I've always wanted to dig into the beloved-but-niche JRPGs from Nippon Ichi Software (a.k.a. “NIS”), especially the Disgaea games, but I've always been intimidated by their reputations for containing complex and finicky systems that require a real commitment to number crunching and min-maxing. When the opportunity to review Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero came to me, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to cast aside any reservations I had and jump into a title that seemed a little bit approachable from an outsider's perspective. To be clear, I have not played the original Phantom Brave that this 20-years-in-the-making sequel is a follow-up to, nor do I have much experience with similar games in NIS' catalog. It is only in the last couple of years that I've made an effort to branch out and play tactical RPGs beyond my beloved Fire Emblem titles. First and foremost, this review is coming from someone who was looking for the right gateway drug to get into before taking the full-on plunge into Prinny-raving madness. The question is, then, does this Phantom Brave sequel work just as well for newcomers as it doubtless will for lifelong NIS diehards?

The first thing that struck me about Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero was how very quaint and cute its presentation is. The characters are all rendered in very simplistic, cell-shaded 3D graphics in an exaggerated chibi style, and the whole game very much feels like playing through one of those long-running adventure anime from the long-ago times that would have run for two- or three-hundred episodes straight. The soundtrack is very chill and earnest in its way, more concerned with making you smile than getting the blood pumping. I liked this adorkable aesthetic well enough, and it helped set the proper expectations for the game's story, which is not the main reason I'd recommend this game to anyone. Don't get me wrong, Marona and Apricot's adventures across the Ivoire islands are perfectly fine, and it gets better as the chapters go along and you add more varied characters to your pirate crew (that is, in addition to the nigh-infinite little custom guys you can create at the drop of a hat). Still, the game's very budget-conscious means of presenting this Saturday Morning Cartoon of an RPG makes it hard to get terribly invested in the proceedings. When the game isn't settling for the barely animated 3D models of the characters, we only have very minimal visual-novel-styled cutscenes to speed the plot along. It is functional, sure, and I reckon that fans of the first game will have a lot more to glom onto from the get-go but don't go into Phantom Brave expecting a narrative that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.

I have two real complaints about the game's presentation. For one, I have come to understand that NIS' recent switch from sprite-based graphics to fully 3D models has been controversial within their fandom, and I may be inclined to agree that it is a downgrade. This is all subjective, of course; I simply adore 2D sprite animation when it's done well, and I've seen enough footage of the past Disgaea and Phantom Brave games to know that I think the new 3D aesthetic makes the game come across as kind of cheap looking. My other complaint has to do with the English dub. I am rarely one to be a stickler about dubs, but Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero tested my patience. Characters like Marona and Apricot operate firmly in the “Grown women straining their vocal cords to sound exactly as squeaky and childlike as their Japanese counterparts” register, and they get the lion's share of the dialogue in the opening hours of the game. I'm sure this is exactly how the performers were directed to act, and I'm fairly certain that legacy characters like Ash and Marona are played by the same actors as the previous Phantom Brave iterations, but it's simply not pleasant to listen to. Do yourselves a favor and stick to the Japanese dub, with this one.

All of that said, these NIS games are all about their gameplay systems, so it's time I finally answer that question I asked earlier about whether or not The Lost Hero is a good jumping-on point for newcomers. For the most part, I would say it is, so long as you're prepared to look at a lot of stat pages and menu screens. Similar to the Disgaea games, a lot of your time in Phantom Brave will be spent creating dozens of different unit classes and outfitting them with weapons, skills, and abilities that work in tandem towards that all-important goal of making the numbers go up. As you progress through the game, several units double as vendors and technicians that open up all manner of side activities that - yes, you guessed it - also make the numbers go up. You can use the fisherwoman to salvage items on a real-time cooldown; the chef runs a juice bar that stores extra EXP to divvy up amongst your many maties; the Engineer can develop Gadgets that you can use to blow stuff up real good on the battlefield; and later on you even get the ability to randomly generate dungeons and fuse the stats and abilities of your weapons, which makes the numbers go up even more.

Thankfully, The Lost Hero takes its time doling out all of these systems, and everything has a decent tutorial that even a total newbie like me eventually gets into the swing of things. More importantly, I discovered how downright addictive it can be to make all those little numbers on your cute little doods go up really, really high. I doubt I'll ever pour the dozens, if not hundreds, of hours necessary to become the king of min-maxing, but I had a blast all the same.

Finally, all of those numbers would hardly matter if the “tactical” part of the TRPG didn't give you fun battles to unleash them upon, and Phantom Brave's battle system is pretty good…though it isn't perfect. What I really dug was how all of the items on the battlefield serve so many different purposes. For one, they are how Marona “Confines” her Phantom pals and summons them to the battlefield, with each item giving different stat boosts to be aware of. What's more, though, is the way that items have permanent buffs and debuffs that can be tied to friend and foe alike, with some of the most powerful buffs requiring you to prioritize executing the odd cactus or shrub in between beating up the baddies standing in between our heroes' way. It's fun stuff.

What's more fiddly is the free movement system. I appreciate it in theory, as it helps the game stand out from its grid-based counterparts, but it becomes tiresome having to mess about getting your units within the ideal range of their different attacks when you were only a millimeter or two off. The battle scenes are also where the game's graphical issues rear their heads again because this is the only time I encountered real performance problems on my PS4/PS5 copies of the game. For logistical reasons, I played most of my run on the PS4 copy, though I transferred my saves onto my PS5 to play it via backward compatibility. The native PS5 and PS4 versions were mostly identical, with the main difference being that the framerate isn't locked to 30fps on “Graphics” mode on the PS5. On my PS4 Pro, the game often struggled to maintain a stable framerate, even in “Performance” mode, and I feel like I encountered more issues with enemy AI getting stuck on ledges and whatnot, too. This is odd because Phantom Brave looks like I should be able to run it on my Switch on max setting with no problem. Maybe NIS just needs more time to iron out the kinks in their engine.

Still, minor performance quibbles aside, I had a lot of fun with The Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. It's a very humble little game that probably won't make much of a splash outside of its usual niche, but if any of you are outsiders sitting on the fence, take it from me: This game is pretty neat! It's well worth checking out if you are looking for a blast from the past that can keep you busy for hours upon hours. As soon as I'm done, I might hop back in to run another dungeon. Just one more, I promise…