Brave Fencer Musashi

"Squaresoft's unknown gem"

Don't let the goofy looking graphics fool you! This is an amazing action RPG. It was released a bit after Ocarina of Time, so it was kind of overshadowed by that, AND it was released to close to Final Fantasy VIII to really get any attention, but I liked this game more than both of them I first saw an ad for this game, thinking that it was Final Fantasy VIII, and the hero looked SO cool. And was in my local video game store an I saw Musashi on a cover and I thought ''Hey, I thought he was the guy in Final Fantasy VIII.'' Thinking I'd take a chance, I bought the game, went home, and I was glued to it non-stop. It was just so fun!

You play as Musashi, a young man summoned to a kingdom (that is entirely named after food products.....it's pretty funny) and you are sent on a quest to rescue a bunch of people who were kidnapped by the Thirstquencher Empire. To do this, you use this big sword you find, named Lumina, and you have to break them free from a Binchotite field. And through the quest you have to deal with lackies of the T. Empire, princess kidnappings, your arch rival who comes to chase you, vampires who attack the village, and a slew of other goofy problems that go wrong. And you have to do all this before the King and Queen return from their vacation.

Musashi is actually a pretty cool character. He's a wise cracking, over-confident, goofy little guy. He's one of those ''tough-guy's'' but he's really little. He's a pretty cool character, and I like his voice. There are a few other cool characters like Jon, who is the guy in the village shackles, who's voice by the guy who does Shishio Makoto in Kenshin......but he sounds friendlier. There's also a bunch of goofy lackies who try to kill Musashi, and the weird people who live in the castle.

Graphically, this game is NOT stunning. They are actually pretty bad, but they are tolerable. This is the only really bad aspect of the game, but it's really not that bad.

The musical score is a completely different thing. There are so many happy tunes, scary tunes, suspenseful tunes. This has one of THE best soundtracks I have ever heard. The main Musashi theme is just so cool.

I dunno what all the hype was about with Final Fantasy X and it being the first game to use complete voice acting throughout the game. Brave Fencer Musashi used just as much voice acting, and it was very well done. Sure, it wasn't as good as FFX, but it still fit the game perfectly.

The gameplay is pretty cool. First off, you have two swords that you use, Lumina and Fusion. Fusion is the first sword you get. This is a little sword which allows you to pull off multiple hit combo's. The MAIN purpose of Fusion is the ability to ''assimilate'' your opponents special powers. You can carry one of these useful abilities as a time. Sometimes you are required to use certain moves during the game. For instance, you can get a machine gun that costs one BP (your magic meter) to use per bullet. And you need to use it to shoot down a bridge. You also can get moves that cure you, like antidote, or moves that protect you from certain enemies, like mint or BO, and moves that allow you to move places, like Bounce which allows you to use Fusion like a pogo stick. Fusion is the cooler of the two swords in my opinion, and it gets a power-up along the way as well.

Lumina is your BIG sword. You only can get one hit in with this sword, but ut does serious damage. You can counter enemies with this sword, and most of your charge up moves are performed with Lumina. As you use each sword against an enemy, the sword gains a level and becomes stronger. The two level up individualy.

Another important feature about Lumina is its ability to break ''Binchotite Fields'' When you stumble across one of these green diamonds, you SMACK it with Lumina, and the person inside of it becomes free. Now you can visit that person back at the castle. Only seven people are required to beat the game (as they help you out with a boss fight or help you fix the gondola) but most of them serve a purpose. The knights, the clown and acrobat, and the maid all teach you different combos and techniques that you can use at your own discretion. The musicians make the castle brighter with cooler music. And most of the other people just provide you with useful information or medicine, but some serve no purpose what-so-ever.

The main purpose of the game is to find five scrolls and break their seals. Finding the scrolls are pretty easy. All you need to do is smack them with Lumina once you find them. Breaking the seal is a bit tougher as it requires you to defeat a boss. Once you unlock a scroll, you can perform an elemental attack with Lumina if you have the scroll equipped. Along the ground sometimes you might see a seal or a rune of some kind with the symbol of the scroll on it. You have to go and kill the boss to unlock those. Boos fights are downright inGENIOUS. They are so much fun, perhaps the second best of all time next to Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and they actually provide a challenge.

There are a few other things you can collect. Prisoners from the castle, five pieces of legendary armor that give you special moves, action figures which Musashi can play with, and these little rabbit things (I forget their names) which increase your maximum life.

Combat is pretty simple. Kill things, assimilate them, chop them into little pieces. It gets harder as the game goes along, and when you go the the Thirstquencher Empire, you'll be dodging bullets and missiles while still trying to kill things and bust down gates. It can get pretty intense.

There are a few minigames. The BEST one is river rafting, which you raft down these rapids and collect money, but that only open for a short time. There is also only one village in the game where you can buy everything you need.

REPLAY VALUE
MODERATELY HIGH
I've played this game two times, and I think it's about time for a third.

PRO'S
+Goofy storyline that can get pretty serious at times
+AMAZING musical score
+fun combat and gameplay
+Musashi is the MAN!!!
+GREAT boss fights

Con's
-lousy graphics
-Rafting is only open for a limited time

While Alundra has a better storyline and characters, Brave Fencer Musashi exceeds it by far in terms of gameplay. If you haven't heard of this game, I suggest you give it a whirl, especaily if you LOVE action RPG's.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/28/03, Updated 04/28/03