The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante - obscure Russian narrative RPG

[Verylittlefishes]

whoa this topic I created two years ago is still alive and well

 

[Verylittlefishes]

is Pentiment bad? I didn't tried it yet

 

[HeroMarine]

whoa this topic I created two years ago is still alive and well

Pentiment created a panic shit games are terminal, so people started panic looking for good ones

Pentinent thread is how I arrived here.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

whoa this topic I created two years ago is still alive and well

Pentiment created a panic shit games are terminal, so people started panic looking for good ones

Pentinent thread is how I arrived here.

Should I play the game, or reading thread will be enough.

 

[HeroMarine]

whoa this topic I created two years ago is still alive and well

Pentiment created a panic shit games are terminal, so people started panic looking for good ones

Pentinent thread is how I arrived here.

Should I play the game, or reading thread will be enough.

You're a retard so I don't care what you do either way.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

whoa this topic I created two years ago is still alive and well

Pentiment created a panic shit games are terminal, so people started panic looking for good ones

Pentinent thread is how I arrived here.

Should I play the game, or reading thread will be enough.

You're a retard so I don't care what you do either way.

Oh, it's you, weirdo, didn't recognized your nickname previously.

 

[Humanophage]

The devs made a small free allegorical game about repression and learned helplessness among Russians:


It is reminiscent of Pathologic 1 atmosphere-wise.

 

[SixDead]

Sequel is in production, by different team. Same setting, same timeline.

Machinus TRANSlation

Hello, the Schisma Games studio team is in touch

If you enjoyed playing The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, we have great news for you: we're making a second game in The Life and Suffering universe!

This time we propose to look at the era through the eyes of its future ruler: how he will grow up, what path he will choose, and most importantly, what fate he will give to the Empire. We are preparing for you many crossroads and difficult choices, stories that are unfair and even cruel, but at the same time filled with faith, compassion and love.

There is a difficult path ahead of creating a new story, and we will be glad if you share it with us.

The most important thing we can say about our project right now is:
This will be a project in the universe of the Blessed Arknian Empire.
This will be a project about a hero living at the same time as Sir Brante.
We have been working on this project for over a year now and we hope that its development will take no longer than working on the first game.
We will retain the main elements of gameplay and narrative, but will add and rework some mechanics in order to reflect the specifics of the Hero’s role in imperial society.
The life of the main character will be as long and full of suffering as Sir Brante’s. But suffering and misadventures will be different. The new game will tell about the “powerlessness of the strong.”

Our social networks:
Discord - https://discord.gg/fRh9PagCkb
Twitter (eng) - https://x.com/schismagame

 

[cyborgboy95]

The Life and Suffering — Of Present and Future, Part 2.
Recently, Schisma Games staff held another QA session with players, during which more questions were raised about The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante as well as the development of the future title in the same universe. We have collected their answers in this article and want to share it with you!

The questions were answered by: Theodore — the studio's founder, Chip - Lead Game Designer, Igor - Technical Lead and Project Manager, and Lance — Art Director.

Players: In the first game, various consequences and the Brante family's status depended solely on the protagonist. For example, despite the fact that Stephan strives for the Nobility of the Sword, he himself does not raise the family's reputation. Will there be events in the new game where characters increase or decrease various parameters without the main character's active participation? Also, will there be events that happen when you max out your relationship with a particular character?

Chip: When stats are being altered, this may affect the options available in certain scenes or even launch additional events, taking freedom away from the player. With that said, I think there will be more of such moments in the new game, since it will include more characters and scenes able to influence various stats, and the significance of individual relationships as well as the consequences of the player's decisions will be even greater than before.

Igor: You also mentioned maxing out character relationships. When designing a game, achieving the maximum possible value of any parameter is not always the intended goal. Sometimes it is just an opportunity to save up a few extra points so that you can later spend them on whatever you really want. So, a kind of player empowerment.

Players: Will the universe be expanded, and, if so—how much? What time period are we talking about?

Theodore: Of course, the universe will be expanded. We will dive deep and uncover stories that have not been touched upon before. I may not go into specifics, but what we can say is that, in many ways, the new game will focus on the passage of time, showing how intertwined our past, present, and future really are. It is going to explore how willing (or not) we can be to accept our past, and how much that can deprive us of our future. We will delve into the past of the Arknian Empire, talk about the present, and peek into the future.

Players: Will there be an option to study the lore outside the game format?

Theodore: I have previously saved and collected all the information on the game's lore in my personal archive. Discrepancies would arise from time to time, and putting everything in order was often a difficult and time-consuming process, so I am grateful to everyone who worked to create independent wiki projects for our game.

Players: Will the second game be longer than the first?

Theodore: Internal test sessions currently take longer than we expected. The first playthrough will definitely take just as long if not more time to complete than in case of the first game.

Players: How much did Sir Brante influence your other games?

Theodore: Good question. The games you make always teach you something and help form a pattern—your ability to work on projects of a particular genre. Processes begin to be tailored to that specific genre and the type of titles you made in the past. Going beyond the familiar genre can be difficult and risky. At the same time, when we started making another game, it was clear that we had the ambition to take it a step forward—implement new concepts and not simply retread what had been done before. I hope we will be able to deliver a new experience and keep innovating in the future. Although certain outlines will still probably hint at what we have worked on in the past, we see a great future ahead, and that hopefully does not stop with our current project.

