Phantom Brave

"The cigarette to Disgaea's night of sweet, sweet romance."

Phantom Brave, to put in a single word, is intense. The story, unlike Disgaea, starts quite depressing. There is some more or less dark humor in the game, but nothing to the extent of Disgaea's Prism Rangers. The battle system is much deeper, and the battles can get quite tough at times. While I could go on like this, I'll break it down into the oh-so-loved categories.

Story 7/10

It's sad. It is a very, very good story, I will admit. However, it's very depressing at times. The characters, Ash and Marona, are somewhat one dimensional. Marona is every happy-go-lucky anime character to date, and Ash is a very dry hero. Like Laharl, drained of charisma. Sure, they both show different emotions at times, but for the most part they're just repeating themselves. Don't get me wrong, though. The story is very good, but nobody is really likable. You just seem to feel sorry for everyone, and that takes some of the fun out of the game.

Gameplay 10/10

Worlds above La Pucelle, much more fun then Disgaea. Rather then giving you a grid system this time around, you use a free roam system. You choose where you want to go, and from what angle you want to attack. The same works with spells. A circle will appear around your character, and you move a sphere where you want to aim the magic.

Unlike the past two games, the characters move based on speed. Stats are much easier to control this time, and thank God for that. All your stats are based on your weapon. HP, Defense, Attack, Speed. With this in mind, characters are much easier to maintain. Speed is very important this time around, because more attacks = more killing. If you have an axe, you'll be damn powerful, but if you're too slow then you might get killed before you get a turn.

The turn system is much like Final Fantasy X, where on it shows who attacks next. This way, you can plan your attack knowing what may happen.

Unlike Disgaea, there is a level cap. While it can be extended, you probably aren't going to need it. There is no New Game +, and you can't get your enemies to level up manually. At least not like in Disgaea. Your weapons have levels too, and combining them increases their max level. You also combine them to transfer skills and stats. You can do this with characters, too.

You can no longer capture enemies, but rather if you kill a certain amount Marona can create them. It's quite easy to bring them to your level through some of those fun, fun exploits. Thats whats great about this game, you are meant to use those cheap exploits to get more out of the game, and this level of depth and focus on what most people find fun is why I'm giving the gameplay a perfect score.

Sound 9/10

The music tracks on the CD (Limited Edition version only) are very, very good, however they don't sound that great in game. The music is quite good, but not as good as Disgaea. The sound effects, however, are excellent. Very, very excellent. The voices are easier to understand this time, and the noises are better. Also, there is some stuff remixed from Disgaea which is pretty cool if you notice it. While the music itself could be better, the sound gets a 9 because of the attack noises.

Graphics 7/10

The cutscenes are back to La Pucelle's style, which isn't a bad thing. However the cards showing who is talking now only show one picture, which is disappointing. What La Pucelle and Disgaea did so well was show emotion through well drawn pictures, and it's kind of irritating to see happy faced Marona deliver a sad line. The in attack graphics are a step down from Disgaea, as well, or at least they seem to be. I'm referring to the magic, mind you, not the physical attacks. Those are pretty good. The magic, however, is disappointing. Disgaea's magic attacks were huge! They were awesome! These... Aren't.

Replay Value 7/10

While you can continue playing after you finish, you have no New Game +. This is really a shame, considering you can level for quite some time before you hit a cap. The game, storywise, is quite linear. No Cave of Trials this time.

To wrap it all up, yes, I am comparing this game to Disgaea. It's the only game I really have to compare it to. Phantom Brave is a great game by all standards, but it just feels lacking in the "Love" category that Disgaea had. It just doesn't offer as much. But, I must say, the battles are about 3x as fun. If only it lasted a little bit longer, it would be a 10/10 game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/04