Phantom Dust

A few months ago I was playing a Japanese demo of a game on the Official Xbox Magazine demo disk. It seemed pretty interesting, but it was hard to know what was going on due to the fact that I do not know how to read Japanese. Well that game has finally hit the American shores and it goes by the name of Phantom Dust. This game is really interesting and it is worth the time to check it out. Read on to find out why this is the case.

The story for Phantom Dust is as follows: A mysterious dust has swallowed the world, and since that time everyone has lost their memories. No one in the world knows how or why this has happened to them. The only memory that everyone has is of the Ruins. Since the surface was deemed unlivable in its harsh climate, everyone went underground to start over anew. Soon the leaders of the underground colonies decided that they should find the Ruins since it is something everyone has in common. The people responsible for finding the mysterious Ruins are the Espers, which are humans who gained superhuman powers. You will take on the role as a recently discovered Esper, and your goal is to find out what happened to humankind. Are you up to this formidable challenge?

One of the first things that you will notice about Phantom Dust is that the first few hours of this game is a huge tutorial mode for how the rest of the game is to be played. Players will learn how to fight, what each of the skills will do, and how to use them and be effective. The main flaw with the story is that it takes too long to get something done. For instance, the game flow is find so-and-so and they will tell you what to do next. When you finally find them, they will send you on a mission, then you will fight. After you finish a mission (beat the enemy) you will get your reward and you will start all over again. This can get repetitious and boring if it wasn’t for the superb fighting engine this game has.

Nice shield.

This game is very addictive because of how you do battle in the game with the various enemies. On the field there will be three capsules that will have various skills such as attack, defense, erase, special, and other things. Players will be able to carry up to four skills at any given time mapped to the A, B, X, and Y buttons. Players must run around, avoiding various enemies attacks, and defeat them before your life hits zero.

Each skill that players have uses a certain amount of “Aura” (points) in order to use. The amount of aura that you have is depends on your level. Your aura will deplete as you use the various skills thoughout the match, but it replenishes slowly throughout the entire match. Some of the skills can only be used once and others can be used repeatedly during a match. There are over 300 different skills that you can acquire during the entire course of the game, plus any new ones that you might be able to download via Xbox Live.

Phantom Dust requires players to think very strategically when they are creating their arsenal full of skills. They will want to balance everything out and make sure they are ready for any enemy that they might face. This means that players will be constantly changing around their arsenal finding the skills that work best for them. This helps keep the game fresh and prevents any monotonous feeling that players might get.

Stay on target.

In keeping up with the strategic measure of this game it is very important to be aware of your surroundings at all times. If you do not have any defensive skills on you at the moment you can use the environment to your advantage. For instance, if there is a giant fireball rushing to your head and you are near a pillar, you can position yourself so it will hit the pillar and avoid any damage. On the other end of the spectrum, if a pillar is completely destroyed, whatever it is supporting will collapse and you will take damage from that. So players have to be on guard thoughtout the entire match if they want to win.

It might take a while for players to get used to the control scheme in the game, but once they do it will be second nature to them. The one thing that I do not like is that in order to jump you have to press down on the analog stick. Wasn’t there a better button to assign this to? This is very unnatural and many times you will forget you have the ability to do so.

The graphics for Phantom Dust truly convey the desperate feeling that the people of this world are living in. Everything looks dilapidated and depressing, and it fits with this game’s theme since no one has any memory of what has happened. The character models are nicely done. What is really great is the inactive battle environments. As mentioned earlier, having a bridge fall on someone could help turn the tide of a battle. The special effects produced with all of the skills flying around also looks really nice.

Preparing for battle.

The music for this game is good, but what makes it even better is that Phantom Dust supports customized soundtracks. This means that you can be taking out your enemies listening to your favorite tunes. This addition is greatly appreciated. The sound effects used in this game are pretty good and get the job done. What is disappointing is the voice acting is not the best, but it is palatable.

Phantom Dust is rated T for Teen for alcohol references, blood, violence, and mild language. It also supports custom sound tracks, HDTV 480p, in game Dolby Digital, and Xbox Live support.

Gameplay: 8.5
It will take players a little time to figure out the ins and outs of this game, but once they do they will be in for a wild ride. I enjoy the fact that this game is so highly customizable, so it will appeal to many different people.

Graphics: 8.8
Phantom Dust looks fantastic; everything is highly detailed and gives the look of a post apocalyptic world still in chaos. The best part is that all of the environments are fully destructible, so during the middle of a mission you might be on a nice freeway that will turn into a heap of cement ruins before it is over.

Sound: 8.3
Any game that offers players to use customized soundtracks is always gets a few more points in my opinion. The good thing is that this game offers a decent soundtrack to begin with, but it is always better to do battle with your favorite tunes playing in the background. The sound effects are nicely done as well.

Difficulty: Medium
Phantom Dust is hard and easy at the same time. When you are playing it though the first time it will take a while to get adjusted to how everything works out. Some of the battle situations might seem to be hopeless, but as long as you have the patience and willpower anything is possible.

Concept: 8.8
This is a really unique game that everyone should have the pleasure of trying out. Everything in this game is customizable to your satisfaction. This means that every play-through will be unique to the person, and that always makes a game more fun to play.

Multiplayer: 8.5
Playing with a friend or a total stranger on Xbox Live really lets this game shine even more. Nothing is better than playing against a real live person instead of the enemy AI.

Overall: 8.7
If you own an Xbox and want a truly unique game that is not overly violent then Phantom Dust is just what your doctor ordered! Once you start playing the game and understand how it works you will find that it becomes addictive quick! What are you waiting for? Go out and grab this game as soon as you can. You will not regret this game purchase.