Phantom Brave Preview

Phantom Brave is the latest game from Nippon Ichi, the Japanese game studio who has made a name for itself with last year's Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and this year's La Pucelle: Tactics for the PlayStation 2. The developer's knack for offering inventive twists on the venerable turn-based strategy genre has resulted in some of the best original games to hit in quite some time. For its latest offering, Nippon Ichi is once again serving some fresh takes on the standard turn-based strategy formula, which is once again wrapped in gorgeous 2D art. We had the opportunity to test out a work-in-progress version of the game to see what the developer's latest creation holds.

Phantom Brave will be well-suited to anyone who liked Disgaea or La Pucelle: Tactics.

Phantom Brave follows the adventures of a young girl named Marona, a cute green-haired lass who wouldn't be out of place in most any anime. As with all cute and color-coiffed maidens of her variety, Marona is sporting some serious baggage. The young girl possesses the unique ability to summon phantoms to do her bidding. Rather than waste her time sewing up her own costume and thinking up a suitably heroic name so she can fight the forces of evil like some superhero, young Marona has wisely opted to be more industrious. She works as a hired gun along with the collection of phantoms residing on her rented island home.

Her right-hand phantom is Ash, a hero seen in the game's opening sequence who met with what was apparently an untimely demise. Since transitioning to ghosthood, Ash has taken to looking after Marona. As if all that wasn't enough baggage, Marona also happens to be possessed. Yes, it's all a bit much, but such weirdness ensures interesting adventures. The game's narrative will follow the pair as they go about making money and taking out evil in strategic turn-based fashion. However, don't expect a very conventional storytelling method, as Phantom Brave's narrative unfolds in a very deliberate fashion. While it's not initially easy to follow the tale, you just have to ride the wave of disorientation, and it all starts to make loony sense after a while.

Although Phantom Brave takes a pretty unconventional approach to telling its story, the game makes use of a pretty typical structure for its genre. Your time will be divided between watching cinematic sequences that move the story along, interacting with NPCs, party management, and a whole lot of turn-based combat. The cinematics in the game are lengthy and focus on the use of the in-game graphics, which help to keep you in the game experience. Interacting with NPCs is basic, and you can chat with the locals when you can control Marona. Party management is done when Marona and company are kicking it on her island between missions.

Marona and her stable of phantoms will battle the forces of evil throughout the game's wacky storyline.

The phantoms you'll summon can be found milling around the place. While you'll only start out with a few phantoms to take with you on your adventures, that number will grow considerably as you progress. How much more will that number grow, you may ask? We'll put it this way: The maximum number of phantoms you can have roaming on Marona's island at any one time is 50, and Phantom Brave features a storage system for phantom overflow. Anyone familiar with Nippon Ichi and its penchant for populating its games with large, eclectic casts should know what to expect from Phantom Brave. Fans will also be pleased to see some cameos from previous Nippon Ichi games as well as some playable guest stars.

While most of this should be old hat to veteran players, Phantom Brave's combat system is unique. The framework of battles is classic strategy game all the way: your duels will take place in a set area and they will play out over the course of alternating turns between you and your foes. You'll deploy your team of fighters against a comparable, or in some cases, potentially overwhelming, opposing force. Victory is achieved by smart use of your fighters and the unique abilities they possess, such as physical and magical attacks and healing magic. Now, while this all sounds pretty routine for a strategy game, aside from these basics, Phantom Brave's battle system isn't quite like anything you've played before.