Benkei Gaiden

Benkei Gaiden (弁慶 外伝) is a role-playing game for the PC Engine released by Japan's Sunsoft ( Sun Electronics ) on December 22, 1989.

The game is set in Japan during the early Kamakura period, where the world of Chimi, Moryo, and Ryo is swirling, and the player takes on the role of the main character, Kijaku, and sets out on a journey across Japan to solve the mystery of his birth. As the game progresses, Saburo, Sayaka, Benkei, and others will join your party, forming a party of up to four people. Game data can be saved using a password called a "Travel Record" or an external storage unit such as Heaven's Voice 2 (the saved content will not change either way).

The development was done by Sunsoft, the character design was by manga artist Hiroshi Motomiya, the script was written by scenario writer Ichiro Nakamura, the program was written by Atsushi Sakai who worked on the Famicom software Ripple Island (1988), and the music was written for PC Engine. Masashi Kageyama, who worked on the software Out Live (1989), Nobuyuki Hara, who worked on the Famicom software Batman (1989), and the title was written by calligrapher Hakuun Terada.

In 2007, it was distributed as Wii software on Virtual Console, in 2010 as PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable software on PC Engine Archives, and in 2017 as Windows software on Project EGG.

A sequel, Benkei Gaiden: Sha no Shou (1992), was later released for the Super Famicom.

Gameplay
A 2D top-down field map type RPG of the orthodox Dragon Quest type. Fight against enemies that appear in random encounters and gain experience points and money. When you accumulate a certain number of experience points, your health, psychic power, physical strength, and agility will increase, and your attack power (by the value of your strength) and defense power (half your agility) will increase. Also, people who can use psychic techniques will learn new abilities at a certain level, but there are differences in the level of learning and psychic techniques depending on the person. There are three parts of equipment: weapon, torso, and head.

The text also uses kanji, which are displayed slightly larger than hiragana and katakana.

Story
Centered around Kyoto, Kijaku travels all over Japan from Ezo in the north to Kyushu in the south, solving various mysteries and collecting treasures. Ultimately his goal is to defeat Minamoto no Yoritomo, who exists in a place called "Ura-Kamakura". However, after defeating Yoritomo, the true mastermind is waiting.

Player character
Player characters come and go depending on events. The order is always fixed.


 * Kijaku:Main character. A balanced type who can use both combat and psychic techniques. There is a mystery surrounding his birth.
 * Saburo:His real name is Saburo Ise. The leader of the robbers who make their home in Kasumi's fortress. He becomes a companion first. He is a warrior type who specializes in physical attacks and cannot use any magic, but his physical strength and power increase on average, so he is reliable in the early stages. His appearance is the same as Guan Yu in "The Devourer of Heaven and Earth". He will be removed from the party due to an event and will not be involved in the scenario at all.
 * Sayaka:The only graceful woman in the party who is the best magician in Dewa Sanzan. Her tone is completely different between her instruction manual and the game. She joins Saburo next. She can learn various psychic techniques and support the party. However, she is not good at fighting with physical attacks. Besides the main character, she is the only character who never leaves the party.
 * Benkei:A legendary monk soldier sealed in a certain place. A warrior-type person who specializes in physical attacks like Saburo. Although he has higher strength and physical strength than Saburo, he is inferior to Saburo in terms of agility. Although he is a monk soldier, he cannot use any magic, and the weapons he can equip are very limited. He is the one who knows the secret of Oniwaka's birth, and at the end of the story he has to fight against the party due to a certain event.
 * Hogan:He is the priest of Rinshōji Temple and the parent who took Oniwaka in when he was young. Due to a certain event, he joins the party in turn with Saburo. He is the only one who can use the ultimate technique called ``Jakyoku Muten'' during battle (however, the player cannot use it arbitrarily). You can't move forward unless you trigger an event that uses this magic. He can use a variety of psychic techniques, but for some reason his equipment is inherited from Saburo's.
 * Yoshitsune:A person who joins the party after Hogan departs due to a certain event, and is the last person to join the party after being sealed in a certain place. His appearance is exactly like Oniwaka, and he is able to use both combat and psychic techniques in a more well-balanced manner. Although he cannot equip any of his weapons, he still has strength that exceeds Oniwaka's status.