Brave Story: New Traveler - Sony PSP

This game is part of a media blitz that took over Japan some time ago, starting with a book and following with a manga series (sold here on Amazon), an anime movie and more cool stuff.The game's story starts with a boy being given a chance to save his sick friend from an unknown disease by journeying to the fantasy world of Vision and proving his bravery to that world's goddess. To prove his worth he must get five gems. Every time he gets one his sword will become stronger and the day he gets the ultimate sword's form he will be granted one wish, whatever it is.The world is well built, the characters are likeable and, most important, the gameplay is fun. The graphics look great with beatiful scenery and cool monster designs. The sound and music is not the strong point of the game but still they are pleasant enough to hear through long game sessions.After starting playing I couldn't drop the game for some days until I reached it's end, but fortunately there are still some side quests to pursue. If you have a PSP and do yourself a favor and add this game to your PSP library. It is one of that must have titles you can't afford to pass.

PERFECT GAME except for the voice acting during every battle.GORGEOUS MUSIC, SCENERY, great characters, good story, simple as pie turn based combat system, exactly what i love about rpgs..gosh darn it if it werent for the YELLING VOICES this game would be 100%..so because of the annoying voice acting i have to give it 4.7 stars. get it and just turn down the sound when grinding for levels! :)

I've had this game for about a week and played about 15 hrs worth. Here are some initial thoughts:PROS:+Hilarious dialogue and very charming characters. Since you'll be spending your whole game with these characters, humor and personality is a must.+Quick battles and I love the extra attack feature that happens from time to time to speed up battles+Gorgeous game, top-notch cut scenes and beautiful scenery and towns+Quick learning curve. I've mainly played only Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts RPGS but Brave Story is easy to learn and dive into+Gives you the option of listening to either the JAPANESE OR ENGLISH voices in battle mode, no other game i've played so far offers this feature, too bad it doesn't give you that option for the cut-scenes too.+ALMOST NO LAGTIMES AT ALL. Seriously.+Those of you who have watched the anime movie will be pleasantly surprised to know that some main characters make an appearance and actually join your party for a short time!!!+This game is currently under $20, pretty cheap considering the quality.+Decent music, it's not mindblowing but it's pleasant and easy to listen to.+Besides the main quest, you can also do sidequests like helping the villagers in return for useful items There's also birdcatching and birdbrawling (aka cockfighting) which is pretty addictive, i just wish there were more characters in the game you could birdbrawl with.CONS:-The Maps: THERE ARE NO MAPS FOR DUNGEONS OR FORESTS. This is a huge problem for me because there are easily dozens of paths in these areas and i'm constantly getting lost or retracing my steps because I can't use the map feature.-The English voices are VERY annoying, just grit your teeth and bear with it though.-A lot or random enemy encounters, when you're trying to get somewhere specific this becomes very annoying.-It's not an amazingly new or innovative addition to the RPG genre. Basically the same save the girl story.-Slow text, there's a lot of text dialogue and I wish there was a skip feature for dialogue I've already read through.-The main character is as boring as a rock, there are times in the game when you're given an option for saying either the expected thing or something wildly humorous, but this doesn't happen enough. Thankfully, the side characters are there to make up for it.Final thoughts:For an RPG it does almost everything right. And at it's current price, this game is a catch. I'd recommend this game for experienced gamers who want to play something solid and casual gamers who are new to the genre. I'm not sure why it's $70 on Amazon, but just buy it from the other vendors.

It seems to me that I can't stand these kind of games. I had so many problems with Avalon Code due to these stupid bosses who can't seem to die quick enough and now Brave story is no exception. The thing that pisses me off is that it is not fair to have all 3 bossesattack me before I could even get a chance to attack. And it also not fair they take so much of my HP in one swoop. I hate this game.I wasted my money.

Not a bad game however I am finding certain aspects frustrating. For example it does not let you skip cut scene and it often places save points right BEFORE these scenes. So if you hit a difficult boss and keep losing you have to press X over and over to get through the dialogue of the scene before you can try again.The second thing I don't like about the game might have to due with my lack of experience with RPG's. My first RPG was Jeanee D'Arch which I REALLY enjoyed because you can evaluate the battles and come up with a strategy before you play the battle. This allowed me to get through the whole game only dying twice because I thought out every battle. In this game you don't know the powers, strength, etc of your enemy. You have to select your team before you encounter a battle and know the enemies you will have. Again in Jeanne D'Arch you select your team after you see the battle field. I am finding this annoying because as soon as I enter the battle I know I have the wrong team and I can't do anything about it.I am also frustrated that in this game as you move a tiny bit on the map you are put into a battle. So if you get a little lost on the map you easily face several annoying battles as you try to find your way back on your trail. I prefer to explore and enter battles when I want to or at least less often then this game puts you into battle. If you stand still thinking as soon as you press a move key you will be in battle. It seems to be based on time rather than movement. If you decide to turn around you will face the same battles you just defeated.I recommend if you don't have Jeanee D'arch yet buy it before this game.