Phantom Brave

"If you can't find Disgaea, get this instead!"

After reading about the greatness of Disgaea about a year after it's release, I decided to get it. But due to the number of games that Atlus publishes, I didn't find it. Luckily I read about this game being released soon. So I forgot getting Disgaea, and got this instead. I was not disappointed.

Story
The story of PB is very depressing, but it has bits and pieces of humour here and there. But despite the lack of humour, it plays out to be a very well done and touching story. The characters may be annoying at times, but it only adds to the story. The story will draw you in and keep you playing for hours on end.

Gameplay
Gameplay in this game takes quite a evolutionary leap with it's gridless movement. The main challenge in this game is carefully rationing your characters to make sure you don't run out of characters before the end of the battle. Some may think that using a character for about 4 or so turns is stupid and limiting, it works better than some would anticipate. It adds a good sense of strategy and adds a satisfying challenge to the game. But one problem that I have with the gameplay is that characters tend to clump up into groups as you and your enemies duke it out. When a bunch of characters are clumped up into a group, it gets very difficult to target the right enemy. If you're not careful, you can easily kill one of your own characters or weapons and waste a turn. This innovative gameplay is easily one of PB selling points.

Graphics
It's rare to see a 2-D game in this day and age, so it's amazing that this game made it to North America. The graphics of the character are done in an anime style, as much of the character emotions are done in anime style. The graphics are clean and detailed. The environment is done in 3-D, and the 2-D sprites blend in very well. The graphics in this game creates an atmosphere that no other that I've play, has.

Sound/Voice acting
Usually when people hear of voice-acting feature, they usually assume the english voice acting is bad compared to the japanese one. But the english voice acting in PB is quite good, but still falls short of the japanese voice acting. The characters sound right, but just doesn't put enough emotion into the script, reducing the effect of what some of the lines are supposed to make. But it still is good compared to other games.

Music
The music in this game is very different from most music that I have heard in RPG. The music isn't entirely upbeat, but still creates an atmosphere right for battles. Although the music is short, and will replay over and over in each battle, it's catchy and well done enough that it doesn't get annoying. The music isn't as grand as music from other games like Final Fantasy, but it still sounds very majestic and well done.

In all, PB is an excellent game the no SRPG should be without. It's innovative gameplay, great music, beautiful graphics, and memorable story makes this a very good game. Despite its few flaws, it's an awesome game than will more than likely suck up a good couple hundred hours of your life.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/04