Brave Nine, a previously mobile-only game, is coming to the PC. We here at Game8 have accessed its closed beta test to get a sneak peek. Read on to learn more about our impressions in our review!
Brave Nine PC Beta Impressions
Brave Nine Review Video
Brave Nine Review: Aged Like Fine Wine
Ah, yes. Brave Nine. I loved this game. I used to spend an unhealthy amount of time planning out formations and compositions that I thought would fare well against everything I faced in PvP. Of course, that's not possible. There's no such thing as a perfect team. If there were, then everybody would be using it. Regardless, I still got walloped hard, earning myself a less-than-stellar win rate on Arena. Skill issue? Definitely.
Brave Nine is an RPG with a heavy emphasis on strategy. It was released in 2017 to a generally positive reception, with many players eager to try it for its challenging gameplay and impressive artwork. However, its popularity gradually petered off through the years, a typical symptom of a game getting older. But now, with a PC port on the horizon, it's a great chance to dive into the game once again.
"What gives, though? Brave Nine is a game from 2017. Is it really still worth playing in 2023?"
It is! The game's combat system has withstood the test of time and is still one of the most challenging strategy RPGs in the market. People who love complex games will surely enjoy this gem!
Brave Nine Review
Pros of Brave Nine
| Things Brave Nine Got Right |
|---|
 The Combat is a Cinematic Chess Match Sound Effects That Can Tear Down Walls There's A Lot Of Content To Explore |
The Combat is a Cinematic Chess Match
Let's start with the game's main attraction: the combat.
In Brave Nine, players are given a 6x3 grid to work with. Nine characters called "Mercenaries," can be positioned on any of the eighteen available squares. Each mercenary has a set of skills with different areas they can affect and targets they can prioritize. This can range from directly attacking a single enemy ahead of them or blasting the entire enemy team from the back of the formation.
As one would expect, this is mainly dependent on the class of the mercenary. Warriors, for example, hit with few limitations. Conversely, mages are often more powerful than Warriors but suffer from having to spend a turn to charge their attacks. To support them are the Defenders, who can block attacks with their bulk, and Supporters, who can endow many beneficial effects to the team.
Turns are taken by alternating between the opposing sides, instead of strictly following a speed-based turn order like in Pokemon.
The interaction between the mercenaries, formation, and turn orders make the bulk of Brave Nine's combat design. Players must be able to plan a team that can perform well both offensively and defensively, while being aware that their enemies will be able to move at roughly the same pace. Not only will this require considering how their team will function if certain mercenaries move first, but they must also consider several other unforeseen circumstances, such as how they'll interact if some of them get incapacitated, etc.
The amount of forethought that must go into each formation is surprisingly deep and complex. Players are given complete freedom in planning out their team's formation and turn order, which means they are also allowed to plan for contingencies. What may seem an excellent formation at first glance may be a disaster in actual fights. Mercenaries with large area of effect skills only hitting one target. or mage-killers getting taunted and attacking a tank just because they moved after him.
These kinds of situations are all too common in Brave Nine. On top of that, since supports units often target the next ally in the turn order, players must also consider if their support skills will still go to a relevant mercenary if their original target is gone. The game's support effects are really significant, so wasting a turn buffing the wrong mercenary can mean the difference between a sweeping victory and a devastating defeat.
"Can't you just change the team's formation and turn order when things change?"
Well, the thing is, you can't. Brave Nine dictates that you must watch it through once you start the battle until one side is thoroughly defeated. While being unable to adapt isn't a concern for players only doing PvE content, it is undoubtedly a major consideration for Arena (PvP). In Arena mode, battle formations are set before you match against other players. Nobody is given the time or opportunity to adjust once the formations for both sides have been revealed. This restriction places much more significance on a player's team-building and planning skills.
First-time players might feel that the challenge is too steep of a wall to climb. With Brave Nine offering over a hundred mercenaries to play with, thousands of interactions could happen within one match alone. However, once everything clicks for you, everything changes. Suddenly, you're not losing as much anymore. In fact, your rankings keep getting higher and higher. And once you reach the goal you set up for yourself, the following feeling of satisfaction is indescribable.
