Reviewed by: America Online
Rating: 79%
Maker: Square
Genre: RPG
ESRB Rating: ?
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Didn't recognize the title? Maybe I should have called it "The Other CD Packaged with the Final Fantasy VIII Demo."
Sound familiar now?
For many gamers, that's all Brave Fencer Musashi (or BFM, for you acronym hounds) will ever be. Outwardly, the game isn't impressive-- its polygonal graphics are simple, its animation is choppy, clipping is rampant, and its controls and camera are always at odds.
However, if you can bite through BFM's thick, crunchy outer crust of flaws, you'll find a sweet, gooey center of innovation. And while BFM may not be bold enough to join the ranks of the Square classics, a few people may fall for its offbeat charms.
But to get anything out of BFM, you'll have to be able to tolerate cute. Although a legendary Japanese swordsman inspired the title character, you won't be able to tell that by looking at him. BFM's Musashi is a bigheaded kid with sprawling, spiky blue hair. He's got Popeye's arms, no discernable nose, sideburns like drowned porcupines, and the most annoying voice I've heard since Spyro the Dragon.
However, if Musashi weren't bizarre, he wouldn't fit in with his environment. The legendary swordsman isn't battling in our world. Instead, he's fighting in a place called the Allucaneet Kingdom (yes, that's pronounced "All You Can Eat"). He's been summoned there by a certain Princess Fillet to help in her battle against the evil Thirstquencher Empire. At his side are more characters with food-themed names, including Musician Beef-Clef, Hawker Steakwood, and (I'm not making these up) Mercenary Meitelofe.
Unfortunately, Brave Fencer Musashi doesn't acknowledge and have fun with its own weirdness, like the N64's Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. Instead, it takes its plot seriously and attempts to create an immersive world for Musashi to adventure in. This is probably the biggest flaw with the game; it doesn't know if it wants you to laugh at the world or believe in it.
And there's reason to believe in the Allucaneet Kingdom. As you play, time actually passes in the game and day changes to night-- roughly one minute of our time is equal to one hour of BFM time. Shops open and close at certain hours and people sleep, wake up, and go to work, just as you'd expect them to in real life. Musashi also gets tired, so you have to let him sleep every now and then to keep his strength up.
BFM plays more like Tomba! than anything else on the PSX. Your mission to take down the Thirstquencher Empire is wrapped up in lots of sub-quests and smaller adventures. But progressing through those quests is more linear than Tomba!'s languid structure-- each time you finish one quest, you get a new one to begin.
Consequently, exploration isn't as important in BFM as it is in Tomba!. You always have one place you need to go to, and checking out other locations isn't going to help very much. Musashi might be able to locate hidden items or power-ups by looking around, but he's not going to find new quests or adventures.
However, he might find new characters. Scattered across BFM's world are crystalline prisons called Bincho Fields that hold members of Allucaneet's royal staff. As you free them, they'll help you by giving you an item, passing along important advice, or by showing you a special move or sword technique.
Along with the help provided by these allies, Musashi gets stronger as he does certain actions. Just walking around improves Musashi's defense, and his two swords (the katana Fusion, which glows lightsaber blue, and the gigantic knife Lumina, which glows red) grow in power each time he uses them. As the game progresses, he gets new powers (courtesy of five magic scrolls) that open up new areas to explore and allow him to continue on his quest.
But to get through the puzzles in BFM, Musashi will have to assimilate abilities from his enemies by stabbing them with Fusion and absorbing their essence. Apparently, Square is obsessed with the idea of using an enemy's power against them-- the same theme pops up again and again in their games, and it looks like it'll have a prominent place in Final Fantasy VIII.
Speaking of which, let me again remind you that this is the game bundled with the FF8 demo. I don't want anybody to rush out and buy a copy of BFM just for that single hour of demo disk without knowing what's on the other CD in the case. It's called marketing, folks.
So, as Musashi slashes and absorbs the power of his goofy, cutesy opponents, he gains new powers. Some of these are specific to certain puzzles, while others can come in handy at any time. For example, the Hop ability, which allows Musashi to use Fusion as a pogo stick, is only good for bouncing across barriers. The Bullet ability, on the other hand, can be used to mow down most of the game's minor enemies.
As useful as those powers are, the skill Musashi needs the most is something he can't get from his enemies. It's called jumping, and BFM makes you do a lot of it. Most quests put you through the usual platform paces; you'll have to jump over holes, jump onto moving platforms, jump on ledges that disappear, etc. And this isn't Tomb Raider-style 3-D jumping, either-- it's strict old-school side-scrolling.
Which is odd, considering that BFM is a 3-D game. The problem is that the camera isn't behind Musashi's back. Instead, it's floating somewhere far, far away from him. Usually, you've got something close to a 3/4 perspective, but the camera angles change as you move around. Sometimes you can rotate the view to get the best angle, but most of the time you can't.
In the jumping sequences, you're given a side-view of the action and narrow platforms that allow little movement towards or away from the screen. It might as well be 2-D. In fact, it should be 2-D-- the 3-D controls often screw up jumps. Luckily, BFM doesn't kill you immediately when you fall, but that doesn't relieve the camera problem.
You know, out of all the third-person 3-D games that I've played, I haven't seen another camera angle that's as flexible and fun the behind-the-back cam. If BFM had that, I don't think I would mind its chunky graphics so much.
Luckily, BFM isn't as harsh on the ears as it is on the eyes. The music is incredible, and it changes with the time-- a different theme is played during the day, the evening, night, etc. As long as you don't talk to anyone (and hear BFM's annoying voice acting), this game is a joy to listen to.
But even with fine music, innovative elements, and more little extras than I can possibly mention (like the action figures you can purchase and play with), Brave Fencer Musashi's flaws keep it from being the fine title it could have been. Since I know you want to check out the FF8 demo anyway, you should rent this game-- and I repeat the word rent. While some may fall for BFM's charms, most people won't, and they shouldn't be stuck with a one-hour demo they love and a full game they won't play. Think about the other disk.
