Bravest!, an RPG from developer nazenaninadesico that first released on NTT Docomo’s i-mode service for Japanese mobile phones in 2006, recently received a full remaster and is now available to play on PC, Android, and iOS devices.
The game features a 16-bit graphical style reminiscent of classic Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles alongside turn-based combat, map exploration, and a fully fleshed out story as one would expect from the genre. What makes this title interesting, however, is the premise – especially considering the era in which it came out.
While the isekai genre, in which protagonists from our contemporary reality are whisked away to a fantasy world, can arguably be traced back to classic English children’s literature such as Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz – or even to Japanese folk tales like Urashima Taro – the modern roots for the genre as it exists in Japan were laid in the 1980s with anime such as Aura Battler Dunbine. After a run of successful shoujo manga utilizing the premise in the 90s including Fushigi Yuugi and Magic Knight Rayearth, the genre as it exists today – a power fantasy in which a (usually) male hero is summoned to another realm to save it from calamity, typically accompanied by a group of beautiful female companions – begun to take shape in the late 2000s and early 2010s with light novel series such as Sword Art Online and Mushoku Tensei.
However, a few years before these landmark titles hit the scene, Bravest! was one of the first pieces of isekai media to feature a NEET protagonist. Like the aforementioned Mushoku Tensei, the main character of Bravest! is introduced as an underachieving slacker who is nonetheless brought to a parallel realm where he is prophesized to bring an end to the reign of the evil Demon King. He is reluctantly thrust into the role of a hero and joined by a party of adventurers on his quest.
Bravest! was a major hit upon its original release in Japan, with the i-mode version reaching hundreds of thousands of sales. For the new release on modern platforms, the original game has been significantly enhanced with a boosted frame rate, improved visual effects, and multiple quality of life features.
Of major note to our readers is that this is the first time Bravest! will be available in English. However, it is worth noting that according to the game’s Steam store page, the English script was machine translated from Japanese, then edited by a human in post. The publisher note even mentions that the editor was not a native speaker and warns that there may be some errors as a result.
Bravest! is available now on PC via Steam, Android via Google Play, and Apple devices via the App Store. The developer has also stated they are currently in the process of porting the sequel, Bravest! 2, in the near future.
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