Classic PlayStation Game ‘Brave Fencer Musashi’ Deserves Another Chance in the Spotlight

After the release of Final Fantasy VII, it seemed as if Squaresoft could do no wrong with their output on the original PlayStation. One of the most experimental games of this era was none other than Brave Fencer Musashi.

This action RPG takes a more lighthearted approach compared to Squaresoft’s more doom and gloom JRPGs that they were known for at the time. Based on the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi, the game took a whimsical, almost Dragon Ball-like approach to the original myths.

At the time of Brave Fencer Musashi’s release, Squaresoft’s action RPG releases included games like Secret of Mana and Secret of Evermore. Brave Fencer Musashi represented a leap for the nascent genre into the third dimension.

While it was released to critical acclaim, Brave Fencer Musashi has since been largely forgotten among the wider video game community. Why was this game overlooked and what was its legacy? Let’s check it out.

Princess Fillet’s Plight

The original Miyamoto Musashi was a stoic samurai of antiquity, while the reincarnated Musashi of Brave Fencer Musashi isn’t exactly a hero but a rambunctious child who heeds the call to action anyway after being summoned by Princess Fillet.

The princess of the Allucaneet (all-you-can-eat) Kingdom tasks Musashi with defeating the invading Thirstquencher Empire. If you thought those puns were groan-worthy, the entire game is filled with these sorts of tongue-in-cheek jokes.

That said, these jokes as well as the Saturday morning cartoon-like voice acting elevated Brave Fencer Musashi from the usual hack-and-slash fare. The story may not be super serious at all times, but it is still engaging through and through.

Beyond that, the game’s charming art style is also what gives this game’s cartoony look, very similar to the likes of Mega Man Legends. With Tetsuya Nomura of Kingdom Hearts fame lending a hand to the character design, it certainly gives the characters an extra flair.

Fusion and Lumina

The structure of Brave Fencer Musashi has players defeating the Crest Beasts in order to obtain elemental powers for Musashi’s Sword of Luminence, also known as Lumina. There are five in total and there the player must scour the world to find them.

Like the real Miyamoto Musashi, this version of Musashi also wields two swords in battle, with his main sword Fusion used for basic combos, while the aforementioned Lumina is used to perform special elemental attacks.

As an action RPG, players will slowly but surely level Musashi up with higher stats and a bigger move pool. There is also a day and night cycle, and the need to keep Musashi well rested ensures that he will not fall asleep in the middle of battle.

From timed dungeon escapes to even a rhythm game section, Brave Fencer Musashi keeps things varied throughout the adventure. Ongoing sidequests like rescuing Allucaneet residents from crystal prisons to collecting action figures keep the players busy in between gathering the elements.

Samurai Legacy

Brave Fencer Musashi was certainly released to critical acclaim at the time, but its reception was slightly overshadowed in North America as the game was bundled with the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VIII.

A sequel on the PlayStation 2 called Musashi: Samurai Legend was eventually released in 2005, but the developers dropped the original’s cartoony charm for a more standard shonen-inspired art style, and story structure, and brought in lacklustre combat.

That’s not to say that Brave Fencer Musashi’s legacy ends there as the development team behind the game eventually worked on the highly successful Final Fantasy XI. Brave Fencer Musashi’s director, Yoichi Yoshimoto, also contributed heavily to the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Brave Fencer Musashi has not seen a remake or HD remaster in recent years, and truly, a new generation of gamers deserves to experience this hidden gem. Hopefully, Square Enix will bring the game back in some capacity someday.