Honestly pretty much ass but its another case of its MY ass!!! Shoutout the little community that tries to make it float and stay alive, managed to play games for a good bit. I saw Kurisu and got straight to geekin. Game where its fast and slow at the same time. Balancing lowkey idk what is goin on. and no sauce for shit all inputs are just one direction and a special button, another button for a super. Worth it when its dirt cheap on sale tho this is kusoge alright.
epstein game
Always wanted to get around to playing this one after seeing that funny trailer that was released for it before its release.
Honestly though I just don't find the game that much fun it honestly was a bit of a bummer because I do enjoy the characters from the game. The gameplay just feels so slow and floaty it makes movement very boring and sometimes confusing when you want to jump around or go for a mixup in corner. The gameplay in general is very simple as there are a lot of auto combos and easy to press moves to do which isn't a problem to me I never really mind more easy access controls to FG games.
With that being said some may enjoy how the game plays and to be fair there is a decent amount of single player content from story mode to endless battle , time attack and versus modes. The arcade mode is very strange as it isn't as usually 7-8 character gauntlet it instead makes you fight through the WHOLE cast making for an insanely long arcade mode unless you change the battles to be 1 round only.
I didn't get a change to even try online since it was pretty much dead so I won't speak on it but I have heard there is no rollback netcode for the game so I can only imagine that it isn't a great experience.
Overall I wouldn't get this unless if you are a big fan of the series or you find it for dirt cheap which I did the later half ! it was on sale for $5 recently so I went for it and I don't feel like I wasted my money at least I got my moneys worth I just don't think its good.
Honestly though I just don't find the game that much fun it honestly was a bit of a bummer because I do enjoy the characters from the game. The gameplay just feels so slow and floaty it makes movement very boring and sometimes confusing when you want to jump around or go for a mixup in corner. The gameplay in general is very simple as there are a lot of auto combos and easy to press moves to do which isn't a problem to me I never really mind more easy access controls to FG games.
With that being said some may enjoy how the game plays and to be fair there is a decent amount of single player content from story mode to endless battle , time attack and versus modes. The arcade mode is very strange as it isn't as usually 7-8 character gauntlet it instead makes you fight through the WHOLE cast making for an insanely long arcade mode unless you change the battles to be 1 round only.
I didn't get a change to even try online since it was pretty much dead so I won't speak on it but I have heard there is no rollback netcode for the game so I can only imagine that it isn't a great experience.
Overall I wouldn't get this unless if you are a big fan of the series or you find it for dirt cheap which I did the later half ! it was on sale for $5 recently so I went for it and I don't feel like I wasted my money at least I got my moneys worth I just don't think its good.
"I don't think this game has grabs."
"...No, wait, it has Street Fighter 2 grabs."
"Ew."
"...No, wait, it has Street Fighter 2 grabs."
"Ew."
Released on the ides of March, Phantom Breaker: Omnia was a game I was looking forward to simply because the trailer was so god damned funny to me that I felt that just hearing the announcer from that in game would make the experience worth it.
It also has Kurisu from Steins;Gate, of which I watched and loved the anime adaptation of and she apparently could summon a bunch of White Tigers and shit, which seemed hilarious.
Then I bought the game, and I'm already not a big fighting game fan. The control mapping was all wrong, RT was mapped to the Start Button, LT to Select, X to A, A to B, B to X, it felt fucking weird, and this was outside of just the fighting game part, this was just how the game played even in the menus.
The worst thing though is that the announcer from the trailer isn't in the game, and is instead replaced by a soft speaking voice. I don't mind the soft speaking voice, but where's the energy of "TWENTY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS!!!! ARE YOU OK?!!?!!??" and "BATTLE YOUR WAY THROUGH STORY MODE BECAUSE READING IS AN ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILL!!!!"
Where did the announcer go? I don't know and it makes me sad.
Also every button is an auto combo, I didn't personally mind but if games with auto combo aren't your thing you're probably not gonna enjoy this.
Oh well, I'll find my next cringekino in about three days once Strangers of Paradise releases, but I was honestly hoping this game would at least hit that measure first.
Anyways the soundtrack is pretty dope, can't diss that.
It also has Kurisu from Steins;Gate, of which I watched and loved the anime adaptation of and she apparently could summon a bunch of White Tigers and shit, which seemed hilarious.
Then I bought the game, and I'm already not a big fighting game fan. The control mapping was all wrong, RT was mapped to the Start Button, LT to Select, X to A, A to B, B to X, it felt fucking weird, and this was outside of just the fighting game part, this was just how the game played even in the menus.
The worst thing though is that the announcer from the trailer isn't in the game, and is instead replaced by a soft speaking voice. I don't mind the soft speaking voice, but where's the energy of "TWENTY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS!!!! ARE YOU OK?!!?!!??" and "BATTLE YOUR WAY THROUGH STORY MODE BECAUSE READING IS AN ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILL!!!!"
Where did the announcer go? I don't know and it makes me sad.
Also every button is an auto combo, I didn't personally mind but if games with auto combo aren't your thing you're probably not gonna enjoy this.
Oh well, I'll find my next cringekino in about three days once Strangers of Paradise releases, but I was honestly hoping this game would at least hit that measure first.
