I've been saying this game was terribly underrated since the 90s, and glad it seems like it's finally starting to get some credit! Great review, and glad you covered this one! Squaresoft during the 90s is pure gold. When it comes to graphics, gamers are jaded plain and simple. You will never hear me say "didn't age well".
The English voice over for this game was handled by Animaze, the same folks who brought you the legendary English dubs of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell in anime and did the Ace Combat and .hack series in the PS2 era, so these guys definitely knew their way around solid localized voice acting. The sequel though, now there's some truly abysmal voice acting.
daaamn i remember i played this game when i was like 10 years old and i totally loved it, by that time i was crazy for Ocarina of Time and for me this was almost on par with it, to me it was like a parody of OoT (Not literally), the self-aware dialog was hilarious, it was like watching an anime, back then i thought this was the ULTIMATE RPG, it was so addictive, it took me a lot of time to finish it, it was one of those games that didnt hold your hand, you had to explore and speak with the NPCs to find out where to go and back then there werent any guides or internet where i could find my way and never i felt tired of it, its a Gem.
my dad took me to a pawn shop, back in '98, just to look around, and i found this game there. complete, near mint, and only $15. i had never heard of this game before, but when i saw it was done by square, and had the FFVIII demo disc, i knew i had to get it! turns out musashi was a great game all on it's own as well! i still have it in my collection:)
Bro! That fucking intro was sweet. Never heard of this title before, but now I want to give it a go. Even without RE, you're still killing it. Chrono Cross has such an amazing soundtrack, I still listen to it to this day. I'll definitely be checking out this games soundtrack. I like the new Pros and Cons section at the end. Keep it up man
Thanks man! It feels good to start making these type of videos again. You're literally the target audience with this stuff. I love showing these games to people who never heard of them. Also, yeah Chrono Cross is the gold standard for game sound tracks.
It's kind of amazing how I haven't thought of this game in years, but the music and voice lines bring back semi-weepy amounts of nostalgia. Haha, weird how neurons can fire up and bring back moments that you didn't even know you have forgotten and turn them back into clear fond memories.
It's so weird. Either our brain is holding specific charges to house memories like a SNES cart, or they're somehow burned into the pathways by neurotransmitter bombardment. They've probably figured it out, but I've never even thought about the physical logistics before. Shit is wild.
Okay, first of all, the new intro was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME I'm so happy you decided to take a look at this one, I adore this game so much, it has so much charm, so much love put into it, it's truly a game that was created without compromising the creators' vision. This is definitely a top ten PSone title for me.
I got goose bumps from that intro, it really kicks ass. I played Threads of Fate which is kinda similar to this, Check it out if you haven't. Oh and keep up the great work.
I've been going through your older videos and am super happy to see you giving one of my favorite games so much love. Brave Fencer Musashi has some of the most amazing video game music I've ever heard. I need to play it again soon.
Dull serious games, for real Jared. We really need this stylized kind of game nowdays, today everything is too realistic, too serious, too violent or sexual.
Couldn't agree more! I'd love to see more stylized, silly, fun games pop up from time to time. Also I love how people mock someone for having an opinion. Just because a game contains sexuality, violence and vulgarity does not in fact make a game "mature," or "deep."
Dope ass review, love the intro, and great game pick! This game didn’t click well with me when I tried it a couple of years ago. Glad to hear your opinion on it as I hear so many love the game.
One of those hidden gems that went under the radar Brave Fencer Musashi is a wonderful game. I discovered it by accident and I love it. I grateful for my copy and years later after hearing about it again gives me the thought of probably playing it again for old times sake. A game I would like to say maybe could use a remake but I feel that they shouldn't mess with the voice acting since the acting I think is the best for it's time. I'm glad someone is aware of it since you don't see much videos of this game. Thanks for bringing back the memories of this game. I need to play this again sometime.
Great review, dude. I'm happy to see you branching out from the REtrospective. It's sad I can't find a English copy of this game to play on my ps3, it looks great.
