Brave Story:
New Traveler begins with the following scenario:
Miki
(sitting on a bench, enjoying the sun): “Wow! What a beautiful day. I love this
kind of weather. See how nice it is to be outdoors for a change?”
Tatsuya,
glued to his PSP, fails to respond.
Miki,
getting frustrated: “Hello, Earth to Tatsuya!? Unbelievable! Don’t you do
anything besides play video games!? You promised you’d help me take Kratos [her
dog] for a walk.”
The player
then has the choice to make Tatsuya respond by saying one of two things: “I
did?” or “Just one more level…” I of course chose the latter.
Miki, now
really frustrated: “That’s what you ALWAYS say! Look, maybe you play some knight
in shining armor in your little game, but not in real life, that’s for sure.
Ugh!”
Any game
that begins like that has my attention. This one isn’t as much a brave story
as it is an ambitious move to advance the gaming experience of a handheld RPG.
The sights, sounds, and even details as minute as game menus are brighter and
more like a console game than the usual crop of PSP titles. That’s not to say
that the system hasn’t had great RPGs – it has and more are on the way. But
unlike the ports, side stories or semi-sequels, Brave Story the kind of game
that was once only found on PlayStation 2.
Courageous Fantasies
The common
theme of today’s RPGs is to make battles quick, add voice-overs to major
dialogue sequences, and to utilize older technology that keeps costs down and
gives the game a “retro” appearance. The developers of Brave Story were smart to
heed the first theme, were even smarter to avoid the last one, but did not take
complete advantage of the PSP’s vocal capabilities. Conversations are conducted
with text and with text only.
That might
be hard to absorb. I remember a time when I hated voice-overs (I still do when
they suck), but I’ve become so acclimated to them now that it’s almost annoying
when a game doesn’t have them. But don’t let that deter you from the story,
which is well thought out for a light-hearted tale of sorcery and discovery. It
is also features some hilarious scenes, as evidenced by the intro between our
video game-addicted hero and a girl who just doesn’t get it.
Brave
Story’s battles are not merely a quick repeat of every other game on the planet.
Rather, they pay homage to the 3D Final Fantasy games, and though series
loyalists may say it’s a clone, everyone else will be immersed in the wide-scale
battles displayed on the PSP’s widescreen. Just two characters and six battle
options are available at the start, triggering those craving-more feelings very
quickly. That, and the
illness that strikes Miki, are two of the driving forces behind the game.
When Tatsuya meets Yuno, a cat-like half-breed whose bow and arrow skills are
supreme, the process of caring for a character starts all over again and quickly
makes you wonder if Miki will survive and whether she will reappear during the
game or be saved for the end.
Like Final
Fantasy, battles occur on a field that’s separate from towns, forests, dungeons,
etc., and are also separate from the world map. The character models have been
sculpted with the utmost care, taking details of a wide range (big or small)
into account. Yuno’s hair and pointed ears sway with every movement, even when
sitting at the dinner table with her parents (as Nick at Nite will tell you, the
family table is all the rage these days!). The enemies are born from the same
quality materials and include giant insects, oversized sea creatures, ferocious
knights, and a cornucopia of creatures that’ll impress your senses every time a
new one appears – just as the Final Fantasy series did upon its PSone and PS2
debuts.
Camera
angles change frequently, moving seamlessly to increase the thrill of every
battle. The angles appear to be effected by the environment as well as the type
of creature you’re battling, but the changes are so frequent that they’re hard
to predict. Each town sticks to its own view, some closer to the action than
others, providing the player with multiple perspectives. The world map is pretty
big, but the design is a slight throwback to the retro look that the rest of the
game avoids. Tatsuya is seen as a larger-than-life character that towers over
buildings and trees. It looks cool, and is pulled off more realistically than it
sounds.
Though a lot
can be said for Brave Story’s high-polygon visuals, the game is only made better
by the game – but it does not survive on them alone. What you have underneath
the pretty picture is a very satisfying RPG. It’s not innovative or daring or
anything you haven’t experienced in a Final Fantasy. But you’ve never seen or
played anything like it on PSP. And though it may not age as well as Final
Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy X, that won’t stop you from loving every minute of
the game when you play it in 2007.
|
|
Gameplay: 8.0
Turn-based
battles, multiple camera angles, item forging, magic / special attacks (called
“Bravura”), an intriguing story that revolves around saving a young woman… It’s
standard RPG content. The execution, however, far surpasses the industry
average.
Graphics:
8.8
Gorgeous
role-playing in the palm of your hand. The spells, characters, monsters, camera
angles, environments, etc., are all beautiful.
Sound: 8.2
Great music, but
where are the voice-overs? I might not want to hear the characters speaking
while sitting at a bus stop. But unlike most RPGs, which are butchered by their
voice-overs, Brave Story could’ve been improved by having them throughout the
adventure.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
New enemies might
catch you off guard, but the game still leans more toward easy.
Concept: 7.6
The bird system
(where you capture birds for items or to use in a competition of feathery
cuteness) is about the only thing Brave Story can claim as its own.
Overall: 8.2
A must for
players who have longed for a 3D Final Fantasy to be made for Sony’s handheld.
