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[cireza]

Brigandine Official Thread

Release information :
Brigandine The Legend of Runersia is a Tactical-RPG released for the Nintendo Switch on the 25 June of 2020.

Game is published by Happinet, there is a retail version in both Asia and Japan that includes English. It seems that there was a Limited Run Game edition in the US, and no retail in Europe as far as I know.

A demo is available on the eShop.

Official website (full of great info, artworks and charts) : https://brigandine.happinet-games.com/?lang=en

Gameplay :
You play as one of 6 kingdoms for world conquest. Each is related to an artifact (a Brigandine), with the exception of one kingdom that does not possess any artifact.

This chart shows the relationship between characters and kingdoms : https://brigandine.happinet-games.com/diagram/?page=character&lang=en

Each ruler is accompanied by 4 loyal knights that will help in the conquest. Other knights also join. To battle, each knight summons a number of monsters depending on the Mana available (1 big monster or 3 smaller ones ?).

Battles take place in an hexagonal grid, reminiscent of the game Master of Monsters (PCE, MegaDrive) for those who know it. Action is turned based, one knight (and his monsters) after another. You have to use the environment, and unit affinity with elements to gain an advantage. A wide range of spells is also available. Levels are extremely mixed in battle, with very weak monsters and knights along with strong ones, so it is important to manage them properly.

Conquest takes place on the world map in a way pretty close to Dragon Force (Saturn) with the exception that actions occurs instantly. You organize your troops around your castles, creating powerful places to then launch attacks on the enemy castles. Troops that are too weak can be sent to train, there are also quests where you can send a knight, hoping that he will find some good piece of armor or a weapon. They might even find a new knight that will join forces (this can happen if there is a golden shining helmet on the quest), this is very important as it expands your ranks.

Knights and monsters can evolve through various classes, after having gained enough levels. You can switch from all kind of classes freely for your knights, while monsters seem to simply evolve.

I am posting my progress on a regular basis in this topic.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

How many hours did I sink into the PSX Brigandine? Countless.. I could be a neurosurgeon by now.

Great game and I expect nothing less from this one. Somebody played the demo? Thoughts?

 

[cireza]

How many hours did I sink into the PSX Brigandine? Countless.. I could be a neurosurgeon by now.

Great game and I expect nothing less from this one. Somebody played the demo? Thoughts?

Well I played the demo (last line of the OP) and it was quite good. Really enjoyed it. I have received my Japanese boxed game today so I am going to spend a couple hours with it this evening.

 

[cireza]

So I started the game, picked the shinobi kingdom (which actually is a kingdom of only women lol), and played the first rounds.

I was fearing that the AI was going to be very aggressive in the conquest phases, but not much happened on its side. I had to do the conquest.

There is a number above castles that tries to summarize the overall strength of the troops inside it, don't read to much in this as I got my ass kicked during my very first battle. There was a mage level 21 among the enemies that absolutely destroyed everything. I had to flee and lost all but one of my monsters.

On the other side of my kingdom, I had only sent two knights to an easier castle and conquered it easily. I did the same thing during the next phase, sending these two knights to another easy castle.

However, the other kingdoms, even if they did not attack yet, have gathered strong troops at the closest castles each time, making it quite complicated to know what I should do, as the stronger ones are clearly too difficult to conquer right now. Also the ruler of each kingdom is actually not in the most remote castle, they tend to come close to the conflict as well, which is quite a surprise.

Not too sure on how I should proceed from now, especially as the shinobi kingdom seats at the middle of the map, so expending is always a risky move. I wonder if the AI is going to attack or if it is only going to keep its positions.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Man, I am all about this. Is this actually a Switch exclusive, or just Switch-first?

 

[Shouta]

I ordered two copies of the deluxe version from Limited Run Games so I'm waiting on whenever they get those done and ships it out to me. I'm super excited though.

Man, I am all about this. Is this actually a Switch exclusive, or just Switch-first?

As far as I know, Switch exclusive but who knows.

 

[Rentahamster]

I was hoping the Dragon Force part was the battle system.

 

[cireza]

I was hoping the Dragon Force part was the battle system.