The prices for Mushashi seem kind of ridiculous, try to find a disk only or incomplete copy, they're more reasonable, $50 for the copy I got, because missing instructions.
I'm used to Snes/Saturn prices so it's not so bad. PS1 seems to be catching up to those though, Valkyrie profile and Klonoa are the highest prices I've seen on PS1. Emulation is an option, but for games I can't afford I import (JP versions are much cheaper) or get a "backup", my system is modded
I know the SNES can be easily emulated by most devices nowadays. Don't know much about the Saturn to be honest. Always wanted to try it though, but the physical hardware is expensive and prone to failing nowadays and I've only found one Saturn emulator that is very hit and miss (would love to try Panzer Dragoon).
ahh the nostalgia, I remember as a kid we didn't have internet at home so there's no way of researching what games are good so when my brother and I went to buy PS1 games we just look at the covers and get the coolest ones and obviously this game is one of them!! ahhhh I miss the old days. looking back, I remember not caring much about the voice acting in video games, but as an adult I can say this game has one of THE BEST voice acting performances during that time even now really.
When my friends asked me a fantasy-styled adventure game featuring a child on a perilous quest, I responded with this game instead of Zelda, and they would always act all confused. Till this day, I intentionally have not finished this game as to give me a reason to get back to on ePSXe, dunno why Sony didn't bother to make a decent port of this for the PSP or PSVita
Love this game! I remember seeing a double page ad in some magazine back in the day. It advertised a dozen or so games and i wanted them all! Musashi, final fantsy tactics, einhander, legend of mana, Bushido Blade and much more. The 90s were such a golden era for SE. I can’t find 1 game i really want from SE nowadays.
I remember being excited for that demo disc that came with Parasite Eve. It had a playable demo of this, Xenogears, and a trailer for Final Fantasy 8. I'm sure you'll review them all eventually but good luck with Xenogears. I loved it back in the day but the last time I tried to play it I just couldn't do it. I was about 50 hours in and not even off the first disc. I know Disc 2 is a lot shorter but...it just doesn't hold up. Honestly better left in my memory of rainy summers.
This was an amazing video. This game is one of the best I've ever played from the style, the humor and that incredible soundtrack. The frustrations are pretty minor compared to the quality.
Forgot all about this game. I loved playing this as a kid. Can't believe it was somehow wiped from my memory but thanks for bringing it back to memory.
I'm still new to this game, I just finished the first steamwood section recently. Didn't grow up with PS1 and I've been slowly catching up, and I've been getting a hold of square's non final fantasy games like Einhänder Enjoying it a lot so far, I've heard it can be frustrating but so far I haven't had any problems I noticed the movement speed last time I played, but when I switched to analog he suddenly instantly runs at full speed at all times, it's strange but I think maybe you're intended to switch between plus and stick movement to fit the situation, plus is better for exact careful movement. The stamina level will also affect your movement speed, sleeping fixes it. I'm still planning on getting Threads of fate, Xenogears, and Vagrant story soon. I'll probably enjoy Tactics too.
Loved the review as always. I always envisioned this game as comparable to the Saturday morning cartoons in the 90s. I remember getting this at a local EB Games thinking that Musashi had Cloud's buster sword and Sephiroth's masamune after finishing FF7 for the first time back then. Best misinterpretation I've ever gotten myself into.
Played this bad boy on a demo disc not sure if it was a PlayStation underground disc. Not until recently did i ever find out the name of this damm game. I rattled my head for years but couple years back, i found out and been trying to get my hands on this game . But man i played the hell out of the demo. Fought the robot thing at the end.
I think games with visuals like this age so well because of the limitations mixed with a great art style, a limited set of tools makes the artist get creative. I love how pretty games are today, but strict limitations of hardware were what made fantastic art design shine through in gems like this one. Another great video man, refreshing to see another video, not that I didn't like the RE Retrospective.
