[quote]Just saying, but I do have a curator page. If you like my remarks about games, you can find more of them here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44130985-TDP%27s-Gaming-Escapades [/quote]
I have played tons of fighting games through my life, from man-made abominations like Shaq Fu to doujin wonders like ArmJoe. However, I really don't remember the last time I felt hollow after playing a fighting game, if ever. And now here I am, feeling exactly like that after playing Phantom Breaker Omnia.
Now this is not to dunk on the game as a whole, as it does have some value to it. Omnia combines all of the content that was available in its past, Japan-exclusive versions and introduces the franchise to a worldwide audience. My issue with this game is that the developers did not try to refine whatever that was already there and instead, added or changed stuff that were highly unnecessary in my honest opinion.
What you get in this game is, for the most part, everything that the previous versions of it had. You get all of the story paths, all of the playable characters (even the 3D ones that don't fit in with the rest), the guides have comprehensive details about the mechanics, and everything is now fully translated to English. The devs have also taken the liberty of adding new things to the game or changing some of its already existing content. But aside from the inclusion of the gallery and the new battle style, I'm not a fan of the work that has been done here, as some of the decisions are questionable.
For example, why does the arcade mode now force you to go through all of the roster instead of 7 battles like the previous games? That's not how arcade modes work! Why is the series' ancient and impractical control rebinding feature (which was outdated even when previous games came out) still there instead of being revamped? Or why does the combat feel so... actually, let's talk about the combat a bit before getting to this one.
In Phantom Breaker, every character has 3 buttons for normal attacks, alongside one button dedicated to specials. And if you press the special button alongside the heavy attack, you can do supers. There are some additional mechanics like fighting styles, bursts and parrying, but the game is not very hard to learn and master as the result of such simple battle system. Now on one hand, this is great as it lowers the entry barrier for the game, but it has also caused the characters to feel same-y as there are no special commands to differentiate them. There's also the concerns of players resorting to button mashing which can make matches unenjoyable, but the game cleverly avoids that using the clash system.
The clash system really feels like the better version of Guilty Gear Xrd's Danger Time. When certain attacks or dashes collide with each other, the game zooms the camera in and plays a special visual effect to signify that a clash has taken place. After initiating a clash, both of the attacks will be nullified and cancelled, and players are given the chance to input another one in a very short time limit.
This simple gameplay mechanic alone has made the game really fun to play. It feels like as if you are playing "rock, paper, scissors" with your opponent, only with higher stakes and spectacle at play. I can't put into words how insane the game feels like when multiple clashes happen back-to-back. But I'm not talking about Omnia here. The gameplay in Omnia feels very clunky and slow, as if I'm playing Blade Strangers again, and left me feeling bored and hollow as I mentioned at the beginning. The truth is, all of what I have explained so far with the clash system was based on my experience with Phantom Breaker: Extra.
Yes, I actually went and played the X360 version of Extra to compare the games, and found out that Omnia changes something that is most likely the culprit behind why I did not like its gameplay: [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3632883602]The game has pulled the camera away from the characters.[/url]
Let me offer my thoughts on why this is important. Phantom Breaker's battle system only works perfectly and is actually fun when a clash happens, as it's severely lacking in long ranged combat. By having the camera being closer to the characters, players have less chances of getting far away from each other and have to get in close and personal, throwing attacks that constantly trigger the clash system. The result of this, is a very fast fighting system that looks very flashy, and rewards aggressive and calculated combat styles.
Now since Omnia changes the camera, this is no longer the case. Players (and even the AI) can easily dash away or send their opponent flying to the other side of the screen, creating a lot of distance between themselves. This decreases the game's speed and fun factor, because the clashes are no longer common, and players constantly have to keep up with the opponent. And this is without mentioning how this can allow for projectile spamming, as I was able to cheese every fight of Mei's arcade mode by standing far away and spamming her projectiles. However, my opponents in Extra did not give me that chance.
And then we get to other new things that the devs have added to Omnia which in my honest opinion, were not needed. I don't understand why there was a need to remix the soundtrack (which I find inferior to the originals), change the stylish battle HUD and UI of the previous game to something more boring and streamlined, or allocate resources to record the admittedly cringey Super Spicy announcer voices and the English dub.
You might say that an English dub would help the game to be seen more, especially through the names behind the voices, but I disagree. Phantom Breaker is a very niche and almost unknown fighting game franchise, thanks to its Japan exclusivity for a long time, and with a very limited (if not zero) amount of international marketing. Those who are going to buy Omnia are those who already know of it and/or play other games like it, so they know what they are getting here. Other people would quit after a couple minutes when they realize the online mode was dead on arrival.
The game's niche status, in addition to its 2 years of delays, means the online scene is very dead and you need to arrange matches through social media apps like Discord. Not only that, the game still uses delay-based netcode instead of rollback, which can result in unbearable online matches. Although I really don't blame the devs on this one because... c'mon, rollback netcode is not a magical patch that you just apply on a game and have it suddenly gaining superior netcode. It requires proper implementation to work correctly. But the lack of it does make things harder and pushes many potential players away.
I honestly don't get why the game is like this. The current FGC would not care for this game and hold onto it. They would come in, complain about the lack of rollback and crossplay (as they already have), and then leave to play other games. Most people in the FGC do not care for games that don't have great online modes, even if they are chock-full of content. In fact, the opposite is true as they have constantly proven it in my other reviews of fighting games.
In my honest opinion, the devs didn't need to try to pander to people outside the already existing fanbase. There was no need for all of the additions here. All they needed to do was to gather everything and smooth up the rough edges to make the best version of the game. But they did not, and the result of that, is a game that I cannot recommend to anybody. Just... go play Phantom Breaker: Extra if you want to have fun.
[h2]TL;DR[/h2]
Brings a Japan-exclusive game to international markets with all content included, yet ignores some quality of life improvements for unnecessary changes & additions, making the gameplay feel lackluster
