Jeanne D'Arc

Jeanne d’Arc (‘Joan of Arc’) is a turn-based, strategy RPG which has been woefully overlooked by the vast majority of the gaming population. The game follows Jeanne from her humble beginnings as a peasant girl to her taking up arms in the Hundred Years’ War, battling the English, striving to place Charles VII on the throne, and ridding France of Henry VI’s invading armies. Never heard of it? Depending on where you’re from, that’s not altogether surprising. In 2006, publishers Level-5 were relatively unknown outside Japan, and Jeanne d’Arc predates the company’s major commercial successes (including the Professor Layton and White Knight Chronicles series). For some bizarre reason, Level-5 never decided to release it at all in PAL regions (my own copy is an import). But in a genre where Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea serve as the gold standards, it testifies to the fact that steering away from the mainstream video game market can occasionally reward you with a hidden gem.

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