PSP: Jeanne D'Arc = Deep Fried Awesome (beware spoilers)

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I know a lot of tactics fans have had their eye on this game for quite awhile now, as have I... Fortunately, an English demo floated down from the nether regions yesterday, and I just could not resist firing it up.

(I'm not really sure of the "legalities" of downloading an ISO of a game DEMO... I mean, it's a DEMO, right? Meant to be played to try the game? Even so, I'll leave it up to you to figure out how to get a copy.)

The demo give you two random missions to play, but I think it definitely gives a taste of gameplay and left me drooling with anticipation for the game's official release on 8/21/07.

Intitial impressions... the game looks and feels nearly identical to the classic FFTactics for the PS1. The graphics are sharper and more detailed, it's optimized for the 16:9 display, and like DRAGON QUEST VIII, it uses cell shading to give a very "anime" feel to the characters on the screen. Speaking of which, the game intermixes anime cut scenes with the gameplay to further the story (as in the demo, where Jeanne "transforms" in a sailor moon type way into her "holy armor"...). The standard "static character picture pops up for dialogue" thing is used here also, as in many other JRPG titles.

The battle locations seem to be somewhat bigger than FFT, which leads to one of my only knocks against the game-- the camera zooms out to cover the whole battlefield, which leaves the characters much smaller than I'd want... when you move them & they attack, it DOES zoom in, but I still wish I could get a larger view since the characters are so nice looking. The locations are in full 3D, and can be rotated bu using the shoulder buttons or the analog stick.

As with FFT, when the battles begin, you're given victory conditions and set loose. Each character gets a move phase and an attack/skills/items phase. Jeanne's gimmick in the game is the "holy armor"-- during the course of the game she acquires various versions with different specialties. The armor is much more powerful than regular Jeanne, and the catch is that she can only use it ONCE per battle... and after using it, it only lasts 2-3 turns. The coolest thing about the armor is that if you "one hit kill" your enemy, you engage "godspeed," which allows you to move and attack AGAIN. If the enemies are weak enough and close enough together, you can string these attacks together and kill 4-5 enemies in a turn.

The first mission is right from the beginning of the game, and you only have Jeanne and her two friends in your party. The second mission comes much later in the game, and features a full-on part with archers, a big power-house character, a "mage/cleric" character, a spear wielder, etc. My impression is that there is no FFT-style "job" switching in the game, but it's hard to tell after just these two levels.

The story follows the "traditional" Joan of Arc plot-- it's set in France, you're fighting the English, and so on. When and where the English army got trolls, dragons, and skelton monsters is anyone's guess Not sure if she is eventually burned at the stake, but the game does mention GOD as being behind Jeanne's visions.

So, like I said... I'm really impressed. The game has classic tactics gameplay and great graphics. Really looking forward to it.

Neat, I'll have to pick it up.

This thing's release date is the #1 thing in its favor, imho - there are loads of tactics games coming out soon, but this is the first one (other than D&D, which isn't quite the same, being Western) that will release. If I was in the middle of playing FFT and Disgaea on PSP and FFTA2 on DS, this game wouldn't get a second look; as it is, I've gotta try this demo ASAP.

Is there a firmware version you have to have to run it? I haven't updated my Open Edition firmware in quite a while, and after about a week I forget how and have to learn all over.

Ahh, I see the usual crew in here. I have been telling myself I will wait and see (and probably keep waiting) on this one. There will be more tactics games than I can handle soon and I want to see which one I like the most. In all likelyhood I'll end up focusing my energy on one.

A demo sounds like a great way to scratch the itch. Then again, it may just start the itching...I suppose that's what a good demo is supposed to do.

yeah, I'm definitely picking this one up. The gameplay videos look solid and I think it's releasing at the $29.99 price point. I too am curious about the required firmware - I'm at 3.40 OE and from what I understand, the upgrade to 3.52 M33 is fairly painless. Still, I'd prefer not to upgrade until I have to.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Is there a firmware version you have to have to run it? I haven't updated my Open Edition firmware in quite a while, and after about a week I forget how and have to learn all over. :oops:

I used this program to upgrade from 3.30 OE to 3.52 M33.

http://boardsus.playstation.com/play...

Download the FULL version, plug in your PSP, and follow the directions.

BTW, I've been running the 3.52 M33-2 firmware for several days now, and there is really absolutely NO reason not to upgrade. It did absolutely NOTHING to my existing OE settings, offers the exact same features as OE, and also now has a much better official Sony ISO loader as well.

edit:

BTW, the program above can be used to upgrade to 3.40 OE, as well... it has like 6 different firmware files and has drop down menus for you to set what firmware you have, and which you want.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

This thing's release date is the #1 thing in its favor, imho - there are loads of tactics games coming out soon, but this is the first one (other than D&D, which isn't quite the same, being Western) that will release. If I was in the middle of playing FFT and Disgaea on PSP and FFTA2 on DS, this game wouldn't get a second look; as it is, I've gotta try this demo ASAP.

