Info about Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero:

Official game description:
Set sail to save the day in this colorful strategy RPG! Join Marona – a gifted young girl with the power to speak to Phantoms – as she traverses the ocean world of Ivoire, providing aid to those in need. When a fleet of ghost ships attack, it’s up to Marona and her new friend Apricot to assemble the legendary crew that once defeated these spectral foes.
Recruit Phantoms, bind them to objects, combine them with Gadgets, and even merge them with Marona herself to unleash show-stopping abilities and sink the Shipwreck Fleet!
Marona is a young girl with the power to speak to Phantoms, the spirits of those who have passed on. Alongside her dear friend, the Phantom Ash, she sails the ocean world of Ivoire, providing aid to those in need.
But when a fleet of ghost ships attacks and separates them, it’s up to Marona and her new friend Apricot to assemble the legendary crew that defeated the ghost ships once before.
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is an unconventional Strategy RPG that features free movement on a gridless map. Summon your Phantom squad members during battle by “Confining” their souls to objects on the map.
What object you Confine them to is up to you, and each different object informs their stats. Phantoms can also “Confire” with special gadget items for slow-moving but hard-hitting attacks.
In addition, Marona can “Confriend” with Phantoms to transform her appearance and access special attacks!
**Play It Your Way:** Create a team of allies from over 50 unit types and send them into battle! How the fight unfolds is limited only by your imagination.
**Phantom Possession:** Take on tactical turn-based RPG battles using the Confine system, which allows Phantoms you've befriended to combine with and possess items to battle alongside you!
**Light-hearted Adventure:** Marona may be on a quest to save her dear friend Ash, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be fun and new friendships to be found along the way!
Wishlist Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero today!

Release date: 24 Apr, 2025

Categories: Tactical RPG, Turn-based Combat, Unit Management, Character Progression, Character Customization, Single-player Story, Environmental Combat, Sandbox Creation


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Fun, innovative, and addictive gameplay (weight 0.6): The game is praised for its fun core gameplay, innovative systems, and overall addictiveness, exceeding previous entries from the developer. Reviewers appreciate the creative possibilities and are glad to see the series moving forward.
- Appealing and cute characters (weight 0.21): The game features appealing characters, including returning characters like Marona and new characters like Apprico. The 'Kizuna Confine' is also noted as a cute feature.
- Streamlined, faster character leveling (weight 0.18): The game streamlines character leveling with features like an experience-boosting ship and the Juice Bar for banking EXP. This reduces grinding and allows for quicker leveling of new recruits, though some depth in character customization may be lost.
- Preserves series' gameplay features (weight 0.1): The game retains expected features like undo moves and attack animations reminiscent of earlier titles. The reviewer specifically appreciates the return of Marona's fusion skills.
- Enhanced visuals (weight 0.05): Updated visuals enhance the experience.
- Runs well on Steam Deck (weight 0.05): The reviewer believes the game will run well on the Steam Deck due to its small size.
- Steam version has achievements (weight 0.05): The Steam version has achievements, unlike the Switch version.
- Sequel to Phantom Brave 1 (weight 0.04): The game is a sequel to Phantom Brave 1, taking place six months later.
- Serviceable story (weight 0.04): The story is serviceable so far.
- Forces playing past refund time (weight 0.02): The game's design forces players to continue playing due to exceeding the refund time. This point shows signs of review bombing.

Common complaints:
- Numerous bugs and glitches (weight 0.95): The game is plagued with bugs, including softlocks, animation glitches, and characters getting stuck in the environment. These issues can lead to loss of progress and require the game to be force closed.  Poor enemy AI pathfinding also contributes to these problems.
- Poor optimization, low framerates (weight 0.63): The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to low frame rates and slowdowns, especially when multiple characters are on screen. This significantly impacts the player experience, particularly during island interactions.
- Inconsistent voice acting (weight 0.51): The game suffers from inconsistent voice acting. Some animations and spell effects are also considered low quality.
- Restricted mechanics, less freedom (weight 0.3): Several mechanics have been changed or removed, limiting player freedom, character customization, and strategic options.  These changes negatively impact the overall tempo and make the game feel more restrictive than previous titles.
- Weak and disappointing story (weight 0.23): The story is considered weak, childish, and repetitive compared to previous titles in the series.  Some reviewers felt the lighthearted tone clashes with the series' history.
- Uncontrollable bounce physics (weight 0.16): Bounce physics cause characters to bounce uncontrollably, wasting time and potentially leading to a loss of control.  Knockback effects exacerbate this issue.
- Unfair slot machine mechanic (weight 0.15): The dungeon slot machine mechanic can unexpectedly one-shot characters, leading to significant progress loss and frustration. This feels unfair and punishes players without warning.
- Messy and clunky UI (weight 0.14): The user interface is messy, clunky, and harder to see compared to the previous game. The button prompts are confusing, using numbers instead of standard controller glyphs.
- Unskippable battle animations (weight 0.05): Battle animations cannot be skipped, which can become tedious for players who want to speed up the gameplay.
- Tedious title management (weight 0.05): Managing titles is tedious due to the need to manually delete them one by one, with a confirmation prompt for each deletion.

