Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Brave Fencer Musashi for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.
A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
Brave Fencer Musashi
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JaySevenZero
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Re: 605: Brave Fencer Musashi
I love Square in the late 90s as they were so prolific and took creative risks to produce unique games. 1998 alone had Xenogears, Parasite Eve and then Brave Fencer Musashi, all games with very different experiences, worlds, and tones. With so many games of quality coming out at that time some are bound to be overlooked and Brave Fencer Musashi is one that I hadn't paid attention to at the time or when revisiting PS1 titles.
I am proud and kind of amazed that I finished the game this month. It can have a frustrating difficulty based on platforming responsiveness and early 3D jank. But I'm glad I did as I see why this was nominated for discussion with some interesting game mechanics. There is a dynamic 24 hour clock that effects when and where people and events happen. They also make this feature easier to manage by giving you a sleep ability which you can use anywhere (which is kind of funny to just plop down for a snooze in a dank mine) and it speeds the time up allowing you to quickly advance (Except for that last rainy Friday event which took forever). This is also coupled with a tiredness mechanic which slowly accrues and impacts Musashi's speed and responsiveness. Just take a nap, eat some mint, and you are fresh as a daisy. Also milk turns to sour milk which turns to cheese, brilliant.
The look of the game is not attractive but it has a character and nostalgia of early 3D that I found endearing. It would be a good example of when people say PS1 games haven't aged well. The voice acting is novel for the time but has an animated children's series tone and quality to it. At first I hated this but it soon turned comedic to me and I was laughing at Musashi yelling "you old geezer" and embodying 90s cool that is cringe. Finally, to add to the cheesiness the names are all puns on food and drink. A harsher soul might hate on it but I thought the Allucaneet Kingdom was a creative buffet and I appreciate Square's wild swings.
I am proud and kind of amazed that I finished the game this month. It can have a frustrating difficulty based on platforming responsiveness and early 3D jank. But I'm glad I did as I see why this was nominated for discussion with some interesting game mechanics. There is a dynamic 24 hour clock that effects when and where people and events happen. They also make this feature easier to manage by giving you a sleep ability which you can use anywhere (which is kind of funny to just plop down for a snooze in a dank mine) and it speeds the time up allowing you to quickly advance (Except for that last rainy Friday event which took forever). This is also coupled with a tiredness mechanic which slowly accrues and impacts Musashi's speed and responsiveness. Just take a nap, eat some mint, and you are fresh as a daisy. Also milk turns to sour milk which turns to cheese, brilliant.
The look of the game is not attractive but it has a character and nostalgia of early 3D that I found endearing. It would be a good example of when people say PS1 games haven't aged well. The voice acting is novel for the time but has an animated children's series tone and quality to it. At first I hated this but it soon turned comedic to me and I was laughing at Musashi yelling "you old geezer" and embodying 90s cool that is cringe. Finally, to add to the cheesiness the names are all puns on food and drink. A harsher soul might hate on it but I thought the Allucaneet Kingdom was a creative buffet and I appreciate Square's wild swings.