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A helluva surprise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Phantom Brave is a Japanese strategy-RPG from Nippon-Ichi, makers of Disagea (among others). Although I have been a long time fan of RPGs and various strategy games, I'd never tried my hand at an SRPG prior to Phantom Brave (despite owning FF Tactics for the better part of two years). When I saw PB for $20, I picked it up - and I was blown away.

The battle system is the heart of any RPG, and is especially important in an strategy-RPG. Phantom Brave's is fantastic, in my opinion, and is both unique and engaging. Essentially, you summon phantoms, which can be confined in real world objects placed around the map. Each phantom has a set number of turns before it is removed from the board. Phantoms can also be killed or thrown out of bounds by enemies. Before battle, you can equip your phantoms with a wide variety of weaponry - anything from swords to sunflowers to starfish - which effect attack, speed etc. stats. To make this weapons better, you can upgrade them using a blacksmith phantom, or fuse them with other items using a fusionist phantom. You can also get a titlist phantom to assign titles to weapons/characters that offer huge upgrades to their stats. The level of customization/character types is simply mind-blowing, and for anyone interested in delving into that, it's remarkably deep and rewarding. Some battles are cheap in the fashion in which the objects/terrain is laid out (i.e. spreading out the enemies across a giant map, so that your phantoms run out of turns before they can defeat all of them).

The story is pretty typical "kid saves the world while learning/teaching life lessons along the way" type stuff, but I found it engaging. The main characters, Ash and Marona, can be annoying at times, but they can also be quite heart-warming and funny. The final chapters are a bit over-wraught and rushed, but for the most part, the story is decent. The dialogue can be painful at times - the overuse of clichés is nearly sickening - but I managed to get through that. It is predicitable in parts, and it doesn't measure up to the likes of Final Fantasy VIII/IX/X et al. (insert game with good story here). It does its job, and it's quite funny in places - it definitely had me pressing on through the game, which is a plus.

Sound and graphics are rather blah. The voice acting gets grating; it's not absolutely god-awful, but it's not great either .The music is ok, but nothing spectacular as RPGs go. The graphics are absolutely crap - I'm sure even fans of 2D sprites will agree - with horrid animations, pixilated characters, terrible spell effects, and an amateurish appearance overall. This could have been done on the original Playstation, and it shows.

Overall, Phantom Brave really surprised me (in a pleasant sort of way). It is charming at many points, offers some great gameplay, and has a lot of replay value for those strategy-RPG nuts. After the "official game" is over and completed, then you can engage in a series of scenarios that require a huge amount of leveling, skill, and time to beat. Not to mention the fact that you can also upgrade your characters to level 9999, find rare items, upgrade titles, and go spelunking in the random dungeons the game creates. If you're looking to conquer all that Phantom Brave has to offer, prepare to fork over 200 hours of your life or more. Personally, my 35 hours got me through the main game and a few of the post-game events - a decent play-time as RPGs are concerned - and I was quite pleased with my experience. Regardless of how you wish to play Phantom Brave, the choice is there for you, and it should appeal to strategy buffs and newbies (such as myself) alike. Recommended.

My favorite Nippon Ichi game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I own them all for Playstation 2: Disgaea 1&2, La Pucelle, Makai Kingdom, even the bad Atlier Iris games distrubted by NIS America but really produced by Gust.

This is my favorite, even if I have to drop a star for no new game+.

I like it because it is hard, like a true stragic role-playing game should be. Your characters evaporate after a set amount of turns, forcing you to form a balanced party. The free movement system is innovative, including levels where you slide on surface ice for truly long range.

You get one weapon; just one. Though your title doubles as armor. Anything can be a weapon (my best weapon is a live floppy fish) including trees, swords, model trains, and boxes. You can combine weapons together, giving you access to any ability on any item. Ultimate customization.

As for the story, I found a bit sappy yet heartwarming. Plus when you consider how the special character attacks are parody, it actually becomes funny. I liked the large amount of bright colors in the backgrounds and stage levels.

Finally I liked the game because by her actions, Marona shows what it means to be Brave.

Creative

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: September 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

So I have to say I was slightly let down by LaPucelle tactics and was hoping they would make a comeback with the next installment, they did...relatively.
To look at the game graphic wise it is easy to say that they are slightly outdated taking you back to the days of Ogre Tatcics or Final Fantasy Tactics, but I think that having them this way fits the personality of the game to a "T".
The actual combat system is VERY unique. Instead of just choosing your characters at the beginning of the battle like all other "tactic-like" games you start every battle with Marona, the main character. It is up to her to "confine" various items found throuhout the playing feild into playable characters. The only downside to this is they have a pre-set number of turns that they are allowed to stay on the field before the disapperar until the next battle. This can get very tedious especially later in the game.
Now on to its slight downfalls. The actual story isnt that bad but it gets muddled down into tiny episodes on how the main character is in outcast but it is all right with her cliches and you can see them coming a mile away. On top of that the voice acting isnt that great. It seems like the actors are just reading a pre-set script rahter than putting any emotion into it. Lastly there is also this very cheezy narrator that pops up at the most oppurtune time to inform you on the innner feelings of the characters, think of your kindergarten teachers voice mixed with that of Michael Jacksons.
Overall though it is a highyl enjoyable game with great elemnts and strategy to it, 4 stars because of the story.

