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So much 2 do

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: September 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was kind of sceptical about this title. I loved Disgeia, but La Pucelle didn't really do anything for me. Well, this definately delivered the strategy fun I've been missing. While it isn't like either of its predicessors {combat wise} it adds a NEW type of strategy. Confining. I could explain it, but I don't feel like it, so I'll just say its tight. Another cool thing is that ANYTHING on the battlefield, {bushes,bricks, etc.} can be used as a weapon. I mean they have uniqe moves and everything ! There is however a bit of a learning curve {for the book doesn't cover much at all} But once u figure everything out its just as addictive as Disgeia ever was. {0r more so}

A cute RPG with interesting combo-ability

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 34 / 38
Date: September 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Phantom Brave is a story-driven RPG broken into 20 chapters. In it you play Marona, a 13 yr old girl who can talk with phantoms. She goes on quests with her phantom-pal Ash.

I have to say I was disappointed with the graphics in this game when it began, as you sit through the entry cut-scenes involving Marona's parents and Ash. Both parents die, leaving Marona an orphan at age 5. You then jump forward in time to her at 13, living alone on an island with phantom-pal Ash. The island is her home which she hopes to someday buy. In the meantime, she works with her phantom friends to solve problems for people. Unfortunately, while some people need her skills, most resent her for her strange powers.

The graphics are on the cute-anima-short-people side, much like Ragnarok. The backgrounds are a bit blocky. The sound is also on the cute side, with bouncy music humming along.

The RPG aspect of the game is actually quite interesting. In most RPGs you just get one or two friends to travel with you. Here you get a wide selection of phantoms to work with, each with his or her own skills. You can name the phantoms and really build a party that works well with your gaming style.

Not only do you have phantoms to work with, but you can "confine" objects on the battlefield and use them as weapons. Each item has its own special skills - and when you merge an item with a given phantom, the combination can range from so-so to truly incredible based on the match.

Strangely, while much of this game seems very much geared towards kids with its cute look and feel, there are also scenes of blood-dripping monsters, characters yelling out "what the hell is this?" and words like "blasphemous" being tossed arond.

The in-game help is reasonably good and while it can be confusing to get started, once you get the hang of things it's not hard to work with your party and move through the levels. On the other hand, the game starts throwing around characters, groups and political situations without much introduction. It's the type of game that may seem quite confusing the first time through - and only begins to make sense when you play it the second time around and know the players and factions.

The game is pretty heavy-handed with the "everyone picks on the 13 yr old" and "she is blithely happy no matter what happens around her" scenarios. There is also a sappy voice-over that comes from nowhere to fill in the details.

A fun RPG for anime fans and those who love playing with combinations and tweaking to see what works best - but be aware of the cuteness / sappy factor. Some people love that ... and some will be drive crazy.

Creative

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: September 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

So I have to say I was slightly let down by LaPucelle tactics and was hoping they would make a comeback with the next installment, they did...relatively.
To look at the game graphic wise it is easy to say that they are slightly outdated taking you back to the days of Ogre Tatcics or Final Fantasy Tactics, but I think that having them this way fits the personality of the game to a "T".
The actual combat system is VERY unique. Instead of just choosing your characters at the beginning of the battle like all other "tactic-like" games you start every battle with Marona, the main character. It is up to her to "confine" various items found throuhout the playing feild into playable characters. The only downside to this is they have a pre-set number of turns that they are allowed to stay on the field before the disapperar until the next battle. This can get very tedious especially later in the game.
Now on to its slight downfalls. The actual story isnt that bad but it gets muddled down into tiny episodes on how the main character is in outcast but it is all right with her cliches and you can see them coming a mile away. On top of that the voice acting isnt that great. It seems like the actors are just reading a pre-set script rahter than putting any emotion into it. Lastly there is also this very cheezy narrator that pops up at the most oppurtune time to inform you on the innner feelings of the characters, think of your kindergarten teachers voice mixed with that of Michael Jacksons.
Overall though it is a highyl enjoyable game with great elemnts and strategy to it, 4 stars because of the story.

It's not Disgaea

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: September 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

But if Disgaea didn't exist this game would get five stars. The 3d point of view is excelent and adds a fresh new look to the strategy RPG cannon.

I love the variety of spells and skills and there is so much to explore that this game will give easily over 100 hours of entertainment.

The story is weak but it's really only about 10% of the game. Most of the game is really played in the random dungeons so you don't have to suffer through the predictable story adventures over and over.

All in all it's a great game but if you don't have a strategy RPG for PS2 pick up Disgaea first. Also get the strategy guide for this one it's completely worth it.

Great strategy game - plus soundtrack audio cd

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 19
Date: September 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If any strat games have interested you before, this one you would love!.. No grids, witty comments, complexity, it's here.

Limited Edition includes audio-cd soundtrack also!

An upgraded disgaea

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 16
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I loved Disgaea. I haven't played La Pucelle Tactics yet, but I picked this game up.

I love it! It's just like Disgaea (some people might think that's bad), but you know, upgraded! Interesting new features are the ability to confine your phantoms into objects on the battle map. It's extremely customizable that way, and if you confine wrong...well...you are probably going to lose.

