Phantom Brave

Story Nippon Ichi’s stories were top notch in its first two games and Phantom Brave is a solid continuation of that. The difference in Phantom Brave, however, is a much darker story which retains some of Nippon Ichi’s humorous subplots and dialog. The story starts off in the year 913 in the World of Ivoire (Ivory), as Ash (18) and Marona’s parents are killed by an evil creature. As Marona’s father, Haze, spoke his last words, he turned Ash into a Phantom. Phantoms are souls that are trapped between life and death. Eight years later, Marona (13) works as a Chroma, sort of like an adventurer for hire, earning money to get by. She is now guarded by Ash, who vows to protect Marona to return the favor to her parents. Marona’s life is not an easy one–not only is she orphaned and working for a living, she also has a special ability that makes her feared and hated amongst the populace of Ivoire. Her special ability allows her to communicate with Phantoms, which she wants to use to help those who dislike her. She holds very firmly on the belief, given to her by her parents, that as she keeps on doing good that “one day, everyone will come to like you.”

Graphics Graphically, Phantom Brave has not evolved much from its two predecessors. When compared to its predecessors, Phantom Brave does manage to outdo both, but that is expected for a new game. Characters, items, effects, and enemies are all still 2D sprites and the battlefields remain 3D. While this does not break any new ground, it is an acceptable standard–the sprites still look great.

Controls It is pretty unnecessary to talk about controls in a turn-based game, but Phantom Brave’s controls work great. The cursor during battle responds smoothly to the left analog movements, as does Ash on the Phantom Isle. The map rotation is still limited, but gives you eight different directions to view the field and three zooms, with the top-down zoom really helping on certain battlefields.

Battlefields are now lack grids and the Player’s characters move freely (most of the time) along the terrain. The maximum movement range for each character is shown on the map by a red circle, and as the character moves, the Move (Mv) decreases. The characters can continue to move around until their Mv, which is counted in dm (decimeters?), is emptied. This can help immensely for characters that may need to do a hit and run to make up for a lack in defense. For example, a Phantom named Rex, the Fighter, may move up to an enemy, attack, and move off in another direction. Moving is handled in four ways: 1. The Player selects move while on the character, which shows a dotted line trail to the point of the Player’s cursor, allowing precision movements within its range. 2. The Player selects move while the cursor is on the field and the character will move towards it (even if it is outside its range). 3. The Player selects a single target attack and puts the cursor onto an enemy, the character will move to it (provided it is in range) and attack it. 4. The Player selects a multi-target attack and the Player can freely move the character within its range by holding the Square Button and then attack by selecting its targets.

The last new addition to the battlefield is what is not there, the Out of Bounds. Out of Bounds is anywhere on the map that terrain does not exist. Anything that is not nailed down (except Marona–she is always set back on the battlefield) can be thrown/hit/slid/bounced Out of Bounds. Once something has gone Out of Bounds it may not be used again for the rest of the battle. As this does sound like a godsend to just eliminate your competition by throwing them out, whenever an enemy unit has gone Out of Bounds its fellow units will become stronger (instant enemy level ups). The last enemy on the battlefield, however, may not be knocked Out of Bounds.

Summoning your character is an essential part of the strategy of the game. Do you summon your best fighter, into a rock, to have him wipe out all the nearby enemies or do you send out your weaker fighters in two weeds? Choosing the right item to summon a character is key as well. Choosing a rock would give you added defense, resistance, and attack, but it would cost the character intelligence and speed. Alternatively, choosing a weed would boost intelligence and speed, at the cost of attack. Much goes into deciding what is best for the battle.

Characters and items can be combined together by using a Fusionist. When combining you can pass on abilities, mana, stats, equip stats, or even confine stats. A good use of combining would be like so: Item A has 1000 mana but its ability costs 2000 is combined with Item B that has 1000 but is no longer desired. Now Item A has 2000 mana and can afford its ability. This is a great way for your character to learn every move without having to switch between items after every battle or bringing in your own confining item to tip the scales to your victory.

One last “stat” would be the title each character and item has. Titles are received when the character is created and the items already have titles. The titles are not really stats, but they do influence (sometimes heavily) that item/character’s stats, SP type proficiencies, abilities (can give new ones), and how it gains XP. Titles can be given by the Titlist, who must be created, but the Titlist only has a small amount. New titles can be gained by sacrificing items/characters or using the random dungeon feature (discussed a little later).

Final Word Phantom Brave may not be for newcomers to the Strategy/RPG, but veterans will definitely enjoy it. The gird-less system is not that difficult, but the confine system is quite confining (pun sadly intended). While it may not break much ground visually or audibly, the game’s story and solid strategic gameplay definitely warrants picking up Phantom Brave.