Brandish is not what it seems. Judging by appearances, one might initially assume that it's a top-down action RPG, akin to A Link to the Past and other such games. In truth, though, Brandish is a pure-blooded first-person dungeon crawler that just happens to not be first-person. The camera is the most obvious example of this, and it is what turns most players off. Unlike a standard action RPG, moving left and right will not move the player across the screen, but will instead reorient you to face the direction you pressed. Basically, Brandish has tank controls, including the ability to strafe with the shoulder buttons. If this bothers you, there is an option to switch the turn and strafe buttons, so you move like an action RPG and hold the shoulder buttons to rotate. However, I highly recommend playing with the standard controls, as the way the dungeons are set up strongly emphasizes constant rotation to orient yourself. If you can get into a first-person dungeon crawler, you'll have no problem with this.
If you can get past the initial impressions of the controls, Brandish has a lot to offer. The real-time combat is interesting and varied. Enemies wander the halls, and they have a wide variety of attack patterns and behaviors. The top-down view opens the way both for methodical battles based on positioning and orientation as well as frantic, tense scrambles where an enemy unexpectedly approaches from a bad angle. You gain a few spells as you go that each have different patterns, and I found that each and every one had different uses for different foes.
Brandish also had some very nice QOL features that I was not expecting from a 1991 release. First, the game also features auto-saving every time you change floors, which saved me many times throughout my playthrough. It also has a detailed auto-map that I referenced constantly as I went. The fact that illusory walls display on the map was the cherry on top that made exploration a dream.
The game is mechanically sound, but what made my journey a worthwhile one was the atmosphere. The story follows Varik (at least in the English SNES version, what I played), an outlaw being chased by a sorceress named Alexis. During a confrontation, you both slip into a deep pit, and end up in a cursed underground kindgom, which has been transformed into a monster-filled labyrinth. Your goal is simply to find a way out (while avoiding Alexis). The game begins by simply dropping you into the ruins to fend for yourself, entirely alone. In fact, you spend nearly the entire game isolated, with only the occasional run-in with shops or the aforementioned Alexis. The atmosphere is mysterious and foreboding, and the first several shopkeepers you speak with give off an intense sense of hopelessness and melancholy. You find treasure chests, but you also find dropped items from previous adventurers. As you progress past the initial ruins and enter the tower, the mystery gives way to a grim, determined march. The shopkeepers get less hopeless and more jaded. The last true shopkeepers you meet lament that they could not go further after making it so far. By the end, you truly feel like a hardened warrior.
I would be remiss if I did not talk about the score, which was easily the best part of the entire experience. Every single song is a new banger, which is great when you'll be hearing the same track for 10 floors in a row. The standouts were the file select theme and the two shop themes especially. The first shop theme is a slow, somber waltz, used heavily at the beginning of the game to complement the gloomy tone. As you go, though a more punchy, upbeat theme is used more and more, uplifting you and complimenting each break from the action. I'm going to have most of the soundtrack randomly pop in my head for years to come.
The graphics are nice as well, mainly in the still screens which are very well done. The spritework is mostly rather good, though the insectoid enemies look kind of plasticky, with strange, bright colors (the scorpions and lobsters come to mind).
I could say a lot more about Brandish, such as the puzzles, but honestly if any of this interested you, I would highly recommend trying it. The SNES version is very accessible, though I have heard that other versions are more complete and polished. It isn't too long, though make sure to set your game speed to high, only turning down when the action gets to fast to parse.
I will absolutely be playing the sequel.
If you can get past the initial impressions of the controls, Brandish has a lot to offer. The real-time combat is interesting and varied. Enemies wander the halls, and they have a wide variety of attack patterns and behaviors. The top-down view opens the way both for methodical battles based on positioning and orientation as well as frantic, tense scrambles where an enemy unexpectedly approaches from a bad angle. You gain a few spells as you go that each have different patterns, and I found that each and every one had different uses for different foes.
Brandish also had some very nice QOL features that I was not expecting from a 1991 release. First, the game also features auto-saving every time you change floors, which saved me many times throughout my playthrough. It also has a detailed auto-map that I referenced constantly as I went. The fact that illusory walls display on the map was the cherry on top that made exploration a dream.
The game is mechanically sound, but what made my journey a worthwhile one was the atmosphere. The story follows Varik (at least in the English SNES version, what I played), an outlaw being chased by a sorceress named Alexis. During a confrontation, you both slip into a deep pit, and end up in a cursed underground kindgom, which has been transformed into a monster-filled labyrinth. Your goal is simply to find a way out (while avoiding Alexis). The game begins by simply dropping you into the ruins to fend for yourself, entirely alone. In fact, you spend nearly the entire game isolated, with only the occasional run-in with shops or the aforementioned Alexis. The atmosphere is mysterious and foreboding, and the first several shopkeepers you speak with give off an intense sense of hopelessness and melancholy. You find treasure chests, but you also find dropped items from previous adventurers. As you progress past the initial ruins and enter the tower, the mystery gives way to a grim, determined march. The shopkeepers get less hopeless and more jaded. The last true shopkeepers you meet lament that they could not go further after making it so far. By the end, you truly feel like a hardened warrior.
I would be remiss if I did not talk about the score, which was easily the best part of the entire experience. Every single song is a new banger, which is great when you'll be hearing the same track for 10 floors in a row. The standouts were the file select theme and the two shop themes especially. The first shop theme is a slow, somber waltz, used heavily at the beginning of the game to complement the gloomy tone. As you go, though a more punchy, upbeat theme is used more and more, uplifting you and complimenting each break from the action. I'm going to have most of the soundtrack randomly pop in my head for years to come.
The graphics are nice as well, mainly in the still screens which are very well done. The spritework is mostly rather good, though the insectoid enemies look kind of plasticky, with strange, bright colors (the scorpions and lobsters come to mind).
I could say a lot more about Brandish, such as the puzzles, but honestly if any of this interested you, I would highly recommend trying it. The SNES version is very accessible, though I have heard that other versions are more complete and polished. It isn't too long, though make sure to set your game speed to high, only turning down when the action gets to fast to parse.
I will absolutely be playing the sequel.