AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Some may be familiar with the story of Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc): a French maiden whom God spoke with to save the French from English. She lead men into key victories over the English to end the Hundred Year’s War. For the purposes of this game, those are the only historical facts that are valid. The rest of the story is about as accurate as a saying the Allies lost WWII. The strategy RPG (SRPG) element is interesting. It makes the battles more tactical rather than wars of attrition like in other turned-based games. Think of a deadlier game of chess.

What’s Hot
The first thing you’ll notice about Jeanne D’arc is the high degree of polish. Level 5 is world renowned developer of RPG games and it shows in Jeanne D’Arc. The JRPG style of a western history lesson is a unique twist on potentially cliché RPG convention. The characters you meet are memorable and run the gambit of loyal followers to zany travel companions.

The graphics are some of the best on the PSP. The cell-shaded look is pulled off well and the super deformed manga characters add personality. It is very reminiscent of Dragon Warrior VIII, which Level 5 crafted as well. Environments are lush and interactive with great map design. Full control of the camera is a huge plus when you need to see battles from all angles.

Controls, for an SRPG game, are generally heavy into the menus and submenus. Such is the case with Jeanne D’arc. D’arc makes the best of it with easy to read menus with some helpful splash screens of some of the more advanced features.

Those new features are what really make D’arc stand out. Transformations and Burning Auras ramp up the battle and make the tide of war shift dynamically. The new features sound simple to use and, they are. These tweaks add more depth than you think. It goes to show that simple additions can make a world of difference, if implemented wisely.

What’s Not
You can tell that the graphical prowess took its toll on the game as there are frequent times where you have to sit through a load time, albeit brief. Even the cutesy Japanese approach to the art direction can be too thick at times. The game is fairly text/cinema laden so if you are not keen on an expanding story, you need not apply.

One problem, persistent with every single SRPG to date is the pacing. D’arc tried to put a band-aid on a bullet wound by often limiting the number of turns available to win. In theory, that would have saved the game from growing too technical but it went just the opposite direction – some of the battles are too rushed to enjoy the fun of concocting brilliant flanking maneuvers. In a few of the missions, you don’t have time to strategize and you end up making a b-line directly to person you have to kill. It takes the “S” out of SRPG.

Final Word
Jeanne D’arc is one of those games that gets better as you play it. With each development of the story, you are pulled into Jeanne’s world as her destiny begins to unfold. Unlike Disgaea or other SRPGs, D’Arc is easy to get the hang of without too much micromanaging of tiny details. I didn’t feel like the developers were trying to push a new feature on me to “force” entertainment, what was presented spoke for itself. The fall season is officially upon the PSP and D’Arc is a great way to bring on the Holiday rush. All in all, playing Jeanne D’arc is like sipping Kool-Aid on a warm summer day in a lawn chair, it just feels right.