Product Description

Fantasy becomes reality in the course of changing one's destiny from worse to better. High quality Asian animation, rich with cultural mythology, takes you through series of adventures and battles. Your travels will bring new experiences as you emerge to a new realm of consciousness, reboen to an new world. On a day that starts like any other, a boy's life is changed forever. As the main character and his friend Miki pass a leisurely afternoon, Miki suddenly collapses from an unknown illness. When the girl shows no sign of waking, the main character grows distraught over not being a better friend and not having the means to save her. Suddenly, a strange voice offers him a second chance: Beyond the door you can change your destiny! He soon leaves the real world and journeys to the world of Vision, where, as a novice Traveler, he will surmount myriad ordeals in hopes of ultimately meeting with the Goddess of Fortune to have a single wish granted. No load time between battles. Beautifully rendered 3D graphics with a distinct visual style, highlighted by polished character and enemy movement, and a unique animation for each special ability. Collect special birds which you can use for mini-games or trade for rare items. Network with friends to trade your birds, or game-share a mini-game to have friends assist in capturing rare birds.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5825 in Video Games
• Brand: Xseed
• Model: 00105
• Released on: 2007-07-31
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: Sony PSP
• Dimensions: .30 pounds

Features

• A role-playing game with an epic tale, introducing unique characters with distinct personalities and leading the player through the imaginative world of Vision.
• No load time between battles.
• Beautifully rendered 3D graphics with a distinct visual style, highlighted by polished character and enemy movement, and a unique animation for each special ability.
• Collect special birds which you can use for mini-games or trade for rare items.

Amazon.com
On a day that starts like any other, a young boy’s life is suddenly changed forever. As the main character and his friend Miki pass a leisurely afternoon, Miki suddenly collapses from an unknown illness. The girl shows no sign of waking and this overwhelms the main character with grief and remorse for not being a better friend when he had the opportunity.

Suddenly, a strange voice offers him a second chance: "Beyond the door is a chance to change your destiny!" He soon leaves the real world and journeys to the world of Vision, where, as a novice "Traveler," he will surmount myriad ordeals in hopes of ultimately meeting with the Goddess of Destiny to have a single wish granted.

He makes friends both strange and fascinating as he finds himself blossoming into a successful Traveler. His courage and resolve are tested as he and his newfound companions travel the mysterious lands of Vision. The challenges he faces are daunting, but his growing sense of self and responsibility propel him ever forward.

Friendships, courage and growth will all prove indispensable as he seeks out his destiny; a life-changing adventure and the discovery of a hero inside an ordinary kid.

Key Features

• A role-playing game with an epic tale, introducing unique characters with distinct personalities and leading the player through the imaginative world of Vision.
• Traditional turn-based battle system enhanced by innovative features:
  Friendship – Form bonds with party members to create new, cooperative skills.
  Courage – Use "brave power" (BP) to unleash powerful special abilities.
  Growth – The hero’s weapon will evolve as he collects gemstones. New accessories can be forged by collecting and combining materials. Each character can also unlock a one-of-a-kind innate ability.
• No load time between battles.
• Beautifully rendered 3D graphics with a distinct visual style, highlighted by polished character and enemy movement, and a unique animation for each special ability.
• Collect special birds which you can use for mini-games or trade for rare items.
• Network with friends to trade your birds, or game-share a mini-game to have friends assist in capturing rare birds.
• Option to play with the original Japanese voices.

Customer Reviews

The Best the PSP has to Offer
There are hardly any original RPGs on the PSP. There are ports and re-releases, but nothing that's truly unique enough to stand out. That may be what's so attractive about Brave Story: New Traveler. It's an RPG that isn't a port or re-release, and it also isn't a spinoff or anything like that. Those with a PSP craving for a decent RPG will have found one with Brave Story. So far, it may very well be the best RPG on the system.

Brave Story begins with a guy named Tatsuya playing his PSP while his friend Miki tries to talk to him. Yes, the main character is a gamer and it plays off the typical stereotypes. Guy plays game; girl tries to talk him; guy is too immersed in his game to care or listen. After she tires of being ignored, Miki runs off. Tatsuya's dog, Kratos then comes to him barking like there's no tomorrow. Tatsuya then follows the dog and finds Miki has collapsed. It turns out that Miki has fallen ill and that she may very well die. Tatsuya then runs out of the hospital. When he does he hears a voice that opens presents a door to him. Walking through this door is the pathway to Tatsuya's destiny. Through this door is a whole new world full of magic and mystery... kind of like the games he plays. At first glance the storyline is enough to make you roll your eyes in disgust, but stick with it (at least past the intro) and the game turns out to be really fun in the end, and even the storyline is quite impressive in its own right. The story is well written and fleshed out, and in the end is actually something quite fun to partake in. It's also got a good dose of humor.

The gameplay is where things really begin to unravel. Brave Story is very much a traditional RPG. You explore an overworld map, dungeons and towns. Along the way you'll also get into battles. Combat is as traditional as you can get here. It's turn based and menu focused. Yet in many ways its surprisingly strategic in its design. While you can easily enough just select the attack command over and over, there are some elements to Brave Story's battle system that many gamers might appreciate. There are of course your basic commands, but characters also have abilities they can use by expending BP. BP are Brave Points, which is pretty much the systems for magic. They allow your characters to perform special attacks and are restored depending on the amount of damage you do to the enemy. Keeping your BP up in battle is no arduous task, though, and you'll find that throughout your travels you can usually keep doing special attacks with little cost in there. RPG veterans won't find much of a challenge to Brave Story in that case.

