Brain Lord

"The name is a big indicator of gameplay"

This is the area where Enix really shined on the SNES. They released more good action/RPGs on this platform than anyone else. And while Brain Lord is no milestone in video gaming, it is a fun little puzzle-solving romp with interesting battles. If you enjoy a game which requires you to think a little bit as you pound on various enemies with various weapons, then read on. This may be the game for you.

STORY: 3/10

Oh the story (or lack thereof.) This is one that you've heard a thousand times before. A random guy takes on a random job that leads to something more. You discover that your world which once had dragons is now lacking them. Eventually you find the last dragon who tells you that he has been holding the Dark Lord with his ever waning power. And, since you are conveniently descended from a race of dragon warriors, it makes sense that you would do so.

There are also a few supporting characters, but they are never developed enough to cause concern for their wellbeing. These other male and female adventures pop up throughout whatever dungeon or town you are exploring. They serve very little purpose and don't really add to the atmosphere at all. Basically, story is not what this game is about, and it shows.

GAMEPLAY: 8/10

Alright, this is where we get to the real meat of the game. As its name might imply, Brain Lord has a great emphasis on puzzles. The most difficult parts of the game are not the boss battles but the dungeons leading up to them. This may cause some people to feel let down when they encounter the final boss, but these people have missed the point.

The game is a basic action/RPG with some interesting additions. There are 5 different kinds of weapons ranging from bows to swords. These all work in different ways, but weapon choice has very little effect on how a person plays the game. All of the fights are easy and dying only sends you back to the previous save point with half your gold and all your progress intact. And speaking of which, there is a save point on every level of every dungeon. This doesn't cheapen the experience, but rather helps to move the game along. The save points act as waypoints that can be teleported to and from with the help on an inexpensive item. This is a godsend later in the game when distances between places become much greater.

One of the unique aspects of this game is the fairy jades that a player can buy. These are little helpers that follow your character around and do different actions. Some attack, some raise stats, and others can even heal. What causes these to add so much to the game is not only the variety of fairies one can choose from, but the fact that they can level up. This means that the effectiveness of a given fairy stays relevant to the increasing difficulty of later dungeons.

However, these fights are of very little importance in comparison to the puzzles. I won't lie; some of them actually required me to stop for a second and analyze the situation before proceeding. Some require the precise movement of rolling balls onto floor buttons, while others involve disappearing floors and exact jumping. And, as difficult as some puzzles may be, it is never oppressive or dull. There was not a single point of this game where I wanted to throw up my controller in frustration (at least, not due to something that was the game's fault.) Each new problem is engaging and interesting with very little repetition. The puzzles never begin to feel stale or contrived.

CONTROL: 10/10

I rarely give a perfect score on control, but this game deserves it. First and foremost, the controls are customizable. Now, this seems like a very common sense move to me, but video game creators are opposed to me on this point. Anyway, not only can players set their own controls, but there is also full range of motion. The player avatar can be moved in all 8 cardinal directions with ease, and he can even jump in all directions as well. There should not be added game difficulty because of awkward controls, and here there wasn't.

GRAPHICS: 6/10

There isn't really much to say here. It's clear that there wasn't a huge emphasis on graphics in game development. There are no cut-scenes or interesting special effects. Most movement consisted of no more than two frames of animation. However, there is one effect that really excited me. While walking around outside, in certain areas players can see the shadows from overhead clouds. This isn't a big point, but it's little details like this that can really add depth to a game.

SOUND: 7/10

The sound was only marginally better than the graphics, but that's not nothing, right? Anyway, background music was fairly interesting and always appropriate to the setting. It added atmosphere without being oppressively annoying. Likewise, the sound effects were as fitting and uninteresting as the music. I will note that different weapons seemed to make different sounds, so that's something.

Recap:

Enix has made better action/RPGs. Period. However, this one wasn't bad and did provide some very interesting puzzles to overcome. Battles were just prevalent enough to keep them interesting and break up the riddles. Also, I really appreciated the teleport/save points scattered all around. I HATE needless travel time in game worlds and this completely removed that aspect. Truthfully, I would rather have been playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Lufia 2, but what can ya do? Game time peaked out at about 15-20 hours.

STORY: 3/10
GAMEPLAY: 8/10
CONTROL: 9/10
GRAPHICS: 6/10
SOUND: 6/10

TOTAL: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/05, Updated 10/25/05