Brave Frontier
Developer(s)A-Lim
Publisher(s)
  • JP: A-Lim
  • WW: Gumi
Director(s)Eiji Takahashi
Producer(s)Eiji Takahashi
Hisatoshi Hayakashi
Artist(s)Yutaka Ebishima
Writer(s)Hiroshi Sasako
Composer(s)Hikoshi Hashimoto
Platform(s)iOS
Android
Amazon Kindle Fire
Windows Phone 8
Microsoft Windows
ReleaseiOS
  • JP: July 3, 2013
  • WW: December 13, 2013
Android
  • WW: December 13, 2013
Kindle Fire
  • WW: 2014
Microsoft Windows and Windows Phone
  • WW: July 2015
Genre(s)Role-playing game
Mode(s)Raid, Arena, Quest, Vortex, Frontier Hunter, Frontier Gate, Guild

Brave Frontier (ブレイブフロンティア, Bureibu Furontia) was a Japanese mobile role-playing game developed and published by A-Lim, originally for Apple's iOS and later for Android and Kindle Fire. It was first released in Japan by A-Lim on July 3, 2013,[1] and later released worldwide by Gumi and managed by 2 locations, Gumi Asia and Gumi Europe.[2] A sequel game[3] titled Brave Frontier 2 was released only in Japan on February 22, 2018[4] while a global-exclusive sequel, titled Brave Frontier: The Last Summoner was slated for release in Q3 2018.[5][6] The game ended all services across all platforms and regions on April 27, 2022. This decision was made by A-Lim on March 30.

Gameplay

Brave Frontier's gameplay is similar to Square Enix's Valkyrie Profile.[7] The storyline focuses on the unnamed summoner and players have to complete every stage to access a new area. Players are allowed to bring up to 5 units in each stage with a "friend" unit in quest mode. Players make friends through friend request. Attacking units in a battle rewards the player with Brave Burst Crystals, and Heart Crystals. After an enemy is defeated, the player proceeds the next stage until the boss, which is required to go complete a level. After completing, players are rewarded with Zel, Karma and items, as well as acquiring units from each mission. When players complete the entire area, they'll be rewarded with one gem. However, if players fail a quest, they use one gem to continue. Units have the ability to execute special attacks, known as Brave Bursts. When activated the unit uses a powerful attack. Brave Bursts can also provide a boost in health points or increase the overall stats to gain an advantage against enemies. Super Brave Bursts can also be executed but only if a unit has a 6 Star Rank and maxed out their Brave Burst gauge. Another version, called Ultimate Brave Bursts can be used by 7-Star and Omni Evolution Units after filling the Overdrive gauge. The Omni Evolution units are able to customize their abilities, as well as additions to the effects given from their Brave Burst, Super Brave Burst, and Ultimate Brave Bursts through Enhancements from fusing other units to the Omni Evolution Units. Omni Evolution Units can also do Resonances which requires two of the same element of Omni Evolution units to spark with each other.

Aside from quests, the player can also fuse units with the ones obtained in each mission in order to level them up. Once a unit is now in its max level, is it now capable of evolving. The requirements to evolve eligible units are different. Each unit has their own ranking as well, with the Omni Evolution being the highest. Players can obtain more units through Honor Summons and Rare Summons, they require players to use gems and Honor Points in order to summon units. Players can sell units for zel or equip them Spheres and by Gems through micro transactions. Items can also be synthesized into useful items, such as potions, tonics, and revives. Spheres are also made in the same fashion, to increase a unit's overall stats. The town provides a lot of items used for these, some items must be obtained through dungeons cleared by the player. Another thing is the town can provide more important items if the player upgrade each establishments using karma.

Brave Frontier has event quests available inside the Vortex Gate, allowing players to obtain evolutionary units, Zel or promotional rare units not found in Rare Summons. Certain dungeons, such as Metal Parades, Jewel Parades, and Imp Parades require keys to unlock for a limited time. In-Game Events are in the Vortex Gate, and players will be rewarded with a free unit if completed. Players can challenge each other in the arena and win prizes for attaining a certain rank. The game also features Frontier Hunter trials, allowing players to raise their Hunter Ranks, Raid Battles, a Slot Machine Feature, Mini games, Daily Missions and Grand Quest.

Story

The land of Grand Gaia is a world ravaged by a war between humans and the Gods that took place many years ago. It is a land surrounded by a veil of mystery but engulfed in havoc as certain places have been conquered by four fallen gods, who have betrayed their fellow gods. Amidst the chaos, The Imperial Army of Randall, capital of Elgaia and the Akras Summoners Hall are doing their best to handle the chaos the fallen gods and the demonic legions its causing, but have not been able to push them back. But, amidst the chaos, a god by the name of Lucius summons a hero to liberate Grand Gaia from The Four Fallen Gods.

