Title: Phantom Brave
Company: Nippon Ichi Software
Genre: RPG
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: 08/31/2004

Synopsis: On a little spot in the ocean called Phantom Isle lives a girl by the name of Marona with the unique ability to speak with phantoms. But it’s because of her gift that prejudice from the rest of the world kicks in and forces her to live in seclusion. Despite her dire predicament, Marona never stays down as she continues to work as a type of mercenary called a Chroma along with the guidance of her guardian phantom Ash. With her pure heart, she’ll find that continuing to help others even though they may hurt you pays off in due time.

The Highlights
Gameplay: Great system with a unique touch.
Expansion: Enough options to play for 100+ hours.
Sound: Good voices, second-rate soundtrack.
Graphics: Still not great but works with the style.

I had some high expectations when I first played this game. Because of the trend of greatness provided by La Pucelle and Disgaea, I had hoped that Phantom Brave would not be one of those games in a series that becomes a let-down. Luckily enough, I can say Nippon Ichi did not drop the ball on this one as it continues the trend of greatness by delivering everything you need to enjoy a good strategy-RPG and then some.

Battle-wise this game utilizes one of the most unique systems that I’ve ever seen in a strategy-RPG through the confining system. Through-out the game Marona is the only living unit that’s available to control during combat. Everyone else are phantoms of some kind. On each battle map has various objects lying around. They will either be organic such as trees and bushes, or synthetic such as books and weapons. Marona will have to utilize her phantom contacting abilities by confining the souls of warriors to the various objects found on the field. Every object has their own advantages and disadvantages through the way they effect the different stats of the confining phantoms. When understood this system provides a suitable challenge to the player where each phantom can only be active on the field for a certain amount of turns.

Expansive play is still a notable attribute to this addition to the series where customization is huge with the development of items and phantoms alike. Through the system of combining it is possible to create a legendary class weapon with a rusty scrap of metal that you find on a battlefield or create a phantom that knows every magic and technique in the game. The random dungeon system however is a big drawback when trying to specify the specifications that are wanted. It is very annoying when trying to get the right dungeon that clears all of the requirements to unlock certain features in the game. There are even times when the player must do a repetitive button motion for a half an hour just to get a dungeon that is longer then 50 levels.

While Nippon Ichi has come up with far better soundtracks, this one still meets the minimum requirements with a bit of leeway. Voices are executed extremely well as usual for the series while they continue to express the emotions that are being felt by the characters during the different events in the game. A unique art style and story makes this game fun and easy to enjoy.

Phantom Brave is a great addition to Nippon Ichi’s trend. With every game that the company comes up with comes different systems to keep the series from becoming stale. I’m not sure what to expect next from Nippon Ichi next but I do hope to see some more good things with the upcoming title Makai Kingdom.

The Rating: 8

Reviewed by: Blazer