Brandish for SNES - A Review | hungrygoriya 

So, I mentioned in comments last time that I translated the PSP remake of this game, but what I failed to mention is that I never played the SNES version before that -- the PSP version was my first experience with Brandish. And it's kind of fascinating to see some of the subtle differences. One such difference is the way those invisible pits are handled. In the PSP remake, they do NOT get marked on your map unless and until you fall through them... however, there's an item added to the game, "iron ball," that you can buy cheaply in stacks of 10 or 20 from basically every shop, and the item's sole purpose is to drop in front of you to see if there's a pit. If there is, it'll open up and fill in on your map; if not, you'll just lose the iron ball. I learned quickly, however, that you don't even need an iron ball for that -- you can literally just try to drop any item in front of you. If there's a pit there, it won't let you drop it; if there isn't, it will. You can then open the map and mark it as a pit yourself (as the PSP version allowed you to make your own markings and edits on the map). The PSP version also featured "Retry Bread," which basically saved your progress to memory at the very moment you ate it. If you died, you could choose to quick-continue from the last Retry Bread point instead of your last save. A bit pointless, but I liked the idea, since it was quicker to eat Retry Bread than it was to save to a memory stick (which is probably why they included it!). The biggest difference, though, was a whole second quest where you play as Dela (Alexis in the English version). It's basically "hard mode," and features a lot of enemies and items that don't exist in the regular game -- such as the Map Eater, which is an insanely difficult enemy that tracks you across an entire floor, ERASING YOUR MAP as it approaches. So even if you're on the other side of the floor entirely, you'll know it's coming just by opening your map and looking for the swath of empty map squares. It's honestly kind of terrifying, and I really love the implementation! They also introduced H.Poison and M.Poison in the second quest, which -- as the names imply -- do the opposite of H.Potion and M.Potion, reducing your HP or MP by a set amount. The names are so similar, you really need to pay attention, and it kind of makes you extra paranoid -- but then, as one extra twist, there are actually undead/unkillable enemies in the game that can move anywhere and just serve as huge pests that constantly get in your way... but the one thing that can block their movement is H.Poison. If you drop it on the ground, it serves as a barrier, preventing them from moving past. So if you save up your H.Poison, you can actually barricade those undead enemies in dead-ends to keep them from pestering you for the rest of your time on the floor. Really, the PSP remake of Brandish is just superb all-around. If this is truly now one of your favorite SNES games, I urge you to try getting your hands on it, as it really is everything a good remake should be, preserving the entirety of the original game while making significant quality-of-life improvements and adding tons of extra content for good measure.

I got this for a song in the 90s when a rental place retired it. I really enjoyed it.

I have seen this game mentioned often and always thought "how could anyone have thought this is playable", once again, your hard work and dedication has revealed and incredible and clearly playable gaming experience that just needed a bit of explanation :-D.

Fun fact about this game's legacy: it's protagonist Varrik showed up as the player character in a very famous Earthbound ROM hack called The Halloween Hack. Made by a certain developer by the name of Toby Fox...

Always glad to see new YT videos from you!

One thing that really stuck with me during your play through was how well and quickly you mastered the controls. I still had no idea where we were, but it didn't matter cause you were confidently at the helm driving us through the dungeon. This game was a delightful little gem with so many interesting elements which you've really captured here in your video, and in the experience watching you play it live on stream. Thank you for this video!

There's such a difference between watching streams of a game, and seeing a review. I never thought much about trying this game, but I dare say this gives me some vibes of games that I love, ie Solstice, etc.. and is making me (gasp) consider giving it a whirl. It is a beautiful game and the exploration definitely looks rewarding. Nice work, Grumbles.

You're videos made me so excited that both times I've discovered your videos and started to watch them I've spilled juice all over my desk! 🤣 I really love it how you're covering some of the more obscure SNES games; Upon playing through the entire library, I felt like there were *many* games for this console which deserved more credit - including this one! 🔥🔥 Love your content - keep up the *amazing* work!!!

