"BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia" Review

 "BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia"

Reviewed By: Elias
Release date: Jun 25, 2020
Players: 1 player
Genre: Simulation, Strategy, Role-Playing
Publisher: Happinet Corporation
Price: $49.99

Brigandine is a franchise that had long lay dormant in slumber. With its welcome revival, RPG fans rejoice at the return of deep tactical combat and generations of lore. Culminating years of development into an artistic expression in the form of the game, will BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia satisfy TRPG players, or should it have stayed buried?

The story follows six separate nations that stake their banners on a single continent. Of these six, five have gained the favor of a single piece of Brigandine, a magical artifact embodying traits like justice, or ego. These powerful accessories can grant the wielder the ability to wage war and lay waste to the enemy if used wisely.

The player can choose to start the campaign from any of the six nations, each one with a particular story to tell. With a young prince mourning the loss of his father, a nation of women desiring freedom, and other peoples struggling to fight for what is in their hearts, you can fill the role of the conqueror of Runersia by guiding your leader through the throes of battle.

Gameplay is done in phases, with a building phase allowing you to move and equip units to various bases your faction controls. You're also able to summon monsters and put them under the guidance of one of your human knights. Each monster has unique abilities as well as their own strengths and weaknesses that can make them worthy assets out on the battlefield.

After the build phase is an attack phase, where you can assault an enemy base from one of your own. Depending on the power levels of your units, you'll find some battles to be a breeze while others may be unconquerable. You'll need to choose when and how you fight wisely in an effort to keep your army standing and increase your conquest across the land.

After a build and attack phase have been completed, a season will pass. The main goal is to conquer as much territory as possible in a set amount of seasons. Different difficulty levels of the game may challenge you to complete the map in a smaller amount of seasons, thus adding an extra layer of tactical thinking that can make things fairly hectic.

With all the systems in place, BRIGANDINE has a very complex system of battle, with everything affection the action including the very terrain a unit stands on. While the tutorials are numerous and informative, the best method to learn the nuances of this tactical RPG is to simply go out and experience fights. Learning where to place your knights and when to attack and when to fortify a defense is a something best done right in the fray -- experience is the best teacher, after all!

Artistically, BRIGANDINE shines. With its beautifully animated characters the game's world is shown in a wonderful light. Cutscenes are fully voiced by a Japanese cast, and while you can skip the voice acting in favor of simply reading the game's text, I found myself always listening in to learn the tones of the characters in my troops. Each character seems to be wonderfully written, and while the cutscenes themselves are made of various high-quality still images, the lighting effects and other features used makes the world really come alive.

The soundtrack to the game also has a hand in giving a real feel for Runersia. The overworld map theme is an easy listen, and the tracks played in battle give off the emotion of the fight. The meld of the soundtrack along with the other assets really makes this game shine in a way that a lot of titles simply can't accomplish.

-Deep story that is replayable due to the changes of choosing one of the six factions.-Beautiful art and sound

-Combat with depth and complexity that never feels like too much

-Steep learning curve for players not familiar to tactical RPG's

-Some translation issues with in-game dialogue

Overall: 9/10

BRIGANDINE The Legend of Runersia is a wonderful experience for any RPG fan, but is a must-have for fans of the tactical genre. With its robust and well-written cast and addictive gameplay, immersing yourself in the lore of the game is all too easy. Though the price tag may seem a little high, you're paying for a polished experience that was born from a long-dormant franchise that deserves a chance to prove itself as one of the greats.

Game Trailer Below: