[h1][b] TLDR: A heartwarming story and unique mechanics, but the gameplay just wasn’t fun to me. [/b] [/h1]
[h1]PROS: [/h1]
➕Creative spirit binding mechanics
➕Quality port - 120 FPS, HD text/UI
➕Marona is adorable
[h1]CONS: [/h1]
➖Can’t exit battles once inside them, only reload
➖Attacking the right target can be difficult with free-form selection
➖Many confusing/not well explained mechanics
➖Characters going away after a set number of turns (Remove) can get annoying
You can see my other reviews for NIS here (in release order):
[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Synikx/recommended/1866420?snr=1_5_9__402]La Pucelle: Ragnarok[/url]
[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/Synikx/recommended/405900?snr=1_5_9__402]Disgaea[/url]
[h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1]
The game world takes elements from La Pucelle and Disgaea - You have a world map with all of the different stages on it, similar to La Pucelle. The battle maps are more like Disgaea with things like throwing and Geo Symbol-type mechanics being present.
I found the world to be a step up from both La Pucelle and Disgaea, I think the creativity of the mechanics blend really well with the items in the zones.
The narrative is more like La Pucelle than Disgaea. This is a serious story full of moments that tug on your heart. Marona, the protagonist, is an adorable, but naive little girl (voiced by Flonne from Disgaea!). She is what’s called a “Chroma”, which is a person that communicates with spirits. Marona herself is known as “The cursed girl” and is often treated horribly. Marona is pretty much a doormat for most of the game as she gets walked all over constantly by NPCs that take advantage of her.
I didn’t enjoy the narrative, it wasn’t good enough to keep me interested to finish. I would say it’s about the same as La Pucelle from the tone, but it doesn’t have as many interesting hooks as Disgaea.
[h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
The mechanics are unique here. Note that unique does not necessarily mean good. I found the mechanics to be cumbersome, vague/not explained well, and in general not fun. But, on the other hand, they are so unique that I wanted to keep playing to explore it more, unfortunately, all the disadvantages kept piling up. I struggle to think of a mechanic that doesn’t come with a downside that makes me dislike it.
-Marona is kind of plays like a necromancer, it adds strategic elements to play around characters removing after a set time….but this also means that the player not only experiences detachment from their characters, but it almost seems pointless to focus power on anyone other than Marona, since she is the only character that stays around permanently.
-The title/fusion/blacksmith mechanics are interesting, it plays well thematically by removing the grind burden from characters and putting them on items…but I found this system to be very confusing, and the game does a poor job at explaining it. Even after reading guides, I didn’t like how I had to grind failure titles over and over to use on weapons and maps. This is not as exciting or interesting as Disgaea’s “Innocent” system.
-The grid movement system of La Pucelle and Disgaea are replaced with a free-form movement and targeting system. This is cool with the available freedom….but choosing a specific target can get challenging when there are multiple NPCs near each other. Also, the grid system limited the amount of targets that can attack (one on each side), not so here. Being surrounded and attacked by enemies is a real possibility, and while you can do the same, you are restricted by the removal of your characters, unlike the enemy.
I would say this is a fairly difficult game. Aside from the issues by there being a forced time limit on your characters, the beginning is challenging due to lack of resources. I found myself pretty much breaking even after every mission by having to heal my characters. This means I couldn’t spend that much money on getting items or creating new characters (which are a pain to level fresh…). You can’t even engage in systems like random dungeons without spending money. I feel like the burden is way too much at the start.
[h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Technical) – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
Pretty good. The sprites/backgrounds are clearly the original and very pixelated. The UI is crisp and high quality. This could pass as a PS3-era title, with the improvements in quality. Still, not very impressive overall since this is a 2004 title, only so much can be done graphically. I feel like this is a step up from Disgaea, though.
On the technical side, I found no bugs outside the frequent issues with free-form movement. The game behaves well in the background and I had no issues with tabbing or crashes.
i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD
[h1] [b] Audio – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
The audio is okay. I didn’t find it as good as Disgaea as far as memorable songs go.
There is ample voice acting and it is done well. All NIS games seem to have great English voice acting.
[h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
Tough to say, as most NIS games have a lot of replay value through grinding. I would say the opportunity is there if you can wrestle enough with the title/fusion system.
[h1] [b] Final Verdict – [5/10] [/b] [/h1]
I first played Phantom Brave (PB) waay back on its release in 2004 on the PS2. I remember that I loved Disgaea so much that I saw this game release from the same developer, so I wanted to check it out. Furthermore, I remember that even back then I didn’t enjoy it much and didn’t finish it. Now, free from teenage angst, I wanted to give it another go to see if I could finish it.
When I first played it, I hated the story so much that I dropped it. I didn’t like how cutesy it was and was expecting something more like Disgaea. This time when I played it, I can accept the story, though it’s not as good as Disgaea, it’s not a dealbreaker. This time, though, it’s the mechanics that have soured the experience for me. You can read more above in the mechanics section for specifics, but to summarize, I simply wasn’t having fun, as such, I cannot give a recommendation to this game.
Instead of PB, I suggest checking out Disgaea. I’ve only played the first one so far, but it’s a spectacular game.
[h1] [b] Recommend? (Price) [Y/N] [/b] [/h1]
[h1]No[/h1]
$20 base is a bit steep for a game from 2004. Historical data shows the price on Steam goes as low as $3, which I would recommend it at that price.
You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR
