With skimpy new Phantom Dust threads appearing almost every day, it's probably a good idea to start an Official GAF thread (TM) dedicated to the game.
General Info: For the uninformed, this is a Microsoft Game Studios-developed title directed by Yukio Futatsugi, formlly of the Sega Saturn Panzer Dragoon team. Phantom Dust is a real-time battle game with plenty of strategy and customization. Up to four fighters can fight over Xbox Live or system-linked Xboxes, each having prepared an "arsenal," or deck of skills. Players can collect up to 340 unique skills -- ranging from fireballs and swords to healing spells and defensive shields -- which then can be fused into a deck and taken into battle.
-The boss battles are particularly impressive and really push the Xbox hardware.
-The ability to totally customize your skill deck and take it into battle is probably the best thing about Phantom Dust. The game does a poor job of masking the fact that most of the 119 single player missions are basically "Kill your opponent" objectives. But with that said, there are an infinite number of ways you can approach the battle. You'll find yourself thinking of creative ways to battle when you're driving or at work (at least I did).
Build an aggressive arsenal that boosts your speed, equip swords, and pummel your opponent, or get creative by casting "slow" on him and then showering him with rain attacks because he's too slow to dash out of the way. Other guys take a defensive approach, erasing each of your opponent's attack skills until he's completely dry, and then slash him to death. (That's a Japanese player favorite btw
-It's not a card game by any means. Futatsugi was a hardcore Magic The Gathering player, but it doesn't feel or play like a card game.
-The music rocks, and it supports custom soundtracks. The CG scenes are pretty good, too.
Teh suck:
-Chapters 1-3 are pretty slow. The gameplay gets complex, but I personally think the game holds your hand for too long. I was itching to build an arsenal after Chapter 1, but you have to wait until Chapter 3. (There are seven chapters in total.)
-The absolutely worst thing about 1P is the way you activate your next mission. Usually a guy in the "Battle Terminal" has the next mission, but every once in a while you have to search the underground base for the right NPC who will give you the next mission. This gets really tedious and I'd highly recommend using an FAQ if only just to find the location of the right NPC to talk to.
-The translation. After playing the Japanese version, I've found dozens of mistranslations in the US version. Some of them even degrade the gameplay. I won't get into specifics here, but you'd be proud of what I've discovered about the US localization, John (considering your line of work). Basically, Volt (the localization company MS hired) did a lazy ass job translating the game. Here's a quick example of three skills:
Armaros アルマロスの裁き
Judge of Ares アレスの裁き
Judge of Anubis アヌビスの裁き
Volt simply translated the top one as "Armaros" where it really should be "Judge of Armaros." The problem? Japanese players obviously can tell that all three of the above skills are related and part of the "Judge" family, but an American player wouldn't know that Armaros really is related to the bottom two. There's a ton more, but I'll stop here.
Your Character's Name: You can select one of thirteen names. Should you not choose any of them you will be named Nanashi. Your choices are:
Alpha
Ice
Age
Key
Gin
Glen
Cruz
Io
Air
Duke
Beard
Silver
Green
Nanashi
Girls Only Like Boyfriends With Great Skills: For anybody determined to rock online, I'd highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the game's 340 skills. A bunch of JP version players and I have compiled this excel spreadsheet of the skills (both in English and Japanese). http://xboxphreaker.com/skills.htm
-rp
After the game is released, feel free to put your skill combos, online strategies, and bitching about the single player campaign's mandatory quest search in this thread!
General Info: For the uninformed, this is a Microsoft Game Studios-developed title directed by Yukio Futatsugi, formlly of the Sega Saturn Panzer Dragoon team. Phantom Dust is a real-time battle game with plenty of strategy and customization. Up to four fighters can fight over Xbox Live or system-linked Xboxes, each having prepared an "arsenal," or deck of skills. Players can collect up to 340 unique skills -- ranging from fireballs and swords to healing spells and defensive shields -- which then can be fused into a deck and taken into battle.
For $20, it's definitely worth it. There are so many cool things about 1P, and a handful of annoying things that ruin the overall experience. First, the cool things:john tv said:
-The boss battles are particularly impressive and really push the Xbox hardware.
-The ability to totally customize your skill deck and take it into battle is probably the best thing about Phantom Dust. The game does a poor job of masking the fact that most of the 119 single player missions are basically "Kill your opponent" objectives. But with that said, there are an infinite number of ways you can approach the battle. You'll find yourself thinking of creative ways to battle when you're driving or at work (at least I did).
Build an aggressive arsenal that boosts your speed, equip swords, and pummel your opponent, or get creative by casting "slow" on him and then showering him with rain attacks because he's too slow to dash out of the way. Other guys take a defensive approach, erasing each of your opponent's attack skills until he's completely dry, and then slash him to death. (That's a Japanese player favorite btw
-It's not a card game by any means. Futatsugi was a hardcore Magic The Gathering player, but it doesn't feel or play like a card game.
-The music rocks, and it supports custom soundtracks. The CG scenes are pretty good, too.
Teh suck:
-Chapters 1-3 are pretty slow. The gameplay gets complex, but I personally think the game holds your hand for too long. I was itching to build an arsenal after Chapter 1, but you have to wait until Chapter 3. (There are seven chapters in total.)
-The absolutely worst thing about 1P is the way you activate your next mission. Usually a guy in the "Battle Terminal" has the next mission, but every once in a while you have to search the underground base for the right NPC who will give you the next mission. This gets really tedious and I'd highly recommend using an FAQ if only just to find the location of the right NPC to talk to.
-The translation. After playing the Japanese version, I've found dozens of mistranslations in the US version. Some of them even degrade the gameplay. I won't get into specifics here, but you'd be proud of what I've discovered about the US localization, John (considering your line of work). Basically, Volt (the localization company MS hired) did a lazy ass job translating the game. Here's a quick example of three skills:
Armaros アルマロスの裁き
Judge of Ares アレスの裁き
Judge of Anubis アヌビスの裁き
Volt simply translated the top one as "Armaros" where it really should be "Judge of Armaros." The problem? Japanese players obviously can tell that all three of the above skills are related and part of the "Judge" family, but an American player wouldn't know that Armaros really is related to the bottom two. There's a ton more, but I'll stop here.
Your Character's Name: You can select one of thirteen names. Should you not choose any of them you will be named Nanashi. Your choices are:
Alpha
Ice
Age
Key
Gin
Glen
Cruz
Io
Air
Duke
Beard
Silver
Green
Nanashi
The JP and US versions are essentially the same. The only difference I've heard about is that some "boss effects" have been edited for the US version. John, if you want to play it in English, the JP version offers both eng and jp language options. If you have a Japanese Xbox, just go with the JP version. But then again, the US is just twenty bones.john tv said:
Girls Only Like Boyfriends With Great Skills: For anybody determined to rock online, I'd highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the game's 340 skills. A bunch of JP version players and I have compiled this excel spreadsheet of the skills (both in English and Japanese). http://xboxphreaker.com/skills.htm
-rp
After the game is released, feel free to put your skill combos, online strategies, and bitching about the single player campaign's mandatory quest search in this thread!
