Phantom Dust

Added April 12th, 2005 by Dakota Grabowski

Introduction:

When Phantom Dust finally arrived in the U.S., I felt a sigh of relief.  The Xbox finally received the treatment I expected after Microsoft stated they would be pursuing the Japanese market more vigorously to compete with Sony.  Microsoft really had no presence in Japan, as the titles released weren’t catered towards the Japanese crowd.  Microsoft even went so far as to state that Phantom Dust wouldn’t be brought over from Japan and would become Japanese import only if you wanted to play it.  They wanted to make sure that Japan had their own exclusive titles and hoped that with their support, maybe it would catch on.  Well, with rave reviews and quite a bit of fan base, it still didn’t sell well enough to convince Microsoft to bring it stateside.  With Majesco finally stepping in and gaining the rights to publish, and distribute Phantom Dust in North America, would Phantom Dust have enough flavor to appeal to the Western crowd while also pleasing the Eastern fanatics?  I am please to say that Phantom Dust should be able to do a little of both and provide a whole new experience to Xbox fans.

Gameplay:

Phantom Dust is hard to classify as one genre.  It contains all the elements that make up a role-playing game, but controls like a third-person shooter.  Beyond that, there’s even more to throw into the fray, making it even more difficult to pinpoint one certain genre.  There’s the strategy of your attacks and repertoire that you will be using to fight, but most importantly, the collecting of powers is similar to a card game.  The card game similarities are going to stick out the most to the players.  With all those components factored in, you are in for one hell of a ride as Phantom Dust is addicting and fun all at the same time.

Before I move onto the thick and consuming gameplay, the storyline of Phantom Dust needs to be discussed.  Phantom Dust is set in a post-apocalyptic future where humans live underground.  Above ground, dust has covered the planet and given humans specials powers, while also at the same time stealing away everyone’s memories.  Humans live underground due to the fact that creatures have sprung up and appeared above ground.  Human survivors that are strong enough to live above ground and fight these creatures are called Espers.  They are the ones that have the abilities to use these strange powers they have inherited from the dust.  For the most part, Phantom Dust covers and masks the story with foreshadowing.  The foreshadowing is used to unravel the mystery while also making the player wonder what the next step is for the character’s future.

For the majority, the player will be fighting in arenas containing fully destructible environments and will be pitted against enemies that also possess their own psionic powers.  When the match starts, the powers will randomly appear as colored orbs and the player will have the opportunity to assign them to any of the four face buttons.  So essentially, you’ll be able to set four attacks simultaneously to use against the enemies.  Powers will disappear after being used for so long and then you must return to where you started to pick up a new power and assign it to the button that is now empty.  Powers all have an “Aura” number and the player is allowed only so much “Aura” to use.  So if you use a high “Aura” attack, it will drain away how much you are able to use in the future.  Thankfully, slowly throughout the match, it will come back allowing the player to once again use those powerful attacks.

The diversity in Phantom Dust is astonishing to say the least.  Over 300 different powers are available.  These are separated into two different categories:  attack and defense move sets; each having their own sub-categories.  All attacks have different ranges, which are identified with the color of the cursor on the enemy you have locked on to.  The ranges differ from long, medium and short.  The long distance needs to have a green cursor over the enemy, the medium distance is showcased with a yellow cursor and the short has a red/orange cursor over the enemy.  The defense abilities are either defense shields (covering the character’s body) or defense barriers (covering a wide area around the main character).  As you advance through the story, stronger powers will be accessible for your use on the battlefield.  It’s nice to see the character develop into a powerful psionic user.

Graphics:

The superbly generated environments actually express the despairing life that the humans and Espers experience.  Underground, you’ll see the humans full of despair.  They look like they are in a rebuilding stage, trying to figure out who they are and how they want to live.  Above ground, everything is in ruins and has gone to waste.  Both have their own authentic feel and display a whole new world that you can immerse yourself into.  When you enter battles though, that’s when the environment’s beauty is truly brought out.  The damage you inflict on the buildings has effect and you can watch it crumble before you.  Bridges will break down as you walk across them while the enemies hurl attacks hoping to successfully injure you. I’d recommend using the environments to your own advantage when you have no defense powers available, as they can assist you tremendously.

