Story Mode vs Mission Mode
Start with Story Mode if this is your first Brigandine campaign: it gives you six guided routes, each built around a named protagonist. Choose Mission Mode first only if you already want the wider sandbox — 24 nations, each with its own objective and its own short story.
What Actually Changes Between the Two Modes
The two modes share one battle loop, so the difference is not difficulty or systems — it is who decides the goal. Story Mode hands you a nation and a written campaign; Mission Mode hands you a nation list and a per-nation objective.
| Nations you can play | Story Mode: 6. Mission Mode: 24. Both numbers come from the official system page rather than from community lists. |
|---|---|
| What you are following | Story Mode plays out a story prepared for each of the six nations standing against the new Abyssloa Empire. Mission Mode follows the objective attached to the single nation you selected. |
| Narrative in Mission Mode | The official page states you can experience the characters and short stories of all 24 nations, so Mission Mode is not a bare sandbox without narrative. |
| How the run ends | Story Mode: you finish that nation's campaign. Mission Mode: you complete the mission set for your nation, which can be territorial, economic or collection-based. |
| Turn cycle | Identical in both: Organization Phase, Attack Phase, Invasion Phase. The mode changes the frame, not the loop. |
| Difficulty | Easy, Normal and Hard exist in both, so mode and difficulty are two separate decisions. |
| Saving | Official producer information lists 20 save slots, enough to keep a Story run and a Mission run side by side. |
The Six Story Campaigns at a Glance
Each Story nation pairs a named protagonist with a different starting situation. These are short summaries; the Factions guide carries the full descriptions and the source line for each one.
| Gran Dragnica — Largo | A wasteland nation of dragons and tamers; Largo sets out to free dragons taken by the New Empire. |
|---|---|
| Scarlet Will — Garnet | A mercenary band crossing the grasslands with unicorns; Garnet continues her father's fight. |
| Mysteine — Zeilzarde | A queendom founded by the hero Lunadia; its knight commander stands against the New Empire. |
| Purifanoe — Alysbelle | A hidden faerie village in the Greatwood, led out by a young human girl and her faerie companions. |
| Samura Village — Saya | An island warrior tribe; chieftain Saya marches after a comrade is linked to the New Empire. |
| Pandemyuon — TYPE-F | A secret New Empire research group; TYPE-F is a boy made as a weapon who turns against it. |
Two of these — Gran Dragnica and Scarlet Will — are the campaigns the current Steam demo opens. If you want to test the loop before buying, start with the Demo FAQ.
What Mission Mode Objectives Actually Look Like
The official system page lists these as examples of the missions attached to nations. It presents them as a non-exhaustive list, and it does not publish which nation carries which objective — so use this to understand the shape of Mission Mode, not to pick a nation.
| Unify the continent | Map conquest becomes the goal instead of a story ending. |
|---|---|
| Strengthen strongholds | Development-focused: improving the bases you hold rather than expanding. |
| Collect designated items | A collection objective tied to specific items. |
| Collect monsters | Recruitment-driven, built on contracting monsters. |
| Gather allies | Bringing particular leaders or units onto your side. |
| Repay debts | An economic objective rather than a territorial one. |
| Defend strongholds | A defensive objective that inverts the usual expansion pressure. |
Two systems serve these goals in both modes. Stronghold development lets you spend materials to level up a base you control, and contracts let you pay funds at a stronghold to bind additional leaders and monsters to your army.
What the mission screen actually shows. Player footage of the Mission Mode selection screen (Valkos Lunari, checked 13 Sep 2026) shows each nation displaying its own clear condition before you commit — some are conquest goals bounded by a season limit, others restrict which unit types you may deploy, and others are collection or debt goals. That footage is auto-captioned, so its nation names are unreliable and this site does not publish a per-nation list built from it. Read the condition on the screen in your own game: that text is the authority, and it is the only list you should rely on.
Choose by What You Want Out of the Run
| You want the new setting explained | Story Mode. The six campaigns are the guided route into the Meltitea setting and the conflict with the new Abyssloa Empire. |
|---|---|
| You want to pick your own goal | Mission Mode. Choosing among 24 nations and chasing a nation-specific mission is the point of the mode. |
| You are new to Brigandine | Story Mode first. It supplies context that Mission Mode assumes you already have. |
| You played earlier Brigandine titles | Either. Official producer notes say the story has no direct character or plot connection to earlier games, so series knowledge helps with the loop but is not required for the plot. |
| You want a harder run immediately | Decide the mode first and set difficulty second. Choosing Mission Mode is not itself the harder option. |
A Practical First-Run Route
- Use the demo if Steam still offers it in your region — it opens Gran Dragnica and Scarlet Will only, which is enough to test the Organization and Invasion phases.
- Choose Story Mode and set Easy or Normal for the first campaign if those phases are new to you.
- Before committing to a long campaign, write down the objective your game displays for the nation you picked, plus the difficulty. A creator's favourite nation is not automatically your easiest first run.
- Keep one save per run. The game officially provides 20 slots, so separating a Story attempt from a Mission attempt costs nothing.
- Move to Mission Mode when you want a different nation and a different objective, not because the story has run out.
Independent Video Companion
Valkos Lunari's 24 Mission Modes overview is a player-made reference for comparing national objectives. It is not an official ranking and not a verified walkthrough of every mission, and it may contain spoilers. Use it to build a shortlist, then confirm the objective your own game displays before committing. Video added 9 Sep 2026.
First-Run Questions
Which mode should a beginner play first?
Story Mode. It gives a named protagonist and one of six campaigns, so the game supplies the goal while you learn the Organization, Attack and Invasion phases.
Can I start with Mission Mode?
Yes. Official producer information says stories and missions can be chosen freely, and both modes offer Easy, Normal and Hard — so starting in Mission Mode is a preference, not a lockout.
Does Mission Mode have any story?
Yes, though a smaller one. The official system page says each of the 24 nations has its own characters and short stories alongside that nation's mission.
Is the loop different in Mission Mode?
No. Both modes run the same Organization, Attack and Invasion turn cycle and share the stronghold development and contracting systems. What changes is the objective you are measured against.
What Is Still Unconfirmed
Related Reading
Six Story Factions · Difficulty Guide · Organization Phase · Beginner FAQ · Demo FAQ
Official Sources
- Happinet — official system page: Story Mode's six nations, Mission Mode's 24 nations, the objective examples, stronghold development and contracts
- Happinet — introduction and the six story nations
- Happinet producer letter — modes and 20 save slots
- Steam — BRIGANDINE ABYSS store page
- NIS America — official mode and system overview