Overview

Jeanne d'Arc is the first tactical role-playing game created by Level-5, as well as its first game on the PSP. The game came out in Japan on November 22, 2006 and its North America release was on August 21, 2007.

Gameplay

The combat in Jeanne d'Arc is similar to other strategy RPGs: you play from a top-down veiw and move your party around a grid-based map. But Jeanne d'Arc adds several intresting elements to the otherwise standard gameplay. There is the Burning Aura system: every time you or the enemy attacks someone from the side or behind a Burning Arua appears in a square right next to the enemy being attack; any ally of the attacking character that steps into the Burning Aura gets a very significant damage increase. Jeanne d'Arc also features another system called the Unified Guard. This system gives characters on the same team a large defense bonus if they are within a couple squares of an ally, and the defense bonus scales according to how many allies are nearby. The player travels between different towns, doing different quests, and buying new items or weapons. Each character has their different alignments to phases as Sol, Luna, Stella, and this translates to a game of rock, paper, scissors, so each character is more effective against other enemies but more vulnerable to others.

Plot

The story of Jeanne d'Arc is based on the historical accounts of Joan of Arc and the 100 Year War. In this rendition of the story, humans and demons have been fighting for ages, but were banished by five warriors who joined the power of their magical bracelets. Many years have passed and England and France are caught up in the 100 Year War. A small village of Lorraine region is then attacked and one of the girls in the village, Jeanne, is told by a voice from the sky that she has to save France.