Phantom Brave Reviews
Phantom Brave requires a lot of time to delve into all of the mechanics and systems available to you. The emotional storyline makes the somewhat tedious grinding worthwhile though, resulting in a great time for fans of more intricate JRPGs.
Phantom Brave PC is the definitive version of the Nippon Ichi RPG... and the game itself is pretty good, to boot.
NIS fans should definitely check this one out, while general SRPG fans may enjoy its quirky spin on battle.
Phantom Brave is an all-timer, but Phantom Brave PC feels much more like a screenprinted masterwork than the real thing. Glossed up slightly, but with very little to no changes since the last re-release, Phantom Brave PC is the least impressive of all. That said, the game itself is still wonderfully great, and new players will be rewarded with the cool breeze of phantoms coming in the air tonight.
The fact that Phantom Brave holds up over 12 years later on PC is a testament to NIS' conventions sticking and working.
Phantom Brave is just as amazing now as it was back when it released on the PS2. Character sprites not having been upgraded aside (really is a minor detail), the story, the combat, and the PC’s processing speed make it all more than worthwhile to either dive back in (or dive into for the first time) the lands of Ivoire. Marona’s story is one of the best that NIS has ever done and her adventures with Ash are only ever supported by great voice acting, amazing musical tracks, and overall well written dialogue for both them and characters that the two come across.
Phantom Brave is a charming little game in its own right, one with a lot of potential to unlock and a prized gem for many a JRPG fan. Unfortunately I cannot see the appeal. The awkward gameplay mechanics mixed with the convoluted nature of how the games stats roll to characters being confined to objects on the battlefield went straight over my head.