Phantom Brave
It’s really good… was there any doubt?
Tags: Phantom Brave Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Sep 1st, 2004
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Phantom Brave (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Role-Playing | No | ||
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Nippon Ichi loves us very much. I can think of no other way to describe this. They’ve given us three fantastic strat-RPGs roughly in the space of a year, the first of which remains one of the greatest hidden gems on the PS2, and helped to kindle a renewed interest in the genre. They started up an American branch just so they could make sure we Yanks got to a chance to play all their titles, many of which may have never otherwise made it to the States. And now, I open up my copy of Phantom Brave to find a nice little soundtrack CD that they didn’t even mention on the package (and I thought it was just a pre-order deal)!
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I suppose that to many it may seem like I’m a mindless fan seeking to heap endless praise on the company, but the reality is that just about everyone I’ve talked to that’s played their games feels the same way. There’s something intangible about their games, somewhere in between the old-fashioned graphics, spot-on presentation and fantastic localization (in the past largely thanks to the folks at Atlus and Mastiff) that leaves their players with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Phantom Brave is no different.
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While this title still shares a lot in common with Disgaea and La Pucelle, it makes a number of departures from the norm as well. Most noticeable is the lack of a grid. Now, characters can move freely within a certain radius, giving an added freedom of movement. Some have complained that this makes it harder than it needs to be to position your characters where they need to be to make an attack, but I never found this to be a problem (though more on this later). On the other hand, I don’t think it brings too much more to the table, either. Oh well.
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Also different is the game’s tone, which while not without humorous bits, is far from the wackiness we’ve come to expect from Nippon Ichi after their previous works. Quite the contrary, Phantom Brave’s tone is very serious, dealing with issues ranging from the death of loved ones to the isolation that comes from being a social outcast. Phantom Brave’s characters, while never quite angsty, are often tortured and steeped in internal conflict.
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The story begins with one of the main characters, Ash, fighting alongside the chromas (a kind of mercenary) Haze and Jasmine. The battle isn’t going well. While Ash makes a valiant effort to defend his wounded allies, the monsters they’re up against are too much for them. As they fall to the creatures, Haze uses his final breath to cast a spell to spare Ash’s life. Well… almost. As it happens, the spell was powerful enough to save Ash from death, but not enough to keep him alive, instead preserving him as a ghostlike phantom.
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Ash takes it upon himself to become the guardian of his comrades’ daughter, Marona, now an orphan. However, he finds himself constantly torn between his sworn duty to protect her and the sadness his presence brings her. Marona, like her parents, has the gift of being able to see and work with phantoms. This has brought with it a reputation in a society that fears and hates her. Despite her optimistic outlook and cheerful demeanor, she’s shunned and laughed at, and while she’s decided to make a living by following in her parents’ footsteps as a chroma, she and Ash have found it difficult making ends meet when she’s constantly being shortchanged for the jobs she takes.
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The fact that Marona is so unflinchingly optimistic (even to the point of naivete) keeps the story from becoming too tragic… there’s kind of a “Casper the Friendly Ghost” essence to it, in a way. Together with Nippon Ichi’s always-wonderful sense of style, and a fantastic localization (letting you choose between the English and original Japanese voice actors, both wonderful) make for a fantastic presentation, even if the graphics are a bit… archaic. Despite being probably the best-looking Nippon Ichi game yet, it’s still not particularly impressive, at least on a technical level. But that’s not why you’d be playing this game anyways, is it?
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The gameplay itself is every bit as addictive as La Pucelle and Disgaea, this time with a focus on the various items that litter the battlefield, which Marona’s army of phantoms must posess to take form, and can equip to use as weapons. Everything from swords to flower pots, trees and flowers, and even weeds can be transformed into one of your stable of phantoms by Marona, or equipped by one already on the battlefield (if they haven’t brought a weapon with them). Posessing different items will give characters different attributes, while equipping them with different items will give them different attacks. This system is amusing to watch, especially considering Disgaeas lift/throw system is still in place (and even a bit expanded on), and some enemies can get a bit grab-happy, and it’s certainly a bit odd to see trees being tossed from person to person.
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Also unique to Phantom Brave is that Phantoms can only stay in battle for a limited number of turns, and cannot rejoin after they leave. While this adds a bit to the strategy, it can also become a bit annoying if you want to level up a specific phantom. It also tends to make Marona level up much quicker than her spectral allies, as she’s the only character who can (and will) be present 100% of the battle. While it’s an interesting experiment, it feels like a bit of a balance issue.
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Also troubling is the fact that while this game is probably a little bit simpler than Disgaea, it seems just as complicated thanks to unclear instructions and unintuitive menus. “Positioning problems” many have complained about resulting from the lack of a grid system can be easily addressed by using the square button when executing an attack, something that the game never makes clear. Also, something as simple as equipping characters with the weapon or item that best suits them requires players to jump back and forth between the status menu and equip menu to compare the characters’ abilities with the item’s attributes.
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Problems like these are spread throughout the game, make character management take far longer than it should, and generally make the game more confusing. This is really Phantom Brave’s biggest problem, and it makes the game just that much less fun. However, even with these small problems, Phantom Brave is still a blast to play, and once you figure out just what you’re supposed to be doing, you’ll get the hang of it fairly easily. All in all, the game isn’t quite as good as Disgaea, but almost.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Awesome story + Incredible presentation + Addictive gameplay + Very inventive |
8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- Archaic graphics - Unclear instructions in some areas - Unintuitive menu design |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Phantom Brave is a wonderful game that's distinct enough to reccomend even to those that already have Disgaea and La Pucelle: Tactics. It's not without its problems, but those that have a taste for the genre will almost certainly be able to see past them easily | |
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Tags: Phantom Brave
Posted by Jake McNeill on Sep 1st, 2004 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