The battles are actually not very interesting in Dragon Force. You pretty much apply the same few strategies throughout the game. And it is someone who loves the game that says this.

Anyway, I have played some more tonight and many aspects are coming together slowly. For example, it is extremely important to send knights to quests when there is a golden helmet, it means you can find new knights. And this is mandatory if you wish to expand. Inventory management should be seen as a bonus, a way to boost a bit more your troops, but it is kept at a pretty simple level, with few items. Another similarity with Dragon Force. I am relieved about this, as was fearing I would have to manage a ton of equipment. This game just keeps checking the right boxes, one after another, as far as I am concerned.

I ended my session on a difficult battle which I actually won ! Great news. This was a strategic battle as I now have isolated one enemy castle. Every time you win a battle, all the enemy knights flee to the next castle. However in this case, there is no escape route, so I wonder what is going to happen. Will I take prisoners ? Until now, this did not happen, which is a bit tiresome actually, as it could go on forever if you never diminish the enemy ranks.

So I am still figuring out the details of this game, but it is really really good. I am enjoying my time a lot, and I am glad I gave it a chance. Every year, there are only a very few games that really get my attention, and I was starting to be worried this game would not arrive in 2020. It is finally here, and I think I am going to spend several tenths of hours in it.

 

[Shouta]

Knights that route in a location where they cannot escape back to their own kingdom go missing for a period of time and then re-appear in the capital of their faction. At least that's how it worked in the original Brigandine and I imagine it'll be the same for this game.

 

[cireza]

Knights that route in a location where they cannot escape back to their own kingdom go missing for a period of time and then re-appear in the capital of their faction. At least that's how it worked in the original Brigandine and I imagine it'll be the same for this game.

I see. So it is going to be complicated to really expand the territory.

 

[Shouta]

I see. So it is going to be complicated to really expand the territory.

Well expanding your own territory is pretty simple. Taking over cities will expand it. But maintaining those lines will be tricky since it'll be important to keep your units at key places to avoid the enemy advancing without resistance. Additionally, It's just when your city is isolated, it gets attacked, and you lose, your knights will scatter to the wind for a few months before coming back usually.

This might be an issue on the harder difficulties if the enemies are more aggressive and the turn limits are in play but like I said, I'm still waiting for my physical copy.

 

[cireza]

But maintaining those lines will be tricky

Indeed. If you can never diminish the enemy ranks, it is going to be extremely challenging. I still have to discover how things are going to work.

For example, if I beat a ruler during a battle, I suppose he is going to flee anyway to another castle. And that I will have to conquer all castles ? If that's the case, it would mean that all of a kingdom's knights will end up in the very last castle of this kingdom. So this would be a strange situation. Taking prisoners would have helped a lot.

I guess I will have to see by myself how it unfolds and if it is manageable. As I picked the shinobi kingdom, which starts in the middle of the map, the situation is quite complicated.

 

[vkbest]

I ordered two copies of the deluxe version from Limited Run Games so I'm waiting on whenever they get those done and ships it out to me. I'm super excited though.



As far as I know, Switch exclusive but who knows.

They said on a interview, they would like release the game on other consoles and PC. So it’s exclusive because they only could focus on one platform and choose Switch. I suppose if the game have decent sales they will port to PS4 and Steam

 

[cireza]

Played some more this evening and I did verify that, despite not having an escape route, the enemies could still escape and came back to the main castle of their kingdom. You never take prisoners it seems.

However, as there is a steady flow of knights joining, and as the battles are 3 against 3 (even if there 10 knights in a castle, only 3 partake in battle) then eventually conquering all castles will be possible.

I managed to expand my territory nicely tonight, conquering a difficult castle to the west that is a single entry point to my kingdom in the West, which is very convenient as I don't have to divide my knights to cover several castles. On the east side, my kingdom is locked by two key castles where I have put some strong knights to keep them safe.

The castles in the middle of the map are pretty much empty. They are still interesting as monsters are tied to castles, meaning that if you want to summon specific monsters, you need to be at the right castles.

