Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero Review

Since its original release back in 2004, Phantom Brave has been released on numerous platforms over the years, from the PlayStation 2 all the way to the most recent version on the PlayStation 5. However, now we have a sequel to the classic strategy role-playing game with Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. But was it worth developer Nippon Ichi Software revisiting this world to create a sequel? Or should they have left this phantom in the past?

Set six months after the conclusion of the first game, The Lost Hero once again centres around Marona and Ash. Marona is a young girl once vilified by others and dubbed “The Possessed One” due to her ability to communicate with souls of the dead, known as Phantoms, and give them physical forms by binding them to objects. We also have Ash, a kind young man (who just so happens to be a Phantom) acting as Marona’s guardian.

After the pair help to save the world in the first game, Marona is now seen in a much more positive light in the eyes of the citizens of Ivoire. Our story begins with the pair in the middle of an ocean voyage, when their ship is set upon by the ghostly Shipwreck Fleet. After the battle, Marona finds herself stranded on an island, with Ash nowhere to be seen and the majority of her powers gone. It isn’t long until she meets a Phantom named Apricot, who is searching for her father, and the two join forces to help one another in finding their lost loved ones as well as uncovering the mystery surrounding the Shipwreck Fleet.

Much like the first game, the story in The Lost Hero is full of twists and turns, with plenty of characters (both corporeal and otherworldly) that will aid Marona in her journey. It’s mostly light-hearted and whimsical, with the occasional deep moment or tense series of events that really make you care for the returning characters as well as the debuting ones.

The Lost Hero retains the vibrant and colourful feel of the first game, with one rather big change. Gone are the pixelated 2D character sprites, with chibi-styled 3D character models replacing them. There are both pros and cons to this, however, as though characters and environments look sharper and cleaner than ever thanks to this new design on modern platforms, it certainly loses some of that nostalgic charm. This is absolutely down to personal preference, and although I’d take pixel art over a chibi style every time, The Lost Hero certainly has its own uniquely charming look. It’s always refreshing to play a game with such a vivid colour scheme with an almost hand-drawn visual style, so I’m far from disappointed with the aesthetics, and being able to fully rotate the camera to view your surroundings goes a long way in showing off this well-crafted world.

Moving on to the audio, I found the music pieces heard throughout The Lost Hero to be absolutely excellent. Many of them are relaxing and fitting with the tropical island theme of certain environments. Of course, battles and less peaceful areas come with their own suitable tracks, giving players a wide range of great music to enjoy throughout their adventure.

Unfortunately, the same can’t always be said about the voice acting. Whilst the majority of the cast do put on a great performance, some characters, such as Ash, sound a little off. On the plus side, you can switch to Japanese audio, where the performance across the board is at a much higher standard!

The Lost Hero keeps the previous game’s gridless tactical combat, albeit updated with a wide range of new mechanics. Whilst I don’t dislike grid-based SRPGs, I really enjoy this free-form style of the genre as it gives you a bit more variety when moving your units around the battlefield. You’re not free to just wander anywhere; that would be too easy! Instead, each character is able to move around a circular area surrounding them each turn, with follow-up actions being able to be performed after moving (or before, if you’re already up close and personal with the enemy!).

The basics of combat see Marona using her Chartreuse Gale ability to confine Phantoms to objects (such as trees, rocks, and debris) in order to give them a physical form and aid her in taking out the enemy units. With different objects granting different stat bonuses, this is just the first part of a fairly complex yet incredibly fun battle system. Each Phantom has an attribute called “Remove” indicated by a number next to their character portrait. Once this reaches zero, then they leave the battlefield and cannot be summoned for the remainder of the fight. I initially thought this would make things very difficult, but thanks to certain skills Marona can use to increase their Remove attribute, as well as being able to recruit many, many Phantoms, it became yet another interesting factor in combat, rather than the frustrating mechanic I assumed it would be.

In order to assemble a party ready for anything, Marona can “create” Phantoms that she can then confine in battle. Units are made up of various classes; such as Striker, Witch, and Sailor, and all have their own unique abilities that can be used in combat, with their stats and elemental resistance being customisable during creation. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, so having a party consisting solely of Fighters will be much weaker than an evenly balanced one. There are over 50 different classes to choose from — although not all are selectable from the start — and the sheer amount of depth and party customisation given to the player is very impressive. Sure, it can get a little overwhelming with so many different things to consider, but a very helpful in-game log is always at hand to remind players of what’s what, should they need it. Combat in general in The Lost Hero can get very difficult, especially in the later stages of the game, but with the option to change the difficulty, it certainly caters to a much wider audience than if it had just stuck with the one.

I’ve already mentioned the ability to confine Phantoms to various objects, but there are occasionally more complex items found in battle that Marona can bind her Phantom friends to using her new Confire ability. These items (such as cannons, robotic barrels, and catapults), known as Gadgets, give whichever Phantom confined to them special abilities that can absolutely decimate enemy forces. Trying out each new Gadget was always rewarding; however, perhaps my favourite ability to use was the Confriend skill. After Marona’s Confriend meter is full, she is able to confine a Phantom to her own body for a short time, giving her a new appearance and powerful abilities. Think of something like the fusion from Dragon Ball, and you’ll get the general idea!

When not fighting monsters, pirates, and other no-good creatures, Marona will spend a lot of time at her home base on Skullrock Island. Here, she can assign various Phantoms to specific roles depending on their class, from the simple ones such as a Merchant opening up a shop, to an Explorer giving you the ability to create your own dungeons. Taking my time to build up my island and unlock these different facilities expanded the game greatly, and also helped in beefing my party up for future battles. It’s not overly complex, but it is a great feature that works really well.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is an incredibly engaging SRPG that fans of the first game will absolutely love, as will anyone with an affinity for more strategic, role-playing titles. Its challenging, deep mechanics may take a while to get to grips with, but once everything clicks, then it quickly becomes an endlessly rewarding title, and another brilliant game from Nippon Ichi Software.