The only reason why you need to be a PSP owner is so that you can play Jeanne D'Arc, hands-down the best PSP game.
Jeanne D'Arc's gameplay is very similar to the traditional stratgey (or tatical) RPGs such as Final Fantasy Tactics or the Disgaea series, whereby you move a group of characters a certain number of steps in a large grid before you perform an action (such as attack.) It doesn't break into any new boundaries as far as the gameplay is concerned, however it combines the best elements of SRPGs from different franchises and moulds it into one complete, addictive experience.
Many SRPGs, including Jeanne D'Arc has their own gameplay and rules. Some might be on the shallow side and others might require the gamer to dig deep in their instruction manual. Either way you need to clearly understand them to be successful and to enjoy the game to it's fullest. Difficulty wise some would say Jeanne D'Arc is relatively easy, which probably is true. However the game itself is only able to achieve this because the developers understand that in this day and age, instruction manuals are only needed for refering back to and is not a starting point. So in this case, the game has many beautifully presented, in-game tutorial pages. At beginning of the game, a couple of tutorial pages pop-up showing you the fundamental rules of how to play the game before a level starts. As you progress through each level, more tutorial pages step by step pop-up telling you advance rules of playing, relavent to the level. It doesn't shove it in your face, forcing you to understand them all at once. I very much appreciate these tutorial pages as they are very detailed and easy to understand with plenty of diagrams.
Each of your party members can equip a weapon, armour and a shield (if your not holding a 2-handed weapon.) You can also equip a maximum of 6 skill stones. These vary from increasing HP to walking more steps. There are many skills. About a third into the game, you can also combine these skill stones into more powerful ones. The possiblities are huge, enough for you to mix and match for hours. Lastly some specific members of your party can transform into super powerful warriors after a number of certain rounds adding a very interesting dynamic of gameplay.
One important aspect of this game which I very much appreciate is the presentation and graphical artwork of this game. It is absolutely beautiful! The in-game character sprites are cute yet detailed. The backgrounds in levels vary differently in style and atmosphere and most importantly are very well designed. CG cutscenes are done in anime style cartoon. Although one may not appreciate anime CGs, I certainly love it and would want more throughout the game. The in-game conversations are done in a comic book style where the characters speak from the sides and the main text is in the middle. Unfortunately there is only voice in the anime CGs and not in the in-game narrative. It would be a better experience if they did add it in as the voice work is top-notch.
Considering the PSP's hardware, there honestly isn't a game which is near Jeanne D'Arc's calibre. No matter how good a game was, a remake is not an acceptable excuse for a port. It is just plain lazy and not enough appreciation shown to the PSP owners out there. Jeanne D'Arc is totally different from that. The game is magnificent in all aspects whether it's the gameplay, presentation, story or value, absolutely everything surpasses what we have seen on the PSP. Not to mention 40 hours of quality gameplay on a little UMD, incredible! It's very simple, if you're not a PSP owner, this is the game to make you one. If you are one, what are you waiting for? Jeanne D'Arc is hands-down, THE BEST game on the portable system.