Brigandine

"Almost the best strategy game ever."

Overall - 10/10 (NOT an average)

Brigandine is a simple, yet highly addicting game. Despite it's god-awful graphics and nothing-special-about-me sounds and music, the game manages to capture the player's imagination with its memorable cast of characters, deep storyline, and reliable gameplay make for a great gaming experience. If you've got the time and dedication, the rewards can be quite substantial.

Gameplay - 8/10

Brigandine's strength is its simplicity. The game is decidedly ''old school,'' choosing to emphasize gameplay elements instead of graphics, sound, etc.

The control system might be confusing at first, a common problem with strategy games. The player is supposed to learn the nuances of mana management, character and creature development, questing, of course, how to set-up armies for attack and defense. Not that there's much time either; Brigandine is a game of high stakes: you win big, or you lose big. There's no such thing as a ''small'' error, since the computer (especially on harder difficulty levels) will be quick to take advantage of any mistakes. Fortunately, Atlus has included a save feature which can be used at any time in the game, even during battles, so you don't have to reset the game when your big, bad, souped-up White Dragon gets toasted because you forgot to heal the beastie!

The upgrading system used by the game isn't anything original, but that doesn't make it any less effective. By training knights and creatures, you can evolve them into better forms. Dragons become Fafnirs, Samurai become Shogun, etc. If you haven't seen this set-up before, you haven't been playing much. Still, levelling up your army can get very addictive as the game progresses.

The Battle System, which is the most important aspect of the game, is similar: nothing new, nothing fancy, but still very nice. Units battle on a hex-spaced map. Units are divided into three main types. Melee units, such as Giants and Dragons, have high levels of attack and defense and compose the front-lines of your forces. Artillery units, such as Centaurs, have high mobility and are attack the enemy from afar. Pixies and Unicorns belong to the support class, which aid your troops by healing, enchanting, etc. Controlling your forces are your Rune Knights, unique characters that can range anywhere from Priests to Ninja to Barbarians, each with different abilities and attributes.

Story - 7/10

The story of Brigandine focuses on the war occuring in the land of Forsena. Apparently, a renegade General decides to assassinate the ruler of the central kingdom. This great warrior, Zemeckis, declares himself emperor and vows to take over the neighboring kingdoms. Players can choose one of six kingdoms to guide as they attampt to take enemy territories while defending their own.

The story of Brigandine is rather shallow at first glance; not much time is taken to develop and flesh out the characters. Every few months, a short dialogue will occur between certain knights; that's about it. Still, the little interaction that does happen fuels the imagination, and a lot of holes are left for the player to fill in.

Each Kingdom had certain characters which they focus on, and it is these few characters that are ususally spotlighted. Thus, even though not every knight's story is fully developed, the main characters eventually endear themselves to the player... if he plays through the game long enough. To learn the ''entire'' story of Brigandine, you really do have to play each kingdom at the hardest difficulty level-- very tough.

To summarize: the game does have a surpising amount of depth, but only if the player is willing to devote time and effort to learn all it's intricacies.

Audio/Video - 5/10

Nothing spectacular. If your expecting a Final Fantasy Tactics, or even Vandal Hearts, forget it.

The battle scenes occuring between your armies take place on a simple, hand drawn map. Battles occur in a short polygonal scene which, though exciting at first, becomes rather tedious after a few hours in the game. The polygonal sprites themselves are nothing to gawk at; comparable to early playstation games such as Toh Shin Den.

The sounds are even less spectacular. Each kingdom is assigned a type of music fitting its description: a rhythmic tune for the magical kingdom of Caerleon, an elecrtic guitar riff for the wild people of Iscalio, and so on. The BGM playing during the rest of the game is negligible. The best thing you can say about the sounds is, ''at least they're not annoying!''

If you like fresh, exciting beats and eye-popping visuals... keep searching.

Replayability - 10/10

Dangit, this game's friggin' addicting! With six kingdoms to play (each kingdom taking several days to complete), three difficulty settings, and the VERY non-linear gameplay, players are assured of endless hours of gameplay. The possibilities are almost infinite; trying different strategies, choosing which characters to develop, etc.

Those who enjoy the game will definitely get their money's worth. I bough Brigandine two years ago, and I still find myself booting it up every once in awhile.

Which brings us to...

To buy or to rent? - If you like these sorta things, it is DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, worth it. Don't expect anything too fancy or spectacular; as the gameplay and story elements will be emphasized over graphics, sound, and presentation.

If you prefer games where you run around hitting things, then don't even bother renting Brigandine.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/02, Updated 02/05/02