《J》
New Member
<Brandish Man>
Posts: 48
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Post by 《J》 on Jun 8, 2014 16:15:57 GMT -5
I am so happy with this news! Brandish: The Dark Revenant is one of the best dungeon crawlers I've played in recent years (if not THE best) and a masterpiece of game design, where every map and mechanic is fine-tuned to perfection. It was also was my introduction to the series, which is now one of my favorites ever. Easily one Falcom's best games and a great introduction to the "darker" side of Falcom. I love this game so much, and it being in English will give more people a chance to discover the beauty of the Brandish series. So excited to play this again in English! Day 1, Tom. You hear me? DAY ONE. Oh yeah, the Brandish article on the site desperately needs some updating. I reread it recently, and it's unnecessarily harsh. It was also written before the PSP game was released - I added a quick blurb and a screenshot when it came out but didn't really sit down and play it. It really does address pretty much every major problem that the earlier games had, as far as movement and interface issues. Also ignore whatever I said about the music - maybe it's because I got the OST CD for the original game recently, but the soundtrack is pretty good, it's just more lowkey than typical Falcom stuff. It definetely needs several rewriting and updating by people who understands the point of the Brandish series, plus fixing some bits of misinformation present in the current article (there's no Sharp X68000 version of the first Brandish - that is the cover art of the FM Towns version of the game. Also, Brandish Renewal doesn't include any "better (and more) music tracks" save for Tradition). I actually own the Japanese version of Brandish PSP, the PC-98 versions of 2, 3 and VT and also the enhanced Windows port of Brandish VT (aka Brandish 4), so I would gladly offer to help by taking screenshots and writing information based on my knowledge and experience with the games. I'm sure that Brandish fans like SkyeWelse, FwugRadiation and the sexy beast who translated Brandish 2 SFC (denpanosekai) would also be willing to collaborate as well. And yes, the original PC-98 soundtrack of the first Brandish is fantastic. I also like the new PSP arrangements, but I'm really glad they let us select the original music as well too. Also, not *totally* sure what you mean with the "movement and interface issues" of the early 90s games - those games are extremely solid and a pleasure to play if you actually know how to play them, and the interface of the PC-98 games is pretty much perfect. In fact, I'm currently enjoying Brandish 3 a lot more than I did with The Dark Revenant.
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Post by Discoalucard on Jun 8, 2014 16:25:28 GMT -5
The "whole screen rotating 90 degrees" presents an extremely high barrier of entry that I don't think I fully got over even though I spent a number of hours with them (this was several years ago though). I was playing the PSP game a few days ago, but just watching videos of the PC98 game now is giving me a headache. The fact that everything is just so much smoother in the PSP game removes the biggest obstacle to what I (and probably almost everyone else) had with the series. Plus the fact that it's designed to play with a gamepad instead of a mouse/keyboard (and better implemented than the SNES game) helps too.
But yeah, if you want to get together something to either revise or totally rewrite the article, I'm down with that, and can pay you as if it were a new article too. I sat down a couple weeks ago to try to hack it apart but I've been juggling too many balls recently to really get back into the series outside of playing the PSP game on my daily commute. As far as Falcom games, I've already committed myself to rewriting the Popful Mail anyway.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 8, 2014 17:42:05 GMT -5
The fact that everything is just so much smoother in the PSP game removes the biggest obstacle to what I (and probably almost everyone else) had with the series. Yeah, even as a Falcom fan, I found the original version of Brandish really tough to get into when I first tried playing it a long time ago. But what's cool about Dark Revenant is that not only is the barrier to entry virtually nonexistent compared to the original version, but playing it makes the original version (and its sequels) exponentially easier to comprehend and enjoy. In other words, if you just COULD NOT get used to the world-turning thing in the original versions of Brandish, play Dark Revenant, then try it again, and suddenly, it'll "click." Or at least, it did for me, as I now find the original versions of Brandish thoroughly enjoyable, which I never thought would happen. -Tom
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Post by Garamoth on Jun 8, 2014 17:51:52 GMT -5
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 8, 2014 17:53:53 GMT -5
And yet, it DOES work... as long as it actually shows the world turn, instead of just snapping it into place. That one addition makes alllll the difference in the world!
-Tom
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Post by Feynman on Jun 8, 2014 17:57:39 GMT -5
I never had an issue with the "world turning" in the original Brandish. The game is basically a jRPG-ified clone of Dungeon Master, and the world turning is basically the same thing that happens in a dungeon crawler... just from an overhead view instead of first-person. Between the combat (lots of crab-walking and flanking attacks), the switch-based puzzles the gradual escape from a massive labyrinth... Branish is seriously just the jRPG version of Dungeon Master.
