Aren't you a little short for a Samurai?

My household had an N64 for the late �0s, so all of my PS1 experience was had on a close friend’s console. However, they weren’t as focused on video games as I was in my youth, so I mostly just got to play the really big titles. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Twisted Metal, and whatever could be found on demo discs.

I’ve been making up for lost time, recently. My PS1 collection has been growing, and I’ve been paying close attention to the titles that slipped between the cracks. 1998’s Brave Fencer Musashi is one such title. It was made during what was probably Squaresoft’s most inventive period. Between all the Final Fantasy’s, we got Parasite Eve and Vagrant Story. Nowadays, it feels like between each Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest entry, ?we get a bunch of ??spin-offs and remakes from those series.

Brave Fencer Musashi interested me because?? I knew nex??t to nothing about it.

[caption id="attachment_391785" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Not my problem, pal

The introduction to Brave Fencer Musashi does a hilariously great job of setting things up. The Alucaneet Kingdom is under attack by the Thirstquencher Empire, so the princess of the kingdom summons Musashi to fix things for them. He absolutely has no interest in doing this, everyone immediately makes fun of him for being a child, but he’s?? not allowed to go home until he solves their problems.

Screw setting up compelling motivation for the protagonist. Musashi is on a quest because he’s obligated to be. Many times when an NPC asks him for help, he responds with some variation of, “Isn’t this something you should be doing yourself?�But because the villagers absolutely refuse to help themselves, Musashi has to do it for?? them.

This is a subtext that a lot of games just ignore, but it’s literally the driving narrative force behind Brave Fencer Musashi. Musashi is someone who is just trapped in a ??video game. The villagers all play ??their parts, but that act is entirely coming up with some dangerous task for the hero.

The whole “you’re a hero, don’t ask questions�schtick has worked for video games since time immemorial, but every so often, it’s nice to have a hero whose catchphrase is, “Not my problem, pal.�/p>

[caption id="attachment_391783" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Well, excuuuse me, Princess

While Squaresoft is largely known for its RPGs, Brave Fencer Musashi leans a little heavier into the nebulous action-adventure category. There are RPG stats and questing, but the focus isn’t on them. Instead, it plays closer to a Zelda game but with platforming elements. In some ways, its lighthearted and whimsical storytelling and tilted-angle platforming reminded me heavily of Super Mario RPG, but I was surprised to find almos?t no staff crossover between the two games.

You spend a lot of your time at the castle or the neighboring Grillin Village. All the acti?on areas branch off from the village. Most chapters of the game begin with the villag?e having a problem, and that points you in the direction of where you need to go next. It’s not foolproof, but usually, if you talk to the villagers, you’ll catch wind of a rumor.

Musashi’s goal is to collect five scrolls to power up his sword, Lumina. These scrolls (and ??the sword) are also what the Thirstquencher Empire is after, so they’ll be making a nuisance of themselves. It’s a pretty standard video game narrative, especially for the time.

[caption id="attachment_391784" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Delicious villagers

Anything generic about Brave Fencer Musashi’s plot is made up for by its whimsical quirkiness. There’s a day/night cycle that moves the townsfolk along their path, and as you quest, one of your goals is to save captured citizens from crystal-like “Bincho fields.�/p>

The fact that you keep orbiting Grillin Village goes a long way towards making it feel l??ike home. You learn people’s schedules over time and catch wind of how other townsfolk feel about them. There’s an unfortunate dearth of side activities to take on, but each character feels unique, and their interactions with Musashi are enjoyable.

There’s also an action figure collecting diversion that is completely there for its own sake. You can buy these figurines of many of the characters and enemies you encounter, then take them back to yo?ur room and view them. However, they all come mint-on-card. Will you break open that blister pack? You fool! You’ve destroyed their resale value! All well. At least now you can play around with them.

[caption id="attachment_391781" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Harass the wildlife

The biggest issue I had with Brave Fencer Musashi is that it isn’t muc?h fun to play. The platforming is underwhelming at best and finicky at worst. The combat isn’t great, either. It’s sort of gluey and lacks any real impact??.

You have the ability to absorb abilities from enemies, but aiming your fusion sword ??is just so crappy. Then, most of the abilities suck and are only useful in specific situations. Unl??ess there was obviously something in the environment that I needed an ability to bypass, I’d often just forget that this ability even existed.

On t??he other hand, sometimes it has amusing e??ffects. Like, one of them just makes you stink and puts flies on your screen. That’s a good one.

Brave Fencer Musashi also flows like a river of butts. The hardest part of the game for me happens early on when you have a limited amount of time to avoid a catast?rophe. You do this with a mini-game that consists of hitting switches in the right order, pressing buttons at the correct time, and, worst of all, platforming with a fixed camera angle. The difficulty is all over the place. Certain segments drag or even repeat. It makes actually getting through the game rather unenjoyable.

[caption id="attachment_391786" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Should've hired a poet

Brave Fencer Musashi is one of those games that I kind of slogged through, finished, and then was left wondering why I enjoyed it so much. Then, as someone who will sometimes bashfully refer to themselves as a “critic,�it’s my job to figure out what I liked about it and then put it into words. That’s sort of difficult here. For one thing, I believe I like Brave Fencer Musashi so much just because of its genera??l vibe, but that’s something else that isn’t quantifiable??.

Truly, Brave Fencer Musashi’s weaker points actually play out in its favor. The fact that its pacing is practically broken and its story is so weirdly non-conformist makes the whole experience unpredictable. Power-ups are given sporadically, but you don’t know what you’ll be getting or when. There are droughts with no changes to your powerset and others where they’re coming in ??fast. It’s worth it to keep playing because you never know what’s over that hill.

Any beyond that, it’s like home. Grillin Village is a bit like Kattlelox Island from Mega Man Legends. Over time,?? it kind of grows on you, and it’s a comfortable feeling. The characters may not amount to much in the time you spend with th??em, but they become familiar faces.

Brave Fencer Musashi is just a special sort of game that pops up every now and then. It’s like the Dark Cloud series or Deadly Premonition; there’s an earnest warmth underlying everything. Maybe the game itself won’t rock your world, but you will remember it fondly. And I think beyond just being a fun diversion, th?at’s exactly what every game should striv??e for.

For other retro t?itles you ?may have missed, click right here!

The post Brave Fencer Musashi for PS1 is an unusual ??Squaresoft title that will ?stick with you appeared first on Destructoid.

The HD-2D revival heads to more platforms

Classic RPG Live A Live is heading to more platforms. The HD-2D remake of the Super Famicom classic is getting port??ed to PlayStation 4 and PS5, as well as PC via Steam, on April 27.

Square Enix released the HD-2D remake of Live A Live last year, and it was certainly a bit of a surprise. This RPG with multiple "paths" and protagonists had long eluded the west. The Switch release not only brought it over, but revitalized it with some qu?ality-of-life updates and revamped graphics.

Now, PlayStation and Steam users can experience the journey themselves. Live A Live will go for $49.99, though there's a $10 off pre-order bonus running right now. Also, all platforms are getting a demo, which is currently live right now for PS4, PS5, and Steam. It sounds like it's a similar demo to the Switch version, letting ?you try out the Wild West, Edo Japan, and Distant Future sectio??ns.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQPmA-QmeU

The remake includes remastered music from Yoko Shimomura too, and let me tell you: the version of "Megalomania" in the Live A Live update is absolutely phenomenal.

More lives to lead

If you're completely unfamiliar, Live A Live follows several different heroes throughout the eras and their individual journeys, as they eventually come together to fight a greater evil. If that sounds familiar, that's because yes, Octopath Traveler owes a fair bit to the original Live A Live.

