Many aspects of Brigandine are truly great. Others, however, are really bad.
User Rating: 7 | Brigandine PS
Brigandine is a strategy-RPG from Atlus, a developer/publisher that is well known for making strategy RPGs such as Ogre Battle. In many aspects it is a solid game, but in other ways, it just doesn't stack up. Gameplay: Brigandine does little, if anything, to add to the Strategy RPG genre. You get to choose from among several starting characters, all of which are pretty unique looking and start you in different locations on the map, but unfortunately Atlus didn't take full advantage of this excellant system.. instead the game is basically the same, no matter who you play it through with. The battles take place on a gridlike system of hexagons, with your units getting placed at the beginning of the battle. As the battle progresses, you move the units together and begin a rather large brawl, with your units and your enemy's units getting utterly massacred until one side comes out victorious. These battles are long and involved affairs, sometimes taking hours for a single battle, so don't be expecting to go anywhere while you are playing this game. The storyline is rather uninteresting, but it is adequate. Don't expect any big surprises at all, but the storyline does have enough 'ok' moments to keep you playing. Graphics: These graphics are really bad for the playstation. If Atlus had stuck with the sprites, they would have done just fine, but they decided to add in some horrifyingly bad animations for when a unit fights another unit. Thankfully, these little animations can be turned off, so you don't have to sit through them, and "enjoy" the horrid animation. Sound: Again, the sound is merely adequate, there is nothing spectacular here, at all... Value: Brigandine has a good replay value, concidering it has multiple beginnings, and allows you to see the storyline from multiple aspects as it develops. There is a lot here, but you have to endure the hardships to get to the good stuff. Tilt: I personally enjoyed this game, but it isn't something I would recommend for everyone. If you are a longtime Atlus fan, certainly go out and get this game. Otherwise, this probably isn't for you.
