Brave Story: New Traveler

"The Brave becomes a traveller, but is the Travel worth your time?"

Brave Story Review


Introduction

I picked up this title not knowing any of its background. After getting around 75%of the way through I realised that there is a whole backing of Brave Story. IT initially started out as a Novel, then moved to Manga and finally stopped at Anime. So it was no surprise that Video games began to appear of the series. Unlike the history of this software this was written as a new adventure hence the title Brave Story: New Traveller. So on to the juicy parts of the game….


Story 7/10

The story is not like your traditional RPG. It starts off with the main character Tatsuya and his friend Miki talking while sitting on a bench. Then Miki gets up to walk off and collapses. A mysterious frog… yes I said frog, appears and says if you want to save your friend and make her better you must venture into a another world called Vision and collect 5 gemstones. You present this to the goddess and she in return will grant you your wish. That's the gist of the story. Along the way you encounter many friends who all add elements to the story; all who have their own character which to be honest with the recent batch of RPG's is a welcome return. The story starts off as you expect and does develop at a reasonable pace along the way, and picks up heavily towards 75% of the way through the game with some very nice twists that one can see were actually thought about rather than just stuck in there. Overall the Story is heavily based on friendship. And as you get closer with the characters you also unlock benefits known as Unity though this will be discussed later. So, the story is very well written, well played out and interesting, therefore its one that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.


Gameplay 7/10

The game play evolves around the tried and tested 3v3 turn based formula. Your characters have HP and BP displayed under their characters. HP is what we all know as Hit Points, however BP is known as Bravura Points. You could say that it's MP (Mana Points) but the developers decided to keep everything with the theme of the game. Each character has their standard, Attack, Defend, Item and the leader has the option of Escape. What this game adds is 2 extra options, 1) Bravura, and 2) Unity skills. Bravura skills use Bravura Points. The stronger the Bravura attack the more Bravura points it uses, however after every attack regardless of whether it's blocked or not by the enemy, you regain a certain percentage back. This percentage accumulates the more attacks you perform. Unity skills also use Bravura points but these are very different to Bravura attacks. They use a vast amount more Bravura points than Bravura skills do because each Unity skill involves either 2 or 3 of your characters. These skills are unlocked the more you party with certain members. You can call it a friendship bond as it were, keeping ties very closely with the nature of the game. Aside from the battle system, this game is your traditional dungeon crawler. You visit a town, get information, and then go to the dungeon that is causing the problem to rid the town of the problem they are suffering. Though it may seem very basic in its nature it is well done and the dungeons are fun to troll. Only problem I had with this game was the lack of maps, as some dungeons were really big and you can easily find your self getting lost and running in circles, added the random battles things can get easily annoying and chore-some, but this is a minor fault in a great game and should not discourage you from picking this title up. The final gripe I have is that the Random Battles can at times get overwhelming. This is both a good thing and a bad. If you're underleveled you will be grateful. If you're overleveled then you won't, though in the latter case battles last mere seconds. The developers did attempt to remedy this problem by giving the main character an ability called Stealth later in the game. Bu using this Bravura ability you are no longer disturbed by weak monsters and only attacked by powerful monsters that give you good experience points. So in theory it balances out.


Graphics 10/10

The graphics in this game are amazing. Yes to think I am using them words with a PSP game if you knew me is shocking, but believe me that when I say this game resembles that of a mid range PS2 game I tell you no lie. You almost at times forget that you're playing the PSP and are playing the PS2. If you play the game through a HDTV then you're pretty much playing a very good PS2 RPG. I have no faults with the graphics at all considering the power of the PSP. It looks amazing runs super smooth and I left the best for last…. NO LOADING times yes there are absolutely no loading time. Even the transition from roaming to random battle is super smooth. It's really impressive what the developers have done with this and many developers should take note and follow suite!



Sound 7/10

The sound I would say is good. I have no dislikes or likes. Probably the most memorable tune to me would be the battle music. However this could be due to the fact that I was in so many random battles that the tune finally grew on me. All the battles in game are voiced and there are up to 4 cut-scenes in the game that are actually voiced. I do wish that they could have voiced the whole game but the lack of space on the UMD I am guessing is most likely the culprit. Each area has its own distinguishing music and each enemy you encounter also has a vocal. The only thing I would say is that after you finish the game other than possibly the battle music you wont recall any other, so good music but nothing memorable.


Value 9/10

I picked up this title for £27 ($39). The main story is over roughly after about 25 hours, but can easily extend to a ridiculous amount. There are many side quests in the game that you can undertake and also optional dungeons that give you rewarding treasures for your time as well as many optional bosses. For £27 you get a very entertaining story, great old-school game play and a base minimum of 25 hours of entertainment.

Final Verdict 8/10

Overall, I would say that this JRPG is very good and definitely a must buy game if you're a RPG fan. The story that envelopes the game, the bonds you make with the characters all add to a thrilling game. The game can be regarded as a easy. I only died a handful of times in this game, so for those that are seeking a challenging RPG this may not be to your liking. However where the game lacks in raw difficulty it more than makes up for it in the story and game play section. It's a very fun game to play, the story in this game is unique and excellently told and the battle system to me adds a fresh air to a aging system. The addition of Bravura and Unity skills do make the battles far more enjoyable. I personally would recommend this game to anyone that loves RPG's and easily regard this game as a MUST BUY. If you have got this far into this review then I suggest your next stop be your local retailer if in the USA or EBAY if in Europe (as this game was not released outside of Japan and the USA) and experience this amazing piece of gaming legend for your selves!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/09

Game Release: Brave Story: New Traveler (US, 07/31/07)