Topic: Jeanne d'Arc - formerly "Que wastes money".

[Quemaqua]

[EDIT - see newer post for update to really old thread]

I mean... spends money.

Finally picked up the PS2's Rogue Galaxy, which I expect to enjoy like crazy from the accounts I've heard, and then I also grabbed the recently-released PSP game Jeanne d'Arc, which has quite the good reputation thus far.

What was funny is that I didn't realize until after the purchase that not only was Jeanne d'Arc developed by Level 5, the creators of the Dark Cloud games (which I never really played), they also made Rogue Galaxy!  Pretty fun.  I guess I must like Level 5 to want two of their games without even realizing it.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Hope you enjoy Rogue Galaxy as much as I did.  It had a couple of minor rough spots, but was a very enjoyable game overall.   I really need to get a PSP, my roommate is thinking of selling me his launch one in great condition for $75.  I really want to pick up Jeanne d'Arc and Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth since I don't own the PSX version of that one anymore.  Silent Hill Origins is making me want a PSP as well.

[Quemaqua]

Honestly, the PSP is no longer a bad investment.  I have 21 games for it now that I've purchased, and only about maybe 4 or so are duds.  The others are anywhere from decent to outstanding, and the majority of them are on the higher end.  A fair number are ports, which lessens their value somewhat, but the fact that most of them are really *good* ports is a pretty huge plus.

Really digging Rogue Galaxy so far.  Only a couple hours in, but it's really fun.  It reminds me in some ways of FFXII, despite being rather different.  It's just got some similar touches, and it's definitely got that really-nice-last-gen-PS2-game look to it.  Decidedly last gen, but with some nice effects and art direction.  The voiceovers have been a lot better than I expected, too.  So... yay action RPG with lots of shit to do.  It's fun.

I wasn't entirely sold on Jeanne d'Arc until I watched some video of it.  It sounds strange, but the cutscene I saw was pretty compelling, and I enjoyed the art direction in general, and everyone kept saying that the story really was as good as people were saying.  Seems like a winner.  I wish they'd hurry the fuck up and finish the Disgaea port, but this should satisfy in the meantime.

[K-man]

I picked up Killzone: Liberation today for 20 bucks.  I downloaded the demo and played through it, and then decided it was a must-own.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, the PSP Killzone is supposed to be heads and tails above the PS2 game.  I haven't tried it as the theme doesn't appeal to me all that much at this point, but once I get in the mood it may well be something I take a more serious look at.

Put several hours in Jeanne and I have to say, I'm really impressed.  The game looks beautiful, the cutscenes are not only attractive, they're well acted, and the story does indeed seem to be picking up speed and, despite how strange it seems, to be working really well as a weird historical fantasy adaptation.  No matter how you look at it, it's a very nice game, and I'd venture to say it's definitely one of the best original RPGs for the PSP (if not *the* best of what I've played, which is a considerable portion), and is very high in the list of RPGs even if you open it up to ports and such.  If you like SRPGs, this should very thoroughly be your bag.

[iPPi]

I used to have lots of fun with the PSP, but I don't feel like taking the PSP with me when I leave the house so it just sits there collecting dust most of the time.  If I go on a trip or something, I'll take it with me and get maybe an hour or two of play in, but that's about it.

The appeal of gaming on the go has definitely died.

[Quemaqua]

Alive and well for me.  There are a lot of advantages to having the option, at least, and there are a lot of games that I'll only play if I can sort of constantly focus on them yet never focus on them for ridiculously long periods like I do with what I generally get obsessed with at home.  Disgaea and Jeanne d'Arc are good examples.  I love SRPGs, but I can never get that far into them because they exhaust me a bit and I just end up having to stop... and at home, that means I just end up doing other stuff and never getting back to them.  The PSP will give me several hours of straight play if I want it, but if I don't... fine.  Just play for 20 minutes or an hour, put it down, and play again when I've got some downtime and nothing else to do.  I generally try to use work breaks and such for other projects, like my novels and poetry, but there are times when I'm just too tired to expend the extra effort... and a game fills the time beautifully.

