The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante - Review

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Worthplaying reviewed the visual novel/choose-your-own-adventure RPG mix The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante:

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PC Review - 'The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante'

The Life And Suffering Of Sir Brante is a narrative-driven RPG that comes to life on the pages of the protagonist's journal.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is a mix of a visual novel and choose-your-own-adventure RPG. During its 8-10 hours of playtime, it establishes an intriguing and deep fantasy world and follows the life of its protagonist Sir Brante from his birth until his inevitable demise. The game promises that you can forge your destiny as Brante, from humble beginnings to a soaring career or maybe an even faster decline. While its writing and atmosphere are surprisingly excellent, its execution of the branching narrative doesn't always feel as free or rewarding as I had hoped.

In visual novel style, each page turned means that time is running down the protagonist's earthly clock. Text usually appears on the left-hand pages, with slightly animated sepia imagery to set the scene on the right side. It's a subdued and minimalist approach, and it reduces what you're doing to reading a book, except it peppers in some crucial decisions over time. It also decides how well you'll like the game; think of Disco Elysium without the gameplay and much fewer dialogue options and choices. The game usually presents you with a full scene or event and gives you the reins for a moment to choose the direction you want to head in. While it might bother those who would rather not read on a screen (or at all), it strikes a nice balance between reading a book and playing a video game, and a lot of that is due to the sound writing.

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The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is one of the better games of its kind I have played in recent memory. The world-building and writing are enthralling, and the prospect of guiding your character from life to death is a fun and challenging exercise. I would have loved more interactivity, especially in dialogues, and some decisions seem predetermined and stacked against you a few too many times to truly feel open. In the end, that doesn't detract from the otherwise fun RPG adventure novel. If you're yearning for a good RPG adventure that is heavy on the reading side, I'd highly recommend The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante.

Score: 8.5/10