Brave Story: New Traveler is truly a brave game. In a time where conventional RPGs are on the brink of extinction, Games Republic and XSEED come out with an enjoyable RPG that harkens back to an era of turn-based battles.
The game starts out pretty mellow. You (Tetsuya) are a boy, sitting in a beautiful park with a beautiful girl. Unfortunately for you, your head is stuck in a handheld game system and the entire world is passing you by. Your dog runs off and while the girl tries to chase after it, a tragic turn of events happens. Miki (the girl) has fallen into a coma from an evil force and is rushed to the hospital were you meet a magic frog that takes you to a world called Vision where you learn that you are a “Traveler†and if you meet some challenges, collect gemstones, and meet with the goddess, one wish will come true. An hour or two later of text, you can actually play the game.
As you can expect, people will join you on your quest, post twists will reveal themselves leading up to a grand boss battle where the fate of your destiny is unfolding. Sound familiar? As will these things: A main weapon that resembles the Keyblade, the secondary character, Yuno, is a sassy sidekick who takes charge, a party that risks life and limb for unimportant tasks, and a cutesy bird minigame. That is all forgivable because the way Brave Story pulls it together and makes it its own is rather impressive.
The biggest tweak that Brave Story has over other traditional RPGs is the unity system. This is a system set in place to mix and match party formations to your liking. The more your party fights in combat, the more extra moves they can learn. You’ll keep trying different party combos to find some devastating attacks. It keeps the turn-based battles entertaining because you’ll never quite know when the next move will be learned.
The biggest issue with Brave Story is the fact that the main character seems more like a secondary character. Tetsuya appears to have no personality next to his travel companions. Yuno, who steals the entire show with her strong personality traits, should have been the main focus. The story arc is engaging enough to play through but you’ll notice that Tetsuya is underdeveloped for being a main character. It was a risk the developers ran by attempting to make you feel like you were Tetsuya.
Another problem is all the text you have to wade through to play the game. There are spots that are voiced over but the vast majority is text and that can make the game dip and sag if you are not keen on a heavy story.
The graphics are simply gorgeous and the sound that accompanies is just as premier. As a bonus for the North American version, you can select English or Japanese speech. Navigating the turn-based battle menu is slick and easy and will have you plowing through random encounters with general ease. The one returning gripe about turned-based battles resurfaces, and it boils down to this – a formula of two damage dealers and one healer will win any battle.
Brave Story: New Traveler is a text book example of how turned-based RPGs should be. Sacrificing heroes, villains with self-serving causes, and other elements from RPGs of yesteryear to bring the game to a crescendo of near timeless proportions. The story, graphics, and music come together in perfect sync. Yes, there are a few small issues you can nitpick with but the entire game is consistent and solid.
I was surprised to find out this game was an Anime series. The developers Games Republic and publisher XSEED really out did themselves to make sure this was more than just a fan service. There is a quality, meaty game that you don’t need to be an existing fan of the series to appreciate.
