Review #689: Quest - Brian's Journey

 Can you redeem the unredeemable?

 I've always known that Quest 64 had a Spelunker-like spin off on the Gameboy.... but it wasn't until very recently that I learned that it actually had TWO games on the Gameboy, the other one being Quest - Brian's Journey, an official 8-bit demake of the original game! This game is more than an interesting curiosity, as it adds a lot of story and quality of life fixes that makes it a superior game, even if it has a few flaws of its own.

 The game follows the exact same story from the Nintendo 64 game, although now we get proper dialogue and cutscenes(Even if most are little more than text). Honestly, Brian gets to speak and interact with other characters, and some things have been tweaked a little(We see Solvaring stealing the jewel, and you get to clash with Leonardo and travel alongside him and Fiora for a bit), heck, we actually get explanations for some of the things that happen, making the game have an actual story. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that this was the original script they had for the N64 game, but they didn't have the resources and know-how to implement it on the newer hardware. Characters like Lavar, that one guy from the desert's hidden city, actually plays a pivotal role in the story, being the one who steals the Eletale Book, and there's an explanation as to why Leonardo appears in Beige's castle.

 I was so amused by all the changes that I'll mention a few: Now you do the Ice Cavern dungeon before doing Cull Hazard and getting the Wind orb, however, after getting the Wind Orb you're teleported back to Epona how then teleports you to the Water Orb's whereabouts. Killiac, that Viking guy, became a boss when you first board the ship, who tries to board you, but then gets chummy with Brian and actually helps him during the end of the game. Cull Hazard features a new Dragon miniboss who must be fought twice, once when going for the Wind orb and another one when you're forced to backtrack. Shilf, the Limelin Town's ruins' boss is now fought during said backtracking segment, however, you face her in the desert's hidden town, which now became part of the main plot instead of just a bonus area. Lavar, the guy from the desert, is now a boss that is fought twice, once inside the Ruins(Taking Shilf's place) and another one when you first enter Beige's castle. Fargo is now fought in the Ruins after defeating Lavar, there's no Volcano boss. The biggest change is also the worst. After entering Beige's castle you're taken back to Melrode Town, the very first town, and after Leonardo and Fiora join you(They don't fight, they are just there to talk with Brian) you're forced to backtrack all the way into the desert's hidden city, y'know, the one place where there's no Wings item to take you. You'll either have to do the Volcano or the Ruins dungeon again, neither which is particularly short. And afterwards you have to go to Dondoran, only to be told to return to Cull Hazard so that you can then return to Dondoran again. It's a complete waste of time and it happens right next to the end of the game, which kinda kills the momentum the plot had been gaining. To be fair, seeing various NPCs you've interacted with throughout the game lend Brian a hand is kinda heartwarming, but not worth it. Backtracking is never fun, unless it's a Metroidvania. It doesn't help that the encounter rate is through the roof, and while you can get lucky enough to get the Warrior's Badge through the lottery(Or, y'know, reload a savefile until you win) to lower the encounter rate, it doesn't make it any more palatable.

 Fighting works just like it did in the Nintendo 64 game, you take turns with the enemy, casting spells by mixing the four elements: Fire, Earth, Water and Wind. Using spells now makes more sense, as in, if you want to use healing magic you need to level up both water and earth, which makes sense and I think this was the way they thought up the system for the Nintendo 64 version, but either run out of time or thought it'd be too complex? Regardless, it's a welcome change, I think. There's still a lot of different spells, although I just stuck with Wind Cutter Level 3, Healing and the basic level 1 spells. By the end of the game I started experiment with the Avalanche Spell, and it's just as broken as it's always been. That said, Magic Barrier and Spirit Armor tend to miss, so you can't abuse them any more. Which kinda sucks, because while the game is rather easy, the final boss can kill you in two hits, so you're expected to use those spells while you try to sneak in Wind Cutter Level 3. Not gonna lie, the final boss is nigh impossible, and very luck-based. It's a shame, because most of the game is pretty fair, specially once you learn to recognize the tough enemies.

 Leveling up is very similar to how it worked on the N64 game. Getting hit raises your defense, using magic raises your mana, using your staff raises your HP and your agility(how much you can walk on your turn) by running our. I'm not sure how you raise your staff's attack power, but I think it has to do with how many elemental levels you have. As per the original game, winning fights nets you elemental experience, and once you reach 100% you can raise the level of one of your four elemental magics. You can also find spirits spread around dungeons and towns which give you a free elemental level. A very neat touch is how most spirits are hidden exactly where they were in the original game. You now longer restore mana by walking, but rather you gain one mana for each turn that passes. As for me, most of the game I alternated between a physical staff attack and a simple magic spell in order to keep my stats evenly raised. Sometimes, when I wanted a few quick mana levels I'd spam Level Cutter 3 against normal enemies. By the end of the game I had 250 HP and 140 MP, and even then, the final boss could cream me in TWO hits. Absolutely insane.


 Enemies drop items now, but your inventory caps at 20. What really sucks is that you can't discard items, so if you want to grab something from a chest your best bet is to use a healing item to make room. Either that or enter a random encounter so that you can waste one of your useless battle items. It doesn't help that there aren't any item descriptions, so sometimes you'll have to Save, which you can do pretty much anywhere, anytime, use the item to see what it does, and then reload. Spells, much like items, also lack in-game descriptions, forcing you to trying them out. A new item are Spirit Stones, which you may find in chests or from defeated enemies, which you can then use in Limelin town to play the lottery. There are 10 possible items, but there are three you'll want: Warrior's Staff, for more power, Warrior's Cape(Probably increases your defense?) and Warrior's badge which decreases the encounter rate(Barely noticeable, go for the cape!). Spirit stones are too rare and precious to waste on a loss, so save before playing the lottery until you win. You have to wait FIVE minutes after purchasing a ticket, and once the pigeon comes to tell you if you won or lost, you then have to return to the monastery and find the postbox to claim your item, in case you won. And nobody tells you about this.

 While it's not a 1:1 demake, it's pretty close. Most towns look pretty similar to its 3-D counterpart, although dungeons have been changed the most. Some are easier to navigate, some are slightly less annoying to navigate, but I'd say that all in all, it's a better designed game. It's still easy to get lost in a few dungeons, albeit for different reasons: Every corridor looks the same and sometimes it can be hard to notice if you are treading old ground. On another note, I love hearing this 8-bit renditions of the original game's soundtrack.

 Well, I'm glad I played Quest - Brian's Journey. This feels like the game they wanted to make but couldn't. It's still not great, not by a longshot, but you can tell that either they listened to criticism or had an easier time programming this version. I think that it's fair to say that the Imageneer really believed in their vision, and that that's why they didn't just give up due to poor reviews.
6.5 out of 10