Suikoden Sisters... PUT YA GUNS ON?!?

I was really excited back when Brigandine The Legend of Runersia was released in 2020. And yet I haven't played the game yet LOL. Was way too busy being forced to be an SEO drone and writing Genshin guides. I have more time now that I am out of a games media job, but I've been focusing on playing old Japanese games I could never play as a kid. That's how in 2025 I got to experience absolute masterpieces like Aoi Umi no Tristia and Palais de Reine (Only seen like 5 routes/endings out of maybe 20+ lol, what a game). And of course been busy with sociage like Heaven Burns Red as well.

I only knew the original PS1 Brigandine by name, but it was so cool to see the series come back in 2020. I never expected they'd release yet another game six years later.

I feel like Brigandine is probably one of the games that inspired ヴァーレントゥーガ/Vahrenturga, one of the most popular Japanese indie games of all time. I always felt grateful to Brigandine in a way, seeing one of my favorite game of the 2010s, Lost Technology, is one of the hundreds of games based on Vahrenturga.

Brigandine The Legend of Runersia most notably features incredible chara designs by Raita Kazama. There are two character designers called Raita. There's the Chad RAITA, who is really famous worldwide for his work on Sega's Senjou no Valkyria. But in his shadow, lies the CHAD Raita, who worked on 2020 Brigandine, and several sociage like Valkyrie Anatomia. And it was quite the RUKA CHAAAAN, YOU WA SHOOOOCK!!! when the name Brigandine appeared on the February 13 2026 State of Play, with a much more generic looking chara design than Raita Kazama's unique artwork.

When you look at the credits though, it turns out one of the character designers is Kawano Junko, who's known for Konami's Suikoden series. And once your brain has this information, you immediately notice the characters do have some Suikoden vibe to them. Especially their clothing and armor.

However, I can't help but feel they look too simple when it comes to their faces and like overall feel. I feel like there's several chara designers from the 80s and 90s who adapted "too much" to post 2020s aesthetics, sociage-like aesthetics. With very pale, very simple chara designs.

I hope they never read this article but it's similar to how I feel about some of Araizumi Rui's recent artwork for example, like some of the pieces for the Slayers art expo and anniversary concert and events.

But yeah thankfully most of Araizumi Rui art is still peak.

The official site for Brigandine Abyss has some short comments from each of the core staff members. Kawano Junko stated it "was a fun project to be a part of".

Also important to note is that the game has another character designer, Hayash Niji. I'm not gonna lie and act like a specialist, I am not familiar with them at all.

The other big surprise is that one of the scenarists of Sengoku Basara, Matsuno Iduru, is credited on scenario. And the director of the first Sengoku Basara games, Yamamoto Makoto, is directing the game.

Sengoku Basara is another series I have a fun relationship with, as IIRC I actually never played any of the games lol. I mainly experienced it through the anime adaptations and some of the stage plays.

Sengoku Basara is such a huge part of otaku culture of these last 20 years. It was a major influence on reinvigorating sengoku era stuff, and has a MASSIVE female audience. I don't think stuff like Hakuouki, Touken Ranbu, or even Kimetsu no Yaiba would be as big if not thanks to Sengoku Basara.

So it always feels a bit sad to me that Capcom just left the series sleep (they tried making a sociage out of it for a few years before it went EoS, the usual pattern followed by many legendary game series in the 2010s).

People always say it sucks Capcom doesn't do much with its old IPs and primarily focuses on Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, and Resident Evil. And yeah, Sengoku Basara is one of the biggest offenders. Such wasted potential. Like, if they made a new one and made it GOOD, with a GOOD package and everything, it would be so incredible.

I'm happy that some of the Sengoku Basara staff who left Capcom managed to bounce back elsewhere. I really hope Brigandine Abyss will be good. And I need to play Brigandine Legend of Runersia as soon as I can.

Brigandine Abyss is scheduled to release in 2026 on Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and Steam.

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I also talked about my meager knowledge of Touken Ranbu for a little bit in one of the episodes of my talk show: