Square's last offering for 1998 is the quirky Brave Fencer Musashi. A Zelda killer it is definitely not, but it still holds up in its own right as an enjoyable action/platform RPG.

The player takes control of Musashi, a legendary warrior summoned by a ditzy princess to save her All-U-Can-Eat Kingdom from the evil Thirstquencher Empire. To do this, Musashi must gather the Five Scrolls of Power and free the corresponding Five Elemental Crests. While the save-the-princess and save-the- world plot is nothing new, the game does have boundless and outrageous humor which sets a light hearted atmosphere.

Food puns are in plentiful supply as evidenced by the clever kingdom names. A new addition to a Square game is the use of full voiceovers for most of the characters. The dubbing will undoubtedly annoy some people, but I found it a welcome feature. The voices are not only well done, but each has its own bizarre accent. The princess talks like a California beach girl; her advisor has an extreme archaic accent; the librarian is a bit feminine; the kidnapper is a cowboy, and the bad guy talks like a German fuhrer. There's seemingly no end to the zaniness as each new character spouts yet another wild accent. Only Musashi appears sane. This makes for a fun RPG, which doesn't take itself too seriously.

The graphics are nothing new, with smooth, rotatable pixel backgrounds. The characters are polygonal with few facial details aside from huge eyes, which is a staple of Japanese RPGs. The background music changes depending on area and time of day. However, there's nothing that particularly is memorable after the game is done.

Brave Fencer Musashi is more heavily weighed with action and platformer features rather than RPG elements. Some action puzzles are definitely not for the inept. Musashi sports two swords which he wields to chop up his foes. The first sword, Fusion, has the ability -- when charged up -- to absorb the skills of an enemy so Musashi can use them to solve a puzzle or progress in a dungeon. The second sword is the more powerful Lumina, which can be combined with the elemental crests to give Musashi a magical attack. Musashi can also run, jump, climb, and deal death to his many enemies. Experience levels are also different from most RPGs. Each separate characteristic goes up independently sometimes depending on how far Musashi travels. Hit points go up whenever a special item is found and magic points go up when Musashi rescues trapped villagers, which are held in green crystals scattered throughout the land.

The entire game takes place around one castle-town from which all necessary paths lead. The town provides plenty of locations and items such as potions, food, toy store, inn, and restaurant. Another interesting, but annoying, feature of the game is the night-day time flow. Musashi can get tired over time and occasionally has to sleep to recover. Otherwise, he loses the ability to run and fight effectively. Many stores are open only at night or during certain days.

Sleeping makes time go by faster, which is useful to get a store to open. On the downside, it can get pretty boring waiting for Musashi to doze every once in a while. This can be a problem when surrounded by enemies, because if he is attacked while sleeping, he wakes up and is still tired. This whole feature is negated by use of the Mint item which refreshes him anyway. Since there's no need to buy weapons and armor, money is never a problem so plenty of healing items can be bought. Luckily, the game is not a repetitive trial through predictable dungeons. Rather, the tasks depend on plot and are all very different, with each sporting their own puzzles as well as the hack-and-slash gauntlets. Ultimately, the game provides enough variety and humor to keep the player interested in the game and playing till the wacky conclusion.

Brave Fencer Musashi is a big departure for Square from the traditional RPG. Since it is the first in a reported trilogy of games, it may define a new action/platformer/RPG game genre for Square. Unlikely to be a huge hit in America, it will hopefully be recognized as a fun and worthy game for a younger audience who can't understand the complex themes which permeate most Square creations.