The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante Reviews

I really enjoyed this game. It became very emotional and pulled me into it. I remember "failing" at a crucial point near the end, and so I repeatedly replayed the chapter until I got what I wanted. After that, I was drained! This game really got to me.

[h1]To Live and Suffer by Your Lot[/h1] Life and Suffering is not just a game—it’s a meditation on choice, faith, and the crushing weight of destiny. Every decision pulls you closer to the Twins or pushes you toward a [i]lotless life[/i]. To live and to suffer by your lot becomes the defining choice: will you obey the old ways, or carve a new path of your own? [h1]The Weight of the Caste[/h1] The game is built around a world that blends the Indian caste system with echoes of the English class system. Your [b]lot[/b] is not just a role—it’s your identity, your future, and the shackles you may or may not break. - You can rise with the [b]mantle of nobility[/b], earning your place much like knighthood. - You can fight as a warrior, gaining recognition through blood and war. - Or you can descend into life as an [i]untouchable[/i], condemned to a place beneath the system itself. The Houses of Commons and Lords mirror the two lots, their expectations bearing down on you just as the caste system demands loyalty, obedience, and sacrifice. Hypergamy is an unshakable rule—you marry within your lot, never reaching higher unless blessed with divine recognition. It’s a rigid system, archaic yet painfully familiar, echoing structures of power still alive today. [h1]The Gods Made Flesh[/h1] There is no mystery about the divine here. The gods are [b]real[/b], undeniable, their presence stitched into the fabric of the world. From your first breath, the Twins are there, watching. To devote yourself to them means giving in to faith, ritual, and the sacred texts that claim to come directly from their will—though written by men. The tension between blind faith and the fallibility of human hands adds a deep, unsettling layer to the clergy path. [h1]The Paths of Life[/h1] Every year of your life is accounted for. From childhood, where you begin building your character and learning where you fit within the family dynamic, to adulthood, where duty, love, and responsibility weigh heavier with each step. The [i]prologue years[/i] are a highlight—an aching portrait of innocence lost, where your stats form gradually, and the walls of your lot begin closing in. Every path feels distinct: nobility, warrior, clergy, inquisitor, untouchable. And every path feels like a burden. [h1]Death and Reincarnation[/h1] The game forces you through death after death, tying it all into reincarnation and the painful theory of multiple lives. Every ending feels final, but also cyclical—as if your suffering was always meant to continue. In my playthrough, I stumbled into one of the [i]worst endings possible[/i]. My family was scattered, our name in ruins, and our legacy crushed. A loved one died a pitiful death. My work as an inquisitor crumbled because I valued mercy over cruelty, and the order lost all respect. Every relationship fell apart. The lot I had followed since childhood betrayed me, and I was smitten by the very gods I devoted my life to. And I adored every second of it. This is where the game shines—it [b]punishes you for being decent[/b]. You cannot be a hero in every moment. Sacrifices cut deep, and even the smallest act of kindness carries brutal consequences later. Choices dangle you over the cliff, and no matter how hard you try, you’ll always disappoint someone. [h1]The Suffering is Real[/h1] The title doesn’t lie. This is a story about suffering, and it relishes in it. I found myself [i]agonizing[/i] over every choice, replaying past decisions in my head hours later. The branching system locks out choices based on earlier actions, forcing you to see your failures marked by the crossed-out paths you’ll never walk. It’s painful, but it makes replaying the game irresistible—each playthrough promises an entirely new life. [h1]A Sacred Text Written by Man[/h1] One subplot that gripped me was the sacred texts of the Twins. Playing as clergy, I became obsessed with uncovering the truth behind the Word. The deeper I dug, the more unsettling questions arose—about divine authority, human authorship, and the fragility of belief. When the truth finally revealed itself, it felt like a revelation worth the entire playthrough. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] Life and Suffering is a [b]masterclass in consequence[/b]. It’s not a power fantasy—it’s the opposite. It’s a story of being crushed by destiny, of clawing for scraps of freedom, of wrestling with gods who do not bend to you, no matter how much you love them. The suffering is constant. The heartbreak is endless. And the experience is unforgettable.

