Aside from that though there isn’t much in terms of difference (unfortunately there are still moments of slowdown), but I’ve played Brain Lord (mostly the American version whereas the Japanese version I beat twice as of writing this comment as I only caught up with the SFC original a year and a half ago) so many times in the past eight-plus years that I’ve gotten it memorized and can master in one life. Definitely a one-time a year game for me that I enjoy revisiting. =) My only wish was that it was a little longer, but maybe that’s just me; to each their own.

After having been surprised at how much I enjoyed Brandish when I went through it the first time I just had to know what more was in store, I wanted to explore more right away… which I wouldn’t find out until September 2016 when I imported Brandish 2: The Planet Buster for the Super Famicom (the original, not the Expert version). Truth be told I didn’t quite finish the sequel as I had sorta stopped during the middle of it (I have SO many SFC and SNES games), but from what I had played I liked it enough but I didn’t feel it to be AS compelling as the original Brandish (I can’t quite pinpoint why, but it’s how I felt), in my opinion; with the first game, once I started it I didn’t want to stop until I finished it (that’s how gripping it was for me). I have been contemplating starting the second iteration over from scratch and give it another chance and I hope to play it to the end when I do as that way I think I’ll have formed a proper opinion on it.

Thanks for the reply, my RVG buddy, and I hope you have a great one =)

When I stumbled upon your old site and read your positive review for this game many years ago it had intrigued me and inspired me to give it a go (your Brandish review, RVGSteve, is my favorite review from your site)… which wouldn’t happen until Christmas 2015 when I caught up with it and Red Company’s The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang; of the two I enjoyed Brandish the most. =)

I love how replete with atmosphere this action-oriented adventure game is and how it refuses to let go until the very end, the soundtrack is very engaging and fantastic (the castle and cave themes are atmospheric, I like that each boss has their own theme dedicated to them, and the opener for the intro of the American version is absolutely gripping; a shame that Koei didn’t include any in-game credits so we don’t who worked on what in this Nintendo 16-bit version of the game, I hate when that happens), and while the gameplay took a bit to get used to at first what with only being able to see Ares’/Varik’s back it grew to become intuitive and second nature before long–not to mention fun! =D And as a Nihon Falcom enthusiast, I approve.

Considering that this top-down game was originally made in 1991, the fact that the angles change when you’re not strafing kinda make this game feel ahead of its time because the only RPGs that really did that at the time were of the first-person variety; just picturing the developers maintaining the same coordinates and continuity with enemy and chest and occasional NPC and wall and hole placement despite facing any of four different directions… that’s mindblowing considering it came out at a time when top-down RPGs preserved the same unaltered camera angle.

Admittedly it did leave a bit to be desired in the visual department (excepting the cutscenes which are typically great-looking coming from Nihon Falcom) although having said that, I didn’t mind the simplistic-looking floor and wall designs (Nihon Falcom’s strengths when it comes to their were always music, great gameplay, and story) but I do concede that it could’ve benefited from more area variety (something they did with Brandish 2: The Planet Buster). I do understand why this aspect is getting flak though even if I don’t find Brandish to be the worst-looking of the Nihon Falcom properties on the Nintendo 16-bit (that would be Epoch’s port for Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, which did not look anything at all like it belonged in the system).

The idea of controlling a wanted bounty hunter whom you knew practically nothing about except that he may or may not have killed Dela’s/Alexis’ father and master Balkan was the most fascinating detail about it, and even by the time you finish (regardless of what choice you made) you still don’t learn anything more about him and yet he still maintains that sense of mystique about him.

I love the sense of replay value this game has got going for it, for if you didn’t find certain treasures or filled out certain parts of the map the first time through then there’s always a chance to do exactly that the next time around. =) Not to mention increasing arm strength and magic endurance is exciting. It is a bit challenging at points but not impossible, and the atmosphere is what this game incredibly compelling for me.

One final thing more to add to my rambling comment (sorry) is the cover art: I LOVE this game’s cover art, the warm and bright color scheme and dynamic poses make it one of my favorite box covers ever (on the Nintendo 16-bit or otherwise); and I like how the back of said box recommended this game if you enjoyed Breath of Fire and Brain Lord almost as if all three games were connected by the fact that all three titles begin with the first two letters “Br” and that they all have dragons serving as an integral part of the plot–and yes, I DO love Breath of Fire (the first one, I could never get into the second one whenever I tried giving it a chance, but that’s neither here nor there) and I DO love Brain Lord (the original Super Famicom version is better, but the American version is still decent enough), thank you for asking Koei.

Okay, I’m done! Keep up the great work, RVGSteve, thank you for your review of Brandish otherwise I don’t know if I would’ve tried it. Take care! =)