Jeanne D’Arc
no stoopid… this ain’t your ordinary history lesson. well maybe a little, but still this ain’t ordinary. if you’re not familiar who the hell is Jeanne D’Arc ( God bless her soul ) is, read this really carefully. Jeanne is a French maiden who resides in a small village in France in the olden times. living the simple life with her parents, they thought that everything went quite well with their lives until a sudden turn of events happened. their village was sacked by the English Army, one of King Henry VI plans to conquer the whole of France from the French peasants and nobles. unfortunately this only enraged Jeanne’s burning anger when her loved ones perished from the English’s assault on their village. fueled by anger and driven by hate and vengence, she vowed to take charge and win back France from the hands of King Henry VI. Jeanne was also known as the Pucelle, the messenger of God, who was sent to the French nobles to unite their forces against the English horde. but then in the end she after the crowning of King Charles of France, her own countrymen burned her at the stake, charging her of being a heretic and blasphemous. she was sentenced to die after all her help on her own people.
ohh yeah, this ain’t history lesson for the hardcore RPG gamer. because in this game, you get to play as Jeanne and her comrades and some Therions ( man-beasts ) who will aide her in claiming back France and forging an alliance with the aristocrats. armed with a bracelet given by God during the first war of the reapers which she accidentally ( or maybe fated ) acquired, Jeanne travels all over France seeking vengence and victory together with her comrades.
the game is so simple yet a little complicated for some players. a traditional RPG with a twist of tactical gameplay is involved, kinda like Final Fantasy Tactics, set in a 3D world which you can rotate using the L-R keys. graphically it is not that good looking since you look at 3D images of people looking like dwarves. but the cut-scenes are cool if you are an anime fan, and there are even scenes that will make you weep.
the sound quality of the game is on the above average mark. basic noises of sword hitting metal and spears plunging through human vitals is quite the common thing in the game. but the voice acting in the cut scenes are absolutely cool.
control is so simple even a 5 year-old non-RPG lover can play. but the biggest deal is the gameplay since their are stats and you can also manage your troops and suit them up for battle as well. but the combat system is well damn-hard since they put in a statistic based style, in which you try to hit a target bit there are chances where you can hit it or not, cause critical damage or not, or even, have your attack parried.
so as this goes, my verdict is that graphics gets 8/10, sound gets 7/10, and gameplay goes 10/10. this one is for keeps and is definitely playable a lot of times if you really want to master the art of warfare. i say this one worth to be in the record books. Vive Le France! Vive Liberte!
