Phantom Brave: We Meet Again Review for Nintendo Wii

System: Wii	Review Rating Legend
Dev: NIS	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: NIS America	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Aug. 11, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

The sound has also been improved for the Wii release. Phantom Brave already had a great soundtrack, which featured plenty of simple yet moody themes. The core of the music has stayed the same, but like the visuals, it has been remixed slightly so that the sound is a little bit clearer coming through the speakers than it was in the PlayStation 2 version. Although the vocal track was not altered for the Wii version, it bears mentioning as it too is of great quality.

Phantom Brave: We Meet Again screenshot

Despite all these changes, the most important aspect of Phantom Brave has not been changed at all: the combat system. Phantom Brave has a very interesting combat system, as it is tactics-based, but does not use a standard tactics grid. Instead, the game's battle system allows you to roam free on a map using circular ranges. Characters can attack others using a variety of attack and power-based ranges. The size and scope of these ranges depend largely on your characters individual stats, and the game encourages lots of targeted character development to develop either the strength or breadth of each character's ranges.

Aside from the way the battle system treats the playing field, it also does a few other things differently. For instance, instead of having all the characters file onto the battlefield at once, the game requires you to use the main character to summon all the phantom warriors. But there's a catch: the phantoms can only be summoned using inanimate objects. These inanimate objects can be everything from rocks to shrubbery, and each object has its own bonuses that can be given to the phantom if they are chosen to be summoned there. The game features plenty of tactical choices that can supplement or complement each character's development, if used wisely. Even though I did miss the familiar grid system of other tactics-based RPGs, Phantom Brave really stands out because of its unique approach, and as such is worth checking out for tactics fans.

Although Phantom Brave: We Meet Again can best be described as a port of an old PlayStation 2 game, this is one "Wii-Make" that stands out among the competition. If you've never played Phantom Brave before, the game is worth checking out for its memorable story and unique combat mechanics. Additionally, if you have already experienced the game, it is worth picking up again for the new content and technical upgrades. This title was definitely overlooked last generation, and to miss it again would be a crime indeed!

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.8

Graphics
Pixel-based sprites have a cool nostalgic look to them. Environments are nicely detailed but stoic.

4.1

Control
With two control schemes (Wii-mote on its side or Wii-Mote and Nunchuk) you can control this game any way you want. I personally found the Wii-mote only option to be a little more user-friendly, but both are easy to master.

3.8

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Background music features simple, pleasant melodies that have been remixed slightly to improve quality for the rerelease. Voice acting is also of very good quality.

4.4

Play Value
With 80+ hours of content and an engaging story, you can stay immersed in the world of Phantom Brave for quite awhile.

4.1

Overall Rating - Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Enhanced and expanded: With all new features exclusive to this Wii release, including new story chapters, a streamlined user interface, graphical improvements, and new items, skills and characters, this is the definitive version of one of the highest rated strategy RPGs ever. Over 100 hours of gameplay!

Unique Strategy RPG gameplay: The innovative "CONFINE" unit summoning system allows for nearly limitless gameplay combination. Players can summon ghosts and monsters as battle units by confining souls into objects on the battlefield like rocks, plants, and items. Depending on the object, the end result may differ dramatically.

Advanced character customization: Master a hardcore character customization system in which players can create units from a number of list of monster/ghost categories and power them up in a variety of ways, allowing for tons of replayability.