Brave Battle Saga - The Legend of The Magic Warrior

Итак, с чего бы начать? Наверное с того, что это лучшая игра на SEGA MD2\Genessis, и конечно это мое личное мнения. Во времена моего детства эта игра выходила на нашем рынке под громким названием "Final Fantasy" и была, мало того, что с корявым русским переводом, так еще и не проходимая. Но все равно тогда она меня очень поразила: яркий сюжет с неожиданными поворотами, боевка в стиле пошаговых рпг того времени, прокачка персонажей, различные айтемы, разного рода магия, интересные боссы и многое другое. Я уж молчу что геймплея там на часов 40, при первом прохождение так точно на все 40 если не больше. Сейчас мы имеем качественную английскую версию, да еще и с улучшенным звуком без всяких зависаний и непроходимых мест. На момент написание обзора мною была пройдена почти вся игра (как раз на последнем боссе) и те эмоции и ностальгию которые она у меня вызвала - просто не передаваемые. История начинается знакомством с главным героем и тем что он участвует в неком турнире за звания героя. Нам дадут микро квест по поиску нужного НПС, а после него предложат начать соревнование. Естественно вы можете спокойно побродить по родной деревушке, поговорить с местными НПС, узнать немного о лоре и тд. Сам геймплей состоит из свободного перемещения по миру и экраном боя. В не боя мы можем, как и было выше сказано, говорить с НПС, получать\сдавать квесты, находить айтемы, взаимодействовать с инвентарем и тп. В режиме боя, что не странно, драться =), так как это пошаговая рпг, тут нам доступны некоторые действия, такие как: Атака(простым ударам), Магия, Предметы, Повтор(пред.действия), Убежать и Оборона(полностью юслесс), и примерно такие же действия имеют наши враги. Враги в этой игре довольно разнообразные, но довольно и нет, так как встретить разнообразие на одной локации не получится. Тут это работает так - в стартовых локах вы встретите всего два типа врагов, пройдете дальше по сюжету - враги поменяются на других и так далее, а вот боссы довольно разные, хоть и могут внешне быть похожими. К слову о локациях - они прекрасны и разнообразны, на одной вы увидите водопады, лес и красивую природу в то время на других будет унылая пустыня, даже в вулкане побываете что уж там говорить. Прокачка интересная, есть количество опыта, необходимого для лвл-аппа, получая лвл-апп вы качаете свои статы, а именно HP\MP, Attack, Defense, Spirit, Agility. У каждого персонажа разный прирост той или иной характеристики, соответственно при прокачки играбельные персонажи станут еще более разнообразны в своих возможностях. На момент выхода игры (1996) очень немногие игры могли похвастаться таким, описанным выше, гейплеем. Однозначно рекомендую к покупке любителям ретро игр и классических рпг. не пожалеете.

This game has one serious issue that unfortunately ruins the experience completely for me. There are just too many battles. The enemies walk on the map but they aren't really avoidable as they move faster and target you. In fact, the battles are so frequent that one loses orientation of the map because there are so many pointless battles. Currently I'm in the Moon Temple where I'm supposed to walk around in a "labyrint" where the rooms looks very similar and turn six different switches in order to progress. I'm just unable to get my orientation of the map, where I've already been etc because of the frequent battles.