I dunno... maybe it's because Ive never played Disgaea, but I think JEANNE looks great and plays REALLY well... I think it definitely deserves attention. FFT for the PS1 was always too complicated for me... I felt like I was making all the wrong job choices, not grinding enough, etc. I like the look and style of this game, and am looking forward to this probably more than FFT.

Nice find Matt!
I'll fire it up asap.
More things to stop me from finishing ff1

I found this page on QJ with 4 awesome videos of the game.
Okay now I'm excited.
Videos
*Edit* More Videos

I saw this game given a brief blurb in last month's issue of Jane. No joke. Of course, the editorial staff claimed it was coming out for "the PlayStation" - but it was kinda cool nonetheless.

KaterinLHC wrote:

I saw this game given a brief blurb in last month's issue of Jane. No joke. Of course, the editorial staff claimed it was coming out for "the PlayStation" - but it was kinda cool nonetheless.

Whoa, Jane's is writing about that? My company is a direct competitor of them! I'm going to go write an editorial on Ace Combat 6.

LobsterMobster wrote:
KaterinLHC wrote:

I saw this game given a brief blurb in last month's issue of Jane. No joke. Of course, the editorial staff claimed it was coming out for "the PlayStation" - but it was kinda cool nonetheless.

Whoa, Jane's is writing about that? My company is a direct competitor of them! I'm going to go write an editorial on Ace Combat 6.

You know that Marie Clare has just been aching for a blurb on Halo 3.

(If you don't mind me asking, where do you work, oh you gamer with a job?)

If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Suffice it to say I work for a company that provides services very similar to those of Jane's, though we're significantly smaller.

Back on subject... Jeanne has been chosen by the omelettes?

LobsterMobster wrote:

Whoa, Jane's is writing about that? My company is a direct competitor of them! I'm going to go write an editorial on Ace Combat 6.

She's talking about Jane not Jane's. Jane is a magazine directed at the young female, I think.

Oh. Oops.

Man, I knew that was coming. Classic.

SommerMatt wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

Is there a firmware version you have to have to run it? I haven't updated my Open Edition firmware in quite a while, and after about a week I forget how and have to learn all over. :oops:

I used this program to upgrade from 3.30 OE to 3.52 M33.

http://boardsus.playstation.com/play...

Download the FULL version, plug in your PSP, and follow the directions.

BTW, I've been running the 3.52 M33-2 firmware for several days now, and there is really absolutely NO reason not to upgrade. It did absolutely NOTHING to my existing OE settings, offers the exact same features as OE, and also now has a much better official Sony ISO loader as well.

edit:

BTW, the program above can be used to upgrade to 3.40 OE, as well... it has like 6 different firmware files and has drop down menus for you to set what firmware you have, and which you want.

Well, downloaded this and upgraded to 3.52 M33 last night. That was pretty sweet and really, really easy. Much better than the transition from 2.71OFW to 3.40 OE. BTW, what exactly is the official Sony ISO loader used for?

I am now in the process of obtaining the Jeanne D'Arc demo from a completely legitimate and non-shady source, stop looking at me like that, everyone does it and it's a demo for the luvva pete.

Big thanks to SommerMatt for posting this thread!

Duffman wrote:

Well, downloaded this and upgraded to 3.52 M33 last night. That was pretty sweet and really, really easy. Much better than the transition from 2.71OFW to 3.40 OE. BTW, what exactly is the official Sony ISO loader used for?

Nobody really knows... it turned up in the 3.50 firmware, I believe... many people speculate that it is a sign that Sony is going to get into the business of offering direct to memstick downloads.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Big thanks to SommerMatt for posting this thread!

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while...

So has anyone else played it yet? I find myself getting a little annoyed by the fact that the demo clocks in at 300+MB yet only contains 2 battles. I can't really fault them for making me want the full product, I suppose... but STILL. I'd heard that the japanese demo had 5 battles... not sure if that's true, or just a rumor.

Damn, 3 weeks away!

Well I've got it, but haven't had time to install it. This weekend seems like a great time to lug the PSP somewhere and give it a shot. My wife wants to get out more - does it count as out if I'm playing my PSP at the park?

Just finished the Demo. It was awesome. Very FFT...but I got a better vibe form this one. I'm a huge fan of the art style, wish more games were like this and Odin Sphere. (Hint Hint Wii Developers....)

Count me in on this one. Another chunk of money falls victim to the gwj enabler squad.

I agree about the "vibe" of the game... very solid, high quality... it just feels like a good game should.

here's a "hands-on" report from PSPfanboy.com--

http://www.pspfanboy.com/2007/08/03/...

When you open the retail box of Jeanne D'Arc, it tells you that "you've made a great decision." After spending some time with the game, we have to agree.

Level-5 is known for producing high-quality RPGs, and their foray into the PSP realm doesn't stray far from their previous works. Players are treated to a beautiful anime introduction, which segways into some impressive cel-shaded graphics. The production values are through the roof: the voice acting is superb, the graphics are colorful, and the story is filled with intrigue. Most impressively, the load times are brief, lasting only a second or two between each segment of the game.

It's a good thing I have you guys to help me spend my money. Not sure what I'd do otherwise.