Otherwise, the ability to combine items with characters to give different abilities is really cool.

THe storyline is a bit linear so far (I haven't completed the game yet), and Marona can be a bit aggravating because of how she acts, but oh well.

If you like Disgaea or La Pucelle, pick this game up. It's not as hilarious as Disgaea, but it's still a great game! It's a bit more serious.

Don't Waste Your Money!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 68
Date: May 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is so lacking in current technology that it is like playing PAC-MAN. There are animated sequences that are well done, like small snippets of a cartoon..... BUT the gameplay is awkward and outdated. If you are used to the quality of play in say...Jak or Ratchet and Clank... then you will be terribly disappointed in this game.

IF I had been able to preview it before I bought it for my daughter, it would still be on a shelf somewhere in a wrapper.

It is also rated TEEN.... Believe me with all the gore, how it got past a MATURE Rating, I will never know. YUCK! Also, if you are worried at all about gratutitous cursing... Stay away from this one. It usually doesn't phase me, but to have my daughter exposed to hearing curse words in almost every sentence... it was too much for me.

This is a loser all around as far as I am concerned. Take you child to McDonalds or something with the money you will save.... you will be glad you did. I would have given it a ZERO, but the choice was not offered!

And now for an ACTUAL review...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 29 / 31
Date: June 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Don't believe anything Steelman (mommarock?) said about Phantom Brave, as she was apparently too busy selling her body for crack to actually play the game. Ratchet and Clank? It's not even the same genre, it's like trying to compare a toaster to a refrigerator. Anyway, this is, by far, the best of the Nippon Ichi strategy rpg's, with a typically sacharine anime storyline and an insanely dense customization feature that allows anything and everything on the battlefield to be used as a weapon, leveled up and/or fused to other items and to characters. Literally everything, trees, rocks, shrubbery, fish, pots, lamps, even the bodies of slain enemies. I've spent far more time leveling up and fusing my characters to starfish than I have actually playing through the storyline, it's damn addictive.
And Mrs. Mommarock must be a puritan of the most vile degree, since there is virtually no gore in this game (and what there is happens to be excessively cartoonish) and the only swear word I have found after countless hours of playing is the word "crappy," which I'm not even certain counts as a swear word amongst most of us normal folk, and is probably the only reason the game didn't get a "G" rating (though I'm sure the distinction is probably too great for someone in a crack-induced haze). Anyway, if you're a fan of Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaia, La Pucelle, etc, this is a must have.

New kind of Strategy RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: June 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a great new kind of srpg because there is no grid giving you alot of freedom. Mainly all srpg have grids and its boring seeing just squares everywhere but this game doesn't. That's a huge plus to this game. Also this game is a pretty serious game with some humor in it. The gameplay like most srpg is easy to get but this requires more strategy than anyother srpg I've seen. Your characters only have a certain number of turns to stay on the field, so playing all of your best guys in the beginning is bad. I haven't finished the game yet but so far its been VERY GOOD.

Awful...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 22
Date: July 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm personally amazed at how high of ratings this game gets, considering what the actual game contains. As a huge Disgaea fan and someone who enjoyed La Pucelle tactics, I expected more of the same from Nippon Ichi Software...

... boy was I disappointed.

Some things you should know before buying this game:

ALL of your decent characters, in game, have a very VERY finite amount of turns that you can use them for. What this means is that say you've got a nice super powered knight character... on average, assuming you 'confine' him to a decent object, he'll be around for 5 or so turns. After that? No more character for the rest of the battle. This is MURDER on levels that are big, because if your enemies are halfway across the screen then you either waste half of your turns getting them, or get the 'main' character (who happens to have awful stats) close enough to the enemies that she runs the risk of being ganged up on and horribly whooped. And, joy of joys, only the characters doing the attacking get experience, so those low level characters take an awfully annoying amount of time to level up.

Also, aside from a weapon, you've got no equipment. A single weapon can raise up all of your stats, but your weapons can be pilfered and tossed out of the arena (which means you can't use them.)

They murdered the lovely 'item world' that you could play in Disgaea, and instead replaced it with 'Dungeons'. Dungeons have types, and titles. (note that every enemy in this dungeon will have this title.) that means if you're heading into a dungeon with a super powered title, you can expect that ALL of the enemies in that particular dungeon will be likewise overpowered and horrible.

There's also, no new game plus...

Which in a way is a blessing, because the storyline is just plain awful. I imagine most children over the age of 10 could come up with a more convincing plotline than the one they try to pull off, and whereas Disgaea's weak moments were at least highlighted by humor... the attempt at seriousness leaves the player kind of staring at the screen.

Given that I've given it one star, I know most people will probably not bother to read this review, thinking I just had some horrible bias against the game, but in all honesty I really think that's the rating this game deserves. While I like strategy rpg's for their level building and making powerful characters, I also like the satisfaction of getting to see those characters raze maps with their might, instead of going 'only 3 turns left... only 3 turns left!'. The only possible value I can see in this game is if you just enjoy senseless, difficult level building that doesn't really amount to alot in the end anyway.

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