Monster evolves every 10 levels and you can even make some choices, like which element the dragon gets when reaching level 10. You should put Unicorns in your troops they have the Heal spell which is very useful. All knights that are not level 10 feel like they are better training in Quests to gain the missing levels, so I have a castle full of noobs that I am slowly powering up, while the veterans hold the key positions.

Strategy in this game is exactly how I like it. It is not overly complicated with mechanics, still leaves room for good and bad decisions. Fantastic game design.

 

[DCDW]

This game gives me vibes of that old Gemfire game from Koei that was on the SNES. Haven't played my Switch in a while, this game might just get me to dust it off.

Edit: changed from NES to SNES.

 

[cireza]

Still playing the game, expanding is getting very difficult. My troops are divided in too many castles. I thought I was going to secure the south west part of the world but to do this, I might have to retreat from my eastern position (where I have two castles, if I retreat, I can turn this into only 1 castle to defend, thus making available 3 strong knights to try to conquer the south west). However as I started making my move to the south west, the enemy reorganized its troops and I don't feel confident I can take the south west castles anymore. I will probably have to try some difficult battles, not much choice here.

I am not too impressed by the IA during battles (not bad, not great), however in the Organization phase, the IA does defend its castles pretty well.

 

[cireza]

Back to Brigandine after completing Curse of the Moon 2 and Deep Fear on Saturn.

So I have actually put in place the strategy I was talking about before : I reduced my eastern front from two castles to one castle, this offered my some new expansion possibilities as I got back some knights.
I then started expanding to the south west and have been putting in place a strategy where I advance on two castles, one by one (first the top, second the bottom one). I can advance steadily my war front like this with only two castles that I need to really defend.

This is has worked flawlessly, and I am about to totally conquer my first kingdom (Guimoule) as they only have two castles left.

It appears that the very strong mage with devastating fire spell can be taken down pretty quickly with strong units. It is a good strategy to target the leaders overall, as they retreat with their monsters.

I also had my first battle against a leader (Eliza, leader of Guimoule). I was suspecting that she would flee to another castle after being defeated. However, the battle was won as soon as I took her down, with all her knights retreating as well. This was unexpected, thought I would share the information.

I really love the artworks in this game by the way.

 

[Shouta]

Still waiting for my physical copy. It'll be potentially be a few months until it's done. ;_;

 

[diffusionx]

Is this a sequel or a port of the PSX original?

 

[Shouta]

Is this a sequel or a port of the PSX original?

Sequel. Different world/characters but same concept though.

 

[cireza]

Coming to PS4 and December update

I haven't updated the topic recently as I was actually playing for the second time Code Vein (a game I really love, one of my favorites this gen).
But I came back to Brigandine recently, and I am starting to make some significant progress.

First of all the game is coming to PS4 (but not Xbox/PC, that's too bad) and there will be a major upgrade in December. I am curious to see what they change.

Otherwise I am progressing smoothly in my conquest, having more than half of the map covered, but only one kingdom has been entirely taken down. The tactical aspect on the world map is to advance without expanding too much the war front that you have to cover, because you end up not having enough troops to protect all your castles.

I have been protecting a single point of access for quite some time with not so powerful troops, and I was fearing that the CPU would eventually try to conquer it one day or another... And it actually happened yesterday, they launched an attack with their most powerful troops, including the leader of the kingdom. As I was defending, and the base was after a river with a bridge, I took advantage of the map and waited for them to arrive and get a bit stuck in the water.

They still managed to put up quite a fight. They had an Ancient Dragon, which is the final evolution of the dragon, I did not even try to defeat this thing. I endured the attacks as long as I could.

I somehow managed to win for a simple reason : as they were fighting with their leader, you don't have to defeat all 3 generals to win. If you manage to defeat the leader, this becomes an instant win. So going in full strength is fine, but having the leader in the party also opens up a vulnerability, and you should never expose him too much.

It was quite difficult but I won the fight, and was extremely lucky as I actually captured the Ancient Dragon ! This was one of the greatest moments of my playthrough since the beginning of the game.

I now have many powerful monsters, you really keep them and make them progress just like your generals. But monsters can die, which makes it quite stressing as you don't want to lose a level 20 monster that took so long to build, and that is very useful. So protecting your monsters is essential. When I started the game, I was fearing that monsters would just be disposable pawns, but in the end they evolve in many ways and the most powerful ones take time to build and are quite unique : you don't see many of them at all.