In addition to a single characters attacks, however, there are also Unity attacks. Meaning an attack that two or more characters perform together. This really does add a bit of spice to the strategic feel of the game, and gives you a few more options for battle. On the other hand, much like special attacks of a single character, Unity attacks make the game fairly easy.

The good thing about Brave Story is that battles go fast. The bad thing is that the random encounter rate is quite high in most places. This probably isn't something most RPG players will be upset about, though, and it's a small price to pay seeing as how most of the battles you'll come into are over in a flash.

There's nothing in Brave Story that's overly complex, and that's part of what helps it succeed. It's a new RPG, but one that relies more on things that worked for the genre as a whole rather than trying so hard to shove original new things down your throat that might not work well at all. For some this is great. It makes it so anyone can get up and play Brave Story without getting the feeling that they'll have to learn and master a complex system of sorts. On the downside however, the things that help Brave Story succeed can also be the things that make some people want to leave it on the shelf. It's great the game relies so heavily on the RPG elements of the past that make the genre great, but there's not a whole lot included here to separate it from the crowd. There's little in terms of elements that make Brave Story its own or stand out in the RPG genre. It's a great game, but one that'll probably be overlooked in long run. Another thing that may be a bit bothersome is that while the story moves at a great pace, it doesn't take a whole lot of time to develop its characters. For the most part you'll probably like the cast of characters, but the game doesn't go as deep in getting to know them as it could.

As far as PSP games go, Brave Story is without a doubt the best looking one hands down. It's also one of the best running games on the system. The load times are virtually non-existent, and that's saying a lot for a PSP game. There's no pause between when battles begin and end, which is good considering the enormous amount of battles you'll get into throughout the course of the game. Everything also runs smoothly and flawlessly, and the character animations are also quite impressive. No framerate issues to worry about or anything of the sort. As a technical achievement, this may very well be the best you'll see on the PSP.

I can't exactly say the same for the music. The music is good in the sense that it works for the game, but there aren't a lot of tracks here that are memorable or outstanding. There's also not much voice acting really. Your characters will say things in battle and grunt and stuff, but aside from that, the main story doesn't feature a whole lot.

Despite what little shortcomings Brave Story has, this is quite a defining RPG for the PSP. Those looking for a decent RPG on the PSP, look no further. Brave Story is quite possibly the best you'll find.

The Good

+Overall, it's an interesting story
+Simple battle system
+The most stunning looking game on the PSP to date
+Virtually non-existent load times
+Simplistic Gameplay overall makes this a treat for every RPGer new and old alike

The Bad

-Not enough character development
-Not much voice acting
-Brave Story is a great game, but doesn't do a lot to make it stand out in a crowd of RPGs... it's not really a bad thing, but it makes the game fairly easy to overlook

Brave Story: New Traveler.........
Turn-based RPGs of old(like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Golden Sun) are hard to find in this day and time. Most are taking the action RPG route or some mixture of that & another type of game. So, it's really nice to see XSEED produce a game for us fans of the older Turn-based RPGs. Based upon the manga & anime, Brave Story, the story begins with a young man named Tatsuya and his friend named Miki sitting on a bench. Tatsuya is sitting there playing his PSP, for awhile, when he notices that Miki is missing. Kratos, her dog, barks and shows Tatsuya where Miki is. Finding her unconscious on the ground, Tatsuya sees she is sick from some unknown illness. He wishes that she becomes better when a voice speaks to him. It asks him if he wants to save her and make her healthy once again. He accepts and is whisked away to a land he doesn't know to save his friend. That's where the story begins. Although Tatsuya & Miki were created specifically for the game, many of the cast from the Brave Story manga are in the game. I'll admit, the game is typical old school Turn-based RPG fare but it's a solid game with some of the most breathtaking visuals that I've ever seen on the Playstation Portable. At the present time, you couldn't find a better RPG to waste your time away on.

A Return to the Old, With Plenty of New
Brave Story is something many RPG fans have been looking for. Lately, most RPGs seem to reach for an almost unattainable goal, some groundbreaking new territory that will redefine what people expect to see in a game. In all honesty, Brave Story does not do this. Brave Story takes the core of many of the classics, such as the Final Fantasies, and brings in elements that make the gameplay new and refreshing. Simple and intuitive, the game is very easy to pick up and play, without worrying about complex button routines or unusual options menus. The graphics are smooth and impressive, showing a great deal of inidivudal character motion, including unique motions to the various models. Catkin have ears and tails, and both respond much as what you would expect a real cat's too. The attention to detail is wonderful, and refreshing. Battles are fast and fun, with slightly exaggerated sound effect words displaying with each hit, making the game more engaging without being annoying. Another great thing, there are virtually no load times, anywhere. Battles will come and go without any pauses in your gameplay, it takes between 1 to 2 seconds for a battle to be loaded and going. The story has characters that aren't a rehashing of the same stereotypes, but has enough archetypes that players can still recognize their favorite traits. Oh silent protagonist, how we love that you only speak when we have an option to choose what you say.

Brave Story does not redefine the RPG market. It does however, offer gamers a way to enjoy a fun, straightfoward RPG experience with no real downsides. My first reaction was wow, and I have yet to be disappointed with the game. Don't hesitate.