I've been meaning to check out the PSP Brandish. Honestly, the lack of animation when the world rotates is what scared me away, but i think I'll give the SNES ones a shot.

"unintentionally punched everything straight back to hell" ok that's a great line, ha

I played through this one a couple of years ago just in a quest to finish the adventure games on the SNES. It was not great but not abhorrent. I felt as if a handful of small changes could have made it a fantastic experience. The worst thing predictably is that rotating camera angle. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on and a bit more to adjust to it efficiently. I think if you polished off the frustrating parts, you would end up with Brain Lord on the SNES. It’s a decent title if you’re not familiar with it :) Another thorough review!

I just found your channel from this Brandish video, I love all the old RPG content! Liked and Subbed!

Excellent review! I've got to try Brandish out some day. Thank you for highlighting the good features and the sticking points.

Great video, you went into great detail on explaining this one and now I am curious about the whole game in speed runs now. Fun video and I was definitely entertained watching this one for sure! 😀😄 Thank you so much for this great upload

Huh. So, _Brandish_ is a first-person dungeon crawler like _Might and Magic…_ but shown from a top-down perspective. That doesn't sound _that_ bad… It looks okay, at the very least, and the music sounds nice. Also… that Dark Zone area reminds me of some old user-made _ZZT_ games from ages past. _Invisible ping-pong paths._ Always fun. Always a great party trick.

Brandish has a lot of style. I've always loved the cartoon like cut-scene storytelling similar to Brandish or Ninja Gaiden etc.

Who amongst us hasn't decided that we want more mightiness for ourselves. 😛 Really enjoying your reviews! Thanks.

There's something both hilarious and relatable to me about you ending the game with your money maxed out and also saying you didn't buy most of the spells because of how expensive they were. I did the exact same thing when I played this game with my dad as a kid, though I did go back at the end to buy them just to see what the spells did.

Nice presentation. Thanks!

great review. Keep em coming.

Thanks so much for covering this title! I remember seeing it on the shelf at my local Babbage’s back when I was in HS. One thing that kept me from picking it up was the price. It was something like $60-$70, and never went on sale. That was a lot of money for a game back in the 90’s, especially with the other heavy hitters out at the time like Lunar 2, Chrono Trigger, Demons Crest, Lucia 2, Beyond Oasis, and FF3, just to name a few. I see what they were trying to do with this to make it a little different, and it seems to rhyme with Shining in the Darkness (to me, at least) with an overhead action component. It’s almost like the developers should have waited for the (3D) hardware of the PS1 to make what I think they were trying to accomplish happen. Great content as always, and I appreciate the attention to detail with the box art and instruction manuals!

For whatever reason, this reminds me of Brain Lord, an interesting top-down action-adventure with an emphasis on puzzles from the guys who gave us The 7th Saga.

Thank you for this: Brandish was one of those games that was always peripherally on my radar (I would always see it at the local rental store), but I never really got around to it. Seeing it here, and hearing your breakdown of it makes me want to give it a shot!

Indiana Jones and the Perpetual Monotonous Exploration. I just found your channel and I love it, digging through the backlog. Most of my rpg love started around the ps1/2 era. I love finding my way back through the annals of retro history and find new things to try! Thanks!!

You make a convincing argument that there is a lot here that makes the movement worth it. Honestly, the longer I stared at the gameplay, the better it looked. Wouldn't mind giving it a try! The art if anything looks REALLY nice!

Dude Brandish on SNES is legend, I rented this game so many times and finally beat it back in the day. So weird but such a fun game.

@Hungry Goriya I admire and tip my hat to you for finishing this game!! I couldn't. Sat down with this game and within an hour, packed it back up and took it back to the store, and I've finished BrainLord! Never picked it up again and never will.

I love your voice and style of review. The "punched them back to hell" line being dropped so dry like that killed me.

"We are going to make a dungeon crawler game, but we only have enough money for the protagonists forward facing sprite." "Say no more, fam, I got this."

