Phantom Brave

Yes, now that I’m done with FF IV: The After Years ( and yes, I DID enjoy it, for the most part, SG, though I will admit they really dropped the ball in the final dungeon) I’ve started playing Phantom Brave (I found it for like 7$, so I said, heck why not? I found some of my favorite games, like PERSONA, in bargain bins.) For those who don’t know, this is another semi-humorous fantasy tactical RPG by the people who brought you DISGAEA (In fact I hear that some Dis characters are hidden in this game). The story (as far as I know- yes, believe it or not, I’ve resisted the temptation of looking up spoilers :wink: ) involves an orphaned little girl who can see ghosts, and her protector, the soul of a friend of her parents, as she fights to be accepted in the (tropical-island inspired) society that superstitiously fears her. I imagine there must be more to it than that, but I’m willing to be surprised for once.

I’m of two minds about the gameplay; on the one hand, I find it surprisingly easier than most tactical RPGS I’ve previously played; on the other, THERE’S SO MUCH BLASTED STUFF TO FIND AND MAKE it drives me nuts!! after a few hours I gave up and downloaded a Gamefaqs guide to find them (because as you know, I’m the kind OF PLAYER who has To find everything in a game.) In fact I have restarted the game TWICE now because I decided I just wasn’t playing it “right”. Yes I know how dumb that sounds. Still can’t help it. :stuck_out_tongue: In particular, the item-creating system seems to be pointless- the stuff at the store is random (??) your items can be stolen or destroyed in battle, etc- I soon decided just to IGNORE that part and focus on the story. ( But I WILL get all the hidden characters! :wink: )

On the other hand, so far I’m really enjoying the Anime-like animation, the voice acting, and the dialogue. Oh and the music too, especially the violin-using themes! :slight_smile:

So anyway, I’m barely starting, I’m up to the part where you look for Putty, whatever/whomever that is. Comments and tips are welcome. In particular: are there classes that can only be made by fusing characters together, or is that just a way to insert any abilities you want in the characters? If the former, I MUST get them!! (Why yes, I play Pokemon, why do you ask? :wink: )

I got this game after playing La Pucelle and Disgaea. At the time (back in 04) I ate those games up. I loved all that stat building and micromanagement. I went and sold it cos I needed money at the time. Last year I found it dirt cheap used and picked it up, played it for all of… 2 hours and just shut down. I realized I can not play micromanagement RPGs like that anymore. It’s cute though, and I like the boundless exuberance of the main character.

Despite that, I’ll probably buy it for the Wii when I get home to fill out my Wii library.

Wil, here are two words that will help out in you levelling/item finding/completionist activities:

Failure dungeons.

Look iit up and have fun! I easily clocked over 100 hours on that game.

Bahamut: Thanks, I did look it up. But I’m not much for playing random dungeons (I made a Dungeon Monk but only for completion’s sake.)

But here’s something I DO need help with: fusions.

You see, I’m playing the game without even the basic game manual that comes with the game (it wasn’t included in the used copy I bought) and I’m still baffled as to the how and whys of it:

  • Can you beat the game without fusions?

  • Does it cost money? (That’s my big problem with the game, too many things cost money and I never seem to have enough.)

  • Can you create classes with it or is just a way to add abilities to characters?

  • Speaking of abilities, I can’t seem to get some of them to work in battle even after I’ve activated them with Mana points. Do the classes have restrictions on what spells they can cast? If so how do I find who can cast what?

I even went to Gamefaqs but the Fusion Guide in it concerns itself more with bonuses and penalties than anything else. I’m not THAT much of a micromanager.

Help anyone?