I kid. I'm happy there are a bunch of good tactics games coming out for any platform (that I own). This could well be the best of them, usurping the two big franchises due out shortly. Even if they're all good or excellent I won't have time to get through all three for a long time.

I plan to check out the demo (in Spanish?) on my ride home later.

Scaphism wrote:

It's a good thing I have you guys to help me spend my money. Not sure what I'd do otherwise.

I kid. I'm happy there are a bunch of good tactics games coming out for any platform (that I own). This could well be the best of them, usurping the two big franchises due out shortly. Even if they're all good or excellent I won't have time to get through all three for a long time.

I plan to check out the demo (in Spanish?) on my ride home later.

Spanish? You got the wrong demo, my friend

BTW, EGM gave the game 8.0/7.0/8.0 in the newest issue... the 7.0 seems a little low to me, and the guy's biggest complaint is that it's "too simplistic" and that the story is "tough to swallow."

That's OK by me, because as I've said before, I don't WANT a super-complicated tactics game... I don't need branching job paths and a huge difficulty curve.

I got it in English and played - it's good. Looks great, plays well, load times weren't a problem, abilities seemed interesting. You don't get to do any character customization(*edit* during the demo), so how that works will play into the final judgment but what's there looks good. The map rotates quickly and smoothly, you can retract a movement if you haven't yet committed an action and it shows how likely an enemy is to counter an attack.

Battle Aura and Unified Guard could either be really good or gimmicky by the end - I'm not sure how I'll come down on that issue.

One change from many other tactics games is that you don't get to chose your character's orientation after they perform an action. They will remain facing whichever direction they faced when performing the action. If you choose wait then you can choose which direction to face.

I might wait for Disgaea. Or maybe not.

SommerMatt wrote:

I don't need branching job paths and a huge difficulty curve.

The only Tactics game that I've played extensively was FFTA, wherein I loved the job system, bigtime. Love customizing my characters in just about any game/genre.

Glad to see people are so pleased with this demo, which I haven't managed to play yet.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
SommerMatt wrote:

I don't need branching job paths and a huge difficulty curve.

The only Tactics game that I've played extensively was FFTA, wherein I loved the job system, bigtime. Love customizing my characters in just about any game/genre.

IIRC, FFT*A* seemed a lot easier to deal with than the original FFT in this regard... I don't know, maybe it was just me... but it seemed like in FFT you had to groom your characters in this EXACT certain way, or else after a while they just weren't powerful enough to do the 9,999 pts of damage with their summon attacks that were needed to actually win the game.

My favorite (and first) tactics game was VANDAL HEARTS on the PS1. It was a very straightforward game, where your characters got more powerful as you went on, but it didn't require those four levels of job switching to get to "uber-ninja-monk."

After all this build up, I fully expect you to come back here saying how much Jeanne D'Arc sucks.

The reason it was easier in FFTA was they restricted classes by race, which is one of the reasons I hated that they put different races in there.

I do like the job mixing and matching, like in Disgaea where you can get a character up to level 9999, then start them over at level 1 as a new class (with a bunch of skills and insanely boosted attributes from their previous class, of course). It's even deeper in Makai Kingdom, where most of my front line soldiers had been through at least 4 transformations before ever really seeing combat. It's more confusing and requires investment, yes, but I think it lets you try out different things and become more attached to your characters.

Good ole' Big John.

I never minded looking up the requirements needed to advance from Job Class X to Y. I did spend a lot of time on Gamefaqs though. Their FFT section was awesome. Has anyone else here done one of the "challenges"?

I like job customization, I won't lie. I like being able to decide how to configure each member of my team. I don't mind if they are "unique" characters or not, with their own part to play in the game. In fact I often play though once, quickly, using the main characters to see the story and get a grip on the mechanics, but when I replay it's with a custom designed team. Playing with the story characters as "guests" during a mission really feels like that - they're just visiting my custom party. I might keep one or two special characters for some cool unique abilities but msot of the team will be custom designed.

That said, I can't see how secondary or support abilities will be handled - if there's a good way to choose each characters supplemental abilities that will help a lot. As it looks right now (again, only 2 demo levels to see) each character looks a bit rigidly defined. There's Spear guy, Axe guy, Sword Guy, Archer, Mage, and Jeanne (agile knight). I'd like the option to have two axe guys, for example, and have them not be clones of one another. I just don't know how that will work out in the actual game yet.

*EDIT* I went and did a little looking around. Here is some more info on the skill/customization system.
http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q3-2006/091306b.html

Regarding the skill system, Jeanne d'Arc's character development centers on "skill stones." Characters equip up to six of these skill stones, which enemies drop after battle. Skill stones come in four varieties, each imparting a different bonus: red for special attacks, green for magic, purple for beneficial status, and blue for stat boosts. Some skill stones have level requirements, while some can even be fused to make new ones.

Also:
~40 hours of gameplay
14 Controllable characters
40+ different battle landscapes

Characters will be quite customizable as they are able to equip one of eight different upgradeable weapon types as well as over 150 skills and abilities.

It looks like each character's weapon type is fixed.

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