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»Jeanne D'Arc
"Level 5 does Dallas…err…Joan of Arc."
It seems that all I’ve been playing are SRPGs as of late. Jeanne D’Arc
is the most recent that I’ve tackled. Like Final Fantasy Tactics before
it, Jeanne benefits from a strong story that drives the gameplay ever
upward and onward. It’s a good thing, too, because unlike Disgaea,
there isn’t much post-game fun to mention.
The first thing you’ll notice about this game is that it
is absolutely gorgeous! In a genre practically defined by blocky
terrain and low-resolution 2D sprites, Jeanne D’Arc is championing a
fresh new look with fully rendered stages and a rather enticing 3D
cel-shaded character approach.
What this means is that the terrain looks better than
you’ve probably seen in an SRPG to date. Raised terrain isn’t just a
slightly taller cube of land that may or may not be slanted. Instead, a
gathering of rocks might be the terrain in which you will climb for a
better vantage point. Likewise, even more mundane terrain obstacles,
such as decks surrounding a house or the multi-tiered defense structure
of an army stronghold, are depicted as you might expect they would in
such games as Breath of Fire or Gurumin.
The character sprites are quite good as well. Aside from
their ridiculously large heads, I found them to be pleasant
alternatives to the often two-dimensional characters that inhabit so
many SRPGs out there. That’s not to say that they aren’t entirely
polygonal. Their faces, like so many games to utilize a cel-shading
technique, are hand-drawn and very expressive. To a point, I found
their expressions adding more to the story than the animated poses the
characters often pantomime.
Compared to the great depictions of the game itself, the
special effects of the various spells and special abilities are rather
lackluster. The majority of them all use the same colorful streaks that
you’ve seen in so many games before this. I was slightly disappointed
with this aspect of the game’s visuals, but nothing about the special
effects make the game any less charming to look at.
Nine times out of ten, people will judge a game solely on
how it looks, but a select few judge games based on how they sound. For
them, Jeanne D’Arc would not a disappointment - at least not in terms
of the voice acting. The voice acting present is on par with a good
Saturday morning cartoon, where most of the actors use fake accents to
make them seem French. While they may not all be French, they all sound
believable.
Seeing that the voice acting only takes place during the
well-animated cut-scenes, it’s missed when text boxes take its place in
the middle of a battle. After playing a game like Disgaea, where most
of the dialog is spoken, I really missed it in the pre/post battle
dialog.
With a game like this, the musical score is always a
do-or-die aspect and Jeanne D’Arc doesn’t disappoint in this area
either. Each stage is accompanied by a fitting track that keeps the
mood fresh and exciting. There are a lot of repeated tracks, but when
you have a list of songs as good as this, who wouldn’t want people to
hear them more than once?
Call me jaded or just plain lame, but I just never got
down with the ultra-slow battle system in FFT. It had such a slow start
and made me want to rip my hair out. Granted, it was improved
significantly once it stopped holding your hand, the tactics are
virtually unmatched in the genre. Jeanne D’Arc has a good deal of
tactical goodness, but more importantly the game doesn’t move at such a
slow pace. Right away, this game teaches you the ins and outs, while
never making the process feel excruciating.
The basic idea that makes this game stand out from the rest is that
Jeanne comes into a mystical armlet that speaks to her. Naturally, she
believes this to be God speaking to her, giving her motivation to save France
from its English invaders. As she sets out to fulfill her destiny, she
runs into a bunch of people who will ultimately be instrumental in her
success.
Aside from making her seem crazy, the armlet that she
finds enables her to transform into a righteous champion with the
ability to move very fast and dole out insane amounts of damage to her
foes. Felling an enemy allows her to take another turn when in her holy
armor. This aspect is key to getting through the game, as they’ll have
you up against seemingly insurmountable odds. Using the armlet at the
right time will prove to be your best friend.
Jeanne will also come across plenty of interesting enemies
that all have their own stories and reason for fighting that are
usually told in a good way. At one point, Jeanne even begins to doubt
her own resolve and intentions.
The story is quite good and presented in a very gripping
way. You start to feel for each of these characters as though they were
real people, which really says a lot for the game’s writing staff.
That’s a big thing, considering that there really isn’t a whole lot to
do after you’ve finished the basic game. Disgaea is the pinnacle of
SRPG endgame goodies and nothing, in this reviewer’s opinion, has been
able to match up.
As such, the replay suffers a little bit, but the overall
time it’ll take you to get through the game makes it more than worth
your dollar. In the end, Jeanne D’Arc is just a good game, pure and
simple.
Article by: Bloodspoor
Posted on: Mar. 17th, 2008 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| Really fun SRPG with a great story. I enjoyed every minute of play, from beginning to end. |
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Graphics |
| Compared to other games in the genre, the 3D cel-shading effect really stands out. I’m not a big fan of the art style, but I do like the overall look of the game better than Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics. |
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Sound |
| Just about every game Level 5 has brought us has had a great soundtrack and Jeanne D’Arc doesn’t let us down. |
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Replay Value |
| There are a few things you can do once you’ve beaten the game, but there’s very little that would expand the game upon completion. |
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