Now Playing - Phantom Brave

I have recently had the opportunity to finalize my dealings with Star Ocean 3 and henceforth have begun my trek through the world of Phantom Brave. Now, being the HUGE Nippon Ichi fan that I am (I played both Disgaea and La Pucelle to death), I was rather stoked to play up their newest offering, Phantom Brave (PB). What do I think so far?

First off, I went into this one thinking it would be a lot like NI's previous offerings, but in reality PB is a totally different animal; and it IS an animal!

I have very few qualms in saying that PB may very well be the most involved strategy RPG ever. The amount of things you can do in this game is enough to boggle the mind. In order to bring out a troop, you do not merely summon them, you "confine" them to a wide variety of inanimate objects on the battlefield. Each object has different characteristics and thus the strengths and weaknesses of your summoned character will change accordingly.

Once you have actually managed to summon a character or two onto the battlefield, the madness continues. First off, they will only remain summoned for a number of turns. This means that you either have to accutely manage who you bring out at what time, or else you need to get your business done and quickly!

Next, you can fight with pretty much anything you find littered around the battlefield. You can steal enemy's weapons and then beat them down with said weapon. You can even level up that weapon, bring it into battle and confine yourself to it, or simply fuse with the item itself to permanently gain its ability.

That explanation right there is really only skimming the surface of what PB is all about. I could literally write for hours on its intricacies, but I think I will save that for the review when I finish the game.

So what do I think of it so far? Well, it is almost a little too involved. The story is typical NI fare, but slightly sadder and a little bit more downtrodden (at least so far). I am enjoying it, but so far it seems to lack that certain...something that Disgaea, and to a lesser extent, La Pucelle exuded.

In any case, I will keep you posted on my progress through the game (I am only in chapter 4), so in the meantime here are some screens to keep you busy.

Phantom Brave Screens (Courtesy of 1up)

And on another note, did anyone else notice that a new game has been announced by NI? Called Phantom Kingdom, it certainly looks to be in the same style as previous efforts. I haven't heard much of anything in the way of details, but here are some shots at least. Doesn't NI really know what it is doing with sprites?

Phantom Kingdom Screens (Courtesy of RPGFan)

Lee Babin | 11.26.2004 [return]

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