I played this game, by Broderbund, when it first came out in 1989 and was immediately blown away by it. I had played on the English side a few hundred years earlier in Siege and the Sword, and thought I would try the French side to see how that went.
The gameplay here is highly detailed, with exhaustive historical research going into the characters that you can manipulate once you are crowned King. Your enemies and your friends are all based on historical characters, and each has a biography of strengths and weaknesses.
To fight, you can do things like attack cities, engage in field battles or one on one combat with your enemies. You can raise money through taxation, tithes, or by capturing your enemies and ransoming them. If you're bloodthirsty, you can behead your captured enemies too, which is particularly fun, and gruesome. The goal, of course, is to drive the English out of France. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't save Joan from being tried, convicted and executed. It was very sad, as you get attached to her.
Graphics are beautiful, which is surprising from a game in the 80s. The limited color palette is used to maximum effect, and the portraits of the characters are surprisingly realistic.
I played this game in the 80s on our horrible four color computer, and then was able to play it in its full color palette on a friend's computer. It was a revelation.
This game is very challenging as far as strategy games go. Your armies can deplete very fast, and you have to really think fast and thoroughly about how and where you will focus your energies; whether you will try to regain France through alliances and treaties, all out war, or some combination of both. But because of its challenge, it's a game that draws you in. The satisfaction of watching the map slowly go from mostly red (the English and Burgundians) to mostly green (the French) is increased by the challenge of the gameplay. And I would warn you that you'll be thinking about it when you're at work, about how you're going to beat the Burgundians in Aix or the English in Agincourt. This is a great game: highly detailed and engaging. One of my favorites as a 10 year old. 5 out of 5.
