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Several centuries ago, a war had engulfed the land, the War of the Reapers. Armies of dark beings led by a single fiend marched on the lands of men in an attempt to claim the realm for themselves. Five heroes rose up, and using five magical armlets, sealed the fiend in another dimension. Fast forward a few years and England and France find themselves in a war that has lasted almost a century. A very young Prince Henry of England asks his advisor to tell him a story before going to bed. He is told of the War of the Reapers, and after he falls asleep, the advisor, who was one of the original five heroes, calls upon the fiend to give Prince Henry the power to win the war against France. Once the Fiend possesses Henry, he orders the capture of the armlets. Thus enters our Jeanne, our heroine, who stumbles upon one of the armlets being worn by a man running for monsters. When she gets too close, the armlet jumps from his arm to hers. Suddenly, she is filled with a fighting spirit and is able to take on the monsters pursuing the strange man, along with a little help from her friend, Liane. After the battle, Jeanne and Liane realize that the monsters they fought are part of a larger group heading towards their home village. Upon reaching the village, Jeanne and company find that it has been completely destroyed, and the English are to blame. What she does not know is the reason for the villages destruction is around her wrist.
Once the opening animated sequences are finished, the player is treated to the opening battle. This battle serves as the first of several tutorials. The game is played in turn-based fashion and once all of the players characters have been moved, it's the enemies turn and vice versa. The game is played on some of the largest maps seen in any strategy RPG, and most objectives right from the start are much different than the standard, "kill everyone on the other team". Most objectives would be more along the lines of "defeat the enemy captain without losing the person you are supposed to protect". Or just "get to the other side of the map". Almost all maps have some sort of turn limit. If the player doesn't finish the map by the time all of his turns are taken, game over. Combat, being the major gameplay element of the game, is extremely fun yet basic. During the player's turn, a character can move and either attack or use their skill. Once an attack has been made or a skill has been used, that characters turn is done. Unfortunately, players cannot attack then move. The most unique aspect of combat is when an enemy is hit with a melee weapon, a panel will start to glow on the opposite side he was hit with a burning aura. If a player steps into this aura, his attack strength is greatly increased. Skills and magic are used much differently than most games as well. When characters start a fight, they have no skill points and instead during each turn they are given a reasonable amount of SP. Usually it is enough where in two turns, the character can use his or her main skill. The overworld map is a basic map of the region, with different icons representing different areas. Players can move back and forth between cities, churches, forests, castles, and other landmarks to get to their objectives. Unlike most RPGs there are no random battles. When a battle is complete in certain areas, players can go back and select free battle, which puts them into battle with a random group of monsters. At towns and castles, players can purchase new equipment and skills, and all characters can be equipped a weapon, armor and accessory. They can also equip three different skills that range from bonuses for attack and magic, to spells and different skills. Skills can be exclusive to the weapon that a character is using. For example, a character cannot use the ability "Sniper" if they are not wielding a bow, however they can use the ability "Fireball" carrying any type of weapon. The characters are cell shaded and extremely well done, even close up. The backgrounds and maps are beautiful and well thought out. With all the different skills and weapon types for characters it will be hard to resist trying almost everything at least once. Spell effects are short and to the point and there are no three or four minute long spells to be found here. Voice acting is pretty well done with fairly convincing French accents. The music and sound effects fit extremely nicely as well. Level 5 has done a fantastic job all around on this title. Jeanne D'arc is a work of art all around. Level 5 has even gotten around long load times and bad frame rates, which normally kill titles like this on the PSP. Load times are kept way down and it is pretty rare to find any slow down. The game is a must have for fans of the genre; it's very good looking, the music is excellent, and the game is just all around fun. Make sure you pick this one up to save France... again.
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