Game looks GREAT for something from the OG Xbox era.
I keep wondering what a true sequel would look and feel like if MS gave the right budget and pit a proper AAA studio behind it.
Odds are in todays day and age, Phantom Dust would get a F2P treatment rather than AAA.
Mainly because of how everything is already so close to a real life TCG it would just be so easy to monetize in a way not dissimilar to Killer Instinct. You give players access to a piece up front, using current numbers lets say 150 skills, arsenal building, a full campaign, and the multiplayer. Bonus points if they incorporate a co-operative mode (as I think a Phantom Dust horde mode could do wonders to attract newcomers and encourage experimentation, but that's another topic). You make money mostly the same way they have done here in the rerelease, but on a bigger scale. Random assortment junk packs with varying degrees of cost, that you can also earn through in game play. Support with new maps, the monetized junk packs,
maybe offer an option to just buy all skills outright, throw in a custom character system with unlockable cosmetics (but keep the artstyle), and you've got yourself a stew going there.
The problem would come from the need to balance the games skills and their unlock rate in a way so newcomers and free players don't feel like they are at a disadvantage, which ends up being a problem in most FTP games (again, this could be alleviated with things like cooperative modes where I would imagine the response is different since the ones who are more powerful are always also on your side, as well as custom games so players are welcome to avoid that stuff entirely.)
What could really be interesting is what level they could take it to. Imagine the underground city on a much grander scale, with instances similar to Destiny's Tower, and you could run around and interact with other player controlled Espers, trade skills and link up for quests.
Imagine if they took it even further, being able to walk from underground to the world above as you see the light and dust swirl furiously in the distance as you approach.
Hell, they could cut costs by keeping in canon with the first game and limiting players exposure aboveground to 15 minutes, building small but dense miniature parts of a bigger open world, interconnected by underground tunnels and the occasional online community/hub worlds.
I'm gonna stop now before I really sit here and go crazy brainstorming what a modern Phantom Dust could be.
I didn't make this connection when I was putting tons of time into SSD but you are absolutely right. That game was fantastic.
I didn't play Delta, but I totally agree that Soul Sacrifice was the closest any game has gotten to this. Either way, it's by far one of my fav Vita games for sure.
Now imagine SSD's combat and additional Skill/Spell types with Phantom Dust's setting, depth, and Arsenal system.
