Missing this game outta the blue. Waaaay back, as poor students in my days would, I borrowed my friend's PSP (itself a bootlegged device 😂) for a few days and this was one of the games I played. Didn't get to finish it and right this moment how I'd love to experience it again. Hear me out.
The Japanese tactical RPGs is a very well established genre, and this is one of the lesser known gems – not unknown but definitely not as popular as blockbusters like FF Tactics, Tactics Ogrenand Fire Emblem. It's a very worthy genre classic nonetheless, ticking most of the boxes – Great art, checked; Exciting battles, checked; Memorable story, checked and checked. It didn't exactly have classes which was somewhat disappointing, but iirc it offered very beefy combat mechanics to keep things interesting from round to round. Being a bit of a history buff myself, I love the fresh take on the subject matter as well.
More broadly…. what a genre. Japanese tactical RPGs (or SRPG or whatever you call these nifty little games) tend to age very well due to their evergreen gameplay formula and emphasis on static art over graphics. Iykyk, and you'd have your own hidden gems – let's hear it!
If you don't tho – and if you have PlayStation/PSN, unlike me 😔 – Jeanne d'Arc is as good a start as any.