I really enjoyed playing this game in the early and mid 00's. My main trick to inventory management was to use unbreakable swords (including a broken sword at the start) unless I was facing a boss and selling all but the most powerful equipment (the Dark Sword/Shield/Armor being the exception) that I had. This allowed me to always have room for tools and such.

I would highly recommend playing the second game on the snes, it was translated a decade or so ago and it is plain fantastic. Some people liked 1 better but 2 was really good, it introduced villages, other environments and believe it or not the music got even better. You could also dual wield shields for supreme defense or two weapons if you wanted. Sadly magic was about as useful as it was in the first game, minus of course the barrier spell and the double damage one.

Excellent review! This is one I remember seeing advertised in game magazines all the time...but I just never grabbed it for some reason (even though I was a HUGE rpg anything fiend). I remember downloading the psp version years ago and never getting a chance to play it. Maybe this review is my wake up call to push it to the front of my backlog.

I loved this game and it's sequel as a child. My cousin had it but never talked about it but I spent a good deal of time with it. I also came to the fortress underlevelled on magic defense but figured out a quick way to increase magic defense by sleeping intentionally in the range of magic attacks. I saw the control scheme as a reference to old dungeon crawlers in which players would literally turn slowly each pace in a labyrinth, just done in a bird's eye view. My favorite song is the headless theme and I love the covers I've heard of it. And while this game has had such negative viewpoints from others, I loved how instantly recognizable Toby Fox used Brandish references in Undertale. It made that game even more enjoyable with those influences. I have to say that the sequel was also fun but I only played it through once with a translation patch to completion and never again.

Good review. I feel like Brandish bizarre camera was an attempt to combine action RPG with dungeon crawler. Its structure of "one giant dungeon divided into floors" also reminds me of dungeon crawlers of the time (Wizardry, Dungeon Master). I quite liked playing this game but I really fell in love with its sequel Brandish 2, which expands on the first episode in every way and has one of the best RPG soundtracks I ever heard. It was released on the PC98 and the Super Famicom and both versions received fan-translations.

Brandish is one of my favorite games and I'm a big fan of anything falcom. Knowing that and knowing Toby fox loves this game I was surprised barely anyone has heard or played this game. I own the psp version and I absolutely enjoyed it even though im kinda stuck as of writing this but besides that I wish more people know of falcom and also these older titles like this and xanadu next for example. This game is the dungeon crawler I love and I just can't find other games like it.

This one needed to grow on me as I had played it after discovering the old standbys of Chrono Trigger and FFVI. I even recall Nintendo Power not exactly being nice about its graphical shortcomings on the map; something to the effect of "this roleplaying experience isn't pretty". But once you work past its rather unfavorable first impression it does become a solid if sometimes unforgiving experience.

I couldn't get beyond the way the levels have to be rotated when I first tried this game back then while my other gripe at the time was, "this blonde girl is so much cooler looking and she's front and center on the box, why can't I play as her!?" Now all these years later... I still stand by those personal criticisms. 😅

this was a game that took me some time to enjoy it. but the PSP remake is what i recommend to most people since i know most would struggle to get into this version. but the 2nd game on SNES that got fan translated is a huge improvement and i had way more fun with it. very good coverage on this classic falcom game

Just finished watching this. Quite enjoyable, HG! (This is Antiprimsatic, hehe! ^_^)

This makes me appreciate Brandish in a whole new light. Thank you

Yet again another fantastic review. Very well made and very interesting to watch and listen too. And, another game I've never even heard of. Just when you think you've seen all there is to offer someone (like you) throws another fantastic looking game your way) Thanks! I love how this game looks and the story is very cool. I will defo have to give this one a go one day. - What are the save options like in this game. Can you save anywhere? Thanks again, and I love your reviews, so keep them coming x

