Jeanne d'arc impressions, fresh from Japan

Anoop from IGN Japan was able to get an extended play session of the recently released (in Japan) Jeanne d'Arc. He explains that Joan is sent on a quest from God to destroy the evil troll-infested British empire. Although there's a hefty amount of dialogue and cutscenes in the game, Anoop notes that the story feels a little "disjointed." The real focus of the game is the gameplay, and it appears that Jeanne d'Arc gets all the conventions of the SRPG genre... including its flaws: "The focus with this title is on gameplay, and if you're into Japanese style strategy games, that should be just fine. You'll recognize the grid-based strategy from games like Final Fantasy Tactics... Jeanne d'Arc suffers from some of the flaws that tend to plague games of this type. Preparing your characters for battle with new equipment and accessories is too much of a chore."

The game features some annoying loading times, but it appears the game is compelling nonetheless. "I keep coming back for more," the preview says. It appears that strategy RPG fans have a lot to look forward to, if this game ever comes to the States.