An Amazing Strategy Game
I quickly fell in love with the graphics. They are simply amazing. Very detailed, bright visuals, no slow down with frame rate. Just simply amazed.
The sound sets the mood with the music. You really can imagine that you are in the church that you see in the opening title screen. The cutscenes are well done, but feel a little childish. Voice acting sounds quite good, most of the time. There are a few times when the voices sound a little cheesy. But mostly a good job in this department.
Controls are very good, simple, and well simple. Being turn based, there is no quick decision that needs to be made or camera issues. So control is a definite plus for this game.
Finally the story and gameplay. The story is very encompassing, and makes you wanna play just one more level to see what happens. I dont want to give away too much, but you start out in your hometown with your 2 best friends, when the village is attacked. You bust your moves and move on, meeting new people as you go. This is where it gets a litte complicated. There is so many characters that you have to manage, that it feels a bit much after awhile. You still remember everyones story, but just barely. And just for the record, no there were no lizardmen in france back in the day of the real Joan of Arc. Even so, they fit the storyline well, and the pacing keeps you craving more. The gameplay is phenomenal. Every melee attack will be countered, much like Fire Emblem. Whats nice though, is you get a percentage counter that says your likelyhood of landing the hit, and the likelyhood of being countered. It also shows how much damage each will do. The numbers shown arent always accurate though. I would say they can be off up to roughly 10%. Still its better than just hoping you hit and wasting a turn. There is no jobs per say in the game, but each character favors a weapon, which determines their class, again in a way it does this. You have a Sword, Dagger, Bow, Lance, Whip, Axe, and Staff available to you. Each ranging in power and accuracy. Dagger is the least powerful, however let me say this, Colet, who wields a dagger is the most powerful attacker in the game. I achieved up to 600 hit points with one attack by games end. The game also features a synthesis type mode, where you put 2 items together to make something else. It kinda gimicky but is the only way to get higher level abilities.
Now the meat and potatoes of the gameplay. The Transformation's. Certain key characters get an armlet of sorts that allows them to refill their health, and boost their stats. They gain kick butt looking armor, and gain an extra ability. This Transformation last only for 1-3 turns, depending on which bead in the armlet you activate. You charge up your armlet with a set number of turns, then activate it. Its that simple. Once in this mode, every kill you get grants you a Godspeed. Godspeed allows you to move and attack a second time. What this allows, is for you to sweep the board with only a few turns. An example, I wear down my enemies evenly, then I transform, and in one turn, wipe out everyone. It tips the scale quite a bit, but is a blast to use.
In closing, I love this game. It borrows from all great RPG Strategy games, a little of Fire Emblem, a little Final Fantasy Tactics, sprinkle some of this a little of that. In the end, a near perfect product.