Brave Story: New Traveler
Publisher: XSEED Games
Developer: SCE Studios Japan
Genre: RPG
Release: July 31, 2007
Platform: Playstation Portable
Reviewer: Eric
Brave Story: New Traveler might have to be the best title out
on the PSP to date. The graphics are top notch PS2 graphics, the
controls are perfect, and the battle system are as deep as Final
Fantasy games. With a few bumps here and there with Brave Story
it really is a damn good game, no load times in-between battles
alone is amazing.
The PSP is not hurting with role playing games. Since late
July there has been a new role playing game out every week,
starting with the Final Fantasy remake. Out of all the ones that
have come out Brave Story sticks out the most. The story is
simple, the main character goes into another world and needs to
find gems to help his sister from dying. If it wasn't for him
always playing his video games this would not have happened and
I am not kidding with that, his sister walks the dog when she
asked him to. All he wanted to do was finish one more level, but
of course the dog runs away, she follows, and one minute later
she is on the ground in the street, some how dying when she is
at the hospital. Sort of lame, but whenever you start the game
the story gets better.
Having no load times in-between battles is awesome. Final
Fantasy 2 for the PSP suffered with some rather sluggish load
times, from turning the game back on to a few seconds before
battles, it was uncalled for since Final Fantasy didn't have
this. With some PSP games taking forever to load, WWE Smackdown
vs Raw 2006 took five minutes just to get into a match and from
what I heard 2007 was just as bad. How did XSeed do this? I'm
not sure, but this is really a great RPG to play any where. I
seem to carry my PSP with me a lot more, if I need to wait for
anything I can get in a few battles, then just shut the system
off. When you turn your PSP back on there is no loading or
anything, starts right back where you last left it.
The game play is a lot like old school RPGs on the Playstation.
While I am not really much of a fan with the new style of role
playing games, Final Fantasy XII wasn't all that great, Brave
Story breaks me back to the day when role playing games were a
blast. You can search white colored pots for items, pick up side
quests to earn special items or weapons, and play/mess with a
weird bird mini game. There is no lack of anything in this game,
there is a good 30 or so hours of game play, it all really
depends on how many of these games you have played. New comers
to this genre might need 50 hours with this one.
One major flaw with this game is how you save your game. The
only times you can save your game is when you're at the Inn,
which are in towns, and at one of the blue gems, which are
located in caves and dungeons. This can be a big pain if you
just want to roam around and level up or if you want to do some
of your side quests. Even though you can turn your PSP on and
off and the game will still be at it's last point what would
happen if your game locks up? I've never had this problem when I
played this one, but there are plenty of times I've had this
problem before. If you are low on battery power I highly
recommend you shut your game off and wait until you can charge
your system. Sometimes if you drain your PSP all the way you
will loose your point in the game you are playing. All RPGs let
you save on the world map, but for some reason Brave Story
doesn't allow it. This is a problem, but another feature makes
up for it big time.
Somebody tell me if I am wrong here but this is the first game that lets
you level up in battle, turn based battle systems. I love this
feature so much, this alone makes the game too awesome. One of
your characters may gain a level in battle, earn a new spell,
which will help you in the battle your in right now. It might
not sound like much to most people but to RPG fans this is
great, now all we need next is the ability to have our groups
fight it out. Golden Sun for the GBA had this feature and that's
about it.
One last thing I want to touch on about this game is the mini
game. The mini game in this one is pretty darn cool, you take
your net and capture different colored birds. When in the game
you get to throw them food and a bird eats it they'll get
bigger. The bigger the bird the more points you will get added at
the end. Be careful though. If they are too big and your net
isn't that great, shit starts to hit the fan. The giant bird will
knock the other birds down and the monster bird will push you
back as well, it isn't a pretty sight. Throughout the game you
will get chances to upgrade your bird catching gear, so don't
worry. You can also trade yours birds over the Internet, which
adds a nice little touch. In general this is much better than
your typical role playing game mini games, I tended to my
birds quite a bit.
Final Verdict
Brave Story: New Traveler is a must own game for any RPG fan.
If you own a PSP do yourself the favor and buy the game, it is
easy to play and a lot of fun. Most people are complaining about
the lack of games right now for their PSPs and this title is not
getting too much buzz, mainly since it is an RPG game and
everyone only cares about the God of War game coming out later
this year. Even though the game lacks in some ways all the
new/original ideas make up for it. Don't rent this game or wait
for a used copy at your store, BUY IT RIGHT NOW!!!
Rating
10 out of 10
Brave Story: New Traveler Trailer
[ Sony's PlayStation Portable opened up a whole new world in portable gaming
and described what innovation is all about. Sony did what o2 did with its
o2 phones - raise the bar and made sure no one
can keep up with their hardware. Why is the PSP then lagging behind
record-breaking Nintendo DS? Some says the world just isn't ready yet for a
gaming device this sophisticated, particularly pointing at the complicated UMD
as the main culprit; others claim it's got weak support from 3rd party
developers. XSEED's Brave Story: New Traveler seeks to change all that. ]