[table] [tr] [th]Category[/th] [th]Rating[/th] [th]Description[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]🎮 Gameplay[/td] [td]7[/td] [td] A familiar experience to all who grew up playing RPGs from the era[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]📷 Graphics[/td] [td]9[/td] [td] If it weren’t for the inconsistencies with sprites, it would have been perfect[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]🎧 Audio[/td] [td]5[/td] [td] Outside the battle theme, nothing memorable was to be heard[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] 📝 Story[/td] [td]2[/td] [td]It feels like too many elements are being delivered, at inconsistent times, without much thought [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]💲 Value[/td] [td]8[/td] [td]If you love RPGs from the era, you’ll enjoy Brave Battle Sage[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]😇 Overall[/td] [td]7[/td] [td]If you can look past the poorly delivered story, this game is a hidden gem from the Genesis era[/td] [/tr] [/table] [i]While Brave Battle Saga doesn’t come close to the likes of Final Fantasy or Secret of Mana, it’s a solid RPG which I’m glad to have experienced. If you grew up on RPGs from the era, it’s a must![/i] [h1]📝 Main Pros and Cons:[/h1] 🟩 Pros: + One of the most beautiful SEGA Genesis games I have ever laid eyes upon + The combat is similar to Final Fantasies from that era, so fellow RPG fans will feel right at home + Rewards those who explore 🟥 Cons: - The story was all over the place and feels rushed - Outside battles, the audio leaves a lot to be desired - When purchasing gear or magic, no attributes are displayed so you’ll never know how much better it is than what you currently own - Starts full screen, an issue for those not aware of the ALT + Enter keyboard shortcut to change to windowed mode (a stretched game from the era never looks good) [h2]Before we begin, some background[/h2] Brave Battle Saga: The Legend of The Magic Warrior (BBS) is an RPG which, up until recently, I didn’t know existed. As an avid RPG lover, I was confused as to how it flew under my radar for so long, so I went to Google for answers! After doing some research, I read that it was originally developed by Chuanpu, and released in Taiwan (that explains how I missed it). This is an unofficial fan translation by Jinny (Djinn) and Steve Martin, which was published on Steam by Piko Interactive. Thankfully, Piko Interactive gives us access to the ROM for BBS. The first thing I suggest is using one of the more superior emulators in the market - RetroArch is my suggestion, which is available for free on Steam. Currently, the game is being emulated via Mednafen (which I’d not heard of prior to playing BBS). Using RetroArch will allow you to tweak BBS to your likings, and you also won't need to deal with the distracting art which fills both sides of the game window when playing via Mednafen. [h2]Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s dive into the review![/h2] Coming from the 90s, I didn’t expect much. I assumed BBS would be a generic no name RPG, however, it turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience. It made me reminisce of my childhood favourites, such as Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana. Visually, BBS is beautiful for its age - Dare I say - It’s one of the most beautiful Genesis games I’ve ever seen. Everything just pops! Animations are consistent with the era and monsters are a treat to see in the overworld. Unfortunately, there are some inconsistencies which hold it back. Travelling through caves and dungeons annoyed me much more than it should have. Not because they were confusing to navigate, but due to how rooms linked together. Consistently I’d see myself leaving a room from one direction, only for the next to have me enter from an illogical direction - For example, I’d leave one room from the left, only to enter from the left in the following room. Additionally, the monsters encountered in these caves and dungeons are not only high in numbers, but also move very fast. This makes avoiding battles a challenge as the narrow paths don’t leave you much room to run. Also, the monster sprites you see in the overworld sometimes don’t match those you encounter in battle - For example, I walked into a slime in the overworld, only to encounter a burning skull in battle. It’s small inconsistencies such as these which took away from the experience for me. [h2]The turn based combat had me feeling right at home[/h2] I know, I know, these aren’t game breaking issues, but they’re a gripe I’m sure many will share. While lacking the polish of other titles which I grew to love, BBS delivers with its combat, both from an audio and technical perspective! Heavily inspired by Final Fantasy, combat is based on the active time battle system, albeit slower. Not only is this system simple to understand, but it’s engaging, and will have fans of old school RPGs feeling right at home. The combat music was also brilliantly composed. The theme made every encounter feel like a boss battle. The tempo, tones, and beat, I could not fault it! The rest of the audio… Well, I don’t think I can recall any of the other tracks used. I understand consoles of this generation were hardware limited, but to only have one memorable track is disappointing, especially for an RPG - This is subjective however, as some may like the tracks in the game. Unfortunately, BBS had me sick of the battle theme after a few hours. Having far too many monsters, which are hard to avoid due to the narrow paths, combined with the slower ATB system, it began to feel like a grind far earlier than I expected. While high encounter rates were common back in the era (think Final Fantasy 2, or Pokemon and the Zubat army which awaited you in every cave), BBS was too much for me. The lack of polish is further felt with the story, which is easily forgotten. To me, it feels rushed. Without spoiling anything, within the first twenty minutes you’re banished from your hometown for a murder you didn’t commit. I had no idea who I was, let alone who anyone else was. As I played further, I felt confused many times over as elements of the story were delivered poorly. [h2]Despite the negatives I mentioned, I still think it's a good game[/h2] All things coming together, BBS didn’t hook me enough early on to see me playing until the very end. If the story were more engaging, I’d have, without a doubt, completed it. The English translations are well done, it’s cheap, and you can use the ROM however you wish - All huge positives for me. Despite all the criticisms I have, I do recommend fans of RPGs from that era give it a try. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44931904-Bite-Sized-Reviews//]Follow [b]BSR[/b] for more bite sized reviews.[/url][/quote] [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: [b]IndieGems[/b] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/url][/quote]

Для меня эта игра в начале 00вых была культурным шоком и первой рпг . Я часами сидел и осознавал сюжет через ужасающий перевод . Я даже при желании так плохо перевести не смог). (До сих пор помню имена героев типа" РЫ") ыыыыыы. Я придумывал связки героев связки магии и предметов . открывал для себя имбовость магии гипноза и прочее. И как же у меня горела когда игра ломала сейвы в снежной локации . Надеюсь в этой версии все пофиксили.

very good

it's nice to play a rpg from the snes era i never player or even knew about and combat looks like breath of fire. out side this the game didn't age well as combat happens to often, get tedious and has a bad ui. this game redrew or out right copied a lot of sprites from other games though it mainly seems to be breath of fire and tactics ogre. unless you're like me and get some nostalgia out of it or just like playing these old rpg's i would skip this. i really dont see modern gamers getting into this with so many better options out there. p.s. if you do get this check out art section as i'm slowly uploading maps.

