Fans of the wildly popular strat-RPG series Disgaea are likely familiar with spinoff of sorts Phantom Brave, which takes much of Disgaea’s quirkiness and attitude and ramps things up a bit with a lighthearted narrative and intuitive sans-grid battle system. It takes a sharp turn from Disgaea in terms of tone and even the way things play out, but rabid NIS fans flock to it for much of the same reason they eagerly devour parts of the Disgaea saga. Phantom Brave: Heroes of the Hermuda Triangle is not the third in what you would assume is a series of Phantom Brave outings, but is in fact the third reissue of the fantastic game that first appeared on the PlayStation 2. After a successful Wii port with substantial upgrades and additional content, NIS America has brought the action to the PSP to take the show on the road. The same source material is here, as well as some new content, but is the third time a charm? Is this the definitive Phantom Brave?
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Review: Lord of Arcana
Lord of Arcana is a familiar, yet barebones release. It incorporates much of what makes higher-profile offerings a delight to play and doesn’t pretend to be anything more than an echo of successful games past. Take the portable Monster Hunter releases — plenty of loot, accessible multiplayer, and pacing that makes it easy to see why the franchise is so popular. In contrast, Lord of Arcana drags along, forces you to grind excessively, and offers little in return. I can’t say I was surprised at this revelation, but during the course of my solo adventure, I was frequently enraged and ready to quit playing.
Impressions: NeoGeo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
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The NeoGeo was home to many memorable adventures, many of which are still obviously revered today. Today some of the most remarkable heroes are immortalized in NeoGeo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting for another handheld of our time, the PSP. It places some of the most memorable characters of the mega-shock era into a completely different environment than their native games – a top-down “bullet hell” shooter that places you in control of one of these said heroes rather than a more conventional spaceship or super-powered craft. Interesting that a game based on franchises and featuring characters best known for their fighting game and platform appearances would appear in a shooter, but hey, whatever works.
Review: God of War: Ghost of Sparta
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As long as you’ve got Kratos, a decent mythological storyline, and tight controls, any installment of God of War is going to shine. You could argue that it suffers from the “same” syndrome, rarely improving on its core mechanics and offering the same jollies at every turn, but isn’t that what its imitators are for? When similar releases can’t seem to get the basics down pat, i.e. Dante’s Inferno, I’m thankful that the franchise that launched a thousand cookie-cutter spinoffs remains what made it so memorable in the first place.
Impressions: Ys: The Oath in Felghana
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It’s been a great year for fans of the Ys franchise. With Ys Seven providing a robust and entertaining new adventure for series protagonist Adol Christin and an expansive world to explore on the PSP, it’s clear that the PSP is slowly becoming the handheld of choice for this venerable RPG series. Since the series debut in 1987, there have been several releases over the years as well as re-releases, the latest being Ys: The Oath in Felghana, a remake of Ys III: Wanders of Ys that ditches the original’s side-scrolling gameplay and transposes the more ‘correct’ top-down perspective that fans have decided is the only way to play. As these glossy new updates are being subsequently released, my respect and admiration for the cult classics grows and grows. You have to respect games that can open up a brand new world for gamers who have never experienced them before, such as myself. I’m a relative newcomer to Ys, having dabbled previously in DS and PSP iterations, so it was a treat to see this game without the rose-colored glasses of youth.