What makes Live A Live such an interesting game is that each era has its own mechanics and systems, making their playthroughs remarkably distinct. The Edo Japan period is a Metal Gear-style castle infiltration, while Present Day is basically RPG Street Fighter. It's a really interesting game for RPG fans to dig into, and something that we found still largely succeeds almost three decades later.

Live A Live arrives on PlayStation 4, PlaySt?ation 5, and PC via Steam on April 27.

The post Live A Li?ve heads to P??layStation and Steam in April appeared first on Destructoid.

Open up the job lookbook

Final Fantasy X-2 first hit the PlayStation 2 20 years ago in Japan, on March 13, 2003. It was a very unusual kind of game for Square to make, both in tone and it being a direct sequel to a previous Final Fantasy game. But 20 years later, I'd argue it's a stellar entry ??in the series, in ways well-exemplified by its dressphere system.

Spheres are the core of a lot of technology in Spira, throughout most of Final Fantasy X. After the events and revelations of FFX, though, Spheres suddenly become m??uch more in-demand. Team YRP, or Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, form up as sphere hunters to try and track down lost, rare spheres for big rewards.

//twitter.com/FinalFantasy?/?status/1635279810594476034

Gameplay-wise, this leads into the dressphere system. We see some of this in the game's absolutely stellar intro, but Final Fantasy X-2 uses spheres as its mean of re-classing and changing jobs. Your part?y is, outside of the creatur?e capture feature, just Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. The variety in their abilities and what they do, then, stems from the dresspheres, which sees them don new outfits to invoke the power of different jobs.

Moon prism power

It's a mechanic that draws very direct, overt homage to the magical girl genre. These transformations aren't just a hot-swap of items or weapons, but an entire transform?ation sequence, where the girls shed the armor of one job and clad the?mselves in another. Strike a pose, get a special intro, all the bells and whistles. It rules.

Concerns about Final Fantasy X-2 in the past swirled around worries that it might be too "girly", the way a jock in an '80s movie might talk about ballet before suddenly becoming a primo dancer in a pumped-up training montage and changing his ways. Yes, Final Fantasy X-2 leans heavy into the style of this, embodying magical sailor warriors, runway models, and warrior princesses alike. The result is an effusively stylish and memorable battle system, filled with fantastic outfits that put fashion spins on classic Final Fantasy jobs.

[caption id="attachment_368521" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Couple this with the quips in-game, and it's a great set-up for a job system already. When Rikku remarks that her Dark Knight armor "isn't just for show" after a job swap, it's a fun battle remark that puts a smile on my face. Some may remember Final Fantasy XV fondly for the boys' camaraderie, but it's worth noting the girls of YRP had a similar v??ibe going years earlier ?on the PlayStation 2.

But let's talk about the battles now.

Navigating the Garment Grid

Swapping jobs on the fly and building up mastery in each one already makes for an interesting set-up. What puts Final Fantasy X-2 over the top is how it layers the Garment Grid system over it, generat??ing interesti?ng combat by imposing limitations.

No YRP member can freely swap between all available dresspheres. They may g??et access to all of them, apart from a few character-specific spheres, but each girl has their own Garment Grid. Here, you plot out what dresspheres are available and which one they start on.

[caption id="attachment_368523" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

While this starts out as an easy way to condense down the breadth of jobs available, the simple action of swapping dresspheres becomes its own mechanic. Some Garment Grids may have gates that, when passed through, offer additional boons; a bump in stats, or maybe even access to?? certain spells. Now, you're having to plot out not just a good range of jobs for your fighters, but a potential "route" for them to take, in order to activate their bonuses.

Keep in mind, you're doing this while fighting another enemy. Unlike FFX's turn-based system, battles are (by default) in real-time in Final Fantasy X-2, using a version of the Active Time Battle system. You could be trying to work your way through certain gates on the Grid and suddenly get hit by a big attack. Or maybe you want to hold off swapping to a lower-health class, at least until there's a pause in an enemy's assault. Layered over top are the special dresspheres, a trump card shift that sees two of the girls leave the battlefield for one to take center stage in their "ultimate" gear. It's my humble opinion that Overwatch's D.va owes at least a little bit to Rikku's Machina Maw dressp??h?ere.

