Jeanne D'Arc - Love this game!

Like many computer-science types I love video games. I got a new one for Christmas and now I'm so addicted that I have to ration myself - I'm allowed 1 hour per day max. It's the only way I can keep myself from being stuck on the couch, frantically pressing buttons like they were self-administered drugs. I mean that in the best way!

It's called Jeanne D'Arc. The official website is on the Sony Playstation site, and there's also a review on gamespot.

Here's a screenshot from gamespot:



Most of the structure of the game is a clone of Final Fantasy, but the battles have something really neat. You can see there's kind of a grid, like a chessboard, on the screenshot there - players have to move around the board in order to get into a position to attack an enemey. Okay so it's no chess, but it does add a whole layer of strategy that makes the battles way more interesting than the usual, static, player-selects-move/card/attack, opponent-selects-move/card/attack, repeat ad nauseum.

The plot in Jeanne D'Arc is magical, entertaining, and totally wack. Yes, I'm showing both my age and un-coolnes by using such outdated slang but that's the best word for it. The real, historical Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. In this game the main protagonist is Joan of Arc (and it's even more fun to call her "Jeanne" with a crusty French accent!). So I saw early on that this would be either an unwinnable game with a very sad ending, or a game which takes *lots* of creative license. Turns out to be the latter, and how. You have a whole team of characters who come, go, die, rise from the dead, turn into monsters, turn back into humans, and pretty much everything else you can think of but could not possibly predict while playing the game. As a result you spend a lot of time leveling up characters only to have them "leave your ranks". But don't worry, they'll be back, and when you least expect it, too.

I'm just nearing the end of the game now, and already I'm wondering - after I finish, what will I do with that hour-long spot in the day when I will surely be missing my Jeanne D'Arc. Hmmm... finish the thesis, maybe?