So much 2 do

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: September 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was kind of sceptical about this title. I loved Disgeia, but La Pucelle didn't really do anything for me. Well, this definately delivered the strategy fun I've been missing. While it isn't like either of its predicessors {combat wise} it adds a NEW type of strategy. Confining. I could explain it, but I don't feel like it, so I'll just say its tight. Another cool thing is that ANYTHING on the battlefield, {bushes,bricks, etc.} can be used as a weapon. I mean they have uniqe moves and everything ! There is however a bit of a learning curve {for the book doesn't cover much at all} But once u figure everything out its just as addictive as Disgeia ever was. {0r more so}

I should have listened to X-Play.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 19
Date: March 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm a big RPG lover...especially of the FF series, Lunar, and Kingdom Hearts. I didn't expect much out of this game but I typically like RPGs even when the stories aren't that great. However, this was one of the WORST RPGs that I've ever played. It's one of those boring games where a still picture of a character comes up and the dialogue is horrendous. There's an annoying little girl who's parents died and she can see the phantoms and nobody likes her. So every time you go to a new area she says the same things. It is so redundant and boring. "one day everything will be ok" new area "one day I'll be happy" new area "One day..." OK we got it one F***ing day! The battle system tries to imitate Final Fantasy Tactics but falls unbelievably short. Each time you go to a new area, you fight four battles at that area and then you're on to the next boring area. So in essence you actually only go to about 10 different places and you don't actually go to them because like Tactics there is no exploring of cities or going into shops or traveling in any form. The game is just battles and then horrible dialogue with characters that you don't care about at all. There's just two main characters that you play and the rest are like (wizard, chemist, blah only nowhere near as much variety as FFtactics and they have nowhere near the abilities). So if you didn't even like Tactics then there is no way that you'll like this game. It's been months since I've played it and I didn't even finish it which is very unlike me but I just didn't care because it was so predictable and the characters were boring. I just don't understand how something that crappy is made/sold. If you read this and then buy that horrible game then i pity you.

Great strategy game - plus soundtrack audio cd

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 19
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If any strat games have interested you before, this one you would love!.. No grids, witty comments, complexity, it's here.

Limited Edition includes audio-cd soundtrack also!

What audience is this game for?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: August 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm not sure who this game was supposed to target, but it certainly wasn't me. While the graphics are ok for the genre, the music is repetitive and immature, and the voice-overs will make your ears bleed. I did however admire that they allow the player to choose between English & Japanese spoken dialogue; unfortunately, the Japanese dialogue is only slightly less annoying. Some of the concepts are new and interesting, but nothing ground breaking. I highly recommend spending your money on a better line of games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem, or Advance Wars.

New kind of Strategy RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: June 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a great new kind of srpg because there is no grid giving you alot of freedom. Mainly all srpg have grids and its boring seeing just squares everywhere but this game doesn't. That's a huge plus to this game. Also this game is a pretty serious game with some humor in it. The gameplay like most srpg is easy to get but this requires more strategy than anyother srpg I've seen. Your characters only have a certain number of turns to stay on the field, so playing all of your best guys in the beginning is bad. I haven't finished the game yet but so far its been VERY GOOD.

Don't Waste Your Money!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 68
Date: May 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is so lacking in current technology that it is like playing PAC-MAN. There are animated sequences that are well done, like small snippets of a cartoon..... BUT the gameplay is awkward and outdated. If you are used to the quality of play in say...Jak or Ratchet and Clank... then you will be terribly disappointed in this game.

IF I had been able to preview it before I bought it for my daughter, it would still be on a shelf somewhere in a wrapper.

It is also rated TEEN.... Believe me with all the gore, how it got past a MATURE Rating, I will never know. YUCK! Also, if you are worried at all about gratutitous cursing... Stay away from this one. It usually doesn't phase me, but to have my daughter exposed to hearing curse words in almost every sentence... it was too much for me.

This is a loser all around as far as I am concerned. Take you child to McDonalds or something with the money you will save.... you will be glad you did. I would have given it a ZERO, but the choice was not offered!

invalid review

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 19
Date: January 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for someone else. Sorry I can't be of any help, but I don't play video games and the person I bought this for lives in another city.

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