I dunno, I'm also the guy who is totally okay with the "tank" controls in classic Resident Evil. I've never had any problems using first-person controls from a third-person viewpoint.
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《J》
New Member
<Brandish Man>
Posts: 48
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Post by 《J》 on Jun 8, 2014 18:03:34 GMT -5
The "whole screen rotating 90 degrees" presents an extremely high barrier of entry that I don't think I fully got over even though I spent a number of hours with them (this was several years ago though). I was playing the PSP game a few days ago, but just watching videos of the PC98 game now is giving me a headache. The fact that everything is just so much smoother in the PSP game removes the biggest obstacle to what I (and probably almost everyone else) had with the series. Plus the fact that it's designed to play with a gamepad instead of a mouse/keyboard (and better implemented than the SNES game) helps too. I have no problem at all with the camera . It's basically like Wizardry - just viewed from the top down! I don't know - just strafe if you get disoriented so easily...? . I can understand how this all comes off as very confusing by watching videos, but as I said, the games are actually a joy to play if you actually know how to play them. I mean, I've seen people who didn't even know you can strafe! It's just it saddens me to see all the undeserved hate this series gets, because I really like these games and I would like to see more people enjoying them as much as I do. I think the problem with it is that most people approach Brandish as an Action RPG, tries out the SNES version of Brandish for like 5~10 minutes with an emulator and claims it sucks because it doesn't live up well to that kind of expectation (which is, to be honest, kind to be expected). In reality Brandish is fundamentally a tile-based puzzle game with action elements but it doesn't communicate this very well with first impressions. The latter floors are very devious and extremely well-put-together and will make its design obvious to people with the patience to push through to it, however, and that is where the promise of its quality becomes apparent as it has settled in over time and "clicks" in your mind at a moment where you're like "Ahaha! This is great and I'm getting awesome at this punishing but rewarding exercise in patience, execution and foresight!". Unfortunately, because of that, Brandish is not an accessible game to casual interest. I don't mean this negatively in the sense of the corrupted term, but rather that the games doesn't hold your hand for anything. Hell, most people give up on the earliest floor where you have to work your way past the ramming traps at the Ruins that push you into holes in the floor, and I don't blame them for it (let's not even get into the subject of the freaking DARK ZONE areas which practically makes veterans quit...). But for those who persevere, they find themselves a strict but fair game that provides a sense of triumph and real achievement. In fact, I'd say that every quirk that is often cited as a fatal flaw is, in fact, a vital mechanic in creating the awesomeness that is Brandish. It also doesn't help that the inferior SNES port of the first Brandish - the only one to officially come out in English (at the moment I wrote this post) - has some problems, as Brandish was originally made for mouse+keyboard. None of the other Brandish games came out in English, so English fans are usually the ones who loved Brandish SNES despite its many flaws. Brandish 2 SFC was a better port though (on-screen minimap + small improvements! And at least the fantastic soundtrack sounds quite good on this port!), too bad Koei cut-out around 18 areas and a few music tracks from the original PC-98 version About the interface: The inferface in the PC-98 games is just great - auto-mapping, on-screen map, map editor, full control with mouse, auto-move function (this in Brandish VT/4 in particular is just godly, as the character actually attacks/defends against enemies automatically. I think they implemented this in the Renewal re-releases as well.), the ability to change the game/mouse speed easily, save/load anywhere... It is pretty much perfect in my eyes, really. Also, I've seen lately tons of people writing "negative" comments regarding of why XSEED is bothering with bringing Brandish PSP because stuff like "it's an old PSP game", "it was unnecessary" and "it's not (the SNES game) good /it sucks". Seeing comments like those *kinda* makes me wish the game does not get an English release, and it just breaks my heart . Either way, I can't thank enough the good peoples at XSEED after bugging them for this since 2011. Oh, I wasn't thinking on to do this for money or even recognition, but rather to improve the article, as there isn't much information about this series in English. Either way, I still need to beat all the PC-98 entries and Brandish 4, even though I've tried them all enough to form an opinion about gameplay-wise. I think the biggest problem would be IMO writing about the story and characters (and mechanics) of the Japan-exclusive entries without knowing any Japanese - I have no idea at what the heck is going on both Brandish 3 and VT/4 story-wise. And talking about Popful Mail, I tried the PC-98 version of Popful Mail last week, and honestly, I think I liked what I played better than the Mega CD version . Everything looks (and sounds!) super charming and nice. Also: If you've heard bad things about the SNES version, BTW -- or played it and hated it -- don't let that sour you to this version, as this is another spectacular Falcom remake. It's not quite as epic a change as Ys III --> Ys: The Oath in Felghana, but it's a more thorough update than Metroid 1 --> Metroid: Zero Mission, taking everything good about the first game, removing everything fans hated, and adding a BUNCH of new content, including harder and more interesting bosses and an additional 10 floors of super-challenging puzzles. That's... not true? Au contraire than Zero Mission, Brandish: The Dark Revenant is faithful to the 1991 original PC-98 game in a 99%. Also, that "removing everything fans hated"... it's pretty much the same but in native 3D and nearly not as fast as the original games can be if you want. Anyway, thanks guys for bringing over Brandish!!
