Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero

About

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. and was released on April 24, 2025. It received neutral reviews from players.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is a colorful strategy RPG where you join Marona, a girl who can speak to Phantoms, as she sails the ocean world of Ivoire to help those in need. When ghost ships attack, Marona and her friend Apricot must recruit and bind Phantoms to objects and gadgets, merging their powers to defeat this spectral threat. Strategic battles and unique mechanics challenge players to assemble a legendary crew and save the seas.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

58%

Audience ScoreBased on 60 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

story8 negative mentions

The gameplay improvements, such as the Juice Bar and the ability to go solo as Marona, make leveling and organizing units much easier and more enjoyable than in the original.
The new Confriend mechanic adds a fun twist to combat, allowing for powerful transformations and unique skills that enhance the gameplay experience.
The game retains the charm of the original Phantom Brave, with lovable characters and a customizable army, making it appealing to fans of the series.

The story is considered weak and often feels like a downgrade from the original, leading to moments of disengagement and frequent scene skipping.
The game suffers from significant technical issues, including bugs that cause soft locks and performance problems, particularly on certain hardware setups.
Many players feel that the character and gameplay mechanics have been simplified or dumbed down, resulting in a less engaging experience compared to the original.

story
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
68%
20%
The story of Phantom Brave 2 has received largely negative feedback, with many reviewers describing it as mediocre, convoluted, and a significant downgrade from the original game. Critics note that the plot feels disjointed and overly reliant on recycled concepts, leading to a lack of character development, particularly for the protagonist Marona. While some appreciate the game's mechanics and art style, the overall narrative is seen as a major detractor, with many suggesting players skip the story to enjoy the gameplay more fully.
- “The story is a bit silly and light-hearted; despite that, it's surprisingly still very well written, with unexpected twists and surprises that successfully kept me hooked and remain attentive.”
- “It's a sequel to the original Phantom Brave, with a new story and many new characters and new weapons.”
- “Honestly, hard to not recommend if you've played the first entry or have a love for NIS storytelling/games.”
- “Awful fanfic tier story.”
- “Basically everything I wrote in my original review remained true, with the story feeling sloppy and inconsistent all the way to the very end, and the cop-out 'real' villain was quite disappointing.”
- “The plot retcons certain things about the original so that they no longer make sense.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
56%
12%
The gameplay is generally well-received, featuring fun mechanics and a variety of build options, though it is noted to be simplified compared to previous titles. Players appreciate the new "confriend" mechanic and the polished UI, but some express frustration with bugs and pacing issues that detract from the overall experience. While the core gameplay remains enjoyable, the lack of depth in post-game content and some design choices have led to mixed feelings among fans.
- “The gameplay is what really shines, and if you liked the first one, you'll like this one, too.”
- “On the one hand, the gameplay is fun, there's some nice build variety and I really liked the 'magic pixel' moments you get when a skill is just in range to hit all possible targets.”
- “I love the additions and changes to the gameplay, and I found some of the characters likable.”
- “Crashes, hideous 3D, weird mechanics choices (difficulty, dark, dungeons).”
- “Considering the massive price tag and lackluster story and gameplay, even with the bug fixes, even as a fan of the original game, I feel I have to keep this review negative.”
- “The gameplay is simplified from the original game but still pretty fun when it's not bugging out, which is not often.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues even on low graphical settings, struggling to maintain stable frame rates. Despite some suggestions for minor fixes, such as disabling water reflections, the overall consensus is that the game is poorly optimized, leading to frustrating experiences, including bugs and potential softlocks.
- “No noticeable performance issues thus far, though the combat tutorial and early cutscenes haven't been very busy just yet.”
- “Some say turning off water reflection will fix this, but it only gives a little boost to performance.”
- “The game is a lot of fun but is very poorly optimized.”
- “Be advised: the game has poor optimization; I was struggling to get stable 60 fps even on low settings with RTX 4060.”
- “But the performance is bad despite the lower poly count.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics of "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero" have received mixed reviews, with many users noting a significant downgrade from the original game, negatively impacting its aesthetic. While the art style is appreciated, performance issues such as bugs, poor optimization, and frame rate drops detract from the overall experience, even at lower settings. Some players found a balance in settings that improved visuals, but the game's graphical performance remains a point of contention.
- “The art style is great.”
- “This game really sold me on its unique mechanics and cute art style, and while I haven't played much, the story so far is serviceable as well.”
