Brandish Tool Assisted Speedrun by FatRatKnight
4Brandish (ブランディッシュ?) is an action role-playing video game by Nihon Falcom. Originally released in 1991 for the NEC PC-9801 and FM Towns, it was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and PC Engine CD-ROM² (TurboGrafx-CD) in 1994–1995, including an expanded re-release titled Brandish Renewal. The SNES version was published by Koei in Japan in 1994 and in North America in 1995.
A complete remake of the original Brandish for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), featuring 3D graphics and titled Brandish: The Dark Revenant (ブランディッシュ～ダークレヴナント～?), was released by Nihon Falcom in Japan in 2009. XSEED Games released a localized version for North America on the Playstation Store on January 13, 2015.
Brandish was the first title in Nihon Falcom's series of the same name. It was followed by three sequels originally released between 1993 and 1996.
You control Varik, who fell down into the ruins when Alexis chased him down and accidentally blew a hole in the ground. Now it's up to you to get Varik back out, with no shortage of monsters along the way. You're not alone - There are many others who have also fallen, and are willing to sell items that may help you.
The game is in a top-down view, monsters move about in real time, and the game certainly has RPG elements in that you level up from defeating these monsters. You have three stats that increase separately from level, gaining strength by physically attacking, knowledge by hitting with attack spells, and magic endurance by being hit with magic. The controls are difficult to figure out, with one aspect being the same button that brings up your shield will also attack if you're standing in front of a monster, but once you figure it out, it's not that bad. To reach the end, you travel through over 40 zones, each bearing their various challenges with monsters or traps, and the occasional puzzle.
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