Igor: A certain amount of fatigue will always accumulate when you work on the same kind of project for a while. We will most likely take half a step to the right, then half a step to the left, exploring new styles and subgenres. That said, some of the emotional core will probably remain the same: if you will ever see, for example, a platformer made by us, know that it will likely come packed with a lot of suffering.

Players: What goal did you set for yourself: to make a separate game or to continue the story of Sir Brante?

Theodore: It is interesting to complement the previous game with another project. I feel like a lot remains untold in Sir Brante's story. We saw history unfold from the perspective of Brante and his immediate circle, but other perspectives obviously exist in this world too: there are more dimensions to it, more layers of society, and even more characters to explore. The two games will be independent of each other, but I am interested in making the overall narrative complete and hope we will make it happen.

Players: Will the topic of in-game theology see further development? Will the game world become deeper and more detailed so that players and future modders can continue to grow the universe?

Theodore: Yes, theology and the history of the relationship between mortals and the gods will play an important role in our new title, but structuring the project bible is a complex matter. If later the community wants to make or expand a wiki, we will help by providing materials. If you, however, want to put together a comprehensive in-game bible, then this will, unfortunately, be impossible. One cannot cover and describe all the mystical things that inhabit a world such as this.

Players: Theodore mentioned a great idea—to end the story with an aged Brante sitting in his garden. Is this in the plans? It would be a cool reference to the first game.

Theodore: We once wished to make the first game from the moment of birth until old age. Show Sir Brante's later years, where he, for example, takes care of his favorite flowers. But when it comes to game design, things get complicated: you need to figure out how to structure the gameplay and fill the story with a rich selection of choices and suffering. I hope that we can avoid spreading the narrative too thin, but stay focused and drive the point home, even though I still like this old age idea. Regarding Sir Brante's cameo, I think we will definitely include something like that, at least in the form of allusion to the first game's (and Brante’s life) events.

 

[Tyranicon]

Writing is decent and worldbuilding is nice (if somewhat simplistic). Not a fan of how the stats try to funnel you into acting a certain way.

Pretty engrossing so far. Haven't finished a full run yet.

 

[Jinn]

Not a fan of how the stats try to funnel you into acting a certain way.

I haven't played it, so I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to, but what else should stats do in a narrative (CYOA) text-based RPG? Seems like their intended function in such a context.

Thinking of finally getting this. Not usually my cup of tea, but it's intriguing enough to tempt me at such a decent sale price.

 

[Tyranicon]

Not a fan of how the stats try to funnel you into acting a certain way.

what else should stats do in a narrative (CYOA) text-based RPG? Seems like their intended function in such a context.

I haven't played a lot of CYOAs, but I noticed two distinctive styles in games with stats/attributes.

1. You get limited "free time" or other resources where you can train up a stat.

or

2. You increase stats by picking certain decisions (punch a dude, gain +1 endurance).

The problem arises when it makes no sense for you to punch that dude, but you really want that +1 endurance. This funnels you towards certain decisions that you normally wouldn't take.

I'm not a fan of this approach.

 

[Jinn]

The problem arises when it makes no sense for you to punch that dude, but you really want that +1 endurance. This funnels you towards certain decisions that you normally wouldn't take.

I'm not a fan of this approach.

Ah yeah. Well, a game with such emphasis on narrative and text probably expects the player to be more into LARPing than your average codexer. Whatya gonna do.

 

[Tyranicon]

So I finished a run.

Captivating story, even with the translation errors and typos. It really is one of those gamebooks that provoke you to keep moving forward because you're so damn curious to see how things play out.

Utterly awful CYOA options. Maybe this is something I'll change my mind about after a few more runs, but some of the "good" options are locked by completely arbitrary pre-requisites. As in you can't take a shit unless you've recieved the right to do so from three different popes and the king. Well, fuck me for not having to foresight to do that, and now I'm dead because of fecal impaction.

Overall, a great purchase and looking forward to playing around more.

 

[Litmanen]

So I finished a run.

Captivating story, even with the translation errors and typos. It really is one of those gamebooks that provoke you to keep moving forward because you're so damn curious to see how things play out.

Utterly awful CYOA options. Maybe this is something I'll change my mind about after a few more runs, but some of the "good" options are locked by completely arbitrary pre-requisites. As in you can't take a shit unless you've recieved the right to do so from three different popes and the king. Well, fuck me for not having to foresight to do that, and now I'm dead because of fecal impaction.

Overall, a great purchase and looking forward to playing around more.

How long is it? I've loved Disco Elysium but it was a bit longer than necessary (for me). Is it only narrative? Can you die, fail, lose somehow?

 

[Tyranicon]

I finished a "good ending" run.

Spoiler

How long is it? I've loved Disco Elysium but it was a bit longer than necessary (for me). Is it only narrative? Can you die, fail, lose somehow?

My first run from birth to final death took around 6 hours, but I read quicker than most and I died before the final chapter.

The game's mostly about failing. It throws difficult situations at you all the time so you have to balance the wellbeing of your family, friends and career. Sometimes in ways I find artificial and unsatisfying. Baked into the setting is the feature that most people get to die four times, with the fourth being final. So the first three are free, but the last will end your run.

 

[Heinrich]

To be fair, the priest run is probably the weakest one with the most translation errors (though I really don't hink it's that bad). I recommend the noble path myself. And don't spoil yourself or try to minmax on your first run. On my first run I made it to the end and got what you might consider a 'bad' end but it was still one of the most satisfying experiences I ever had in a game's story.