Sword of the Berserk : Guts' Rage

Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is a Dreamcast action game based on Kentaro Miura's dark-fantasy manga Berserk. Developed by Yuke's, it debuted in Japan in late 1999 as Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Flowers of Oblivion, with ASCII handling that release; Eidos Interactive brought the game to Western territories in 2000. It is a single-player, third-person hack-and-slash adventure that follows the swordsman Guts, accompanied by Casca and the elf Puck, during their journey through the brutal world of Berserk.

The game tells an original story rather than directly adapting a single manga episode. After the group encounters the travelling performer Rita, they arrive in a castle town afflicted by a frightening sickness. People infected by the mysterious Mandragora plant become violent Mandragorans, placing the town and its inhabitants in danger. The crisis draws Guts into a conflict involving the ruler Baron Balzac, the source of the infection, and the desperate search for a means to help Casca.

Most of Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is built around controlling Guts through 3D environments and cutting through hostile creatures and soldiers with his enormous sword. Encounters put the emphasis on positioning, timing, and managing groups of foes as Guts' heavy attacks carve broad paths through close-range opposition. The campaign alternates these combat sections with story scenes, exploration, and scripted moments, making the action part of a larger journey rather than a sequence of disconnected fights.

One of the Dreamcast game's notable devices is its use of on-screen, time-sensitive button prompts during dramatic sequences. These quick-response events ask the player to react at key moments and can lead the story through different routes or outcomes. The feature sits alongside the standard sword-based action and helps turn several encounters into tense set pieces. The game also uses voiced scenes and computer-generated cinematics to present its original characters and the established Berserk cast in a form tailored to the console.

Guts remains the sole playable hero, while Casca, Puck, Rita, and familiar figures from the series shape the story around him. The western localization calls the protagonist Guts, while Japanese material commonly uses the name Gatsu, a regional naming difference reflected in the game's release. The international edition is also known as Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage, whereas the Japanese title identifies it with the Millennium Falcon Arc and the Chapter of the Flowers of Oblivion subtitle.

For Dreamcast players interested in Berserk, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage stands as a period-specific interpretation of Miura's world: a 3D action adventure centered on Guts' struggle through a plague-stricken medieval-fantasy town. Its original Mandragora storyline, single-player focus, cinematic presentation, and responsive event sequences distinguish it from later Berserk games. Susumu Hirasawa, whose music was closely associated with the 1997 Berserk television animation, contributed to the game's soundtrack, further connecting this Dreamcast release to the wider series.