and ultimatums in the game-weather those are constructive and lead to different outcomes or not, I will not say anything more about it. However, it is one of the fun parts of the game which in my opinion truly make it shine; instead of going through endless battle after battle and then just watching cut scenes, you interact with the plot by means of funky battle objectives and game branching features.
And speaking of cut scenes, there are just enough of them, not too long, not too short, and each representing a significant facet of your progression in the game in regards to its plot. They are fun to watch, and always seem to add that atmospheric flair the game needs to keep you interested in its story.
The whole game is really simple to learn-it almost seems as training wheels for other, more complex tactical role playing games; but I appreciate its simplicity, and anyway, further within the adventure, the challenge really rises, both with optional matter and mandatory game progression.
The game's technicalities also merit themselves a mention. For example, you only get statistics that truly matter, nothing weird or out of the way which would manifest itself as useful only once in the whole game. (Still haunted by that stupid bridge building ability in Arc the Lad.)
But there are some rather darker aspects...the characters are pretty much godlike, and there seems no difference between any of them-your healing girl can destroy an entire army of orcs on her lonesome just as well as Conan the Barbarian could.
This is quickly remedied though, as the challenge becomes much more; but despite such, a more defined character balance would have been great.
You can, however, greatly customize your characters with the help of skill stones, which act as the standard issuing of abilities, statistical boosts and magic spells. These are fun, and you can really create some unique characters.
I say ''greatly'', however, the fact that your characters are limited because of their innate capabilities, (No class change, and weapon proficiency will not allow the use of different weapons, therefore, ''weapon skills'' are pretty much distributed to specific characters.) this shows the ugly side of the game's simplicity. However, spells and augments are dispersed to anyone.
Another bad point is that the luxury of such is rendered void BECAUSE of the innate statistics.
The binding System allows you to create new stones, which is fun, fast and simple. (Unlike that tedious item procession scheme from Stella Deus-but I still love that game as well.
)
The player will also be treated to some very decent anime movies, and a funky transition of actual historical facts (As the hair chopping part, which is said was done by the real Jeanne D'Arc.) mixed with standard fantastic matter. Well...it goes off the deep end eventually...
(Talking toads, and demons in the ranks of the English army.)
So while many of the game's elements board on ''cliché'', these are truly well done. Why mess with a good concept, anyway?
But despite this, the game contains some damn good plot twists. Oh yes.
The graphical quality truly shows with the fluid animation, but I believe that not everyone is going to dig the big head thing.
For the style which it aims for, this is great-especially should I consider my own preference for gaming moods-dark and depressive-this is cute and cheery, while holding on to some very seemingly significant elements of war, which makes for a real strange mix, and a refreshing change. (I mean, does someone NOT die in here?!) I really love it; it seems like the entire game is playing a very cruel prank on you at first, but it is the sort of prank your little sister would do, and that you could only laugh and marvel at afterwards.
What the HELL kind of analogy was this?? Erm, moving on...
So, while the game may be somewhat simple, and every now and then, banality might raise its face, it will not last for long, as all the good points of the game truly overshadow the few flaws I may perceive within. (For example, the player needs not worry about targeting the allies with spells or attacks, which is a bit disappointing.)
That and the French accents are grossly exaggerated-but again, this makes its dramatics so CUUUTE!
I mean, even the TUTORIALS are fun.
Eeep-I love this game, and I really cannot find anything bad to say about it. And I am an extremely negative individual, usually.
If only the PSP could have more games like this-it is completely evident that Level 5 cared about the game while making it.
Was this too long?
PSP Recommendations-Jeanne D'Arc
Linear Mode