Other than the environments, the characters models have that anime look to them.  The only thing I had a problem with is that they all seem to have a glossy coat over them, and shine way too much for the dismal life they all live in.  Microsoft did a great job with providing enough special effects.  I found that they never became repetitive and new animations were always found with different attacks and defense powers.  The biggest draw though is the environments and being able to use them to your advantage while also still being a sight to behold.

Sound:

I had trouble determining if the sound category was overall great.  There are a few nice additions, but it had me confused on whether they were focused on the whole sound department.  You will notice an annoying sound effect right off the bat you.  Every time you move on the menu there’s this high-pitched effect that couldn’t possibly be any worse.  The voice acting was shoddy and wasn’t up to par with other Eastern games, so that let me down.  Not too much music is provided for fighting except for a few tracks.  What Phantom Dust does have going for it is that they allow the use of custom soundtracks.  Now, you can fight while listening to your favorite songs being played in the background.  It’s not enough though to make up for the lousy voice acting and often times you will be wanting to turn the sound down due to the annoying effects.

Control:

Phantom Dust provides you with a long tutorial mode to make sure you are able to master the controls.  This tutorial mode took me approximately an hour to complete all the missions that teach you the essentials such as attack ranges, defenses, jumping, environments and so much more that it was sort of enthralling.  If you don’t like tutorial modes, you can’t skip it, so that’s sort of a let down.  But, if you stick through it and finish the tutorials, you will not be disappointed with what follows on how much satisfaction you receive from playing Phantom Dust.

Now about the controls, I found the jumping awkwardly laid out on the controller.  Tapping in on the left thumbstick will allow your character to jump.  This motion is hard to accomplish when you are trying to move with both thumbsticks and also assigning powers to your four face buttons.  Two buttons you must rely on heavily to survive in Phantom Dust are the right and left triggers.  They are used to lock onto enemies and cycle through them to fight.  If you aren’t locked onto an enemy, your attacks will miss and you will be taking a serious beating.  You will need to lock on to survive, so these are the two most important controls within Phantom Dust. The controls do seem to become fitting the more you play, but I wish that the jump button wasn’t controlled with the left thumbstick.  It was aggravating and frustrating all at the same time.

Replay:

The replay value of Phantom Dust is found within Xbox Live and the ability to build up your arsenal to fight opponents online and offline.  Xbox Live has a lot of quality found inside the service and Phantom Dust takes full advantage of its power to deliver a superb game.  Microsoft developed it, so I didn’t expect anything less of it either.  Phantom Dust has an online lobby where you are able to buy, sell, and trade powers to upgrade your arsenal in the direction of fighting you are aiming for.  If you are trying to become an overwhelming attacker, you can build it up with the best attacks in the game.  If you want to become more of a defender and wear your opponent down that way, you can easily do that.  I found it best to be right down the middle of both and being able to host several powerful attacks while also being able to moderately defend yourself.  Downloadable content is going to be available, so Phantom Dust’s options are going to be endless.  I have a feeling that many will be playing this until the next generation of consoles just like Phantasy Star Online did with the Dreamcast even though the console was already dead.

Summary:

Phantom Dust is worth every dime and nickel you put into it.  Ironically it’s only $19.99, so Phantom Dust won’t be busting your wallet.  Don’t let the card-collecting stereotype scare you away.  Phantom Dust is unique to the Xbox and with no other games on the Xbox like it, it should surely attract many that are tired of the repetitive first-person shooters or third-person action games that there are wealthy amounts of on the Xbox.  If you miss out on Phantom Dust, you would be one unlucky gamer not knowing the other side of the spectrum that the Xbox has to offer.  Go out and buy this or your Xbox collection will be missing one of the best all around experiences on any console.