Sound Effects That Can Tear Down Walls
Watching an even battle unfold in Brave Nine is like watching a cinematic. Mercenaries of all classes and genders, with all manners of equipment and attires, exchange powerful attacks. Some of them surviving easily while others fall to their opponent's assault. Fireballs rain from the sky, heavenly light streaks across the field, and giant swords slashing through enemies; all of these and more are what make watching a match entertaining and fulfilling.
This is further enhanced by the game not allowing players to change anything after the match starts. Once it does, it's left all up the mercenaries that the players have spent so much time training. Each victory is just as much because of them as it is because of the player.
To immerse its players into that feeling even further, Brave Nine features a set of incredibly punchy sound effects to its combat. There's a good amount of bass to it, with enough oomph to make people's ears tremble from the might of the mercenaries' swords and magic.
For action RPG players, this is an important quality to have. People desire to be fully immersed into the game's combat, regardless of if it's turn-based or not. And as the game is ported to the PC, the sound effects still feel as impactful as ever.
There's A Lot Of Content To Explore
One of the advantages for new players getting into a game with over five years of content is that there are so many things to look forward to. For those looking to test their mettle against other players, the game offers eight different PvP modes, each with its own unique ruleset to follow. One of the most frequented modes is Arena, which features the standard, no-holds-barred approach to fighting. Players can bring their strongest teams here and battle against other players for fame and loot (but primarily for loot).
There's also the Novice Arena, which is similar to Arena but with a few restrictions. First, no 5-star mercenary can be deployed, regardless of if it's a standard 5-star or a legendary. Second, only up to three 4-star mercenaries can be used. All other slots must be mercenaries of 3-star rarity. In addition, there is also a rotating ban list, which restricts four specific mercenaries from being entered into a fight.
There's also the Challenge content, which contains all sorts of dungeons from which you can farm runes, gear, and rank-up items. This will also contain the event dungeons, open only when there's an in-game event.
Maximizing a character's performance will require each player to play a variety of Brave Nine's game modes to earn resources. Most of these can be acquired through different methods: in-game currency is a reward for most of the ranked content, and 5-Star Skill Books, used to upgrade a 5-star mercenary's skill, are available in both the Arena shop and the Trading Post in Mystic Island.
As such, players have their choice of what they want to participate in, or even take part in every one of them, to strengthen their mercenaries.
Due to the regular introduction of new mercenaries and the ever-changing meta of PvP modes, the need to invest in mercenaries is always present. Meaning the need to play Brave Nine's many game modes is always there. There is a seldom a dull moment in the game, as there's always something to do to get stronger.
Cons of Brave Nine
| Things That Brave Nine Can Improve |
|---|
|
Quality of Life Still Needs Improvement There's Not Much Else About The Audio The Skill Floor is Quite High |
Quality of Life Still Needs Improvement
Being a fairly old game, it's understandable that the game could benefit from many quality-of-life improvements. Most of the issues have actually already been addressed in its sequel, Brown Dust 2. However, since Brave Nine is still being regularly updated with new content up to this day, there's no reason for it to not be able to enjoy the same benefits that its successor does.
For example, the upgrading animation in Brown Dust 2 can be completely skipped, allowing players to immediately see the results of the dozens of attempts to upgrade their gear. But, in Brave Nine, players must still watch the same repeating animation of their runes getting stronger. This can range anywhere from just a few seconds of annoyance to a mind-numbing few minutes, depending on how many times the player wants to do it, which can be up to 100 times in a row.
The same problem can be said for refining. Players of Brown Dust 2 can also skip the animation entirely and immediately retrieve their results. But again, that option is absent from the game in Brave Nine. Despite having an animation slightly faster than upgrading runes, refinement can be done at thrice the number of attempts for a total of 300. That's still a pretty large amount of time to wait through.
Another issue that Brave Nine has yet to tackle is in their mercenaries' status windows (pictured above). In both Brave Nine and Brown Dust 2, this is where most players would go to strengthen their mercenaries. It's used to raise their levels, rank them up, equip gear or runes, upgrade their skills, etc. With so many ways to strengthen them, this window becomes the backbone for the daily grind of the typical Brave Nine player.