great story,quite repetitive,purchase if interested

Absolute 9/10. When you can readily tell that if you made different choices you would be getting different outcomes, that is usually a sign of a modern day classic. Especially when those path ways are so distinct and emotionally different from one another. There are times where things you get locked out of feels a bit arbitrary and not as fully realized as you would like it to be, hence the ever so slightly less than perfect score, but any game that makes you want to revisit it to see how alternate pathways play out is by definition a GREAT game.

Interesting idea, but frustrating limitations around your choices.

An immortal game. Exceptional art direction, fascinating historical influences, and a powerful, grounded soundtrack. A difficult game in the most brilliant of ways, the Life and Suffering of Sir Brante provides real, legitimate choices that matter. You may suffer defeat, the ruin of your house, the death of your family and those close to you, and will certainly have to forfeit your values to protect your hard-fought positions, but this is all what makes the game so real and so gripping. You cannot accomplish everything you want, and you will always have to make sacrifices. This game centers choice like no other RPG and truly lives up to the common RPG mantra that "your choices matter." The game's excellent narrative structure and the unique sense of fulfillment it lends to failure already makes it a classic, but Sir Brante goes above and beyond this and provides a tremendous beauty in success as well. The relationships with your friends and family are filled with warmth and are among the most genuine I've seen in any game I've played, and rising from nothing to the top feels even better when you know what it took to get there. There is so much heart and style in this game!!! Millions must play.

I love the game narrative, to a point. It is the lack of choice that kills it for me. It is not a real roleplaying game but rather an exercise in frustration. First playthrough was quite enjoyable, even if I died at 19 years old being part of the lotless and a rebel. I thought it was interesting that the game did not give me a happy ending, but suffering like in the title. But at least I could stick it to the Twins and I liked that. Second playthrough, I rejected rebellion, stayed humble and followed the Twins. However, during the college rebellion, I had no choice but to pick the path of lotless again. Even if ALL my decisions so far were against it. At that point, immersion was broken and I gave up on the game. Not worth it and an insult to the rpg genre. I guess I was naive to think I could really exercise the choices I wanted, see the outcome of them and enjoy the story. It does not matter if the story unravels into tragedy like in my first playthrough. What matters is that I feel like I made these choices. This is not the case with this game. A shame since I really enjoyed the game at first. EDIT : I continued on the Lotless path anyway. Since it was NOT my choice and did not want to follow it, I did not have the stats to support it. I ended up having a playthrough where I could not make any choice. Each time, I was forced to take the only option without prerequisite. As time passed, prerequisites would only grow while my stats would not. It was a boring and frustrating experience. I would laugh from time to time, not believing the absurdity of this "game". I can only keep my thumbs down on that one. What a pity.

This game has one major flaw, the choice maters and the RPG elements clash with each others in the end game. On my first play, I had my results hidden because I wanted to create a story not to chose something based on the stats they give me.... and here is the problem... I know it says that it is an RPG, but it is NOT. You cannot make a story you cannot envision a character and make consistent choices, because the game will stop you with the stats... So I restarted and made another campaign(actually I played 2 campaigns) with the result of choices enabled... and the conclusion is, even if you enable them... you still cannot make a story. the end game is so bad....because you have 5 to 6 choices per event... yet the game doesn't let you chose more than 2...most of the times you can use only 1...because of the stat system.... so you would have to restart on earlier phase, and make choices that are not very true to the character you created, only to have the stats required for the end game... Overall it was a frustrating experience... My final noble play throw was so frustrating....because I was actually pleased with the choices I have made until the end game...but the end game was so restricting.... I had to restart 3 times to see and count what choices to make to have the peaceful ending.... Very fun concept, with promising characters...unfortunately most of them had very random conclusions. If you want to create a story and have your character exist in this game try another one... this game doesn't give you that.