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 8, 2014 18:14:23 GMT -5
In addition to graphical improvements and smoother turning that affect the entire way the game looks and feels, the bosses are also anywhere from partially to completely redesigned and there's the addition of Dela Mode. That's pretty significant, if you ask me!
Zero Mission was pretty faithful to the original Metroid, too, but with the ability to grab ledges, the addition of the minimap, some added story scenes and an added epilogue.
Maybe it would be fairer to say Brandish SNES --> Brandish PSP is like Metroid --> Metroid: Zero Mission, since a lot of the mapping functionality and such from the PSP edition is only really new if you've only played the SNES version previously.
-Tom
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Post by Scylla on Jun 8, 2014 18:24:34 GMT -5
Also, I've seen lately tons of people writing "negative" comments regarding of why XSEED is bothering with bringing Brandish PSP because stuff like "it's an old PSP game", "it was unnecessary" and "it's not (the SNES game) good /it sucks". Seeing comments like those *kinda* makes me wish the game does not get an English release, and it just breaks my heart . Either way, I can't thank enough the good peoples at XSEED after bugging them for this since 2011. Questioning why the game is getting localized isn't necessarily the same thing as pooh-poohing the game or being ungrateful for the localization. Regardless of the publisher, regardless of the game, a lot of people will consider it a financially questionable move to localize PSP games for the Western market at this point. In many cases, it's actually out of concern, because gamers don't want to see even more companies they like fold. I mean, I can think of TONS of Japanese PSP games that I would LOVE to see receive an official localization, but I know they're lost causes and it wouldn't be wise for anyone to pick them up. But I wish XSEED the best with Brandish, and I hope the game ends up being a worthwhile project from a financial standpoint.
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Post by Super Orbus on Jun 8, 2014 20:15:45 GMT -5
Well, the Vita backwards compatibility is what presumably makes it viable. If PSP games were only playable on PSP, it'd be a lost cause for sure. At this point it should just be treated as a digital-only Vita game.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2014 20:54:59 GMT -5
Well, the Vita backwards compatibility is what presumably makes it viable. If PSP games were only playable on PSP, it'd be a lost cause for sure. At this point it should just be treated as a digital-only Vita game. That's really my question. Why digital PSP and not Vita?
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 8, 2014 21:15:09 GMT -5
Well, the Vita backwards compatibility is what presumably makes it viable. If PSP games were only playable on PSP, it'd be a lost cause for sure. At this point it should just be treated as a digital-only Vita game. That's really my question. Why digital PSP and not Vita? Because no Vita version of the game exists. It was ported to PSP in 2009 by Falcom, but has never been ported to Vita -- and we're not programmers, so we can't port games ourselves. We have to deal with what's available. If the game did exist on Vita, believe me, we'd be ALL OVER that. Hell, if that were the case, we might've even gone physical with it! -Tom
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Post by Super Orbus on Jun 8, 2014 21:24:35 GMT -5
I'm holding out (very faint) hope for the Vita ports of the later Trails games you know...
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 8, 2014 21:52:08 GMT -5
I'm holding out (very faint) hope for the Vita ports of the later Trails games you know... The nice thing about Trails is that virtually every game in the series save for Sen is available on PC, and PC is pretty much the eternal platform (also, it's pretty much only a matter of time before Sen gets a PC port too!). Plus, Falcom is the king of porting their popular titles. So Vita or no, I can't see any Trails game being nonviable at any point in the future. The series will always be there... taunting us. -Tom
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Post by Super Orbus on Jun 8, 2014 21:56:21 GMT -5
From what I heard, the PC "ports" of Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki were just barebones conversions of the PSP releases that some Chinese company did. I think they even run at PSP resolution. Which means they probably look like crap.
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