Gameplay feedback:
- Many features add gameplay depth (weight 0.27): The game incorporates a wide array of features, including numerous weapon types, skills, and playable characters, alongside mechanics like reincarnation, awakening, and Dragonball-style fusion. Additionally, the AI and class passives have been tweaked, and enemies can be knocked off the field, adding depth and variety to the gameplay experience.
- Returning mechanics with new twists (weight 0.25): The game retains core mechanics from previous titles, such as the 'One Item' rule, while introducing new features like Marona's 'instant throw' ability and a revamped confinement system. These changes impact gameplay balance and require players to adapt to new strategies.
- Movement and aiming are clunky (weight 0.22): Characters experience movement issues, such as getting stuck on objects or requiring specific key presses for simple actions like stepping. Additionally, aiming attacks is difficult due to poor controls for specifying range and direction, hindering player precision.
- UI and systems are confusing (weight 0.11): The game suffers from visual clutter, making it difficult to identify items on the map even when highlighted. This issue is compounded by a complex UI and game systems that are generally difficult for players to understand, leading to a frustrating user experience.
- Limited dungeon creation options (weight 0.1): The dungeon creation mode is limited by a lack of control over key parameters like enemy count and area size. The reliance on pre-made maps instead of variable generation restricts player adaptability and strategic planning, diminishing the creative potential of the feature.
- Home area feels limited (weight 0.1): The home area has been streamlined to primarily function as a task menu and mission hub, reducing the need for NPC interaction. However, the small size of the home area and the summon limit feel outdated, potentially limiting player options and exploration.
- Minor control/UI annoyances (weight 0.09): The game has some minor control and UI issues, such as confirmation prompts appearing when the title list is full and the inability to select an enemy character after selecting a technique. These issues can disrupt the flow of gameplay and cause frustration.
- Unskippable skill animations (weight 0.06): The inability to skip or speed up skill animations disrupts the flow of combat. This forces players to repeatedly watch the same animations, leading to tedium and frustration, especially during longer play sessions.
- Shared experience feels unrewarding (weight 0.06): The game distributes experience points among all participating characters instead of awarding individual experience. This system makes character progression feel less rewarding, as players do not get the satisfaction of directly developing specific characters.

Performance notes:
- Poor AMD GPU performance (weight 0.11): The game exhibits poor performance specifically on AMD GPUs, even high-end models like the RX 7900 XT. This is especially noticeable in 2D menu screens and the home island, suggesting potential driver or optimization issues with AMD hardware.
- Good NVIDIA GPU performance (weight 0.1): Some players report that the game runs well on NVIDIA GPUs, even older models. This contrasts with reports of poor performance on AMD GPUs, suggesting potential optimization discrepancies between the two platforms.
- Manageable with graphic settings (weight 0.05): Some players have found a 'sweet spot' in the graphics settings that improves performance. This suggests that while the game may have optimization issues, it is possible to mitigate them by adjusting the settings.
- Runs well on Steam Deck (weight 0.05): The game appears to run well on the Steam Deck, at least in the early stages. This indicates that the game is potentially well-optimized for some hardware configurations.

Recommendations:
- Not worth full price (weight 0.49): Many reviewers suggest that the game does not live up to the original Phantom Brave and is not worth the full price. They recommend purchasing the original or waiting for a significant sale on this installment, indicating disappointment with the sequel's quality and value.
- Recommended for niche interests (weight 0.11): Several reviewers recommend the game to specific audiences based on their preferences, such as fans of Nippon Ichi Software, stories about pirates and romance, or loli characters. These recommendations are subjective and depend on individual tastes.
- Questionable character design (weight 0.08): One reviewer suggests that Disgaea's morally ambiguous protagonists work better for the series' style of gameplay, while another feels that giving Marona a gun is inconsistent with her personality. These points highlight concerns about character design and narrative choices.
- Balanced difficulty with restrictions (weight 0.05): One reviewer notes that Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is the most balanced and difficult NIS game if equipment fusion is avoided. This provides a specific detail about the game's difficulty and balance under certain conditions.

Other player notes:
- 3D models, dated graphics (weight 0.13): The game uses 3D models for characters and items during battles, and the graphics resemble those of the PS3/Xbox 360 era in HD. This may appeal to players who appreciate the visual style of that period.
- Consistent dialogue style (weight 0.12): The game features dialogue and cutscenes consistent with the series' style. While some find the in-game dialogue cringey, it is logically written, suggesting competent translation.
- Sequel with returning characters (weight 0.09): The game continues the story of the first game, featuring Marona and Ash, and is known for its free-running gameplay. This provides context for returning players.
- Standard NIS America sales tactics (weight 0.08): The game's publisher, NIS America, is known for using similar sales methods, including early purchase bonuses, across their titles. This is a comment on the publisher's practices.
- Overpriced DLC (weight 0.06): The DLC for the game is considered excessively expensive. This point is a direct criticism of the game's monetization strategy.
- Unappealing character sprite style (weight 0.04): One reviewer dislikes the cell-shaded, child-like character sprites. This is a subjective point about the game's art style.

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