It seems like a game that as you invest your skill over time it pays off. I like the idea that if you get hit it increases your strength Stat, I'm learning more about the differences between CRPGs and JRPGs and I enjoy things like that where there isn't a one Stat to buff - that different stats can be used in different ways. Comings from the old Fallout games and now seeing it in games like Cyberpunk 2077 - goes back to the D&D aspect of, "Ok, HOW do you want to do that?" and not just one way, I appreciate that. This also looks in the vein of the old SNES/Sega games (well it IS an SNES game after all) of as you play more the game looks graphically more and impressive. I am adding this to my Hungry recommended backlog. Great review! Also my next Retro game is to replay and maybe finally beat The Legend of The River King

Thanks a lot for this video since this is one of my favorite SNES games. There is a lot of charm in this game that a lot of people seem to miss. I find myself agreeing with you on a lot of your videos as it seems you are willing to look for positives over minute negatives and dwelling on them. This is the kind of perspective I think reviewers need to have, at least in my opinion, so that people can find games that are catered to the kind of fun they are looking for. Also, I know you don't really do PS1 games, but I reallllyyy hope someday you will take a look at Alundra as it feels like an SNES game that just happens to be on PS1. You tend to do harder games and I think you would really like it. (Not to mention give it a fair shake instead of writing it off as "too hard".)

Ah, Brandish. I loved playing it years ago but doubt I ever could do it again. It's actually a port of a PC98 title, you know? A literal port, not any loose port like the Evo SNES version was. Maybe it played way less clunky on a PC98 than on the SNES. I'm surprised you didn't mention that one "puzzle" in the Caves are. The room where you have to "Use" a torch to progress since it's actually a lever. I do not recall any hint for that, and I was stuck for ages because I did not think the game would change rules like that so suddenly. Funny you used the punch for the first 2 hours, since that's actually the optimal way to play. Punching increases your Strength more than using weapons, and since you're low on cash and fighting weak enemies with no unbreakable weapons, it's just better to go with the fists. And speaking of enemies, who's the sadist who put those bats as the first enemies in the game? You're already struggling with the controls, and the first thing you meet is a fast enemy that can pass through you to attack from other angles, while you're probably still trying to learn how to turn. They're not the only troll enemies either, as the whole Headless Golems boss is a gankfest that i'd be surprised if anyone survived on their first try. The lack of diagonal movement makes it like a horror movie until you can kill one and open a path. I'm also surprised the music didn't stick with you! The shop theme and ruins theme are some of my favorites, and "Synchronicity" is a song I wish played more often with how it feels so fitting for exploring a dungeon. The Fortress theme isn't that great on the original, but you gotta look up the PSP version's Fortress OST. It's somewhere between disco and 80s rock in a way that weirdly fits. Like Varik is completely exhausted after the Dark Zone, but he's giving his second wind to push himself to the end, not even letting himself be bothered by the meaty walls. No stopping now!

Haha, I remember recommending this to you a bit of time ago. Going by your tastes, I thought you might like it, but with Brandish, you especially never really know if someone will :p I'm really happy you enjoyed it. The game has a really cool story and a generally oppressive and depressing vibe I find really intriguing. The game does a good job at conveying how hopeless it is down there, but your character keeps persevering...if the player does. Brandish 2 starts out with a similar quality, because you're thrown in a prison and anyone who manages to escape (of course, it's very dangerous) is deemed innocent. But overall, I find that the other Brandish games don't convey that hopelessness quite as well as the first. The music in Brandish 2 is quite a lot better than 1, however. The opening prison theme is REALLY good. I listen to it all the time :p You should try Brandish: The Dark Revenant out sometime. It's a VERY good conversion and I think it's a lot more welcoming because the control scheme is set up better, as is the camera movement. The camera works the same, but there is at least a bit of an animation to the turns so it isn't nearly as disorienting as that one frame skip that is used on the SNES and PC versions.

Great review! This convinced me I need to try this version. I really like the PSP remake (was actually my first professionally-published review for the now-defunct Front Towards Gamer), and I've been curious about the 16-bit original and its sequels, but always heard it was an inaccessible mess.

