Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Review

Phantom Brave is back again, this time on the PSP, after having originally seen release on the PS2 and a port to the Nintendo Wii. Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle will certainly bring fans of the original game on a trip down memory lane, but that's not all it'll do. The game sports a couple of new additions like five new characters, improved visuals and a story that will make your heart drop. If you're the sensitive type, you might shed a tear. Okay, I kid, but Phantom Brave does indeed tackle some serious themes like fear and discrimination.

The game is set in the world of Ivoire and you play as young Marona, an orphaned child that lives on Phantom Isle with, you guessed it, a phantom named Ash, providing service to others as a Chroma, or a bounty hunter of sorts. Ash acts as her guardian, having worked with Marona's parents up until the point of their death where they expanded what little remaining life energy in order to save him. Unfortunately, they could only bring Ash back as a phantom. Marona is the only person that is able to see Ash in his phantom form and this is due to her inherent ability, the Chartreuse Gale.

Thanks to this ability, many label her as "The Possessed One," believing that she is controlled by evil spirits. This makes life somewhat difficult for her and you'll share in that experience throughout the game. There are just some points in the story where I felt really bad for Marona, the poor little thing. Even after seven years on the market, the attachment to the characters has not been lost. Marona's ability also enables her to bind spirits and phantoms to objects on the field. This is an essential concept that players will need to grasp early on in the game as it's the only way you'll be able to clear objectives in battle.

Marona, by herself, isn't much of a fighter, but thanks to her Confine ability, she can bind spirits to, say, a rock or a tree. Depending on what object she binds them to, they'll inherit a number of stat bonuses like increased attack points. A boulder usually yields stronger attack and defence, whereas a shrubbery penalizes physical attributes but rewards magic ones.

In addition, there are objects on the field that can provide additional buffs for either enemy units or your own and sometimes the only way to victory is to destroy the source of these buffs. Players will also have to keep in mind that spirits will not remain on the field forever, most of them are limited to a certain amount of turns. This places a strong emphasis on strategy and timing as time itself, on top of enemy units, becomes something you'll have to contend with.