Dear Journal,

Today I learned that gingers are people too, just tiny, pixilated people.

So we have a movie-tie-in game for a children’s movie on the DS here. Now, you’re saying to yourself that you shouldn’t expect much from it, after all, that is like the be-all end-all list of bad signs for a game going in. You’d be mostly right, but Brave does manage to be just decent enough to warrant the attention it takes to very quickly beat the game.

Very blurry little people.

Mirda is like most teenagers, armed and deadly. She’s also like totally trying to find herself and fights with her parents. Who happen to be Scottish royals. All right, so maybe Mirda isn’t entirely your typical red-haired mischievous teenager, but the story is still easy enough to identify with. Mirda goes on an epic journey to save her mother and defeat a witch but winds up going on a journey to find herself. Most of us just go to college, but whatever floats your boat.

The four available elements that can be selected in the touch screen.

The game itself is a pretty simple beat em’ up with some very basic puzzle solving. Most of the puzzles involve moving tiles on the DS touch screen to properly line up stone groves; doing so typically reveals new walkways or raises platforms allowing you to progress further in this pretty straightforward and linear platformer/beat em’ up. The rest of the game is spent fighting bad guys.

Combat is mostly a series of button mashes to attack with your sword or bow and arrow. The game does have some upgrades throw in to keep things somewhat more interesting, though the upgrade system is incredibly simple (I believe I upgraded armor only once the entire game).  The only other real twist in combat is that certain enemies need to be defeated by having a certain elemental spell activated. These are simply activated by the touch screen and the monsters clearly display what element is needed. It doesn’t add much, but it is something. For the most part the combat and gameplay is very simple but still a fun distraction while sitting on a plane; as I was when I played this.

Brave’s visual presentation is the game’s biggest fault. The graphics are just blurry and very polygonal. They really should of opted for a 2D game instead, seeing as how the 3D aspect is only marginally important to the game anyway. It is just a bit of an eye sore, especially if you are used to playing games in 3D mode on your 3DS. The 2^nd biggest fault would likely be the game’s length, which is about two and a half hours. In reality though, the game would of dragged on if it had been much longer and now, at the clearance prices it is starting to hit, the short length is less of an issue.

The perrils of being a teenager. Acne, hormones, ice monsters…

Brave is very simple and looks rather crude but the gameplay is solid for what it is and it is as good of a way as any to kill time on a plane, or bus, etc.  Just don’t expect to be pulling out the DS on the couch to play this one.

Tomorrow I embrace crazy mountain men once again in Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai

Final Rating: 5.5/10

CBR Break Down:
Console Played On: NDS/3DS
Time to completion: ~ 2.5 hours
Gamer Score Earned: N/A
Price Bought at: $7.99
Current Price: $21.99 (Amazon)
Recommend Purchase Price: Under $10
Why you should buy it: Simple gameplay is repetitive but fun.
Why you shouldn’t buy it: Looks horrible and is very short.

Check out all the Backlog Quest II journal entries!