Brandish

Brandish for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is Koei’s 1995 North American version of Nihon Falcom’s fantasy action role-playing game. Falcom originally created the game for Japanese computers in 1991, while Koei handled the Super Famicom release in Japan in 1994 and the English SNES release the following February. This is a single-player dungeon adventure built around real-time combat, exploration, treasure hunting, and a long escape from a buried realm.

The SNES story follows the swordsman Varik, who is pursued by the sorceress Alexis after she blames him for her teacher’s death. Their confrontation sends both of them down into the ruins of Berimya, an underground kingdom destroyed long ago after its king sought the power guarded by a dragon. Varik’s immediate goal is to survive the labyrinth and find a way back out, but Alexis remains part of the journey as the two cross paths in the depths. The North American edition uses these English names and a localized telling of the story; the original Japanese game calls the characters Ares and Dela Delon.

Rather than presenting its maze from a fixed north-up perspective, Brandish keeps Varik facing the front of the screen and lets the dungeon rotate around him. Moving ahead, retreating, turning, and sidestepping therefore become central to both navigation and fighting. Enemies approach in real time through narrow corridors and rooms, so positioning, facing, and timing attacks matter alongside managing space. The design gives each unfamiliar passage a practical problem to solve: look for an opening, keep dangerous foes from surrounding Varik, and work out how the current orientation affects the route ahead.

The descent is divided into five major areas, with ruined passages giving way to further hostile sections of the underground world. Monsters, traps, puzzles, locked paths, treasure chests, fountains, shops, and other discoveries reward careful mapping and repeated examination of the maze. Equipment and useful items expand Varik’s ability to endure its hazards, while the game’s map helps record explored territory. Progress comes from pushing through these connected levels, overcoming obstacles, and locating the passages that lead onward rather than simply clearing a sequence of isolated battles.

Brandish balances its role-playing elements with the immediacy of an action game. Its combat does not pause for turns, and the overhead view makes the physical layout of every chamber important. A dead end can conceal a reward, a turn can change the safe approach to an opponent, and a trap can make an otherwise ordinary corridor risky. The result is a SNES dungeon crawler that emphasizes spatial awareness as much as character advancement, with its distinctive rotating viewpoint setting it apart from more conventional top-down fantasy adventures of its era.

The Super Nintendo version also represents the first Brandish game’s principal English-language console release of the 16-bit period. It introduced Western players to the opening entry in a Falcom series that later continued with sequels in Japan. Its localization made several regional changes, including character names and alterations to story and character presentation, so it is not identical to the earlier Japanese releases. For players exploring the SNES library, Brandish remains a focused fantasy maze quest: guide Varik through Berimya’s dangerous underworld, equip him for what lies ahead, and uncover a route from the kingdom beneath the earth.