Such a fantastic game !

I will try taking some screenshots and share them later.

 

[Hudo]

So, how does this compare to the Langrisser 1 & 2 remakes?

 

[cireza]

As promised, here are some captures of my playthrough. There are plenty of things to see and find in those, hope you enjoy

 

[cireza]

So, how does this compare to the Langrisser 1 & 2 remakes?

Even if I can see all the love and effort put into Langrisser 1 & 2, the game still feels like a relic from the past, and I couldn't play it for long. It became boring quite fast, especially with how much the difficulty was toned down.

I feel that Brigandine is a much better game on all aspects, and I am very glad to have bought it. This is definitely one of the best games on the system, if you enjoy the genre.

 

[Hudo]

Even if I can see all the love and effort put into Langrisser 1 & 2, the game still feels like a relic from the past, and I couldn't play it for long. It became boring quite fast, especially with how much the difficulty was toned down.

I feel that Brigandine is a much better game on all aspects, and I am very glad to have bought it. This is definitely one of the best games on the system, if you enjoy the genre.

Thanks! I will now seriously consider it.

 

[cireza]

So I finally completed my first playthrough of Brigandine with the Shinobi Kingdom.

End-game was good. In these games, when you get the clear advantage, it can get tedious to finish as everything is already set in stone. But it was okay and I conquered the final castles very quickly, which is a good thing. Once you conquer all the land, a final part of the game is unveiled.

Spoiler: End Game

You keep control of all the land and can do whatever you want, such as quests to find missing knights.
Some places have special battles that appear, that unlock items to revive monsters and upgrade some of them.
More battles become available after the first set.

And there is the final battle where you can go whenever you want.

Overall, I found that this end game content was well made. It is fun and does not drag too much. I had a lot of fun playing this game, it is honestly a solid 8/10, and if you are a fan of the genre, I can easily see this becoming an all-time favorite. Everything is well polished and thought-out, you can speed up battles as well, presentation is fantastic with outstanding UI and artworks. There are more difficult settings as well.

Finally, I unlocked a Challenge mode as well, so there is definitely plenty to do.

What a great game ! Too bad they could not make a physical release in the West, they are wasting many potential sales.

Sadly this topic did not get too much attention, but I am not too sure of what I can do more. I think this was already a lot of free exposition for the game. Of course I would not have done this if I found that the game did not deserve it.

I will bump it after the December update, hoping that the PS4 version will get some attention.

 

[Shouta]

So I finally completed my first playthrough of Brigandine with the Shinobi Kingdom.

End-game was good. In these games, when you get the clear advantage, it can get tedious to finish as everything is already set in stone. But it was okay and I conquered the final castles very quickly, which is a good thing. Once you conquer all the land, a final part of the game is unveiled.

Spoiler: End Game

You keep control of all the land and can do whatever you want, such as quests to find missing knights.
Some places have special battles that appear, that unlock items to revive monsters and upgrade some of them.
More battles become available after the first set.

And there is the final battle where you can go whenever you want.

Overall, I found that this end game content was well made. It is fun and does not drag too much. I had a lot of fun playing this game, it is honestly a solid 8/10, and if you are a fan of the genre, I can easily see this becoming an all-time favorite. Everything is well polished and thought-out, you can speed up battles as well, presentation is fantastic with outstanding UI and artworks. There are more difficult settings as well.

Finally, I unlocked a Challenge mode as well, so there is definitely plenty to do.

What a great game ! Too bad they could not make a physical release in the West, they are wasting many potential sales.

Sadly this topic did not get too much attention, but I am not too sure of what I can do more. I think this was already a lot of free exposition for the game. Of course I would not have done this if I found that the game did not deserve it.

I will bump it after the December update, hoping that the PS4 version will get some attention.