Never heard of this game but am going to try it now. Thanks

Such a great review! I hardly see anyone praising the snes version. Though it was frustrating at times I still had a lot of fun with it. I first found out about Brandish when I had done research on Toby Fox when I was obsessed with Undertale (don’t worry, I’m not a stan or anything) but I had found Varik’s character really interesting, and it’s a shame that some of the other games haven’t gotten translated. I know that the snes and pc98 versions of the second game and the Dark revenant were, but not the other ones. This series needs more attention. Though I doubt it would happen if Falcom made anything else for the series, as they are very fond of constantly making Ys or Trails games.

This is my favorite game on the SNES. Second to Brandish 2: The Planet Buster and then there is Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. Ok I have a lot of favorites but I'm so thankful you reviewed this game and liked it. Brings me great joy!

The dark rooms with pits is definitely something inspired by Shin Megami Tensei and one of the most sinister things ever introduced to the genre of dungeon-based RPGs

Excelente review

Such a criminally underrated game! Everything about Brandish feels unique - gameplay, storyline, artwork, soundtrack. Too bad people couldn't get past the game mechanics, they ended up missing a true gem. Have you played Brandish 2? It's my favorite of the series, too bad it didn't get a remake yet.

I played the PSP remake last year and I think it's a great game if you can get your hands on it. It wasn't listed in the store on my PS TV, but I was able to buy it from my PS3 and then download it from my library on the PS TV. (The camera rotates smoothly instead of instantly, which makes it less disorienting.) There are fan translations for both the PC-98 and SFC versions of Brandish 2, though I haven't tried either yet. I would love to see Falcom remake the rest of the series in the same style, or even just localize them.

Ahh, Brandish... Now, Falcom games are something I've been thinking on getting into for a while, but I haven't started yet. I was always fascinated by the art of this game, and would love to check the PC-98 version... but that one is a bit difficult to get into for us in the western side of the world. Anyway, as always, big respect for giving the game a fair chance. As you said, most people are turned off by the weird control scheme but I think it's a bold move to have a "sort of 3D" camera for a 2D game. I guess that's a pain for the designers, too, but hey: back then you had to throw things up and see what sticks, right?

Had this one growing up got stuck on the puzzle where you have to hit the switches in a order based on north/south/east/west ; came back when I wasn’t a stupid kid and figured it out.

You know, I had watched this video day one just shortly after it had came out but sometimes I just like to wait to comment after the dust has settled 🙂. This was a great video. A game I had seen in lists and all but never knew anything about until you shared it. I'm not sure if I could wrap my head around the room rotation but I suspect given time it would become ok. I'm sure someone has pointed out but there is a Japan only sequel for the super Famicom I saw.

Hearing about some of this game's weird quirks makes me wonder how much I'd like the Mystery Dungeon games if I hadn't been introduced to them as a kid through the GBA Pokemon ones. I realize they REALLY casualized the heck out of DX for the newest release, but...yeah, no, I'mma hold out hope for a proper new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game will someday be made...just, not on the Switch, as Pokemon as a whole hasn't been too great since the 3DS days, minus some side games. (...Arceus is a side game, don't @ me)

The cover art reminds me of the designs for Record of Lodoss War. They could easily be Parn and Deedlit.

Great video

Great video! I'll be sticking to the PSP version because of the more traditional way of navigating the dungeon.

Nice review! I never hear anyone give much praise to this game, so it's interesting to hear about what it does right for a change. The default controls being bad reminds me of Golden Axe Beast Rider. Once I switched the controls in that game it suddenly became 10 times more playable. I guess this is just my weird brain at work, but when you describe it as a dungeon crawl/RPG hybrid, my immediate thought was: isn't dungeon crawling the main ingredient of RPGs? Having grown up with Phantasy Star, Sword of Vermillion and the Bard's Tale, the idea of an RPG without dungeons to trawl through is baffling.

Brandish's camera is why I tend to go for the psp remake dark revenent having a normal 3d camera just works much better and is far less disorienting

Interesting game and great content as usual!

Choosing the GBA version to be the avatar of Doom was pretty great. Great review. I haven't watched your video on SNES games you found underwhelming, after I saw the list contained games I love because I am afraid I'll be convinced by your arguments.

