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> Results: Brave Story: New Traveler
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The ESRB Says
Language: GamerDad noticed from the very start liberal use of words like 'hell' and 'damn' sprinkled in the dialogue. Mild Fantasy Violence: Loads of turn-based battles throughout in the classic 'Final Fantasy' opposing sides style. Mild Suggestive Themes: The hero is a boy and there are occasional flirting from some female allies and adversaries. There are many famous cliches in so-called jRPG's (Japanese role playing games), to the point where it seems you could automate the entire process of building one and come up with a passable game (indeed, the Legend of Heroes games, aside from having titles that sound like they were generated by the 'name-o-matic', feel on whole like they could have been made without any human assistance). Give a kid a tragic cause, a loud friend, and send him off to conquer the root of all evil, battling thousands of mice and delivering bread all along the way. To be very honest that is exactly what I was expecting from Brave Story: New Traveler, even after actually starting to play the game - it all seemed very familiar. The slacker hero with the friend who gets in trouble - wait, didn't I just play this on my DS? But then something happened - an amazing story full of wonderfully drawn characters that will drag you all around the map right to the very end of the story. There are still more than a few cliches left that you'll have to contend with, but they won't seem so bad because you really want to make it through the next boss battle and on to the next town to see what plot twists and turns await. As you reach the end you will realize that you have just finished the best RPG to reach the PSP thus far! There are plenty of cliches here - loads of random battles, a fairly linear town-to-town plot advancement, and other things we've seen again and again. But despite these Brave Story: New Traveler is an extremely charming game. The visuals are stunning, the load times short, the sounds and voices all well done and the combat system is perhaps the best ever in a 'Final Fantasy clone'. And the game never wastes your time - from quick loads to fast paced battles to integrated level-pushing that never feels like a grind to a completely optional but cute and fun 'Bird Battle' mini-game system,everything flows with a wonderfully controlled pace that works very well. And the best part is the story and characters - they fit within the expected archetypes for this sort of game, but are given such depth, humor and whimsical charm that you will end up caring for almost everyone you meet, instead of feeling like you're doing a quest for 'NPC117'. Flaws and all, Brave Story: New Traveler is the best RPG so far on the PSP. Feeling fresh and familiar and hitting all the right notes in terms of technical details and storytelling, this is a memorable experience that has dozens of hours of fun ready for any Traveler ready to take the challenge. And if you have a PSP, it would be a shame to miss this one - it has apparently not sold well Japan and has had little publicity for the releases in the rest of the world, so it is up to PSP owners to grab this one up and spread the word! Oh, and one last thing to show how seriously the game takes itself - amongst the items you can find is The Legendary Rod of a Forgotten Idol, which is called ... the Sanjaya Staff!  
The content notations are exactly correct - you will immediately think of your loud-mouthed companion as also having somewhat of a habit of spewing inappropriate words (but at least she gets chastised more than once for it!). There are also some moments of flirting with the main character done in a typical teen style (e.g. "I am NOT his girlfriend!" and so on). These are not anything to keep this out of the hands of kids, but rather reinforce that this is a game aimed squarely and appropriately at a 10+ age group. More importantly there are loads of positive messages that are drummed in throughout the game - the importance of family, loyalty, dedication, perseverance, teamwork and friendship. Honestly is stressed as extremely important again and again. Yet this is far from a 'family values parade' - everything is done as part of advancing through the game and is sprinkled with humor and fun.
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