Phantom Brave didn't achieve Disgaea's success, partly due to its perceived complexity, but these concerns are largely unfounded. Fans of Disgaea will find familiar mechanics in Phantom Brave and its sequel, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero.
Phantom Brave and Disgaea—Two Sides of the Same Coin
A Look at Nippon Ichi Software’s Underrated SRPG
When you hear Nippon Ichi Software, one series might spring to mind: Disgaea. Absurdly high damage numbers, deep customization, and a sense of humor that winks at its own absurdity; these signature characteristics have helped carve out a loyal fanbase since the original title debuted in 2003. But tucked away in Nippon Ichi’s catalog lies another game that perhaps doesn’t get the same recognition, despite offering an experience just as compelling: Phantom Brave.
At first glance, Phantom Brave might seem like an outlier. Its more intimate storytelling and unconventional battle system set it apart from the over-the-top spectacle of Disgaea. Though it functioned as a traditional SRPG, it alienated itself from its contemporaries. Compared to Disgaea, it was perhaps too ahead of its time.
But make no mistake: fans of Disgaea who give Phantom Brave a chance will find plenty to love. Beneath the surface, it shares much of what makes Disgaea so beloved—its near-limitless customization and systems that reward those who enjoy pushing mechanics to their limits. And with Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero on the horizon, there’s no better time to revisit what makes this series stand on its own.
The Grid and Gridless
At the core of Disgaea lies a grid-based system—a familiar feature in the SRPG genre. Movement here is confined to a set pattern of squares, where every character’s positioning and ability to interact with the environment is bound by this rigid structure.
In contrast, Phantom Brave takes a step away from this conventional approach and embraces instead a gridless, free-motion system that grants far more flexibility with actions. Movement is no longer confined to squares; characters instead navigate within a radius determined by their Move stat. This freedom extends to skills and attacks as well. Positioning, then, becomes a far more nuanced affair. Even the slightest shift, a mere pixel’s difference in an area-of-effect attack, can drastically alter a turn.
This sense of freedom is further exemplified by the way turns work in both games. In Disgaea, combat operates on a turn-based system where actions are queued up in advance, and a character’s Speed stat, rather than directly influencing turn order or attack execution speed, plays a more defensive role. It primarily governs a unit’s evasion, effectively decreasing the accuracy of incoming attacks. Turn orders in Phantom Brave, however, are tied to a character’s Speed stat directly. Similar to most turn-based RPGs, you can see the turn order displayed on the screen. This means that faster characters will get more turns, and you can prioritize taking out enemies that might act between your characters’ turns. Hypothetically, if a character’s Speed significantly outclasses their opponents, it’s even possible for them to act multiple times in a row before any enemies get a turn.
However, Phantom Brave balances this advantage by also giving units the Remove stat. The game makes use of Marona’s Confine ability. It involves Marona, the protagonist, imbuing objects on the map with Phantoms to fight by her side. These Phantoms—your units—can only remain in battle for a limited number of turns, after which they are automatically removed from the field. This system ensures that even with the speed advantage, summoned units must still be managed carefully, as over-relying on a single overpowered unit can leave players vulnerable when they vanish.
This mechanic stands in stark contrast to Disgaea’s spawn points, where players can deploy up to ten units from the Base Panel at any time. Confine, though, demands foresight and a bit of resource management, as it is less about overwhelming your enemies with sheer numbers and more about maximizing the effectiveness of every turn.
Interacting with the Map
While both games also make use of environmental factors, Disgaea takes this idea to a colorful extreme with Geo Panels—brightly colored squares scattered across the map that grant buffs or debuffs. Destroying a Geo Symbol, the source of the Geo Panels’ effects, can trigger chain reactions that can reshape the map and, as a side effect, damage enemies.
Phantom Brave lacks Geo Panels per se, but it does introduce a similar concept through the use of "Confined" objects. These objects, which can be anything from swords to rocks to flower pots, can grant stat bonuses to the Phantom confined to them. What’s more, these objects can be moved, destroyed, or even used as weapons against your enemies, provided, however, that your unit isn’t already holding an item.