The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante is the first visual novel I've ever finished, and probably the first I've ever truly enjoyed. I've always been intrigued by the genre but it never held my interest for more than a few hours. I think this game strikes the perfect balance of reading, gameplay, unobtrusive animations, and an excellent score. I highly recommend playing the first chapter, if you like that you'll likely enjoy the rest of the game. This game is about decisions and consequences. You can choose to invest in people, in ideas, or in yourself. Every action will matter somewhere else, leading you on an ever expanding branching path. You will be locked into or locked out of certain paths, but the game is generous enough to let you see what those paths and requirements would have been. I found myself enthralled in the story and the writing itself is simple and effective. It's not particularly dense. At times I felt real joy or saddness while playing this game with how fleshed out some of the characters are. The text visually is spaced out well, and the music and animation serves to support the narrative well. I found a few typos but they were fairly minimal. Trying to play this game organically and go towards a specific ending while not dying is like trying to thread a needle through a loop but also the loop is on fire and the thread has barbed wire. Chapters 1 - 3 were easy and enjoyable. Chapter 4 was a parade of difficult decisions and competing interests. At some point I found myself lying to everyone and had pledged my allegiance to three different competing factions. It was anxiety inducing and a lot of fun. My only real complaint is that chapter 5 is very short and you are locked on rails, so it doesn't feel like you have as much agency or time in the resolution of the game. But since there are so many paths, I'm interested in replying this at least once to get a different experience. I was super surprised by this game, highly recommend it if you're like me and love reading but don't usually care for visual novels.

I hate to give this a negative review, because the story overall is really engaging and it's well written with seemingly lots of different events that can happen depending on your choices, especially in the mid-late game. I was really enjoying my playthrough for the most part but it was ended rather abruptly for the most annoying reason. The reason I am reluctantly giving this a negative review is for the simple fact that the choices system actually hurts the game rather than helps it. To put it simply, as you play the game, your decisions give you points in either personal skills or affect the world around you. This system either adds points or takes them away depending on your choices. Now, in most RPGs this system makes sense. For example, if you're below a certain strength threshold then you won't be able to do certain actions that require strength. That makes sense. That's not how it is with Sir Brante though. Their consequences point system often makes no sense and will literally lock you out of decisions just because, rather than for any good storytelling or game design reason. For example, (no spoliers), there was one interaction where the only decision I could make in a situation was to kill someone, when choosing to save her was locked. It wasn't locked for a storytelling reason, as in, no characters were forcing me to do it, no one else was around, it was simply a moral choice, let her go or kill her. There was no reason for the saving her option to be locked behind some unknowable number criteria when you hit that point, and it's truly to the detriment of the game as a whole. That choice than takes points away or affects your future scoring in certain dimensions, so it not only affects your ability to make a choice in that moment, but going forward it can have a knock on effect locking you out of future choices, and this can compound quickly. This is not an infrequent experience, this kind of thing happens constantly. Whilst it's interesting to potentially have to juggle, and neglect, many skills and events in favour of others, the implementation of it is horrible and non-sensical and often means for absolutely no reason at all you are completely hamstrung making decisions you wouldn't have otherwise made. Don't get me wrong, I love a good RPG that can have serious consequences for your actions, but the way it's done here is just awful and actively makes the game less enjoyable to play through, which is a real shame because the story and events are overall really interesting and enjoyable, it's just ruined by the fact that you're often forced to make decisions you don't want to for no other reason than that's just how they designed the game. All they needed to make this game great was just a simpler, purer, more common sense approach to the consequences system. There is no need for a choices stamina bar that only encourages players to make more passive decisions in hopes of "saving up" stamina for a potentially more important decision later on. As a whole, the story and game is enjoyable, but make sure you do NOT play Iron Man mode like I did (it's a much longer game than I initially thought) and be prepared to be frequently both annoyed and confused by the choices and consequences system.