[caption id="attachment_368522" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Strike a pose

This fluid, ever-changing combat system just helps further highlight how individual each dressphere is. The Songstress takes on a distinctly Bard skillset, while the Gunner has an actual "press R1 to fire" ability that can set up chain combos. Final Fantasy X-2's take on the classic Blue Mage job, dubbed the Gun Mage here, is one of my favorites in the series. And later unlockable jobs like Lady Luck and the Alchemist all bring fresh, new aspects to combat. Seriously, ??having "Mix" always available and a bottomless pocket of Mega-Potions makes for a really interesting healer.

Final Fantasy X has often been remembered in the upper echelon of Final Fantasy games, and for good reason: it's an exceptional RPG. But today, two decades out from its original release in Japan, we should also pay some respects to the inventive and enjoyable sequel it got in Final Fantasy X-2, and a dressphe??re system that stands the test of time.

The post On Final Fantasy X-2’s 20th, let’s remember its incredible dressphere system appeared first on Destructoid.

The creator is fully aware of the "you shouldn't spread this around" comments!

As is the case with every fan creation that's openly shared on Twitter, YouTube, and plenty of other places directly by the creator themselves, I should note that this is yet another "the creator has directly shared this on Twitter" situation. Digital artist Finn shared the latest footage of their Super Mario RPG remake on Twitter, which reworks? the graphical system of the game into a new charming modern style.

Note that Finn has their response to the "but you shouldn't share these types of things online" statement already ready to go:

"Just thought I’d put this out there since I’ve seen some stuff floating around: My SMRPG project, while made in a game engine, will not be available to play, for legal reasons:) similarly, I do not plan to remake a si??gnificant portion of the ga??me as to not infringe on copyright."

That's why I put the phrase "mockup" in the headline. While this was initially shared around as a project that could see the light of day, Finn cleared things up themsel?ves; noting that they wanted to share their artistry with the world without distributing it, or remaking the entire game.

Still, you love to see it. These types of fan projects ??lead to full official releases more often than you'd think, and although it would take a lot of legwork to get this one off the ground,?? I hope it happens one day.

//twitter.com/huckori/status/1542926937055588352

The post A Super M??ario RPG fan remake mockup? Sign me th??e hell up appeared first on Destructoid.

Live every life on the Switch

A long-awaited RPG classic is finally coming to North America. Square's multi-path RPG Live A Live is coming to the Nintendo Switch on July 22.

Announced today during the Nintendo Direct, the Square RPG is coming to the Nintendo Switch for $49.99. You can find the eShop listing up for pre-order here.

Live A Live was originally released for Japan in 1994, on the Super Famicom. It is a fairly unique RPG, certainly for the time. It has seven different stories, following seven characters in different time periods and wi?th differen??t gameplay styles. You play them in any order, and eventually link them all together.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Bhh5Gi6p8

This version of the game comes with HD-2D graphics, which is quickly becoming the go-to nomenclature for the Octopath-style of high-definition pixel art. It also marks the first time that Live A Live will be officially available outside of Japan.

Live A Live is another "can't believe it" Switch RPG re-release announcement in a Nintendo Direct with several of them. Earthbound is coming to the Nintendo Switch Online service, the first two Front Mission games are getting remakes, and Chrono Cross is coming to the Sw??itch and other platforms. Seriously, if you're a fan of older,? arguably more obscure RPGs, this is your year. Enjoy this.

Though the $49.99 price tag is pretty steep, the HD-2D restoration of Live A Live looks pretty darn good. This is going to be a good summer for RPG fans. Live A Live will join that fray on the Switch on July 22.

The post Live A Live is finall?y coming to North America on Switch in July appeared first on Destructoid.