Well, there's the Limited Run releases for both Switch and PS4. I got the Switch one but if I had known, I probably would have gotten the PS4 one, or at least get a PS4 version for my archive copy, lol. I've got a pretty solid backlog right now I definitely plan on getting to this soon, the first Brigandine was one of my favorite games ever.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Game looks intersting and OP seems to be enjoying it quite a lot! I'm adding this to my list, so thanks for creating the thread.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Big incoming patch, as well as a PS4 demo:

Added Custom Difficulty.
You can now customize up to 8 settings to enjoy a wider range of game difficulty.
Added high-level monsters Titan and Shadow Goblin.
Note: While in combat, you can now turn Auto Mode ON by pressing the L Stick (left stick), and OFF by pressing either the L Stick (left stick) again, the A Button (○ button), or the B Button (× button).
Toggle Auto Mode ON / OFF whenever you like, such as when you come into contact with an enemy unit or only during monsters’ turns
Combat AI: Custom Difficulty – Guard Castle Hex added.
If you set the CPU Defensive AI to “Guard Castle Hex” in the Custom difficulty settings, the CPU will deploy and keep troops around their castle (base) hex.
Combat AI: Hard Difficulty – Healing selection algorithm is now more effective.
Combat AI: Hard Difficulty – Made it easier to target and attack knights.
Combat AI: All Difficulties – Fixed timing and target of certain buffing spells.
Added Manage Items function.
Players are able to use of items or changing of equipment across all bases.
Added function to discard multiple equipment at once.
Added function to release multiple monsters at once.
Added Repeat command in Quests to repeat a particular quest every season.
Display details when collecting items during quest results.
Added detailed stats page for knights and monsters in Info panel.
Sort function in Info panel will now remember last sort order.
Added info for knights in each base on Main Map.
Added Info and Power Relationship to System Menu.
Added option for number of front line knights confirmation dialog (can be toggled ON / OFF).
Game version at start of game and selected difficulty now displayed when replaying battles.
Increased monster limit from 100 to 200.
Combat: Increased changeable camera angles (height) from two to three tiers.
Combat: Added option for army color-coding (switch between two types).
Combat: Attacks on fainted units will always hit.
Combat: Added option for a slower battle fast-forward (select from three tiers).
Combat: Shortened display time of healing or poison damage at start of turn.
Added option for faster cursor speed (select from four tiers).
Adjusted menu behavior to prevent players from accidentally ending their turn.
Removed level-ups from random events in Challenge Mode.
Adjusted summoning/organization algorithm to favor monsters with higher costs.
Fixed a rare GPU-related bug.
Lowered volume for level-up sound effect.
Combat: Fixed bug where retreating knights occasionally could not be found in any base.
Fixed issues related to the recruiting conditions of certain knights.
Tutorial: Fixed rare bug that occurred during screen transitions.
Minor text fixes.
Other minor bug fixes.

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia ‘Titans and the Iron Front’ update now available for Switch, launches December 10 for PS4

Publisher Happinet and developer Matrix Software have released the “Titans and the Iron Front” update for the Switch version of Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia. The update will also …

www.gematsu.com

 

[cireza]

Big incoming patch, as well as a PS4 demo:

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia ‘Titans and the Iron Front’ update now available for Switch, launches December 10 for PS4

Publisher Happinet and developer Matrix Software have released the “Titans and the Iron Front” update for the Switch version of Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia. The update will also …

www.gematsu.com

Thanks for updating the thread with this news. I was looking forward to this update. Really loved the game on Switch, and will definitely make a second playthrough.

 

[dave_d]

So this hasn't come out for the PS4 yet? Anybody know if it's different from the Switch version? (I haven't bought it yet but figured I will at some point. I really should play the PS1 version first though.)

 

[Shouta]

So this hasn't come out for the PS4 yet? Anybody know if it's different from the Switch version? (I haven't bought it yet but figured I will at some point. I really should play the PS1 version first though.)

It's coming out pretty soon on PS4 via Limited Run. It's the same as the Switch version though maybe graphics will be a bit better? I think the PS4 version will also have the patch on the disc as well but I don't know for sure.

 

[Hnjohngalt]

I actually boughr the digital version and limited games standard physical of this game. The collectors card was outside game which was strange. So awesome they updated the gsme too. I have not touched this since last july. Game is great btw and I only finished with one warlord so far. The blue country in the north. Anyhow i am glad to see there is a thread for this game. It is special and unique compared to most stuff out there now.