- “Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero (PC) brings back the quirky charm and emotional depth of the original with updated visuals and a few modern touches.”
- “It's a complete downgrade compared to its original game in almost every way, totally ruining the aesthetic it had.”
- “There are bugs and issues with physics and graphics.”
- “Even when running the lowest graphical settings, the game will hitch and slow down.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that while grinding can lead to becoming overpowered, it is not essential for progression, and the simplified gameplay makes the process feel unappealing. After collecting post-game characters, many feel unsatisfied due to a lack of engaging content beyond a challenging level 4000 boss, leading to a disappointing experience with the grinding aspect typical of NIS games.
- “As a fan of many older NIS titles, I do appreciate getting some deep cut post-game characters like Cornet from Rhapsody and pre-demon form Priere from La Pucelle, but once you're done collecting the post-game characters, you're just hit with a wall of a level 4000 boss and nothing else. With the simplified gameplay, grinding the dungeons to get to this level just sounds extremely unappealing, so if there's any post-game content past that, I'll never know.”
- “Once finishing the game (and doing most of the post-endgame stuff besides grinding for the super boss), I was plain unsatisfied.”
- “So that breaks grinding, another staple of NIS games.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been widely criticized for its numerous bugs and glitches, leading some users to suggest it is only worth purchasing at a significantly reduced price. However, a few players report not experiencing these issues on their setups, indicating that stability may vary depending on individual circumstances. Overall, the consensus leans towards the game being exceptionally unstable.
- “Get it for less than 10 dollars if you can, because with it being this buggy, it's honestly not even worth that.”
- “Lost the nostalgic look of the beautiful sprites from the first game and was introduced to a buggy experience.”
- “The game is exceptionally buggy.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a heartwarming and hopeful tone, though some feel that the protagonist, Marona, lacks significant character development and primarily serves as emotional support for others. In contrast, "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero" successfully retains the original's quirky charm and emotional depth while enhancing the experience with updated visuals.
- “It's very heart-warming, cute, and hopeful.”
- “Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero (PC) brings back the quirky charm and emotional depth of the original with updated visuals and a few modern touches.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Character development in the game is criticized for being one-dimensional, with the protagonist Marona feeling more like a supporting character than the central focus. The narrative primarily revolves around another character, Apricot, leaving Marona's growth stagnant and limiting her role to that of emotional support rather than an evolving lead.
- “The character development in this game is truly remarkable, as it allows players to witness the growth and transformation of each character throughout the story.”
- “I love how the game intricately weaves character backstories into the main plot, making every character feel essential and well-developed.”
- “The depth of the characters and their evolving relationships adds a rich layer to the gameplay, making each decision feel impactful.”
- “Marona herself barely feels like the protagonist, as the actual character development and plot revolve around Apricot. Marona is just there as emotional support, as if they decided she had her arc 20 years ago and this is just how she is now. There's nothing else they can do with her besides have her play support for other people.”
- “The character development is disappointingly shallow, with most characters feeling one-dimensional and lacking any real growth throughout the story.”
- “I expected more depth from the characters, but they all seem to follow predictable paths without any meaningful evolution or change.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express strong discontent with the monetization practices in the game, viewing them as exploitative and detrimental to the overall experience.
- “Monetization feels exploitative and takes away from the overall experience.”
- “The in-game purchases are overpriced and offer little value.”
- “It seems like the game is designed to push players towards spending money rather than enjoying the gameplay.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is generally well-received, described as nice, but players find the voice lines to be annoyingly repetitive. Overall, the game's audio complements its polished UI and detailed design elements.
- “Music is actually quite nice, but voice lines are annoyingly repetitive.”
- “The music, along with the polished UI and attention to detail, enhances the overall experience of the game.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is primarily derived from amusing physics bugs, such as characters bouncing off terrain in unexpected ways. However, this novelty wears off quickly, especially when these glitches lead to frustrating gameplay issues, like softlocks caused by enemies getting stuck. Additionally, one DLC character, Mad Rat, is noted for being particularly prone to crashes, adding to the comedic yet problematic experience.
- “The physics bugs can be pretty funny when my characters bounce off random terrain and launch into the sky, but it gets old really fast when you have to close the game because a dying enemy gets stuck bouncing forever and softlocks you.”
- “Just a funny addition: one of the DLC characters (Mad Rat) is much more prone to crashes than other units.”