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[Wario64]

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/543/543304p1.html

8.0 Presentation
The much darker and somber storyline was a shocking but refreshing change of pace. Load times and the user interface is as strong as always.
6.5 Graphics
Phantom Brave is definitely Nippon Ichi's best-looking RPG in the last few years, but still doesn't match up to today's more advanced visuals. Even so, the 16-bit look is charming and effective.
7.5 Sound
Though disappointing when compared to Disgaea and La Pucelle, Phantom Brave's soundtrack is still solid with strong voice acting and a nice selection of sound effects.
8.5 Gameplay
The innovative 'Confine System' makes for some interesting strategic decisions, but there are a few snags (namely judging ranged attacks) that keep it from being perfect. It's still great, though.
9.0 Lasting Appeal
Like the other Nippon Ichi titles, Phantom Brave offers plenty of things to do with lots of secrets, customization, and more.
8.6 OVERALL:
(out of 10 / not an average)



" For logistical reasons, Phantom Brave may seem a little lacking when compared to previous titles like Disgaea and La Pucelle. And as we mentioned before, the lack of a grid system definitely poses some problems with targeting and navigation. While a couple of other issues like the game's dependency on leveling up and its rather dark and depressing storyline could prove an effective deterrent for newbies.

But newbies aren't who Phantom Brave targets anyway -- it's the hardcore market that Nippon Ichi is after instead. And truthfully, there's nothing wrong with that, because the mainstream and casual audiences out there get enough products tailored to their needs as it is. In the end, Phantom Brave is simply a game that's all about taking a deep strategic battle mechanic and mixing them it some fantastic old-school flavoring. It may not be the deepest or most exciting title in Nippon Ichi's storied lineup of offerings, mind you, but with brothers like La Pucelle and Disgaea, that's a rather tall order to meet.

But with more than 100 hours of gameplay, plenty of customizable options, and a style and look that you're only going to find from one or two companies in the world, Phantom Brave is definitely worth the price of admission. Hiccups aside, it's a decidedly engrossing game that successfully completes a one-year American hat trick for Nippon Ichi that we can only hope will continue. "

 

[GDJustin]

Review text seems to indicate a lower score than what the actual # is...

 

[BuddyC]

depressing storyline? Sold!

 

[MetatronM]

depressing storyline? Sold!

I agree. :lol

 

[radios shipping overview]

While a couple of other issues like the game's dependency on leveling up and its rather dark and depressing storyline could prove an effective deterrent for newbies.

C'mon, guys! Proofreading is important.

 

[wipeout364]

SO what is the word is this worth getting? its been out a few days now someone must be playing it how about some GAF impressions?

 

[Soul4ger]

SO what is the word is this worth getting? its been out a few days now someone must be playing it how about some GAF impressions?

It's worth getting. If you like this kind of game. It can be a bit overwhelming for someone new to the sub-genre.

 

[sprsk]

wow, how hard is it to put a cursor over an enemy and hit attack?

are game reviewers that retarded? nippon ichi put in devices to aid you in targeting enemies.

 

[Drinky Crow]

If enemies "pile up", move the cursor over the pile and hit select until the one you want to attack is highlighted. IT'S IN THE FUCKING TUTORIAL (although the manual *is* a piece of shit; buy the excellent Doublejump strategy guide, fruits).

 

[Soul4ger]

If enemies "pile up", move the cursor over the pile and hit select until the one you want to attack is highlighted. IT'S IN THE FUCKING TUTORIAL (although the manual *is* a piece of shit; buy the excellent Doublejump strategy guide, fruits).

The DoubleJump strategy guide does fucking rule, but asking 20 for it is a bit much... That's the only reason I haven't picked it up yet.

 

[Mrbob]

The DoubleJump strategy guide does fucking rule, but asking 20 for it is a bit much... That's the only reason I haven't picked it up yet.

Where have you seen this for sale? My friend wants to grab one before they are all gone like what happened with Disgaea. I know you can order direct but have you seen them in stores?

