Brigandine Abyss is the latest entry in the long running Brigandine series, and was developed by Happinet, and recently published in the west by NIS America for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
We were both very thankful for this opportunity, and here what we learned.
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| (Photo provided by Happinet) |
Hello! My name is Ben, and I am one of the co-founders of Netto's Game Room. Today I am joined by Ryan from RPGamer, who was previously one of the reviewers for Brigandine Abyss. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Masaru Saito, and I’m the producer of BRIGANDINE ABYSS. I’m part of the game development team at Happinet.
Prior to joining Happinet, I worked in the games and entertainment industries at several different companies. Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work in a variety of areas, including development, sales, and promotion. I’m currently at Happinet, where I’m involved in game development.
Brigandine is a long-running franchise that first launched back in 1998 and quickly became a cult classic. For those hearing about it for the first time thanks to the release of Brigandine Abyss, how would you describe the series to newcomers, and what makes it so special compared to other tactical role-playing games? - Ben
Brigandine is a fantasy war simulation where you command a large number of monsters and battle across a hex-based battlefield.
In many other games, human characters are the primary units, while monsters are often enemies that you fight against. In the Brigandine series, however, humans and monsters fight alongside one another in dynamic battles, which is one of the series’ defining features.
The game's art style feels a lot more modern compared to the original entries. What made you decide to go this route rather than mimicking the 90s and early 2000s anime aesthetic? - Ben
The biggest reason was that we wanted to develop a character design style that suited the story and setting of the game, which ultimately led us to this particular visual direction.
At the core of the game is the confrontation with an evil empire, so we felt that we needed a cast of dynamic and energetic characters. For that reason, we brought in Junko Kono and Nijihayashi as the game’s main character designers.
What about the Brigandine franchise appealed most to the team to create a new title in the series? - Ryan
Among the many simulation games available, we believe the Brigandine series stands out for its battles featuring both human and monster units. We also see its hex-based battlefields as a defining feature, especially since this style of battlefield has become less common in recent years.
Was it challenging to develop a new entry, or were you able to use past titles as a guide to steer the direction? - Ben
One of the biggest challenges that immediately comes to mind was deciding early in development to release the game on Nintendo Switch 2, at a time when we still had very little detailed information about the hardware.
This created a number of challenges during development, and the team at Adglobe, who handled the actual development, had to work particularly hard to overcome them.
Reception to the title has been mixed to say the least, are there any plans in the future to address the concerns brought up by long time fans of the franchise that wish for the game to be more similar to the beloved PlayStation cult classic? - Ryan
We’ve received a lot of feedback regarding the differences between the previous titles and BRIGANDINE ABYSS.
We are currently considering updates that we hope will help players who enjoyed the previous titles better understand and appreciate BRIGANDINE ABYSS.
A lot of care went into making each of the strongholds feel special when fighting on the battlefield, was it difficult to draft twenty-four unique battlegrounds and were there any ideas left on the cutting room floor? - Ryan
The team at Adglobe created them. They shared a wide variety of materials with us from the early concept stages, and I remember being particularly surprised by the inclusion of destructible objects and objects that could attack players on the battlefield—features that hadn’t appeared in previous Brigandine titles.
It was exciting to see how they expanded on the series’ battlefields in these ways.
Each of the classes feel like they fulfill a role in combat readily, and some of them are not easily found depending on which nation is chosen at the beginning. What was the process of deciding what monsters were limited to which stronghold locations? Are there possibilities of more monster class trees being added to the game in the future? - Ryan
In the main Story Mode, we first decided on the signature monster for each nation. We then determined the placement of the other monsters around those choices.
As for adding more monster class trees, there are currently no plans to do so.
Even veterans to the franchise have had to adapt their strategies because of how quickly surrounding nations are able to train and how powerful event battles can be for the unprepared. What suggestions do you have to those struggling to survive the difficulty of Brigandine Abyss? - Ryan
When you defeat an enemy leader, the monsters under their command will retreat as well. This can be an effective strategy in many situations on Easy and Normal difficulty.
However, on Hard difficulty, we recommend defeating as many of the enemy monsters as possible so that you can earn experience and strengthen your own units.
We are also considering adjustments through future updates to factors such as the rate at which enemy nations develop their units and how aggressively they expand.
Is there any possibility for additional knights to be added into the game with unique backgrounds and character designs? - Ryan
We are currently considering various possibilities for future updates, so we’ll have to hold off on answering this question for now.
BRIGANDINE ABYSS actually has a similar number of unique characters to the previous title. However, we understand that players may get the impression that there are fewer unique characters because of the strong presence of the characters that can be recruited as regular units.
We would also like to see if there is something we can do to address this through a future update.
Many nations only have a singular stronghold to begin with, leading to a tense start of any campaign. Was there a lengthy discussion on how many nations and strongholds would be in the final product? - Ryan
The structure came about from our desire to give each stronghold its own unique identity, including having unique characters associated with each one.
It was also the result of considering the different gameplay possibilities for each stronghold, such as variations in their battlefields, upgrading stronghold levels, and exploration.
If the opportunity were to arise, would you like to develop the next entry in the series as well? If so, how would you use your experience gained while working on Abyss to improve a future title? Is there anything you feel would be handled differently? - Ben
Part of me would definitely love to be involved again! At the same time, I also think it could be a good idea to have younger talent take the lead on future installments.
I love working in game development, but I also love playing games myself. So when I imagine what kind of Brigandine a new generation of developers might create, it honestly makes me excited to think about the possibilities.
What new addition to Brigandine Abyss is the team most proud to have brought that wasn't found in earlier Brigandine titles? - Ryan
The addition the team is most proud of is the “Support” system, which allows players to grant monsters’ abilities to their leaders.
Each monster has a variety of different abilities, so we think it can also be fun to find monsters that best suit your own strategy.
Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers about the game or its future? - Ben
Thank you to everyone who has played BRIGANDINE ABYSS, as well as everyone who has taken an interest in the game.
We understand that some players may not be fully satisfied with the game in its current state. We are currently preparing to develop updates that address your feedback and bring the game closer to what you would like to see.
We’ll have more to announce soon, so please stay tuned.
And finally, we like to end our interviews with a "for fun" question. Putting aside Abyss, what is your personal favorite entry within the Brigandine series, and why? - Ben
My favorite is Brigandine: Grand Edition. Even today, I think the way the 2D monsters move is both incredibly cute and really cool. The characters are also very appealing, and I have a lot of affection for them.
Before we go, I'd like to thank Masaru Saito once again for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with us, and to thank Ryan for teaming up with us on this one.
For more, feel free to check out Ryan's review of Brigandine Abyss over at RPGamer, and for more exclusive interviews like this, feel free to visit our Interview Page!
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