Brandish

"Culminating masterpiece of the action RPG and dungeon crawl"

Gamers fit into three basic categories:
(1) Gamers who love Brandish
(2) Gamers who hate Brandish
(3) Gamers who have never played Brandish

I obviously fall into category #1, and obviously I'd like to tell you why you should leave group #3 and join my camp. First, however, let's examine the most common criticisms made of Brandish (and why they are completely invalid).

"I don't get it! Why does the world turn when Varik turns?!"
Because it's the 90's, there's no real 3D, and most importantly, you need to be able to see the walls. This is probably the most overstated quirk that players will perceive as either incredibly confusing or a poorly executed gimmick. In fact, it's the sole reason most people put down this game before giving it half of a chance. However, if you can't see all of the walls in Brandish, you will definitely lose, and the way Brandish goes about allowing you to explore your surroundings is a breath of fresh air when compared to the Escherian distortions of perspective of Zelda, the first-person impracticality of most dungeon crawls of the era, mode seven / sprite scaling abominations, and every current-gen game in which you don't really need to pay attention to your surroundings anyway. This brings me right to:

"Brandish is ugly!"
Yeah. If you think a game's personality is measured in pixel density and depth, go play Eternal Sonata. Brandish is for people who want to play games instead of just looking at them.

"Brandish is HARD!"
Yeah. The good people (er, sadists?) at Falcom are trying to kill you in Brandish, which is why it's a game and not a movie. If you don't like it, maybe Mario Paint is more your speed. Part of the genius of Brandish is that as one progresses through it, one begins to feel a genuine enmity toward its creators.

While I hate to spoil some of the best parts, I feel an illustrative example is necessary. Brandish has an auto-map feature that, by mid game, the player will probably rely on quite heavily. Brandish also has a monster that is introduced late in the game which erases the automap wherever it goes. In addition, there are a variety of traps, most notably collapsing floors, which will have a consistent "giveaway" feature over a map or two, but the give changes as soon as you've gotten used to avoiding it. Yeah! I could go on and on, but it's more fun when you're surprised.

"I don't get it! When do I save the world/princess/castle?!"
As much as I, personally, love to save the world/princess/castle, I've done it more times than I can count on two bytes, and Brandish has a storyline that is fresh and original. Varik was not sent by the King or Queen or Mana Tree, he does not have amnesia despite his rather brutal bump on the noggin at the game's outset, he isn't the Chosen One, and he isn't on a mission to cleanse the world of impending evil. Brandish evades every RPG stereotype there is and manages to come out with a compelling story with more mystery, atmosphere, and character than any post-FF9 RPG can shake a stick at. It does so with very little dialogue, as well, because the entire experience of playing the game fits into the atmosphere Falcom has created. Which leads me into:

"My sword broke! Waaa!"
Every NPC Varik meets has been stuck in his situation for longer than they can remember, settling into despair or accepting their fate, leading a spartan existence in constant jeopardy. To whit, Varik must always be looking for a sword to use after his current sword breaks, must keep a steady supply of spare keys and makeshift tools for identifying traps and exploiting structural weaknesses, must safeguard his belongings from various miscreants, must be on the lookout for a safe place to rest or the nearest restorative fountain. He also has to carefully budget his gold, because the monsters in Brandish don't have pockets or cutesy Hannah Montanna purses like they do in other (lamer) RPGs.

"I don't get it! I leveled up, but I can't kill things any quicker!?"
In Brandish, Varik gets better at hitting things by hitting things and better at casting spells by casting spells. Think about it. Isn't it a little ridiculous that other RPGs do things any other way?

"Why is it so slow?!"
There's a menu option for game speed. Why are YOU so slow?!

If you aren't yet convinced that Brandish is awesome, consider my conclusion.

Brandish isn't the flashiest of action games, nor is it the most epic of RPGs, but to call it "an action RPG" and expect the same bland, watered-down mix we've now learned to accept is a grave error, and is ultimately missing the point. Brandish isn't an action RPG by having all the rules that define an action game as well as those that define an RPG. It's an action RPG born of breaking all the rules of both genres. Even while a variety of elements in the game may seem rote within their typical genres, Brandish succeeds in putting a whole new spin on hoarding keys, getting the best sword, and even jumping over pits, by perfecting their roles in an innovative, challenging, and wholly fresh action RPG experience. I guarantee that if you give it a chance and play all the way through the first dungeon (the ruins) you will understand that every quirk that is often cited as a fatal flaw is, in fact, a vital mechanic in creating the awesomeness that is Brandish.

And don't say I didn't warn you about looking at the walls.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/09

Game Release: Brandish (US, February 1995)