 

[Soul4ger]

Where have you seen this for sale? My friend wants to grab one before they are all gone like what happened with Disgaea. I know you can order direct but have you seen them in stores?

EB has them. If you're looking for one of the typical, large books, don't. They're smaller, the size of a normal book. Ask a store employee, if they know anything about their inventory, they should be able to find it for you.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Yeah, got mine at EB. It's small-sized (HxW), but has like 300 pages, and has actual ALGORITHMS for the computation of shit like EXP. Yay.

 

[Mrbob]

Shit. My EB didn't get them. Already checked there. Well, I think they got one but it was already sold. Some thing happened with Disgaea. They got like 8 games and one guide in. Oh well, off to double jump website!

 

[Soul4ger]

Shit. My EB didn't get them. Already checked there. Well, I think they got one but it was already sold. Some thing happened with Disgaea. They got like 8 games and one guide in. Oh well, off to double jump website!

That's odd. We've already received a THIRD shipment of the book at my store. The Disgaea guide didn't sell out anywhere at EB, most stores were told to THROW THEM OUT after about two months on the shelves. That's why it became so rare. I know the one outlet about 10 miles from here threw out more than 10 copies of the Disgaea book, after the home office advised the company to mark it down to a penny.

 

[Mrbob]

;__;

Tell them to send it to my local EB then!

 

[Soul4ger]

;__;

Tell them to send it to my local EB then!

The way EB ships its goods to stores is REALLY inconvenient for everyone. We've only ever gotten like three copies of Bujingai in, and we sold them all, and the computer says BAM! already discontinued it (though I'm sure they'll release another shipment sometime in the near future). But, we have a new service that lets us look at other stores in our district to see how many copies they have in, and some of them have like eight or nine. We only ever got a few, but some of these other places have almost 10. It's ridiculous. It's frustrating for customers and employees alike, and it seems like the people in charge just ship random numbers of things to random places, with no reasoning behind it.

 

[AniHawk]

I want to get this game (I have the other two NI PS2 SRPGs so this one's a no-brainer). I'll probably wait for a price drop somewhere since it happened for both Disgaea and LPT.

 

[cvxfreak]

I want to get this game (I have the other two NI PS2 SRPGs so this one's a no-brainer). I'll probably wait for a price drop somewhere since it happened for both Disgaea and LPT.

Smart thinking.

 

[sprsk]

la pucelle and disgaea are both still 49.99 at gamestop...

 

[Bog]

la pucelle and disgaea are both still 49.99 at gamestop...

Apparently you don't check the 'deals' threads.

 

[Limedust]

Drinky: Doesn't one of the guys who works on those strategy guides post over at QT3? It's been so very long since I've seen an intelligent strategy guide that covers the true "under the hood" mechanics and gives you relevant info to work the game engine. Then again, I haven't paged through any of them in... years. Most just seem to tell you what to do, not why you should be doing it. This is probably worth its own thread, and it's probably already been made.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I actually bought the guide for Phantom Brave, and I've never bought a strategy guide before in my life ... well, I did buy one for Ultima Underworld in like 92. But other than that ... no. Go DoubleJump!

 

[Jupiter Jones]

As far as the strategy guide goes, if you pre-order a game from ebgames and purchase a strategy guide when you pick the game up, you receive 30% off the guide. I got the Phantom Brave guide for only $14.

 

[MetatronM]

I might go out and pick up the guide tomorrow (err...well..."today" I guess). I started playing it yesterday and had a "holy crap it's that late already?!" kind of night for the first time in a long while...or at least the first time in a long while that it was caused by a game.

I <3 Nippon Ichi.

 

[Dead]

I picked up the guide along with the game as well, and yes the thing is massive, thouroghly well done, one of the only times id ever reccoemend picking up a guide

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

DoubleJump's work has been amazing thus far. The lengths to which they go to make these guides is astounding... I'm paying an average of $5 more for their guides which are the size of a novel by comparison. I hope they get contracts to more RPGs out there.