It feels good to be back. As I’m sure many of you noticed, I was away from the column for the last few weeks. Between moving, school, and trying to get through Resident Evil: Requiem for a review, I needed a little time to decompress. During that break, I hopped onto PS Plus to see what was available and ended up finding two games that caught my attention. They were very different experiences but were exactly what I needed, so I wanted to share some early thoughts on them with you all.

Jeanne d’Arc

I have scrolled past Jeanne d’Arc so many times, and I really do not know why. I missed it when it first released because I did not own a PSP, so this was my first real chance to sit down with it. After the stress of Grace’s campaign, a turn-based strategy title sounded like the perfect kind of break. I love mowing down homicidal zombies as much as the next guy, but I needed something where I could slow down, think through my moves, and play at a more measured pace. Jeanne d’Arc turned out to be a very good fit for that mood.

Jeanne d’Arc is a fantasy retelling of Joan of Arc, and it plays more like Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics than Fire Emblem. That was fine by me since I tend to enjoy tactical RPGs that give me a little room to breathe and plan. On the surface, the gameplay is pretty standard for the genre and the era. The story also does enough to keep things moving, even if the main draw is clearly the battles. What I did not expect, however, was how quickly it would throw a difficulty spike at me.

In general, the combat is manageable for anyone not wearing their pants on their head, but some of the mission objectives can be surprisingly demanding. In one scenario, I had to reach a nobleman before he died. I assumed I would have until around turn seven or eight, or at least have enough time to fight my way there and help him out when things got bad. Instead, he died on turn four. That completely changed how I approached the map. I had to stop playing cautiously and adjust my strategy on the fly figuring out how to protect him while still clearing out enemies. It caught me off guard but in a good way.

The thing that struck me the most was its art style. There was something instantly familiar and nostalgic about it, and after a little digging I figured out why. The developer was Level-5, which is an old favorite of mine. My first experience with them was the much-beloved Dark Cloud 2, and ever since then I have associated the studio with strong RPG design and excellent art direction. Jeanne d’Arc fits right into that tradition. It has that same polished, inviting look that makes even its more difficult moments feel worth pushing through.

Then the chief editor made a recommendation, which is how I ended up playing something quite different.

Resident Evil Village

It took a fair bit of convincing to get me to start Resident Evil Village after Requiem had already raised my blood pressure enough to make me think I was heading for a heart attack. I was told that Village was not nearly as creepy as Requiem or Biohazard, and overall I would agree with that. At least in its early going, Castle Dimitrescu feels less like relentless survival horror and more like running away from Rule 34 noir. Still, there are moments when Village absolutely knows how to unsettle you. The first time you spot one of the failed experiments shambling around at the far edge of your flashlight beam, it lands exactly the way it is supposed to. The voice acting is also very well done, which helps sell even the stranger parts of the experience.

It will probably be a little while before I finish this one because Requiem is apparently still living rent-free in my nervous system. I have to take frequent breaks from Village not because I dislike it, but because I can only handle so much tension at once. That said, I do appreciate how Capcom approaches these games, especially when using the RE Engine. One thing I have always found amusing is how much random data they keep track of behind the scenes. For example, on the third anniversary of the Resident Evil 4 remake, it was recently revealed that The Merchant is apparently about three trillion in debt. They also released some data on the rarest types of deaths in Requiem. I even managed to trigger one of them myself by getting killed by the chef, which is not exactly a proud achievement but at least memorable.

Overall, it was nice to spend some time relaxing and gaming again without worrying about deadlines, review embargoes, or spending hours checking every single corner of a JRPG map for hidden loot. Sometimes it is good to step back and just play something because it catches your eye or because it fits the mood you are in that week. That was what this little break turned into for me, and I think I needed it more than I realized.

Now I am hoping that Gate Guard Simulator or Ledgerbound shows up soon because both of those are still very much on my radar. At the same time, I also have my eye on a title called Retro Rewind on Steam where you run a video rental store in the 1990s. Honestly, that might be the weird nostalgia trip I need next. There was a time when Blockbuster was the place to be on a Friday night, and I would not mind revisiting it even if it’s only through a sim.