Very simple, straight-forward, feel-good, grindy, predictable JRPG. And that's perfectly fine. Just an anecdote: Press Alt+Enter for more options including controller support and save states.

Alt+Enter after starting the game to get to the options at the top. Controllers by default don't work unless you select them. Full screen has a picture on the sides instead of black bars with no option to change that I saw. This game is annoying to play and would have been better with random battles. Enemies appear on the map which normally is a good thing. But here there are a ton and most of them move just as fast as you. If you get close to them they then go right for you. Once a battle happens you can't really move for a second but the enemies can meaning you can get back to back battles pretty often when trying to avoid encounters in the first place. Enemy sprites on the map also are not necessarily the enemies you are going to fight either. I got fed up and just stopped playing. There is no map so trying to find/do something is made even worse by the constant enemies. The combat system is pretty basic but the battle UI is ugly. You can win all the standard battles with 1-2 normal attacks. I found there were also a lot of misses which made me even more annoyed. This is the only game I can think of where the main character is stat wise the worst person in the party. The two girls that have joined me so far laugh at this sissy. Characters join with no spells/basic equipment which is odd since some are clear mages/hybrids but have nothing. Not sure how this is legal since it clearly rips off several games. The main character should just be called Ryu and the first girl Nina for starters. I paid $2 for this in a bundle and wanted to try it anyway. I wouldn't recommend this but the price is cheap enough to not feel burned.

I'll recommend Brave Battle Saga, but only as a light recommendation for those who are looking for more old-school RPGs for their collection. It's reasonably priced, but the story and gameplay are fairly standard for those who have been around the RPG block. Combat is turn-based, using an action bar that builds up to the respective party member's next turn (such as in Final Fantasy games). I oftentimes felt a little rushed trying to search through the Item and Spell lists in battle; there's a large quantity of items, gear, and spells you have to remember and keep in order. Spells in particular can get very messy, if you don't keep reorganizing each of your characters' menus (I didn't realize this was possible until midway through the game). Enemy mobs are not random encounters: You can see them on the map and enter combat when you touch them. Knowing how tiring random encounters can get from other RPGs, this was very welcome at first. However, many of the mobs move very quickly, and they all immediately beeline after you if you get close enough to them. This became pretty frustrating, as much of the world features narrow canyons and corridors that prevent you from avoiding mobs. Foes also continue to move while you open chests or interact with the world. Sit too long, and all nearby enemies will be sitting on you, waiting to throw you into combat once that text box closes. I began to quickly tap to get through messages whenever I interacted with things, limiting my ability to tell what I actually picked up sometimes. The worst instances were finding chests containing unique magic spells, which require you to give the spell to a character after you pick it up; as a result, I'd either be swarmed by enemies ready to fight me once I finished assigning the spell, or I'd frantically slap it on the first available character and reorganize later. ...With those experiences in mind, I wonder if a random encounter system would have actually been preferable, given the high encounter rate and the way it punishes the player. Two observations regarding combat I feel worth pointing out: First, magic spells seemed unreliable. While early spells aren't too MP-costly, subsequent tiers get very expensive. And there's a lot of spells out there. This is usually fine/expected in RPG magic systems, but the damage I was seeing didn't seem worth the cost--save for specific instances against magic-vulnerable foes or elemental weaknesses. Meanwhile, enemies' spells could be downright devastating and wipe characters instantly. More often than not, it was better to just stick with using physical attacks, even for the more magic-focused characters in the party. And that leads into my second combat observation: Critical hits seem incredibly common, and they are both your best friend and worst enemy. Why burn up your MP on attack spells for an extra bit of damage when your normal attacks have a high chance of going critical and multiplying damage several times over? It's better to keep the MP for healing and boost Spells, since items get pretty expensive (and there's plenty of things to buy otherwise). And watch out for enemies' critical hits--they can drain a character's whole HP bar in some instances. Despite those shortcomings, Brave Battle Saga was still a fun RPG distraction. The low price definitely helped. But the gameplay and story might not be enough to keep some players invested.

A turn-based RPG that is not a clone of RPG Maker, and also a rare Taiwanese gem sold for Sega Genesis that managed to be pick up and sold legally on Steam.