I have always wanted to add this game to my collection! I used to play the demo a whole bunch when I was a kid, and it was the same demo disc that had Threads of Fate on it and I absolutely adorn that game! Definitely will have to check out if I can get ahold of this somewhere down the line. Got another out of town trip planned that has some great video game stores, so maybe luck will be on my side lol! Another great review as always man! Definitely a breath of fresh air from the RE Retrospective as much as I loved watching that series. Can't wait to see what you review next!
Me and my dad used to play this game all the time when I was a kid. Rootrick was always our favorite character. We used to go around saying "Y'all gonna get a licking!" 😂
Glad you're back! Also that animated intro is kickass and I'm glad you returned with one of my favourite PSX games. It's a shame Square went down the shitter after the merger with Enix, I enjoyed lots of games from both companies. At least we still have Dragon Quest lol Now that you're back to doing regular reviews, do you think you'll review any of the Shin Megami Tensei games on the PS2 (i.e. SMT 3, Digital Devil Saga, Raidou Kuzunoha etc.)? I think you'd really enjoy them since they're all dark yet extremely stylish and unbelievabl fun RPGs. Also, you should totally give Etrian Odyssey a shot.
Thanks!!! I love a lot of SMT games. I will be covering Nocturne, Devil Summoner and Digital Devil Saga at some point soon. I love those games, and a lot more people need to hear about them.
Awesome review, kind of makes me even sadder this never got a PAL release. You can workaround some of these games with a US PSN on PS3 (like Chrono Cross and FF Tactics) but Musashi was never lucky to see that release :( Also probably stating the obvious, but hot damn that intro!
Awesome BGM and voice acting! It's one of if not my favourite PS1 game. I actually learned English speaking and writing from playing these kinds of games.
Ahhh god I remember this game from when I was a kid. I loved it so much. I rented it from Blockbuster Video because I was so into the game after I played a demo of it on an issue of Playstation Underground. I still don't understand why they haven't released it as a PS1 classic here in the US yet, since it's out in Japan. Good to see it still holds up as well as I remember. I've only been able to play it a few times since. I'll always treasure the age of the Square Renaissance as i tend to refer to it as, when Squaresoft really hit their peak in the 90's. True, not all of their games were great (I'm looking at you Ergheiz) but they experimented a lot more than they do now, and, unlike FFXIII, didn't bend to what was popular in the market at the time :'D It was a pretty glorious age with some of their best games, like Final Fantasy Tactics, Parasite Eve, Einhander (that was a fantastic shoot em up) just to name a few. I just recently revisited Einhander and I still think it's a fun time, if challenging at times for a 2.5D shoot em up, but that is part of what makes it enjoyable.
Love this game. The first 3D ARPG by Square is still one of my favorite games by them. God their golden age truly was, well, golden. I recommend the PS2 sequel, it gets a bad rep but I did enjoy it. Sure, it's nowhere near as good as the original, the beginning is boring and the art style is really weird (which is why I think it turned most people away) but it gets fun afterwards. The volcano dungeon is pretty impressive.
I loved this game so much back then, i can still remember how i played it every day for 4 months lol.. Hopefully a remake is coming although very unlikely sob...
Musashi sounds like MegaMan from MegaMan Legends. I wonder if it's the same voice actor? This game looks like it exudes a lot of charm. Thank you for covering it.
This was the era of Square putting a million different mechanics in their games. I loved this, but it's not easy to get now because of the hipster market. Like Mischief Makers. Speaking of 'a million different mechanics' would enjoy your thoughts on Vagrant Story.
If there's two games for the PS1 that need to be rebooted or remade (or finished in this case) it's this game, and Mega Man Legends!! I love this game so much that it's still in my collection to this very day!! A great soundtrack with a great story and voice acting that you heard in most animes around that time!! Squaresoft had some gems for the PS1. They were what Sunsoft was to the NES. They saved their franchise with the music of their games, and this game is no exception!!
