DESCRIPTION

The war had been raging on for quite some time; seemingly forever. In the year 214, however, the Almekia Empire finally achieved a victory over the country of Norgard, their bitter rivals. Though it ended the war, Admiral Zemeckis of Norgard had other plans up his sleeve...

In the following year of 215, he assassinated King Henguist, Almekia's widely loved ruler. With the fallen king lying at his feet, Zemeckis proclaimed himself the new emperor and began a dynasty of terror. With a lust of hate in his eyes, the new ruler named his conquered land as the Esgares Empire and unleashed brutal assaults on the neighboring countries located in Forsena.

Zemeckis didn't account for the Knights of the Rune, however. Born with magical runic abilities, these warriors are looking to police Forsena from the evil tyrant's wrath. And although it will be an uphill battle against armies of monsters and elite warriors, the knights have vowed to succeed!

Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena is a role-playing war simulation title in the fashion of Tactics Ogre, Ogre Battle, and Final Fantasy Tactics. At the beginning of the game, players will select one of five different Knights of the Rune and defend a specific piece of Forsena. Lance is a young fourteen year old prince that has been summoned to protect New Almekia and Late Badostow; Lyonesse must defend her kingdom of Leonia; and the lord-ranked Vaynard will defend the northlands with his White Wolf warriors.

From the Strategy Map, players will organize their party members into effective attack forces, equip newly found weaponry, check statistics, and move around the map in search for enemy soldiers. Battles take place on a hexagonal piece of country land with fixed amounts of character movements and actions. Depending on the class of certain characters, as the commander, you'll order your troops to unleash rune assaults, magical spells, and attacks with bows, blunt objects, and swords.

In addition to each unit's own statistics (hit points, experience, levels), there are various Elemental colors that work in conjunction with attacks and other offensive measures. Each color represents a different faction; White is a sacred holy power, Black offsets good with evil, Green represents nature, Red is the color of flame, Blue is for aerial elements, and Gray is a neutral color. When an elemental Red unit attacks an opposing Blue element, the damage inflicted is raised 20 percent. If a Black colored unit attacks the holy White color, the damage is raised by a certain percent, or vise versa. ~ Matthew House, All Game Guide