Anyway, loving Jeanne still.  It's gotten progressively more addictive the more time I've put into it.  It's not anything boundary-breaking, but what's there is just really solid.  Not quite as ridiculous in terms of armies or options as Disgaea, but that's not really a bad thing.  Very focused on story, and so far it's been compelling and really nicely told.  The localization is pretty great, which Level 5 seems to have a knack for.  Rogue Galaxy's has been pretty great in that regard as well, though a little spottier.  And neither are FFXII... but let's face it, nothing is.  I still say that's the best localization job I've ever seen.

But yes, Jeanne d'Arc is great.  Give it a whirl if you get the chance.

[Quemaqua]

So I'm bumping this.  I stopped playing Jeanne d'Arc more or less in September 2007, and always kind of wanted to go back, but just never did.  I played a lot of Disgaea for PSP when that came out, but recently I picked the game up again when I was in the mood for something SRPG but not something so sprawling and endless as Disgaea (and I don't want to start FFTPSP until I finish up some other games).  I've gotta' say, I really, really love this game.  It's a remarkably good entry-level SRPG, but one that doesn't eschew depth for simplicity.  It isn't super complicated, but there's still a lot to do and a lot of ways to customize and build characters.  The story, graphics, and music are fantastic.

Anyway, I'm bumping this thread because I honestly think this game deserves an awful lot more love than it got.  It isn't the deepest SRPG ever, but that's part of why it's so great.  It wasn't hard for me to just jump back into it, and the gameplay is so inherently enjoyable I felt like I hadn't skipped a beat... and I'm just as into it now as I was when I picked it up.  If you've got a PSP, you owe it to yourself to give this one a shot, especially if you always wanted to try an SRPG but were worried about the time investment or difficulty curve.  This game needs some more love, damn it.

[scottws]

Have you ever played Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis?  I loved Ogre Battle but could never find a copy of the GBA Tactics game.  I was just curious how it compares to say FFT (on GBA).

Edit:  I just read that the guy that created the original SNES Tactics Ogre is the one that also created the FFT games.  Interesting.  I didn't know that but now I see why the character stuff in Ogre Battle is so similar to FFT.

[Quemaqua]

In fact, I do have a copy of The Knight of Lodis.  Gpw was kind enough to give that to me quite some time ago.  It's actually quite a good game, and yes, it shares much with the FFT games.  Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is really quite lighthearted, though, so it doesn't really compare so well with Tactics Ogre or FFT in that sense.  A very good game in its own right, however.  I haven't played a lot of it, but some... it's good fun, and the lighthearted flavor is actually nice in the face of so many more serious SRPGs (much like Disgaea was).  It's also interesting because it directly spawned a lot of what ended up going into Final Fantasy XII despite the games being so different.

[idolminds]

If anyone is interested in Jeanne d'Arc, I just picked up a copy at Target for $15.

[gpw11]

I'm a huge FFT fan, and have been looking into getting into another SRPG lately.  As I've mentioned before, I really want to get into Shining Force III, especially now that translation patches for the second two scenarios are almost done.  The shitty thing is that none of the emulation options are good enough as far as I'm concerned, so I'll probably pass up on it. 

I do own Disgaea, but I'm a bit scared of the depth it seems to have.  I do, however, urge people to try out Soul Nomad and the World Eaters if they can find it. I haven't played it per say, but I followed a 'Lets Play!' of it on the SA boards (I'm a regular lurker on their Lets Play forum), and it's pretty awesome all around.  I obviously can't comment first hand on the gameplay (which is unique...a bit like Dragon Force with a shit load more depth and strategy), but the story is something you don't normally run across in games. 

[Quemaqua]

Give Disgaea a shot, man.  There's a bit of a learning curve, but if you're an SRPG vet you shouldn't have any problem picking it up.  And while there's depth there beyond reason, it's all optional.  You don't *have* to do all the crazy endless shit if you don't want to, you just *can*.  And it's fun!  I get sidetracked too easily so I've never managed to get very far in the game despite pumping hours into it, but it's still so much fun... who cares?

[gpw11]

Oh, I fully intend to I just haven't gotten around to it.  I have way too much of a course load to be working full time right now, but I'm an idiot.  It also has a lot to do with Persona 3.