Brain Lord

"A forgotten, yet worthwhile game"

Brain Lord

Before RPGs were mainstream (pre-FF7), any RPG released was branded as a gift from the heavens. Enter Enix. Enix was already known as the premiere developer/publisher of RPGs on the Eastern shore, due to the massive popularity of Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior in North America). Enix also gave North America a taste of the RPG (technically action/adventure/RPG) craze with games like Actraiser and Soul Blazer. However, one little action/adventure game, much in the vein of Zelda, escaped under most peoples’ radars. That game was Brain Lord. It never received any acclaim, and has sunken into almost complete oblivion. Was it any good? Read on.

Graphics: 6.5 out of 10

The graphics are nothing special, yet they are able to adequately present the idea of a fantasy world. The dungeons are well designed and each one looks very different from the rest. The character designs are fairly mediocre. The males look very wide (in the shoulders and the stomach) while the females are thin on top and plump on the bottom. The spell effects are very under whelming, with little more than a few sprites to display them. The menu designs are nice, and the Jade designs are interesting and innovative. However, like many good games, graphics are only “skin-deep”.

Music and Sound: 6 out of 10

The music seems very subdued, with a haunting feel in the caves and a faster-paced tempo in the towers. The town music is forgettable, as are most of the other pieces. I only truly remember the music from the first and last dungeons. The sound effects are also forgettable. The enemies all share the same cry when hit and the weapons sound pretty similar. The spell effects have the required “zing” to them. It is obvious that the music and sound were not meant to be a showpiece for the SNES sound chip.

Game Play - Fun: 7.5 out of 10

I’m truly a sucker for any action/adventure game. While Brain Lord is hardly revolutionary (or evolutionary, for that matter), it definitely introduces some neat concepts and carries on the Zelda-clone tradition very well. The best of these concepts is the Jade system, where a piece of Jade (up to two equipped at a time) releases a spiritual “helper” that follows the character around and does a number of actions (i.e. healing, attacking). I was hooked to the game right until the end.

Game Challenge: easy to medium

It’s difficult to rate the challenge of this games. The actual game is fairly easy. I never died once throughout my entire journey. The bosses have simple patterns and there are always plenty of healing items to be used. However, the game lives up to its name. You need to be a “brain lord” to figure out some of the puzzles. I found this to be a refreshing change from easy, mediocre puzzles of other games.

Story: 5 out of 10

The story is fairly weak, with nothing more than “find the last surviving dragon” as the driving motivation. Even the final boss does little to connect with other than being there as a placeholder. The NPCs are dull and forgettable, leaving the mute hero to speak with his sword. Don’t play this game hoping for a grand, epic storyline.

Replay: low

When you’ve been through it once, that’s it. There are no extras (did you expect any?) and no side areas. That’s what especially hurts this game – the fact that it’s too linear. Well, I guess it can’t be helped. The game itself is pretty short in RPG terms. I beat it in about ten hours, but I’ve seen people put in as much as fifteen to twenty hours into it. It all depends on your skill as a gamer.

Overall: 7 out of 10

I’ll admit it. I really liked Brain Lord, even though it was no more than a poor man’s Zelda. I felt compelled to finish the game and I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. The well-designed puzzles are the main reason why this game sticks out in my mind. If you are interested in classic action/adventures, then I wholeheartedly recommend this game to you. However, good luck finding it in retail. The game never garnered much interest in sales, and your best bet is to find it in a used game store or on e-Bay. This concludes your history lesson on forgotten games of the past.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/03, Updated 01/20/03