is an action role-playing game by Nihon Falcom. Originally released in 1991 for the NEC PC-9801 and FM Towns, it was later ported to the Super NES and PC Engine CD-ROM² in the mid 1990s, including an expanded re-release titled Brandish Renewal. The game was the first in the Brandish series and was followed by three sequels. A remake, Brandish: The Dark Revenant, was released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan in 2009 and worldwide in 2015. Gameplay Brandish is a top-down view dungeon crawler game. The original version of the game uses mouse controls from a real-time overhead view, where the player can move the warrior character Ares (known as Varik in the original English version) forward and backward, turn, strafe, and attack by clicking on boxes surrounding the player character. The player's objective is to escape from a labyrinth of over 40 floors filled with various monsters, traps and puzzles. Brandish: The Dark Revenant turns the game's female antagonist Dela Delon into an optional alternate player character. Dela, a magician, plays differently from the protagonist Ares the warrior. The game's "Dela Mode" is shorter (lasting about 10 hours as compared to some 20 hours with Ares) but harder than the main scenario. Plot A long time ago, the small kingdom of Vittoria was built around a lofty tower, which pierced the sky. The people of the city, guarded by a mighty Dragon, lived in peace and abundance. However, King Bistalle, the ruler of Vittoria, desired to expand his kingdom and ordered the scholars to research the Tower. Soon he was brought a tome written in an ancient language. As they were deciphering the tome, some scholars feared that they might be laying their hands on the forbidden knowledge of the ancients. The tome reads, "The Great Guardian of Vittoria, the Dragon, and the Essence of Power lies in the top of the Tower; the one who possesses the Essence will possess all." Undaunted by these otherwise ominous words, Bistalle decided to make this Essence of Power his own. He secretly organized an army which soon attacked the Tower and overwhelmed the Dragon. But as Bistalle grasped at the Essence of Power, the Dragon gave up its own life to destroy it. The Essence, losing control, transformed the King into a hideous monster and sank the entire kingdom of Vittoria, including the great tower, under the ground. All people