I never thought we’d see a follow-up to Phantom Brave. The original launched back in 2004, and while it got a few ports over the years, it always felt like one of Nippon Ichi’s forgotten titles. I was in my late twenties at the time, juggling work and gaming when I stumbled onto it. I liked the characters and the strange systems, but I fell off after a few battles. It just didn’t click back then.
Now, two decades later, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero arrives as a direct sequel and a second chance to revisit Marona and Ash. The story picks up just six months after the first game, but you don’t need to remember the details. A quick opening recap sets things up well, even if you’re coming in fresh. The tone is light, the characters are quirky, and the themes hit harder than expected.
What’s more surprising is how closely this sequel sticks to the original’s weirder ideas. You’re still tossing phantoms into rocks and barrels, only now with more mechanics layered on top. That might scare off newcomers, but if you’re curious, the opening hours give you a clear sense of how it plays.
This isn’t just another tactics game. It’s strange, flexible, and deeply rooted in systems that want you to experiment—or get overwhelmed trying.
Six Months Later, Everything’s Different
The story in Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero picks up just six months after the original. Marona and Ash are back, but their reunion is brief. After a sudden attack at sea, Ash is taken, and Marona ends up alone on an island, unsure where to go next. That’s where she meets Apricot, a timid phantom girl tied to a once-famous pirate crew. With Ash missing and nowhere else to turn, Marona agrees to help Apricot. What follows is a slow but steady adventure built around helping others, forming connections, and finding purpose in small moments.
Even without playing the first game, the story is easy to follow. The opening quickly explains who Marona and Ash are, and the emotional groundwork is laid clearly. You’re never lost, even if this is your first time meeting them. That accessibility goes a long way.
The writing is more relaxed than what you’d expect from NIS. It’s still filled with weird situations and offbeat characters, but there’s a surprising focus on themes like loss, death, and memory. Apricot in particular adds a lot to that. Her anxiety and ghostly status aren’t just jokes—they’re part of how the game explores its world. I didn’t expect that level of emotional depth, but it gave the lighter tone some needed weight.
That said, the plot does wander. Large chunks feel like Marona’s just going along with whatever comes next, and that fits her personality. If you’re looking for a high-stakes epic, this isn’t that kind of story. But if you’re okay spending time with a group of odd ghosts and watching them grow together, it works.
Confine, Confriend, Confused
The combat in Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero looks familiar on the surface—turn-based battles on small maps—but it works nothing like most tactics games. There’s no grid. You move freely within a radius, summon ghosts into objects, and juggle dozens of mechanics that pile on quickly.
Every battle starts with Marona alone. To bring in your team, you Confine phantoms into things scattered around the field—rocks, crates, flowers. The object changes their stats and limits how long they can stay. After four or five turns, they vanish. This forces you to think ahead and bring reinforcements in waves.
One early battle caught me completely off guard. I thought I was doing fine, but then two of my stronger phantoms vanished, and I realized I had no backup left. My healer was still on the sidelines, unconfined, and the only thing nearby was a flowerpot. I tossed her into it, barely saved my last unit, and won by knocking an enemy off the map. It wasn’t clean, but it worked—and that’s when the game finally clicked for me.
Outside of combat, there’s even more to learn. You can create phantoms from different classes, build facilities like a juice bar to redistribute experience, and unlock gadgets and dungeons. It’s overwhelming early on, and the tutorials barely help. I had to replay the first few missions just to understand how weapon use worked.
But once it starts making sense, it opens up. You can go all-in on experimentation or keep things simple using tools like the juice bar. It’s not easy, but it’s flexible.
Too Many Menus, Not Enough Frames
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero has a distinct style that fits right in with Nippon Ichi’s other games. The character portraits are expressive, the environments are clean, and the visual tone stays light—even when the story dips into heavier topics. There’s a lot of personality packed into every screen, especially during cutscenes where character art and text do most of the work.
The combat visuals lean more functional than flashy. Attacks have clear area-of-effect indicators, and movement feels smooth in concept. The performance can dip at times, with occasional stutters and delays during combat or scene transitions. It doesn’t break anything, but it’s noticeable.
Controls also feel off at times. Targeting enemies or positioning a unit just right can be clunky, especially when trying to interact with terrain or line up an attack. That’s made harder by the interface, which piles on multiple layers of stats, menus, and modifiers. Navigating it all takes patience. Something as simple as equipping a weapon can feel like work when menus don’t explain why actions are unavailable.
None of this makes the game unplayable, but it does chip away at the experience. With so many systems to learn, smoother UI and better performance would have helped a lot. As it stands, the presentation is full of charm, but technical issues and interface clutter get in the way.
Not for Everyone, but Perfect for Some
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero doesn’t try to meet you halfway. It throws everything at you—ghosts, gadgets, stat modifiers, reincarnation systems—and expects you to figure it out. That’s a tough ask, especially with limited in-game guidance. But if you can get through the initial learning curve, there’s a lot to appreciate here.
What makes the game stand out isn’t just its mechanics—it’s how strange and personal those systems feel. You’re not just summoning units; you’re deciding who to bring, when to bring them, and what object to shove them into. Even if that means tossing a phantom into a tree just to get a few turns of damage in before they vanish. The combat can be messy, but it also gives you the freedom to think differently and recover from mistakes.
Story-wise, the laid-back pace and thoughtful themes caught me off guard in a good way. It never feels urgent, but it also never drags. Marona’s world is one where small choices matter, and where kindness isn’t just a background trait—it’s the focus. That tone won’t work for everyone, but I appreciated how it stuck with it.
There’s still room for frustration. The UI isn’t easy to work with. The tutorials leave a lot unexplained. And it can feel like the game’s systems are more complex than they need to be. But that complexity is also what makes it stick.
If you’re looking for a tactical RPG that breaks the mold and you don’t mind putting in some work to get there, this is one worth checking out.
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero
Summary
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is a complex and unconventional strategy RPG that rewards creative thinking and patience. Its systems are overwhelming at first, but flexible enough to support different playstyles. The story offers lighthearted charm with deeper emotional themes, and while the UI and performance need work, there’s still something meaningful here. It’s not for everyone, but if it clicks, it sticks.
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