 

[cireza]

I actually boughr the digital version and limited games standard physical of this game. The collectors card was outside game which was strange. So awesome they updated the gsme too. I have not touched this since last july. Game is great btw and I only finished with one warlord so far. The blue country in the north. Anyhow i am glad to see there is a thread for this game. It is special and unique compared to most stuff out there now.

I bought the Japanese version, very happy to have a nice retail version for this game.

I completed the story with the shinobi kingdom, as you can see in the thread, and loved it. It was quite difficult at some times. I plan on replaying the game of these days, to try another kingdom.

 

[cireza]

Great news everyone.

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia physical edition launches in April in Europe

Numskull Games will release a physical edition of tactical RPG Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia for PlayStation 4 and Switch in April in Europe, the publisher announced.

www.gematsu.com

Brigandine is coming to Europe in a physical version, and that's not a Limited Run version. Which means that people who want the game will probably be able to get it without any problem. It seems a collector version is planned as well, but we don't have the details yet.

 

[Shouta]

Finished my first run with Miralva and it was great. I was expecting a bit more in terms of various stories for the characters though and the end boss as kind out of left field but gameplay was as good as always. Gonna take a short break from it then start on another Kingdom with different conditions to see if I can match the original game's flow a bit more.

 

[cireza]

Game can now be pre-ordered in Europe on several websites, with a collector edition available. Great opportunity to get this awesome game.

 

[cireza]

So I have received the collectors edition (in France) and wow, they really delivered.

The box is huge, and the content is of great quality. A big artbook ,the cloth map is really nice, post cards, OST on 2 discs and of course the game.

I updated my room with some decoration made with this collector.

Again, Brigandine is really one of the best S-RPG in recent years, and I highly recommend people to give it a try !

 

[Durask]

Will there be a collectors edition for PS4 in the US?

 

[Shouta]

Will there be a collectors edition for PS4 in the US?

Limited Run Games did a run for it awhile ago. There might still be some copies floating around in the second-hand market but that's it, I think.

 

[Durask]

Limited Run Games did a run for it awhile ago. There might still be some copies floating around in the second-hand market but that's it, I think.

I checked Ebay none of them seem to be like the above one with the artbook.

 

[Durask]

Even if I can see all the love and effort put into Langrisser 1 & 2, the game still feels like a relic from the past, and I couldn't play it for long. It became boring quite fast, especially with how much the difficulty was toned down.

I feel that Brigandine is a much better game on all aspects, and I am very glad to have bought it. This is definitely one of the best games on the system, if you enjoy the genre.

IMHO the mobile gacha version of Langrisser actually has better gameplay - more modern and can be quite challenging (although some sidequest RNG scenarios can be pull-your-hair-out frustrating).

 

[Shouta]

I checked Ebay none of them seem to be like the above one with the artbook.

The one cireza posted is EU only.

 

[cireza]

I missed this info some time ago, but it seems that the developers are considering other ports.

Brigandine Developers Considering Releasing on Other Platforms and Updates for PS4 & Switch

Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia was originally released for Switch and is coming soon for PS4, but it might expand further.

twinfinite.net

 

[Shouta]

More ports would be neat. Content updates would also be nice while they're at it, lol

 

[cireza]

After all this time, I finally have the time to relax and enjoy a new run on this game. I decided to go with Mana Saleesia, I thought they were a promising kingdom.

This is a theocracy. I felt that they were going to be pretty extreme in their beliefs, and I am not disappointed. It is pretty nice to see that the developers stayed true to the identity of the kingdoms, without trying to necessarily turn them into nice guys.

I also picked this kingdom because it seemed really challenging. You pretty much start at the center of the map, with castles to defend everywhere. You have quite a lot of knights from the very beginning, as well as a decent army of monsters and good levels. This is clearly because you are being assaulted from all sides, making it very difficult to expand.

I am currently conquering the south of the map without losing too much ground on the main continent. Conquering a castle is pretty easy since you have a selection of super strong characters and armies from the very beginning. What is difficult is defending all the castles with the weaker characters.