Hmm, I don't remember this game when I was a kid, as it came out when I was 12 years old. I did have a Playstation 1 (the regular box shaped one). The only RPG game that I owned for that console was Final Fantasy 8, the one was Squall and Rinoa and that gun blade thingy which was cool. Pretty cool name, shame I didn't get into it. I just realized that Musashi's voice actor, also voiced Izzy in Digimon and Digimon 2 when it was on Fox Kids, which is a pretty cool thing and a trip that I realized that. Also from fair away Musashi looks like a different version of Sonic though. It's a pretty cool game from what I saw and I liked the review man. That intro is very cool by the way, keep it up man.
I only noticed while watching this video that the Princess Fillet joke doesn't work in America! Great review, love it. And I agree about the charm of flat shading entirely.
I remember playing a demo on one of those Playstation Underground demo discs. I have the disc around here somewhere, even though only one demo works anymore. I enjoyed Brave Fencer Musashi, though.
15:15 - It is the Framemeister. I have emulated this game on PC and played it over component cables on a modchipped PS2. On neither of those occasions did I see the dither effect. I'd link the YT vid of my LP of BFM but that'sbe a dick move so I won't. TL;DR - Yes, it is your Frameister (most likely)
had this game when it came out because of the FF8 demo it came with advertised on the box and ended up becoming one of my favorite games, picked it up again to play it on a ps1 just like back then its really sad its never seen a digital release here yet its had digital releases in Japan
I love PS1 era games and visuals, grew up with them, and I feel bad that I still haven't played this even though I played almost every other Squaresoft games back then.
This is an awesome review! I miss the days when games could be stylized and silly yet still be fun. I'm kind of drowned out by the constant run of multiplayer shooters and dreary dark "mature" stories. I would love to see a revival of these kinds of games, with charm and heart! P.S. I'm with you on PSone era graphics. Maybe it is because I grew up with it but it doesn't bother me. Ultra realism was never a factor for me when playing a game.
Nailed every nail in the coffin man. It is kinda sad not many people knew about this since Square dominated the RPG market in every other aspect...Including myself. But 5 years ago when I first played this I knew it was a classic. And you pretty much summed up why! Awesome video my dude! Glad to see ya back into RPGs haha.
Thank you! It's fucking great to be getting back to rpgs. I'd say like 70% of my collection is rpgs, so don't worry, there's a lot more where this came from.
@@AvalancheReviews Ah man I feel that haha. All I collect now are RPGs. So huzzah to seeing more of those in the future. Especially the obscure ones! Keep up the great work man :)
I still have my copy and collected all the action figures in the game! Of course I never opened them for higher resale value 😜 One of my favorites from PS1 and an amazing soundtrack like so many games of that era
Dude this game is so underrated. I sunk so much of my young life into it. And hooooollleeeey shiiiiieett yesssss: someone else who knows the pure aural nirvana that is the Chrono Cross soundtrack. My favorite PS1 game and soundtrack of all time
Holy shit, I played this game as kid, didn't remember much about it just that I absolutely adored it when I really needed some escapism. Last year I tried to find it but couldn't ever find out what the name was, but I just stumbled on this video and yup, this is fucking it. Wow Anyways, thanks for reviewing this, I'd given up finding it almost a year ago. I guess around the time you made this! fucking weird. can't wait to get it on my vita
I really find that this game was underrated, it's one of the games I played on the PSone as a kid. It's to bad that the sequel is not the same like this... I really like the world they created. Not sure why they changed everything...
Like most people my age, most who played this at least, I got it for the the demo packed in with it after seeing some advertisements for it, mostly in magazines. And I have to say, this game was fun as hell, but boy was it hard for young me.
Meant to get back to this last year but something came in the way of it. Currently replaying The Legend of Dragoon but this might be the next PS1 game I'm replaying after that. I've also bought the guide since I last played it so I might play through it with that just to see how good the guide actually is.
I just discovered your channel. Super good stuff but I have an important question: are you, superderek and sphere hunter the "soothing voiced chilled jrpg clan" on RU-vid?
