The lack of heroic pixel chicks in gaming has been an issue since soon after people started pumping quarters into Pong. Sure, Ms. Pac-Man proved more popular than her yellow-bellied boyfriend, but her lone feminine attributes were an itty-bitty bow and barely-noticeable red lip gloss. Most subsequent female game characters were distressed damsels a la Super Mario’s oft-kidnapped Princess Peach or top-heavy Lara Croft types.

The mid-80s Nintendo hit Metroid, however, was the exception to the rule--though the first indication that bounty hunter Samus Aran was a woman came only when she removed her body armour upon the game's completion (fast-fingered players got an extra special surprise as beating the game in under an hour resulted in Samus stripping down to a bikini).

Samus has maintained her iconic status, most recently in the kick-ass Wii-quel Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but with its first-person perspective, the only time you can tell you’re even a playing as a woman is the occasional reflection of your pretty pixelated eyes off the inside of your helmet visor.

But now a new lady killer has joined the ranks--Joan of Arc.

Perhaps tired of animating World War II, developers have gone back to the epic Hundred Years' War for inspiration, and what war hero was more badass back then than that mental French militant teen? Um, actually I have no idea as my lone memory from high school history was that it actually lasted somewhat longer than a century.

Arriving later this fall is Koei’s Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War, a now-gen battlefield spectacular starring our girl Joan. Alas, it appears that you primarily play as a mercenary commander, not the schizo girl-soldier.

But no worries because Sony's given us Jeanne d’Arc, the first strategy RPG for the PlayStation Portable. Hearing a voice in her head, which our young anime-style heroine naturally assumes to be God, Jeanne gathers up a band of insurgents and sets out to rid la belle pays of the English occupiers. This task is made much harder by the fact that said English soldiers are actually controlled by demons. Luckily, you have something even more powerful than God on your side--magic.

Magic may also be how developers Level-5 made turn-based battles such a blast, but truly their best trick was to quite rightly take their game's female protagonist for granted.