The problem is that the UI is congested and overloaded. In fewer words, it's not pretty. Just from one screen, players are overwhelmed by the dozen ways to strengthen their mercenary all at once.
Meanwhile, Brown Dust 2 (pictured above) has managed to categorize them into three easy-to-understand investment categories, with "Info" relating to the mercenary's level and rank, "Costumes" referring to their skill selection and levels, and "Gear" referring to their equipment and refining. It looks much less cluttered, gives us a better view of the character's artwork, and doesn't take over half of the screen.
In addition, the additional available space also allows players to select specific mercenaries to view, instead of having to sift through them one by one using the arrow buttons on the bottom of Brave Nine's interface, or go back to the mercenary list screen.
There's Not Much Else About The Audio
Mobile games didn't use to put in the amount of effort in their game's polish that some prominent games do nowadays, particularly in voice acting. For example, miHoYo's Honkai Star Rail, a game released in 2023, has characters that not only have voice acting in combat, but also when you interact with them or even when they're simply idle on your screen. Punishing Gray Raven, meanwhile, has characters that react to what you do, such as whenever you shake the screen or remain idle for too long (they usually complain); they even have different animations for each of those things!
Brave Nine definitely shows its age in this aspect. Not only do the mercenaries not have much to say in general, they don't even have combat voice lines. To make things slightly worse, there's no voice acting on the main or side stories either.
Even some older mobile games do better than this, as Soccer Spirits, which was released in 2014, had fully-voiced characters that yelled and shouted at each other in combat. Not only that, the characters also made annoying and sometimes downright insulting remarks on the home screen! (Or maybe it was just me for choosing to have Metatron on my lobby.)
The Skill Floor is Quite High
Due to the combat system's complexity, many people will encounter walls to their progress, especially in PvP. Brave Nine features several of these modes, testing the player's knowledge of the game's combat system as well as their progress with investing in their mercenaries.
Unfortunately, even for more casual players, some PvP modes are essentially required, such as the Mystic Island mode, which is a good source of Premium Scrolls and 5-Star Skill Books. Since duplicates of a character and 5-Star Skill Books are necessary to upgrade a mercenary's skill, players who struggle with the mode will find it challenging to catch up to others in general.
There are many things to keep track of when team building in Brave Nine. Since most characters possess skills with unique effects, it can be challenging to create non-standard team templates. For example, players can't just build a team around stunning enemies since there are few mercenaries that specifically inflict that effect. Not only that, there are a lot of supports that can counter them.
Even class-based teams, such as a warrior team built around Delsahidne, a mercenary that strengthens all warriors, would still need to consider the finer details of their team's turn orders to maximize each mercenary's potential.
The thousands of possible interactions between each mercenary, the several dozen unique effects of each skill, and the balance required between the proper turn order and placements can be a challenging concept to grasp for new players.
Side Note on Brave Nine
The Game Has a Play & Earn Feature
First teased on a promotional video released on Brave Nine's official YouTube channel back in 2021, Brave Nine now has a play-to-earn feature. It works by earning Purified Terra, a resource rewarded to players through participating in PvE and PvP modes such as Arena. Players can use this resource to either summon a Mythic Mercenary, one of the game's NFTs, a Mythic Rune or directly exchange them for Brave Tokens. Players can exchange Mythic Mercenaries and Runes for Brave Tokens and vice versa. These Brave Tokens, in turn, can be exchanged for Neopin Tokens, a cryptocurrency players can sell or keep.
New players are not required to participate in the play-to-earn feature and can treat it as a standard in-game resource.
Brave Nine Overview & Premise
Set in a fantasy world, Fabian, a loyal knight and a noble of Emperor Altair II of the Karian Empire, shocked the world by turning traitor alongside six of his followers. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Fabian gets past the Empire's army and kills the Emperor. This tragedy is declared the "Day of the Eclipse," which became the precursor of the rise of several new nations declaring independence. As these nations appear, so do mercenaries, eager to fight for honor and coin in the ensuing turmoil.
