[PSP] Jeanne d'Arc

No thread for this game yet, and it comes out next week? This must be remedied.

Originally Posted by Sony

Jeanne d'Arc

History Meets Fantasy

Step into a colorful world where history meets fantasy, taking part in a magical tale inspired by the life and times of the legendary Joan of Arc.

The story begins far in the past, when a great war was pursued by mankind against demonic armies attempting to enter the human world. Five brave heroes created armlets to restrain the demon gods.

Enter the 15th century, as France and England battle during the Hundred Years’ War. In a quest to turn back the rueful army, a young crusader named Jeanne is commanded by voices to use the power of the mysterious armlet that appears on her wrist to seal away the demon king and recover her homeland once and for all.

-Command up to 7 characters at a time and embark on a crusade in a 15th century fantasy setting of ogres, dragons and magical powers.
-Explore ransacked villages and battlefields with visuals and cinematics that bring the world to life.
-Tactics style action with unique team-based strategy of attacks and defenses.
-Developed by Level-5, creators of the renowned Dark Cloud series and the critically acclaimed RPG Rogue Galaxy™

The game has an average score of 87 right now on Metacritic, and this is the first PSP game I've really salivated over. Sure, FFT: War of the Lions is coming out in October, which I'll happily snatch up, but this is a brand new SRPG on the underutilized PSP.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Looks like they recycled the frog from Rogue Galaxy as a nod to Rogue Galaxy.

I read somewhere too that the story will be slightly different, or the ending at least, since many people know how the end turns out in real life.

Didn't like the OST for this at all, but I bet the gameplay will be lots of fun being another grid based rpg and all. It's also a good thing that this feels really fresh and not another port of some existing game on US PS2s.

Most amazing jew boots

Given that the plot revolves around demons helping the English conquer France, there would have to be some changes from history.

I'm a bit concerned about the timed element of battles; from what I gather, some, if not all, battle must be completed in a certain number of turns. Sure, it adds to the strategy element, but I don't care for constraints like that.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

I'm a bit concerned about the timed element of battles; from what I gather, some, if not all, battle must be completed in a certain number of turns. Sure, it adds to the strategy element, but I don't care for constraints like that.

You don't need to worry about it. My wife beat the game recently (review here) and said she only hit her turn limit one time through the whole game.

The best thing about the game, to me, looked like the dynamic stages. The battlefields change up and contain special properties/objectives more often than I've ever seen in a TRPG before (I'm a vet of Disgaea 1&2, FFT, FFTA, Fire Emblem series, Hoshigami, Stella Deus, Saiyuki, Tactics Ogre: KoL, probably another I'm forgetting.) The classic "defeat all enenmies" is only you're victory condition about half the time.

It's really cool.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah I'm getting this once it comes out. Reviews so far have been pretty good about the game.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Reviews have been bloody awesome so far. Can't wait!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by nuttyturnip

Given that the plot revolves around demons helping the English conquer France, there would have to be some changes from history.

Haha, awesome. I bet the Sagely Old Man Who Teaches The Hero archetype is replaced with Mel Gibson.

FELIPE NO

Another botched release? The game is supposed to be out since yesterday, yet it's nowhere to be found (neither legally nor illegally).

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

The ship date was yesterday, so that should mean it's in stores today. Best Buy's locator doesn't show any, but it wouldn't even let me search yesterday. I would imagine once stores open, it'll show up in stock.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Rock

Another botched release? The game is supposed to be out since yesterday, yet it's nowhere to be found (neither legally nor illegally).

Yesterday was the *ship* date. Very few games actually show up in the stores on their ship dates. Today is when it should actually be in stores.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Just picked it up, been playing for about an hour. Pretty basic to start off, decent voice acting in the animated scenes, I'll post again when I'm farther in - but pretty promising thus far.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Here's hoping that the difficulty picks up in later battles. Been playing for about an hour and the game seems far too easy.

Besides this, Jeanne d'Arc is absolutely amazing. I've been waiting for a good SRPG that's not filled with redundant characters and tacked on gameplay additions.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Nothing too hot about Jeanne d'Arc. You can beat the game without any challenge at all unless you decide to just screw around and forget about the turn limits.

