Though I wrapped up my first playthrough of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante yesterday, I wish I could wipe the experience from my mind to ignorantly absorb every detail all over again. That feeling happened with Psychonauts 2, Pentiment, and the small roster of video games I hold as having the most evocative narratives I’ve ever had the honor of rolling credits on. The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is so mind-bogglingly phenomenal, in fact, that I know I’ll never be able to write a review that comes close to fully articulating the tense euphoria I felt from beginning to end. But I can damn sure try.
So, here’s how I’m going to conduct this review. There will be three “levels.” The first will be spoiler-free. Annoyingly vague, frustratingly coy — how narrative-heavy games should be spoken of in a reviewing format. The second level will be broad, sweeping spoilers that will dabble in the “general” rather than the “specific.” The third and final level? Full-on spoilers. Because in order to properly get to the heart of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante and why it’s so great, I must talk about my individual trials and tribulations.
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Luckily, the game has so many branching paths, relationships, and events that I feel like I can get away with Level 3 without spoiling too much of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante. So, without further ado? Let’s get it poppin‘.
level 1: how ‘The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante’ lowers your guard
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante accurately describes itself as a “narrative-driven hardcore RPG.” You play as a third-generation member of the Brantes, a family hoping to legitimize its status as a respected, noble house. Your father, Robert, is a bona fide noble, but your mother, Lydia, is seen as a “commoner.” So, you’re already in a unique position where you’re not acknowledged as a noble but have all the “social benefits” of one.
You start your life at childhood and continue all the way to… …”The End.” When that “End” happens is entirely up to you. A unique mechanic the game establishes early on is that you have three “Lesser Deaths” to play with until hitting your “True Death.” And trust me, you’re not surviving your first playthrough of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante without eating at least one death.
The world of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is cruel, vindictive, and often unforgiving. Even as a child, you’re expected to either embrace your nobility for the social advancement of the Brante name, or join your sister, Gloria, in what’s effectively living as a “peasant.” Oh, right, the rest of the Brante clan! Gloria’s your “commoner” sister, and Stephan is your bratty brother who’s destined to be the rightful heir of the Brantes. There’s Nathan, the wayward outsider who’s uncertain of his place in the world. Finally, there’s… Gregor, your domineering grandfather hellbent on immortalizing the nobility of House Brante. More on him later.
level 2: understanding and defining your lot in life
Zooming out for a second, it’s important to understand the way the world begins — because based on your decisions, it could change a lot. The Old Faith rules the roost. Everyone, from the highest of nobles to the lowest of commoners, abides by their Lots — ordained by the Twins. As a noble, it’s your right to rule and be respected. As a commoner, it’s your right to toil and suffer in service of the Empire. That’s just the way it is.
Without getting into Proper Noun Salad territory, that’s just a taste of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante‘s social and political world-building. A true showcase of the Haves against the Have-Nots. True to the game’s namesake, there is, indeed, suffering aplenty. You aren’t safe at any age at any time. Even if you try to max out your roster of stats to get the upper hand, you have no idea who your decisions will affect. Along with your family, you’ll have the opportunity to build friendships — and even discover some romance!
And everything could be snatched away from you if you aren’t careful. You could play the “Great Game” of courtly politics as well as you can. But one lapse in judgment could result in many unsavory outcomes. Hell, your True Death is probably the least heartbreaking thing that could happen to you. Awful, heinous fates could befall your family name, your family, your friends, your allies. You will make moral concessions. You will have to choose the least of all evils. And you will suffer.
level 3: ‘The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante’ wants you to know that there are no happy endings here
Since you can choose the first name of your Brante, I decided to be cute and went with “Yorick.” This name would, unfortunately, end up being more fitting than I expected. So, by the time I wrapped up my first playthrough, I’d died two Lesser Deaths. The first, by the hands of my grandfather, Gregor, as a child. He didn’t enjoy my disobedience, apparently. The second Death, I had pushed a “common” girl, Sophia, out of the way of a fatal trampling by the city guards’ horses. I hadn’t even hit Adolescence yet.
Early on, I chose the “Commoner” Lot. To suffer and toil until the end of my days because being Gregor’s proud heir didn’t sit well with me. As I learned more about the world and discovered the growing “New Faith,” a religious group that believed that everyone should be equal under the Twins, my destiny clicked.
I’d be a hero of the downtrodden. A great equalizer in an unfair and unjust world. My father wanted me to join the Imperial College, become a noble, and sanctify the Brante dynasty. But I chose rebellion. I chose the Lotless. We were few, but we were mighty. It was time to make the Empire see that equity was the only way forward. That the Lots weren’t natural. My intentions were pure when I enlisted to change the world.
hahahahaha
But it was the world that changed me. Or rather, it exposed me. My best friend was exiled following my pleas to convince him, as the head of the Legion against the embittered, disenfranchised citizens, not to start slaughtering people to quell a rightful uprising. My family was torn asunder as I lied, schemed, and manipulated — in the name of equity! I was the good guy! …Right?
Sooner or later, your True Death comes. That’s when The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante hit me the hardest. In any other choice-driven game, you’re explicitly told — or it’s heavily implied — where the boundaries of “good” and “evil” are set. But as Yorick Brante — Butcher of Anizotte, Destroyer of the Old Faith, Supposed Sword of True Justice — met the Twins in the Hereafter, the game didn’t judge me. It just asked me a simple question.
“Did your life make the world we made better and more perfect?”
I thought about the ultimate effects of our rebellion against the Old Faith. Of the poverty that struck the land. Of the rioting, looting, and chaos that replaced restrictive order. And I answered honestly.
“I Don’t Know.”
‘The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante’ leaves you with the consequences of your actions
Yorick sacrificed everything in his war against the Empire and all its twisted politics. The Brante name met unambiguous disgrace. My family ended up hating one another, and we all went our separate ways. The only option for me was the liberation of the common folk. But we shattered the foundation without considering what would be built in its place.
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante gives you a small epilogue of all the important characters at the end. But what it doesn’t do is tell you whether your actions had a longstanding impact on the world. And I loved that ambiguity. Because it prevented me from justifying what I’d done and saying, “Look, the world ended up being a better place, so it was worth it!”
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is everything that timeless art should aspire to be: a mirror into the soul of the beholder. In a land of hard-hitting, brutal, narrative-heavy RPGs, The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is an uncontested deity. Whatever life you choose for your Brante, know this. It’ll be devastating. It’ll be unrelenting. But it’ll be one of the best damn lives you’ll ever live.
Verdict: Best In Its Class
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is available now for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One/Series Consoles, PlayStation 4/5, and PC.
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