Brave Fencer Musashi

"A few problems but still a good game"

In 1998 Square released Brave Fencer Musashi, an action RPG hybrid. Many people thought it would be the next Zelda maybe be better than Zelda but it isn't. Musashi isn't a bad game though in fact it's pretty fun it just has a few problems.

-Story- Some of the things in Musashi's story have definitely been done before anyway here it goes. The king and queen leave on vacation but once they do so the kingdom is attacked. The princess performs the hero summon for Brave Fencer Musashi a legendary hero that saved the world from a dark wizard years ago. But, Musashi isn't exactly what they had hoped for. He comes as a kid with a tude and no knowledge of his previous visit. Musashi is charged with bringing peace back to the kingdom so he can return home. And then of course the princess and just about every one else in the castle are kidnapped so Musashi has to save them as well.

-Game play- There are the basic explore and spend money things going on here but Musashi features some nice additions. Musashi uses two swords, Fusion, and Lumina, Fusion when through allows Musashi to absorb enemies and obtain their special ability. Lumina has different scrolls, which give it different abilities to use. In town there is a pawnshop where you sell off useless items for money. The game doesn't let you sell anything need. The pawnshop also helps find your legendary armor which enhances your basic abilities. The game also changes from day to night in real time. Instead of time stopping when you enter a town or dungeon like other games though the clock is always running. Certain shops are only open at certain times and your foodstuff goes bad after a few days as well.

-Sound Music- The sound effects are great. The music is very good and has some real memorable tunes. The games voice acting although is pretty lousy. There's probably only one good voice in the whole lot.

-Graphics- The graphics aren't all that pretty the characters are blocky and the environments aren't very impressive. But there are a few surprising moments when the graphics really shine.

Musashi is a pretty fun game it feature three different endings, which boosts its replay. But, it has poor voice acting and some of the dialogue is written very poorly. If you can live with its faults then Musashi proves to be a fun game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/01, Updated 10/12/01