   ____                              __               __              ___     
  /\  _`\                           /\ \  __         /\ \           /'___`\   
  \ \ \L\ \  _ __    __      ___    \_\ \/\_\    ____\ \ \___      /\_\ /\ \  
   \ \  _ <'/\`'__\/'__`\  /' _ `\  /'_` \/\ \  /',__\\ \  _ `\    \/_/// /__ 
    \ \ \L\ \ \ \//\ \L\.\_/\ \/\ \/\ \L\ \ \ \/\__, `\\ \ \ \ \      // /_\ \
     \ \____/\ \_\\ \__/.\_\ \_\ \_\ \___,_\ \_\/\____/ \ \_\ \_\    /\______/
      \/___/  \/_/ \/__/\/_/\/_/\/_/\/__,_ /\/_/\/___/   \/_/\/_/    \/_____/ 
                                                                              
     ,--,--'.        .-,--. .              .   ,-,---.         .          
     `- |   |-. ,-.   '|__/ |  ,-. ,-. ,-. |-   '|___/ . . ,-. |- ,-. ,-. 
      , |   | | |-'   ,|    |  ,-| | | |-' |    ,|   \ | | `-. |  |-' |   
      `-'   ' ' `-'   `'    `' `-^ ' ' `-' `'  `-^---' `-^ `-' `' `-' '   
                                                                         
                                                                         
Brandish 2: The Planet Buster (Super Famicom)
English patch by Synchronicity Translations
http://synchronicity.animeontheweb.com
Version 1.0, November 3 2009
*NOT FOR SALE OR PRE-PATCHED DISTRIBUTION*

=============== CREDITS ===============

Programmer: sqykly
Translator: denpanosekai
Beta testers: FwugRadiation, epic88, Sardien, lanzoru
Extra thanks: romhacking.net, ALoY, xezekielx, Nihon Falcom for a great game.

=============== INSTRUCTIONS ===============

This patch was designed for the NORMAL version of Brandish 2.
In other words, the EXPERT version is not (yet) supported.

Development was made on a headerless ROM with CRC32 BB89E67E (recommended).
Headerless ROM size should be 3,145,728 bytes. Headered ROMs are not supported.
Either hardpatch the IPS to a ROM or have an emulator auto-apply the patch.
For the latter, simply rename the IPS file to match your ROM's filename.

Snes9X is smooth, but music can be grainy. 
ZSNES can be choppy, but music is perfect.
BSNES seems decent overall, but wasn't extensively tested.
Surprisingly, SNES emulators for PSP & XBOX run Brandish 2 nicely.
Always enable VSync! Otherwise you'll ecounter some intense tearing.

=============== GAME HELP ===============

Brandish can be pretty unforgiving. There is a guide on GameFAQs, which
is incomplete but good enough for 75% of the game. Hopefully it will be
finished someday, especially now that this English patch is available.

- Press L+R to rest at all time. HP and MP will recover, but Ares is
  vulnerable to enemy attacks while resting.
- Make sure you hunt down every possible item. Missing one of the 
  "Dimensional Boxes" will seriously hamper your progress. Nothing
  is permanently missable though, you'll just have to backtrack.
- Stacking items frees up inventory space. You can only stack things
  like Potions, Rings, Keys and Gold. Just select one, then the other.
  Note that you can't "un-stack" items! Not that you'd really want to.
- You should experiment with the three control schemes available in the
  configuration screen (strafe / rotate / mouse).
- Adjusting the game speed may help for a tough boss fight.
- Hit select to access in-game inventory. 
  Then press "Examine" (Y by default) to drop an item. 
  It's actually R+"Examine" to examine an item...  confused yet?
- You can have your weapons repaired in specific shops.
  This only works when attempting to sell used swords.
- You don't have to stick to a sword & shield combo. Try dual wielding!
- EMERGENCY LOAD PROCEDURE: If you somehow get stuck in a pit or can't
  get out of a sticky situation, you can hold R while loading your game.
  This will bring up a map where you can pick a destination to warp to.
  As well as forfeiting any unsaved progress, all stats will decrease by 1.
  You can always rebuild these stats, it's just a temporary setback.
  *hint* There's another use for this procedure.

=============== OTHERS ===============

Our group strictly focuses on the Brandish series and to some extent,
all Nihon Falcom games. We tried our best to remain faithful to the
original Japanese text while integrating a few elements from the
American release of Brandish 1 (SNES), such as various item names
and common in-game messages.

If you enjoyed playing through Brandish 2 and own a PSP, you should
consider purchasing the Brandish 1 remake for said system. Otherwise,
you could also contact non-Japanese publishers and request them to
evaluate releasing an English version of Brandish PSP. Between this patch,
the recent remake and an upcoming Brandish 4 translation, it's a great
time to be a fan so let's make the most of it!

=============== HISTORY ===============

Version 1.0, November 3 2009
- Initial release

=============== ISSUES ===============

- About 4 strings were prefixed with "~~"; we just couldn't trigger
  them after three months of intense beta testing. Probably leftovers
  from the original PC98 version. If you run into one of them, congrats!
  Send us a quick email and go buy a lottery ticket while you're at it.
- There are exactly 4 minor graphical hiccups during Dela Delon's second
  boat scene. Depending on your emulator, you might not even notice this.
- The soundtrack does "lag" once in a while. This does not appear to be
  patch-related. Unfortunately, KOEI really dropped the ball there.
- We fixed some bugs but left in some harmless ones as well, including:
  - Hitting the sea with a sledgehammer.
  - Examining switches from behind a wall.
  - Some "Examine" messages will only display in "Strafe" mode.

Let us know if you find anything wrong:
denpanosekai [AT] gmail [DOT] com (include "BRANDISH2" in the subject line)