There’s a sequel too! It was only released in Japan but there’s an English patch available.

A nice review for this underrated dungeon crawler, I've played sequel first but I was just as impressed with first once I played it after completing the former. Suprisingly, I was never bothered with the unique control scheme although it took time to get it used to. Regarding the sequel, I hope to see you love it just as much as the first as it's a massive improvement over the first game: graphics, music, gameplay, story gets even more expanded, more interesting character and worldbuilding interactions and even more fiendish mazes and puzzles.

Great review on a game not much talk about!

This somehow came across to me as a console attempt at a pc roguelike, with a lot of console RPG thrown in. Im actually a PC gamer, and I see a lot of "PC stuff" in Brandish. (Except for I havent PC gamed since my husband bought me a switch for xmas. FF12 FOR THE WIN! Favorite console RPG of all time, and the last FF worth playing. Rebeating it for the first time since '07. And the re-release holds up really well even after 16 years. And I can play it anywhere cuz switch! 😍) Buuut, Im not here to rant about how awesome FF12 is. (even tho I just did, oops) I dont know if I'd like Brandish. I cant tell. The flipping walls are weird. But the game looks...unique. And when youre an old jaded gamer like me, whos played literally thousands of stereotypical turn based RPGs, unique is good. And like a Roguelike, kind of. And I love Roguelikes. Also I do like the automap. And I like the map key in the manual referring to "weird walls". Everyone needs a few weird walls in their life. 8:37 and 8:53 I laughed. I'm always amused by the "shop in the middle of nowhere with a shopkeeper surprised someone arrived" RPG trope. Why would you put your shop out in the middle of nowhere where youre shocked to have a customer? I like games with the healing mechanic where you can find a quiet corner and heal. IIRR, the 90s Yses (Yss? Whats the plural of Ys anyway?) had that. Maybe? I might be thinking of some weird PC engine jRPG But breakable weapons + tiny inventory...hm. idk. Im an item hoarder in almost any game I play. Thats usually a dealbreaker. Same for you are stuck on grid movement but some enemies are not. But, seriously I really dig your reviews. Like I said before, I too am an OG female gamer whos been a gamer since my dad bought an apple IIe when I was about 4 and gravitate towards RPGs and action RPGs. Im more PC based, but I love 90s jRPGs So, if you say its worth a shot, Im trying it!

Thanks for the video HG. I was thinking at the beginning nah I’ll just play Diablo but I’m glad I watched the whole video because this game looks like it has a lot of style and charm, I”m not sure if that’d be enough for me with the controls. It looks like I’d enjoy the game if I could get into it, but I think it needs more brone.

Brandish: The Dark Revenant, a remake on the PSP, is a better title in all possible ways. Mostly because the rotation doesn't make your head hurt.

Great review. I ... uh ... tried this game a LONG time ago. Noped out after a few minutes. :D

"Some of my grumblings are missing here" xD

Interesting review, thanks! Have you tried the PSP remake? If so, is it any good?

2:07-3:23 That aspect of the controls sounds unnecessarily difficult. Of course, there was one SNES game I tried (that wasn't an RPG) that could qualify as worse: Bombuzal/Ka-Blooey. The U.S. release uses a 3D isometric perspective on a grid, but the controls are directionally challenged because the movements are inverted. What is more insulting is that the Japenese version of the same game on the Super Famicom had a "2D Mode" where players could see where to go, but that option wasn't available in the SNES version.

This game sounds like it has good conveyance, I'll have to give it a try. I've seen the game's name before, but have never tried it before. Thanks for the review.

That wall rotation I describe with the Japanese expression of "kimo" (gross), usable on technical systems like that indeed. Feels like their ideal game could not quite be imagined, like they needed a Virtual Hydlide like operation a generation or two later. Did not know Falcom were involved in this but enemies not following the rules you have to stick to - there it is, the way I got to know the modern Falcom. Lovely art of its era.

