I picked up a copy of Phantom Brave today and managed to put a few hours into it, after that I needed a rest. I haven't really payed that much attention to Phantom Brave's release, for some reason I was more interested in La Pucelle Tactics and forgot that it's release was so soon, so I didn't really know much about the game. I'd read a few impressions and some reviews and knew it was different to Disgaea, but this is a very different game, and I mean very.
If you think Disgaea is hard or complicated, it's a proverbial walk in the park compared to this. It's not that Phantom Brave is particularly hard or complicated, it's that it involves such a different strategy from Disgaea that at first it seems overwhelming. The one aspect I find that is responsible is the "Confine" mechanic. In Phantom Brave you have to confine your Phantoms to certain objects on the battlefield, yeah sure that's easy right, Wrong! First off, each object on the battlefield has different stats and thus effects your characters stats. Secondly, certain objects can add extra benefits if you confine a phantom to those. Lastly, and this is the one to really watch for, a phantom can only be confined to an object for so many of their turns, once they are all used up, they disappear and can't be used again. So you really have to be careful not to waste a turn and use A LOT of strategy while keeping all that in mind. After all it is an SRPG. Though there is a lot more freedom for movement now, your not confined to just squares and can more anywhere in a certain radius.
Overall the game is really good, it's just very different from Disgaea and takes a bit of getting used to. I actually like the change, and am glad that it's a different game to Disgaea, there wouldn't be much point if it was the same. I'll put some more time into it and see how it fairs, for the first three episodes it wasn't too hard, but that could all change.
