Brave Soul

Overview

Brave Soul is a point 'n click action RPG developed by Crowd that was originally released in 2001 in Japan, and brought over to the US by Peach Princess more than 5 years later. It is a game in the same vein as Diablo, but with a twist. Aside from the dungeon crawling that you would expect, there's also a dating sim aspect to the game. The actions the player takes during the course of the game will determine what girl they end up with during the ending, which may contain adult content. The character designs were done by Nakayohi Mogudan, best known for illustrating the light novel series Scrapped Princess, which was later adapted into an anime.

Plot

The game starts out with a scene where the main character (called Rudy by default) speaks to himself, as he dreams about a naked young lady standing in a river, who has appeared in his dreams for ten years now. He dubbed her "The Moon Goddess," as she only appears in his dreams during a full moon. For the first time ever, the young lady thanks him, but Rudy does not know why.

He then wakes up in a forest, tied up and confused. His pet dragon then comes to save him, and delivers a letter. The letter is from his dad, stating that he wishes his son to become a man, and won't let him back in the house until he does so. Rudy then decides that the best way to become a man is to join the Hunter's Guild. As he's on his way, he hears a cry for help from a girl attacked by goblins, who looks suspiciously similar his "Moon Goddess." He saves her, and they go on an adventure together, where Rudy will run into many other girls along the way.

Gameplay

The controls are standard fare for point 'n click RPGs from this era. The player uses the left mouse button for the Rudy's sword attack, and the right mouse button for any secondary magical attacks at the cost of MP. Similar to games of this type, HP and MP regenerate automatically as the player walks around. Aside from Rudy, there can be up to 3 other party members in the party, all of which are controlled by A.I. The player is, however, able to give them simple commands such as asking them to attack or heal.

There is no overworld to explore. Instead, the player is presented with a map where they can select the town or dungeon they want to explore. The player progresses the story by visiting the Hunter's Guild and taking quests. Which quests the player decides to take, as well as moral choices, affect the Rudy's relationship with the girls. For instance, if the player decides to go explore a dark damp cave with a catgirl who likes sunny places, she will leave the party, and her heart meter will drop.

There is also a New Game Plus aspect to the game. Every time the player beats the game, new difficulty modes may be unlocked. Most of which will make the game harder, but many of them will also allow the player to carry over their stats and gold. It is also necessary to beat the game at least once to unlock a girl which was previously not in the game.