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Anybody out there love "The Battousai"? Don't know who that is? Maybe you're more acquainted with "The Manslayer"? Still not ringing any bells? Surely you know of the short-but-lovable "Kenshin Himura"!? Still no? If not, then don't feel too bad about it; we're here to help fill in some of those gaps and cross-reference various media after all. "Buso(u) Renkin" was envisioned as the "last" Shounen work of famed mangaka, Nobuhiro Watsuki, who is most famous for his legendary work on "Rurouni Kenshin" (which has over 70 million books in circulation) and is his third most popular work overall, ranking behind "Embalming -The Another Tale of Frankenstein-" (which ran for more than ten years before the revival of Rurouni Kenshin in 2017) which took the No.2 spot. Watsuki stated that he wanted to push the Shounen genre to the limit and throw various ideas at it to make it as mature and action-packed as he could, but the end result was not ideal and it came across as one of the "middling" efforts of the genre, though not without its fans.

What's that got to do with this? "Buchimake! Papillon Land Bravo" is an obscure Doujin game based off of "Buso Renkin" and is a fairly standard action / platformer with splashes of BR's obtuse charm here and there. Released in 2011 by Komainu Koubou, the main character this time is not Kazuki Muto, but the deuteragonist, Tokiko Tsumura, who is a piece of work in and of herself. I won't go into the finer details of the story, but it does have the luxury of being one of Watsuki's only other works to receive an Anime adaptation if one can't be bothered to read about it (which is free to watch currently on services like Tubi). I will say that the main leads themselves were inspired by prior Watsuki characters (Misao Makimachi and Kenshin Himura in particular) and the overlying theme is based around Alchemy -- as this work was originally made in 2003, it was overshadowed in part by the critically-acclaimed "Fullmetal Alchemist", but they have very little in common besides general themes.

In the game, Tokiko is out to "splatter the guts" of her enemies, the homunculus (most of which are failed humanoid / animal specimens), created by the power of the alchemy and (In part) the Black Kakugane, a medallion-shaped object which is a prototype of the "Philosopher's Stone". Tokiko is an alchemical warrior and one of the few to wield a "Buso Renkin", a weapon formed from Kakugane-wielders (most are neutral or black, but a few are white and have the ability to neutralize Black Kakugane). Wielding the "Valkyrie Skirt", she can summon numerous blades to aid her in combat and, at least in this game, can summon the power of other characters including Kazuki, Angel Gozen, Ouka Hayasaka, and others.

The game has numerous levels where the goal is to get butterfly keys to open various capsules which contain support items, hostages, and various symbols that are tantamount to clearing levels. While most exits are in plain sight, this game has a unique "dancing pose" mechanic where you need to incorporate six routines in the correct order to open the exit door -- failure to do so results in instant death. This was adapted from the franchise's "poems and pose" needed to gain access to the "L.X.E. Headquarters". As the player rescues hostages, they will gain experience points and when enough are rescued, Tokiko will level up (growing stronger and gaining new abilities). Tokiko will also become stronger by finding hidden objects on each level which increases her HP / SP and gain new abilities as she defeats area bosses. Finding all the hostages and hidden items will determine your rank for each stage and you can open red capsules if you manage to get enough "A-Rankings" throughout the game which feature various illustrations. Tokiko's core ability is slashing in multiple directions which gives her enough versatility to easily manage most situations, and she can collect coins to gain more 1-Ups. The game can save at numerous intervals and checkpoints are later introduced on stages in the event you lose a life.

Papillon, Captain Bravo and various other characters make an appearance and the game has a small bit of dialogue. It's a decent little time sink overall that doesn't do anything overly impressive but still manages to be fun in doses and has lots of jumping / insta-death pits. The only other known game for this series is 2007's "Busou Renkin: Youkoso Papillon Park e" for PS2, a fairly nice licensed game developed by Shade (who did titles such as "The Granstream Saga", "Brightis", "Top o Nerae! GunBuster", etc.). This is a video of the game in action with an attract mode, boss battle, etc. While I have the physical version, you can get the game at:

https://www.dlsite.com/home/work/=/product_id/RJ071954.html

Enjoy.

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