I've always been on the fence about picking this game up for my PC Engine collection because of the unconventional navigation but after seeing this review I think I'll take the plunge on it.

Wish Brandish 2,3 and VT got a remake

I totally thought Alexis was going to be the protagonist based on the art, she stands out so much more like she's meant to be the focal point. Rotating the camera is a neat mechanic for this type of game. I think there's potential for that but I'm not sure the SNES would've been able to really make that shine. It allows you to use all the walls in a way that a typical top down view doesn't really allow you to. But you really need to be able to pack a lot of unique details to justify doing it and it doesn't look like this game does that. Still I really appreciate seeing the experimentation!

For you older folk out there, the art style may seem familiar to you, as it was done by Isotoshi. Yes, *that* Isutoshi.

Really interesting backstory for this game! I definitely need to use that as a plothook for a D&D adventure. I also really miss that fantasy anime artstyle, its sad that its been lost in the current design of things.

I don't think I remember ever seeing this one, but looks interesting.

I played this game all the way thru many times. Funny how things didn't seem so bad and time consuming. Guess i was used to level grinding from the original Dragon Warrior. Spending hours apun hours to teach that next level or to be able to afford the next better weapon and armor. Anyone familiar with shining in the darkness has to remember the erea near the end of the game where if lucky enough get crystal ooze to fight. And if your really lucky being able to defeat one before it runs away. The equivalent of a mettal babble on steroids.

im thinking about giving this a go on snes

Brandish is just *so cool* I love that it got to keep it's Japanese aesthetic with almost no compromises for it's international release, and it's lore and story go way above and beyond for the time period it was released in. If there were a Brandish anime, I would watch the heck out of it. And as I mentioned a while ago, I did snag the PSP remake of this game. I'm definitely even more excited to get into now, and I'll let you know of any really significant differences I come across!

Seeing this game is having an effect on me as an Undertale, fan, seeing all the things that inspired Toby Fox from the shop menus to to falling down animation is amazing to say the least. Brandish may not be popular but its effect on the world is felt.

The controls are based on the original pc9800 control scheme. All the brandish games are pretty great.

Seems like an interesting game. Would be nice if you can move your guy in a more conventional way and use the L and R buttons to rotate the map. It's getting pricey in the after market, of course. I could emulate it, but I probably wouldn't have much time to play through it these days...

Kind of a shame that Alexis' outfit during the opening/ending cutscene in the English release got censored.

YESS!!!

I love this game! it's too bad that the sequel never left Japan.but there are fan translations available for it now at least.

So, why do the two on the box look like Parn and Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War?

The psp remake simply improves every aspect of the game. I haven't played this version. The L and R rotates the camera and I don't recall the dark zone being that tedious. The music stands out more.

I wish they would remake the other Brandish games that never made out of Japan. Brandish 1 was remade on the PSP as Brandish: The Dark Revenant. In some ways Brandish reminds me of Brain Lord, have you played or done a LP of that?

I've never understood why people find the concept of having a fixed perspective and looking around the dungeon was confusing. And I'm not a person with great visualization skills or anything. Just comes natural to me and I've never understood why brandish is seen as a bad game for it.

Awsome review at the time of typing this im at floor 3 of the fortress and hey can we get a review of the seacond game?

The wierd changing camera angles thing gave me a lot of trouble so it mad eme quit. Maybe I should give it another try

hell yeah

I really like the box art for this game. I know it's a little superficial, but that is the first impression you get for a game, and the box art for this game has a very strong Record of Lodoss War energy, which I really enjoy. The cutscenes and NPC art do fufill that style, but the in-game graphics are a little dry in comparison. It's not quite a fair criticism, tho. I think I'll give this game a shot, and I'll remember to change that control scheme the first chance I get!

This is the 3rd video I've watched on this channel since finding it this morning. I'm loving them! The creator will probably never see this, but hopefully they feel happy with their awesome work and I thank them for the both brutally honest reviews of all the games I grew up with as well as for the wonderful trips down memory lane 💖.