Lifting and Throwing
When comparing Phantom Brave and Disgaea, one of the more enjoyable contrasts lies in the way both games approach lifting and throwing. In Disgaea, lifting and throwing units or objects is a core part of the gameplay. Lifting is an action that allows a unit to pick up an item or another character, and throwing that lifted object can result in various outcomes. These can range from simply moving a character a greater distance than their normal movement allows, to even fusing enemies together to create a more powerful single enemy. The key appeal here is the simplicity and utility of the mechanic.
A unit can throw an object in a straight line based on their Throw stat. A particularly useful tactic is throwing enemies out of bounds for an instant kill, though this comes with a trade-off: the remaining enemies on the map gain experience. All-in-all, it’s convenient, effective, and easy to grasp. Players can even stack units on top of each other and perform Tower Attacks. The sheer variety of ways to manipulate objects and enemies in Disgaea gives it a level of depth that is unrivaled in many other SPRGs.
Lifting and throwing still exist in Phantom Brave, but the game approaches these mechanics differently. Units and objects can still be lifted, but doing so is synonymous with equipping them. Lifting a sword, for instance, lets you use its skills and boosts your stats, but it prevents you from carrying anything else. Moreover, much like Disgaea, throwing an enemy off the map in the original Phantom Brave resulted in their outright death. However, The Lost Hero got rid of this cheesy mechanic. This time, enemies thrown out of bounds return to the battlefield with minor damage, and objects thrown to allies not holding anything are automatically equipped.
This design change likely stemmed from the original game’s inherent challenges. Accidental knockbacks, often sending enemies and even allied units tumbling off the map, were a frequent frustration among players, so this revision appears to be a deliberate attempt at balancing that out, especially given the fact that player units gain no experience when allies are eliminated in this way.
Fusing with Monsters and with Friends
If you’ve played Disgaea 3 or Disgaea D2, you might recognize elements of Magichange and Monster Mounting in Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero’s Confriend system. Magichange allows monsters to temporarily transform into weapons, while Monster Mounting, as the name suggests, sees a human on top of a monster to turn them into a single unit.
Confriend is unique to Phantom Brave and takes this concept in a different direction. By befriending Phantoms, Marona can temporarily bind them to herself so that she gains their abilities for a single turn. This fusion, however strong in itself, comes with strict restrictions: only Marona can perform it, and the effect requires a cooldown period before it can be used again. As Marona’s bond with a Phantom deepens, though, she gains additional turns. If your units are strong enough, it is even possible to solo an entire map with her!
The Future of Phantom Brave
Disgaea has thrived over the years, growing into Nippon Ichi’s flagship franchise with multiple sequels, spin-offs, and remasters. Phantom Brave, meanwhile, has remained more niche. Yet, its innovations warrant just as much recognition—especially now, with Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero just right around the corner. This sequel has the potential to reintroduce the series to a wider audience, and for Disgaea fans who may have overlooked it, there’s no better time to dive in.
As Nippon Ichi’s Yuya Hosono mentioned in an interview with Dengeki, the developers are aware of the series’ passionate fanbase and are considering how to move forward. "Our company’s chief series is Disgaea," Hosono said. "But because we have wanted to make one more IP to be in line with it for a long time, I thought that meant it was a good time to start development on a new Phantom Brave."
It’s tempting to imagine what Phantom Brave could become if it received the same attention and growth as Disgaea. Future entries might expand its mechanics, introduce new systems, or even borrow elements from later Disgaea games, such as Evilities or Reincarnation, in a way that fits Phantom Brave’s identity. The Lost Hero is poised to lay the groundwork for the future of the series, and with the developers' stated interest in the franchise's future, there is potential for Phantom Brave to carve out a legacy as enduring as its older sibling's.
Source:
Dengeki | 『ファントム・ブレイブ 幽霊船団と消えた英雄』開発者インタビュー。20年越しの続編制作決定のきっかけは? 新キャラクターたちの魅力にも迫る【TGS2024】
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