Development

The game was first announced after the Gaming Company A-Lim was officially registered in March 2013. The company, formed from the combined efforts of Gumi Ventures, B-Dash Ventures, and Fuji Startup Ventures, a company owned by Fuji TV.[8] Hironao Kunimitsu officially stated that the company would have "key advantage over other game-makers in the market."[9] Hisatoshi Hayakashi, the game's executive producer stated that the game was inspired from various RPG games such as Final Fantasy, Valkyrie Profile, Romancing SaGa, Star Ocean and the Tales series; Hayashi explained, "Originally, we wanted to have players walk around towns and dungeons, but then we thought about mobile devices and small screens and suddenly, knowing how far you were into a dungeon was quite scary, and walking in towns was not as enjoyable as it should be. But I am convinced that if we can somehow represent the fact that players are walking around cities and dungeons, talking to people and fighting monsters, all on a mobile device, they will really get into the RPG world."[10]

Promotional units

Following the game's release, several promotional in-game units were released exclusively in both Japanese and global versions of the game, including crossover units from magazines such as Famitsu and other smartphone games such as Emperors SaGa, Deemo, Puzzle Trooper, Rise of Mana, Secret of Mana, Tales of Link, Rune Story, The King of Fighters, Phantom of the Kill, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse,[11] Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Blazing Odyssey[12] and Crystal of Reunion. The developers also collaborated with other media franchises such as Crypton Future Media's Vocaloid mascot Hatsune Miku[13] the film series The Hobbit[14][15][16] and Eagle Talon.[17]

Media

Manga

A spin-off manga of the series titled Brave Frontier: Haruto's Summoning Diary (ブレイブ フロンティア ハルトの召喚日記, Bureibu Furontia Haruto no Shōkan nikki) was created by Kiro Sanjou and published by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the web comic GAMMA!. Two tankōbon volumes were released on November 14, 2015 and February 15, 2016.

Music

The game's music was composed by Hikoshi Hashimoto, who once composed music on various Sega games. The game's official soundtrack, titled Brave Frontier: Original Soundtrack (ブレイブ・フロンティア オリジナルサウンドトラック, Bureibu Furontia Orijinaru Saundotorakku) was released in Japan by Sony Music Entertainment Japan on July 23, 2014.

Reception

Gamezebo gave the game a generally positive review, stating that "It's got its heart in the right place aspiring to be like the Final Fantasy or Xenoblade series, but it’s still caught up in the platform paradigms we know all too well. In other words, it’s fine for its time, just not timeless."[18] The global version of the game became the most downloaded game on both Android and iOS platforms with a total of 10 million downloads as of August 2014.

It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the "Most playable pixel art characters in a mobile game".[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "3 Japanese VCs team up to establish new mobile gaming studio". The Bridge. July 3, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Why is there a Japanese game in the Made in Singapore category for the Digital Life Readers' Choice Awards?". Gamesinasia. January 20, 2014. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  3. ↑ "生放送中に『ブレイブ フロンティアII』発表！ 課金ガチャはナシ！ ブレ生"第31回情報まとめ | スマホゲーム情報ならファミ通App".
  4. ↑ "『ブレフロ2』のリリース日がついに決定！さらにあの有名作品とのコラボも | スマホゲーム情報ならファミ通App".
  5. ↑ "Brave Frontier: The Last Summoner - gumi announces new mobile RPG for popular series". 8 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Gumi、今夏配信予定の新作『BRAVE FRONTIER : THE LAST SUMMONER』を発表…開発はgumi Europeでまずは海外配信を予定 | gamebiz".
  7. ↑ "Brave Frontier Channels A Little Bit Of Valkyrie Profile". Siliconera. January 15, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Can new mobile gaming studio Alim make the next Puzzle & Dragons?". E27. July 11, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Mobile Startup "Alim" Entering Competitive Japanese Market". rightstartups. July 28, 2013. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014.
  10. ↑ "The making of Brave Frontier". Pocket Gamer.biz. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  11. ↑ "『ブレイブ フロンティア』が『真・女神転生IV FINAL』とコラボレーション決定！ リツイートキャンペーン開催中 | スマホゲーム情報ならファミ通App".
  12. ↑ "Gumiとエイリム、『ブレイジング オデッセイ』と『ブレイブ フロンティア』のコラボキャンペーン「ブレイジング×フロンティア」を開催！ | gamebiz".
  13. ↑ "Hatsune Miku Is Popping Into Brave Frontier". Siliconera. October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  14. ↑ ""Brave Frontier" Mixes It Up with "The Hobbit" and Adds Bilbo Baggins". Crunchyroll. 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  15. ↑ By Spencer. November 30, 2014. 10:36 pm (2014-11-30). "Bilbo Baggins Makes A Cameo In Brave Frontier". Siliconera. Retrieved 2016-09-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Bilbo Baggins to Appear in Brave Frontier Mobile Game". Anime News Network. 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  17. ↑ "「ブレイブ フロンティア」で「秘密結社 鷹の爪」とのコラボイベントを開催".
  18. ↑ "Brave Frontier Review". Gamezebo. March 17, 2014.
  19. ↑ "『ブレフロ2』は2月22日配信。『キョウリュウジャー』とのコラボ動画も公開".
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