It started out okay but then degraded to meh.

Still one of the better strategy games out on the PSP though. Worth at least one playthrough anyway. Maybe two if it you are curious about

Spoiler:

the other character you have to choose between the two paths

I was speaking idiomatically.

Seriously, is there any way to beat the 4th mission, where you have to save the nobleman in the woods? He's dead before I even have the chance to get anywhere near him! I've tried it at least half a dozen times already, with different strategies such as rushing and ignoring the enemies. In the end, it doesn't even matter because the guy always gets killed in the second turn.

Either I'm missing something important or the game is just broken. I'm not even joking when I say that it is practically impossible to beat this mission. What the fuck, Level 5!?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Rock, give Jeanne an item to temporarily increase her mobility and have her make a beeline for the noble. From there, use a healing item on him =o He usually dies a few turns in for me. The minotaur spends round one killing his buddy, then he pursues the noble, who stays at a distance thanks to his spear. Be sure to notice that there are two paths -- bridge path or move around the body of water. Take the latter to reach him the fastest.

I rather like this game. Very refreshing. Pretty obvious that the creators loved FFT. The gameplay is awesome, and, since it is Level-5, I am not placing much stock in the storyline keeping me captivated. Those guys can create some jaw-droppingly awesome games, but the storylines are often cliche'd or fall flat on their faces. It's nice to have a SRPG that isn't a Nippon Ichi dupe. An FFT dupe this time around~

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Gechmir

I rather like this game. Very refreshing. Pretty obvious that the creators loved FFT. Those guys can create some jaw-droppingly awesome games, but the storylines are often cliche'd or fall flat on their faces. It's nice to have a SRPG that isn't a Nippon Ichi dupe. An FFT dupe this time around~

I think calling it an "FFT Dupe" is a stretch.
FFT didn't come up with a lot of the elements it's given credit for--there were SRPGs before FFT--notably, a lot of Fire Emblem games. And yes, there's plenty of Fire Emblem-esque stuff to be found in Jeanne. A bit of Tactics Ogre as well. But if you're gonna pick one game or series to call it a "dupe" of, I kinda thought Fire Emblem would be closer than Final Fantasy Tactics.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. The things present in Jeanne d'Arc that are also in other games are some tried-and-true SRPG fundamentals. It's the kind of stuff that identifies the subgenre.

(Note that I'm not responding as if you were bashing the game--I know you weren't. I'm just commenting for the sake of the kids watching this show at home.)

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Well FFT & Tactics Ogre are by the same folks, so their similarities are somewhat expected.

Never played Fire Emblem very much, so meh. I mention the "dupe" because the weaponry (ie: spears hitting through two grids), basic overworld map structure, choosing directions to face, side/back weaknesses, etc. Sure, orientation played a part in Vandal Hearts, but that also took elevation in to account.

And there were SRPGs before Fire Emblem -- notably, Shining Force =D

Anyhow, this is an appetizer until that Wild Arms PSP game comes out. Wild Arms: Crossfire has jobs and all that good stuff, in addition to being very difficult. I'm noticing this game is rather gentle... =\ The XP bonuses following a victory make leveling too easy. I'd prefer a longer grind of sorts. Makes the gameplay feel more rewarding.

Now that I'm further in, I definitely have more complaints. First off, the text bubbles that pop up above peoples' heads in the battles are completely unnecessary. Half the time I can't even tell who it's coming from. There were times where I killed an enemy and the bubble was positioned above his buddy, who was saying "Great job!" They should've scrapped that altogether. Very worthless.

Next, the localization. I hate how half of the cast have weird or quirky accents. Colet -- LET'S GIVE HIM A FRENCH ACCENT =O A very thick one!

But everyone in this game is French. Shouldn't they tall talk that way? NON. Just one fellow! I hate the other stupid things like that noble or whatshisface that talks like Sylvester the cat, in addition to a Lion character who rolls his "R"s unnecessarily long, plus a dog-man who talks like Scooby Doo. I mean holy shit, why go to such lengths to annoy us and make this game feel kiddy-ish with something like that?

Maybe it's shallow, but I *HATE* it when games try to incorporate an accent in to text. The earliest example I can think of is Faris in FFV; one release (I think the PS1 release of it) had her talking like a pirate. ARR and MATEYS and ME HEARTIES and shit. Just really annoyed me.

I can't help but feel Colet and his constant bickerings originally didn't revolve around his accent in the JP version...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

And there were SRPGs before Fire Emblem -- notably, Shining Force =D

From Gamefaqs:

Quote:

Shining Force Sega 03/20/92 JP

Fire Emblem Nintendo 04/20/90 JP

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

Never played Fire Emblem very much, so meh.

=P I never touched the series. So sue me for being wrong.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

I can't help but feel Colet and his constant bickerings originally didn't revolve around his accent in the JP version...

No kidding. His death speech (something like "This lacks a certain je ne sais what") is just stupid. I can't help but think it would have been better if they'd just had everyone speak French and subtitle it (for the cutscenes at least). Also, why is there a French character named "Roger"? Shouldn't it be "Roget"?

Translation gripes aside, this is the best SRPG I've played in a very long time, and this is coming from someone who didn't like Disgaia. The difficulty is just right, and there's some real strategy involved in planning out your moves; you can't just bum rush the enemy and hope to win.

Using Jeanne's transformations to deal massive damage is simply awesome. You get the enemies' hit points low enough, then just go around using Godspeed to wipe out half the army. I seriously considered giving up the first battle of Chapter 3 (against Bartholomeo) last night when 4 of my 7 party members died, but then I used Jeanne and Gilles' gems to kick some serious ass. I ended up winning with only Jeanne and a troll left at the end.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Gechmir

=P I never touched the series. So sue me for being wrong.

I think more logically I'd sue for giving credit where it wasn't due, and not giving credit where it was. If you didn't know anything about it, you probably ought not to have professed guesses as facts. ^^;

I was speaking idiomatically.

Pardon me for not knowing of a NES game that never saw the shores of the US. Now enough about this, alright?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

This was actually the first SRPG I've been able to get into. I tried FF Tactics before and I just couldn't do it. I'm going to give it a shot when it comes out on the PSP in a couple of weeks.

I think I'm 2/3 of the way through Jeanne D'Arc right now, at least according to that gamefaq's walkthrough. So far it's been pretty easy, but I make sure I'm always a few levels above the next fight so that things go smoothly. I hate spending 30 minutes in a grueling fight and then getting screwed in the end, a lot of wasted time there.

Is it just me, or is skill binding surprisingly amusing? I like how it's set up so that you know which items can be put together. It's fast, and it's kind of fun to see what Cuisse spits out next.

Also I need help from anyone who has gone through the game. I'm at...

Spoiler:

The first reaper where Jeanne is locked in a room on her own. That guy has 1200 hps and my attacks don't do much except for Jeanne's transformation. I need a better strategy.

FELIPE NO

Wow, this game deserves more love than its been getting here. :/

Very solid SPRG....one of the best ones I've played in years. It's also nice to play an SPRG with a super flexible camera system, too. The limited turn restriction keeps the game quick and interesting. This is definitely an SRPG done right; it won't as easy revisiting older games in the genre after playing this.

It also gets bonus points in my book for not being an enhanced port. It's a shame that this game is getting lost in the wake of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

It doesn't strike me as more than an average SRPG. Compared to FFT, this isn't really that awesome =o It's FFT, minus the job system, packed with a pretty lame storyline.

The localization is what killed it. The gameplay doesn't introduce anything new, but I must admit that it has some wonderful graphics =o And the turn restrictions peeved me off. I never got caught, but I don't see the actual point behind them. "JEANNE! We must kill the enemies in ten rounds!" "Why? ;("

Plus some of the "escape" missions could've been harder. Hell the game itself needed to be more difficult. Leveling is way too simple in it. Go to a lowbie level and beat it a few times. The folks in and out of the party get bonus XP for the map being cleared, and one run-through is quite a bit toward a level.

This wasn't lost in the wake of those titles. FFT for the PSP just came out, and Disgaea is still a week away. This game had its time in the sun, and frankly, I've had better. I stuck with it because, well, there wasn't much else to play =(

Jam it back in, in the dark.