The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is a 2021 role-playing video game developed by Sever and published by 101XP. Players make choices in a branching storyline.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante
Developer	Sever
Publisher	101XP
Platforms	Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release	Win WW: March 4, 2021 PS4, XBO WW: February 10, 2022
Genre	Role-playing
Mode	Single-player

A sequel, The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian, is in development.

Gameplay

Players make decisions about the life of Sir Brante, a commoner born in a fictional feudal kingdom, from birth to death. This is done similarly to classic Choose Your Own Adventure-style gamebooks. Player choices contribute to statistic and relationship changes, which can affect what options are available in later situations and what ending they receive.^[1]

Setting

The story takes place within the Blessed Arknian Empire, a country that has united the entire world-continent under its banner. This world was created by two deities, the Elder and the Younger, who are collectively known as the Twins and have directly shaped the design of civilization over the ages, imparting a moral code, a set of laws, a rigid social hierarchy, and an understanding of magic to mortals.

When a mortal dies in this world, it is not necessarily the end for them. Although mortals born into the zenith of society, such as the royal family, are held to a higher standard by the Twins and granted only one death before their souls are judged and sent to either the peak or the foot of the Pillar (equivalent to Heaven or Hell, with the Pillar representing the universe), the Twins typically permit commoners up to three "Lesser Deaths" over their lifetime, with their fourth, "True Death" prompting the final judgment. Those who experience a Lesser Death are resurrected, with any fatal injury or disease fully healed and a black mark imprinted on their arm to remind them of the ordeal.

Plot

Sir Brante is born in the city of Anizotte in the year 1118 to parents of different social ranks, and as a result he holds the rank of a commoner through his mother, and also some of the privileges of noble status through his father. The story follows Sir Brante at different stages of his life over several decades: childhood, adolescence, entering college, his professional career, and the Revolt. The last is an event when revolutionaries who are discontent with the Empire's social hierarchy launch an open rebellion that threatens Anizotte and can have dire consequences for the Empire and humanity, with Sir Brante's previous choices determining whether he is forced to flee the wrath of the rebels, or in a position to fend off their attack, or even the leader of the rebels. There are various outcomes to Sir Brante's life, ranging from the Empire surviving and enacting reforms, to the Twins being grievously blasphemed and abandoning humanity in disgust forever, to Sir Brante pursuing heresy and becoming a god as powerful as the Twins.

Development

Developer Sever is based in Tomsk, Russia.^[2] 101XP published The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante for Windows on March 4, 2021, and for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on February 10, 2022.^[3]

Reception

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante received positive reviews on Metacritic.^[4] RPGFan encountered a software bug in their playthrough that they felt ruined their ending. However, they said up to that point it had the makings of editors choice because of its writing and gameplay.^[1] The Games Machine said when judged as interactive fiction, it is excellent.^[5] Though it lacks a German translation, Gameswelt praised the writing and role-playing aspects.^[6]