The player takes on the role of a young captain leading a growing band of mercenaries. As he travels the world searching for fame and fortune, he gradually starts uncovering the secrets behind Fabian's rebellion and what it means for his past.
Who Should Play Brave Nine?
Brave Nine is Recommended if You Enjoy:
• Echocalpyse
• Chain Strike
• Brown Dust 2
People who enjoy mobile RPGs with strategic gameplay set on grids, such as Echocalypse and Chain Strike, will enjoy Brave Nine. However, the latter is substantially more complex in terms of team building. Generally speaking, people who enjoy a good, challenging strategy game will likely enjoy the game either way. This is especially true for players first introduced to its sequel, Brown Dust 2, due to their striking differences.
Is Brave Nine Worth It?
Aye, captain!
Despite its age, Brave Nine is still undoubtedly one of the most complex turn-based mobile games on the market. Players looking for a game with copious amounts of auto-play while still being challenging will be pleased with what Brave Nine offers.
The PC port has minimal differences between it and the mobile game. For one, most of the game's controls are bound to your mouse's left click. The only addition we have discovered is that the back button on the phone has been placed on the keyboard's Esc button. On the other hand, while the PC version can support a resolution of up to 2560x1536, it only stretches the screen and sacrifices the quality of the interface and artwork.
Will the PC release have cross-play between it and the mobile version? Apparently not. But that's for the better because it evens out the playing field. This is especially important for new players who are only getting into the game through the PC version because it would prevent them from dealing with players with over five years of experience and progress already.
Regardless of these, Brave Nine is still very much worth trying out as it releases soon. It's unlike any other game out there. It has a vast array of possibilities built into the many interactions that a battle between eighteen mercenaries that no other game like it can deliver. Interested players can wishlist the game on their Steam store page below.
How Brave Nine Matches Up to Similar Games
| Games Similar to Brave Nine | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
 Brown Dust 2 |
Brown Dust 2's combat system was modified to become more accessible to players of all skill levels. In doing so, however, it loses much of the original's complexity in terms of forethought and strategy. Brave Nine's combat system needs far more planning and insight into the game's many, many effects and interactions. Players who are after a more challenging experience will definitely enjoy Brave Nine more. | The sequel to Brave Nine definitely has a more modern feel, with an optimized and minimalist UI, artwork with better animations, and audiovisual effects. Additionally, it is much more accessible for players of all skill levels due to its more traditional turn-based gameplay. At the same time, it maintains a level of complexity the original game had with its emphasis on positioning and turn orders. |
 Chain Strike |
Brave Nine expects its players to plan everything before leaving it up to their mercenaries. Everything must be prepared before the game starts, which gives the game more suspense as the actual combat phase starts when players lose all control of their mercenaries. However, to see their strategies triumph against others' rewards its players with an incredible sense of satisfaction. | Chain Strike has a far more traditional turn-based combat with a field divided by a grid. Instead of having their own grids to position themselves in, Chain Strike makes the two sides share the same area. Positioning is equally vital in the game; however, the players' ability to reposition their units after each turn gives them more options to force interactions such as combos or surrounding the enemy. |
 Echocalypse |
The strategic aspect of Brave Nine partly revolves around the game's emphasis on mercenary placement. Players can fill half the 6x3 grid with their mercenaries, positioning them in crucial squares depending on their role. This has far more strategic applications than Echocalypse's small 2x3 grid, which players can fill with up to six characters. In Brave Nine, instead of simply having a frontline and a backline, players can integrate the grid itself to their strategy to maximize the effectiveness of their mercenaries. | Echocalypse's turn-based combat system is far more accessible for most players, featuring very conventional mechanics, such as most characters initially targeting front liners. Players of all skill levels can quickly get into Echocalypse without reading long articles regarding each character's strengths, weaknesses, and builds. |
Brave Nine Trailer
Brave Nine Product Information
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| Title | BRAVE NINE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 24, 2017 (mobile) / August 31, 2023 (PC) |
| Developer | GAMFS N |
| Publisher | Neowiz Games |
| Supported Platforms | Mobile, PC |
| Genre | RPG, Strategy |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | Teen |
| Official Website | Brave Nine Website |
