Hello everyone! I’m Igarashi, the producer of Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia.
Since its release on April 30th, a large number of players have been enjoying the demo version of the game.
Today, I’d like to address some of your feedback, as well as share some of the development team’s replies.
First off, allow me to express my gratitude to all of the fans who downloaded and played the demo version.
Even though it’s free, you all thought it worth your time to download and play.
Not only that, but the feedback you have provided is also incredibly valuable and very much appreciated.
Below, you will find some of our fans’ impressions and opinions, along with our team’s replies.
■ It was fun! / It was boring!
We knew going into this project that this game genre was one people tended to either love or hate,
but we feel that the general response from fans so far was a positive one.
As those who played the demo probably know, there haven’t been many country conquest simulation games lately.
This one has six nations to choose from and provides complete freedom of choice from the get-go.
While we are proud of this, it can also make the game seem quite daunting.
From the very beginning, we knew providing a demo version would be essential for a game of this kind.
We wanted those who had never played a Brigandine title, or a game of this genre in general,
to have a chance to try one. If you enjoyed the demo, we’re confident you will also enjoy
the full game as well.
The entire purpose of a demo is to give everyone a chance to see if a particular game is for them or not.
Of course, we also wanted to provide the fans who have patiently been awaiting the release of this game
a sneak preview of what they can look forward to in the full version.
With that said, I’d like to reply to some feedback we received from those who played the demo.
■ “I couldn’t get used to the controls on the Battle Map. They should be more user-friendly.”
You can find a few helpful videos on controller tips on our official Twitter account.
Click here for the operation method1
Click here for the operation method2
The LR Buttons are especially useful for switching between units in a number of different situations.
Also, if you can’t get used to the Left Stick, try using the directional buttons to select hexes and units.
■ “It’s hard to distinguish units on the Battle Map.” “The sprites are too small.”
This was a very common opinion among players.
It was also discussed at length during development. We recommend trying the following 3 tips:
・ Moving the Right Stick up/down will change viewpoints (near/mid/far). Try setting this to mid.
・ Pressing ZL will show color coding so you can easily distinguish between friend and foe.
・ When using attacks like AOE spells, press the Right Stick to get a top down view of the battlefield.
Some may also find it difficult getting used to the changes between handheld mode and TV mode.
In handheld mode, we recommend setting the viewpoint to mid, then switching to far once you get used to it.
■ “Please improve user-friendliness and response times.”
We are currently looking in to how we might improve upon these in future updates.
Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.
■ “It would be nice to be able to display all quests during the Organization Phase.”
Thank you for the many suggestions we received on how to improve various features of the Organization Phase.
We are currently discussing this and as many others as possible,
and the team is considering how we might incorporate some of them into future updates.
■ “It takes too long before units make contact with the enemy on the Battle Map.”
This will differ depending on the battlefield, and is sometimes intentional to give time to “set the stage”.
Also, enemies do not invade your bases in Trial Mode, meaning you will never be on the defensive.
In the full version, however, defensive battles will happen regularly, and this time should be reduced there.
This distance between armies is intentional to provide an increased degree of freedom on the battlefield.
For example, will you split your troops for a pincer attack? Or perhaps make use of preferred terrain?
If you find it tedious to move your units one by one, do try out Auto Mode or the fast forward function.
We may make Auto Mode more accessible if we continue to receive similar feedback after release.
■ “I struggled on the battlefield.” “The game was too hard.”
A few players mentioned that Warren, one of the Holy Gustava Empire’s bases, was too difficult.
Ginger, the emperor’s sister, can use powerful magic that targets all units. She is accompanied by a level 20
Bahamut. I’m not sure how helpful it will be, but this is my recommended battle strategy.
・ Make sure your troops consist of high-level knights and monsters.
I would suggest Grados, Jiu, and Schizler. Jiu’s healing spell that targets all units is particularly helpful.
Transfer high-level monsters to these three knight’s platoons.
Including monsters like Unicorns and Nightmares that can cast recovery spells will help ensure you stay alive.
・ When you do make contact on the battlefield, aim for Ginger instead of the level 20 Bahamut.
Once she’s defeated, her entire troop will retreat. (You may even get lucky and capture the Bahamut!)
・ Ginger’s Geno-Frost and Finrall’s Holy Word can target all units. Here’s how to deal with them.
Focus on healing. They may deal a lot of damage, but once they run out of MP, they will be powerless.
This is my strategy, but remember there are many possible solutions. That is all part of this game’s appeal.
Others may find the following tactics more to their liking:
・ Draw enemy fire with one troop as another attacks Ginger from the rear.
・ Attack Ginger with hunters such as Elena and Theodora and monsters like the Centaur that specialize in bows.
・ Don’t try to win the battle. Defeat the units you can to gain experience, then retreat. Repeat to level up.
・ Try to win using only Golems.
In the full version, enemy nations will also advance on you, so you could also try:
・ Waiting for the enemy to invade. Focus on defense while simultaneously advancing on Guimoule instead.
・ Focusing on taking Bahamut out of the picture early to make things easier for yourself later.
There are a million different ways to play. Don’t forget that a strategic withdrawal is also a valid option.
I was always surprised at the creative solutions players found in the previous titles.
I’m looking forward to more of the same in this new game.
■ “I wanted to fight the enemy ruler, but couldn’t.”
You will be able to fight against the leaders of enemy nations in the full version, so just wait a bit longer.
They are quite powerful, so you can look forward to a fun challenge.
There are three difficulty modes in this game: Easy, Normal, and Hard.
However, only the Easy setting is available in Trial Mode.
When on the Easy setting, the AI for enemy nations behaves slightly differently than normal.
This is to make it easier for those new to Brigandine titles or to the genre to pick things up.
Some players may have noticed, but enemy leaders will not advance to front-line bases and upkeep mana
for monsters are reduced. The intention was to avoid the more difficult battles right out of the gate.
During development, one of the more common feedback we received from play-testers was that
even on Easy mode, “I lost against Rudo at the very beginning!” or “Rudo is scary hard!”
These comments led us to fine-tune the Easy settings while also preserving the Brigandine style of gameplay.
Hardcore players also wanted us to allow them complete freedom in difficulty adjustment and season limit.
I touched briefly on this topic in one of my previous letters, but it’s worth mentioning again.
No matter the difficulty setting, players can repeat quests and battles without limit in the endgame.
So those looking for a true challenge should set the difficulty to Hard.
Some may also think being able to level up without a season limit defeats the purpose of having a Hard mode.
This line of thinking is what led us to building Challenge Mode.
In this mode, you can either take your time to power up your units, or expand your territory quickly
for extra score bonus. The route to take is completely up to the player.
That’s about it for the feedback regarding the demo version of the game.
Thank you for playing the demo, and we hope you will come back to enjoy the full version once it’s released.
And those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to try the demo, we encourage you to do so!
As always, thank you for reading!