A Legend Reawakens in English
The complete unofficial English translation of the 1990 MSX2 epic, Burai (Volume One) - ブライ (上巻).
// About The Game
Burai is a fantasy role-playing game developed by Riverhill Soft Inc. for the MSX2 computer in 1989. Known in Japan for its rich story and sprawling world, it was a title that surprised many players back in the day. The story involves eight heroes, each with unique abilities, brought together for an epic battle between light and darkness.
Despite its release on multiple Japanese platforms, Burai never received an official English localization, leaving its deep narrative inaccessible to a Western audience... until now!
// Project Status & Release Info
On June 15th, 2025, the first part of our translation project was released as an IPS patch on FutureDisk 50, which debuted at the MSX Vriendenclub Mariënberg meeting. It will be available for download here after MSX2GOTO40. This initial patch translates the entire intro demo of the game into English.
August 9, 2025: We’ve made a lot of progress! Now you can play through disks 2, 3, and 4. Most parts of the Outros/End Demo are also finished.
See you at MSX2GOTO40!
We’ll have a booth at the MSX2GOTO40 event.
Come play Burai, get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the game, and ask us any questions you have!
Exclusive Intro Reveal!
A fully playable English intro of Burai was released **exclusively** on the FutureDisk 50 magazine!
Find out more on X.
// Project Features
Intro Features: 100% completed
- Translated all intro texts.
- Completely rewrote the in-intro print subroutines in order to support a new lowercase variable-width font.
- Changed text rendering from character-based to pixel-based.
- Added features such as automatic text centering, text shifting, and more.
- Added support for multi-colored texts.
- Re-synchronized speech and text-bound animations and delays to better match the English text flow.
- Recreated all in-game compressors to allow modification of GFX and data and re-compression back into the game.
- Translated graphical elements where necessary.
- Added a dictionary-style English translation of the game's title in the title screen ('Burai' translates to 'Vagabond(s)').
- The turbo mode is enabled by default on Panasonic FS A1 FX/WX/WSX, Turbo-R ST/GT, and CIEL Expert 3 computers.
Main Game Features: 80% (9 out of 12 chapters) completed
- Translated all game texts.
- Developed a custom compression system to maximize text storage within available space.
- Completely rewrote the in-game print subroutines in order to support a new lowercase variable-width font.
- Added features such as automatic text centering, text shifting, and more.
- Recreated all in-game compressors to allow modification of GFX and data and re-compression back into the game.
- The turbo mode is enabled by default on Panasonic FS A1 FX/WX/WSX, Turbo-R ST/GT, and CIEL Expert 3 computers.
- Modified the game to be interrupt-based, working smoothly on fast MSX computers.
- Optimized the in-game file directory system, reducing its footprint to free up RAM and VRAM for additional data.
- Restructured VRAM data layout to allow for greater data density and to reserve memory for a compression buffer.
Outros & End Demo Features: 90% (8 out of 9 parts) completed
- Eight outro demos have been fully translated.
- A bug was fixed in one of the demo's script engines, ensuring all text is now properly displayed.
// Media & Screenshots
A side-by-side comparison of the translation in action.
Before (Japanese)
After (English)
// Warriors of the Eight Spheres
Zan Hayate - Blue Sphere
A righteous pirate. As rough around the edges as he may be, he has a heart of gold.
Gonza Plot - Indigo Sphere
A member of the Wash tribe. A gentle but strong warrior, who prefers action over words.
Maimai Plot - Red Sphere
Gonza's little sister. Speaks funny. She's very excited to be one of the Warriors.
Sakyo Maboroshi - White Sphere
He is a god of the Dragon Clan, residing in the heavenly realm, also known as Ice Dragon. He is a handsome man with long silver hair and a clear white skin.
Babil Lo Tam - Yellow Sphere
A master of Mind Techniques. He sets off on his journey together with his wife Maria and his son Cook.
Alec Heston - Purple Sphere
An elder fortune teller with a rather unique sense of humor.
Romarl Sebastian VII - Green Sphere
He is the disowned son of the noble Sebastian family, a distinguished house of the Lizard Clan.
Lilian Lancelot - Crimson Sphere
A charming and beautiful girl with a calm demeanor and striking green hair, who wields nail magic.
// Links & Resources
Check out our previous work and other relevant MSX resources.
// Credits
Rieks Warendorp Torringa
Texts translation, research, beta testing
Max Iwamoto
Reverse engineering, code, GFX, tools, beta testing
// Downloads
Burai (MSX2) English Patch
Available on September 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM (ET).
Download DISK1 Intro Translation IPS// F.A.Q.
What will I need to play this?
To play, you will need either a real MSX2 computer or an emulator such as openMSX or BlueMSX. Since the game was released on six disks, you'll need the original Japanese disk files and a patching utility.
Distributed as IPS
To respect copyright, we only distribute our translation in the form of an IPS patch file. This means we do not provide the original game media. The patch contains only our translated text and data, which must be applied to your own disk files.
How can I follow the project?
The release will happen in stages. The initial announcement and the exclusive playable intro will be available only on
FutureDisk 50 (additional info on X). Following that, more information will be revealed at the MSX2GOTO40 event. Of course, be sure to follow this website, which will be the official home for all future updates and the final patch release.