Anyways the soundtrack is pretty dope, can't diss that.
i won't give it a star rating, but the short amount of time i spent with the demo was excruciating. the game looks bad in both art direction and especially animation, and it feels terrible. i'm not a rollback crusader, but it won't have rollback, movement feels sluggish, all the attacks feel slimy and have the oomph of a paper fan, and it suffers from system bloat in uninteresting ways. i was looking forward to this, but it's a hard pass from me.
So unbalanced it hurts. At least the art is beautiful.
Kurisu and Rimi are awesome but its very much mid
It's kinda like 2D Soul Calibur with anime fighting elements and a whole lot of floaty. Very awkward on first inspection and kinda makes you wonder what type of public were they aiming for, but it's so unique and easy to get into that I can't help but find it comfy and charming.
Full video review: https://youtu.be/CBxOBy2IAaw
Nearly 11 years later, Phantom Breaker makes a proper appearance in the west - this time in the form of Omnia, an upgraded, updated, and revamped version of the original 2011 Xbox 360 game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag unfortunately. Right off the bat, I wasn’t the biggest fan of how floaty and slow it felt. Maybe it’s because I am so used to games like Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Tekken, but everything here just felt off. Jumping is a bit too stiff, there’s limited mobility while in the air, and a lot of the moves lack that sense of impact. I wouldn’t say the core to the game is terrible, more so just basic - or even bland.
What kinda elevates it is the bit of depth introduced through stuff like fighting styles, emergency mode, evades, and the numerous special moves that you can activate by combining a certain input with a regular move. Once I got the hang of this stuff, I was stringing together combos with ease and that felt good - but that again introduces another key point: auto combos.
I don’t know if it is just the audience this game is going for, but every fighting style has at least some form of basic auto combo. This is not something you can disable and while some styles have more auto combos than others, all of them reinforce this “streamlined” feeling. This is further reinforced by the fact that each character has the same command list, just different moves resulting from those inputs.
This makes the core to game easy to learn - which can be good - but when that core is as slow and floaty as it is, it doesn’t quite feel right. Compare this to BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for example. That one also streamlined its controls and was more beginner-friendly, but had the movement, the mechanics, and the speed to make higher levels of play possible.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong here and I just have not unlocked the potential behind this one and with time, other players will demonstrate that. But as it stands, this feels more like a casual fighting game to pick up and play at maybe a party and just have fun messing around with friends. That’s not even a bad thing - it’s just something to keep in mind before picking the game up.
Characters
This game has 20 unique ones and they offer up a good amount of variety. Speedy types, power types, ranged types, technical types - combined with the three different fighting styles and you’ve got quite the selection. I sampled them all and, while there were a few that I just straight-up did not like playing as, most felt fine and I eventually gravitated towards a select few that I really liked.
Art and Music
The character designs are also pretty good and the style reminded me a lot of Under Night In-Birth. That said, I was not a fan of the mixed 2D and 3D characters. I have no idea how that came about, but having a 2D character fighting this 2D, yet 3D CG looking thing was really off putting.
The backgrounds are fine too, but I can’t say any of them really stuck with me. The music was a bit better, but this is definitely no BlazBlue, so perhaps not something I’ll listen to much outside of the game.
Multiplayer
Perhaps the biggest problem a lot are going to find with Phantom Breaker is its multiplayer - and for two reasons. One being that this game is releasing right around a couple other notably bigger fighting games - King of Fighters 15 and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax - and will likely lose a lot of audience to those. And 2 being that there is no rollback netcode here.
I’m not some rollback elitist, but for a niche fighting game like this launching in a crowded space, the devs are really shooting themselves in the foot with the potential multiplayer reach. I fully expect there to be maybe a few hundred players for the weeks following launch and then this game just completely dropping off the radar and becoming something you’ll need to make arrangements with another player to actually play online.
Singleplayer
There is at least a decent chunk of singleplayer stuff. A story mode for each character, your classic arcade mode, score attack, time attack, endless battle - yeah they’re all practically the same gameplay-wise, but at least the options are there. If you’re wondering about the quality of the story - sorry to say but don’t expect much there. You get your little visual novel segments in-between fights and it’s the most basic thing ever and barely held my interest.
Performance
The 1080p lock was unfortunate to see as someone with a 1440p monitor - I ended up having to stretch the game to maximize it. The framerate was solid throughout, but I did run into a few crashes. I think it might be some sort of bug with the main menu because all three happened there and only after idling for a little bit.
Overall
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is just okay. The fighting has some depth to it, but feels overly simplistic and floaty. There’s a good amount of singleplayer stuff, but no rollback netcode for multiplayer and this is the type of game that is probably going to struggle with maintaining a playerbase on top of that. Unfortunately, I can’t say it’s one I’ll be coming back to.
Nearly 11 years later, Phantom Breaker makes a proper appearance in the west - this time in the form of Omnia, an upgraded, updated, and revamped version of the original 2011 Xbox 360 game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag unfortunately. Right off the bat, I wasn’t the biggest fan of how floaty and slow it felt. Maybe it’s because I am so used to games like Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Tekken, but everything here just felt off. Jumping is a bit too stiff, there’s limited mobility while in the air, and a lot of the moves lack that sense of impact. I wouldn’t say the core to the game is terrible, more so just basic - or even bland.
What kinda elevates it is the bit of depth introduced through stuff like fighting styles, emergency mode, evades, and the numerous special moves that you can activate by combining a certain input with a regular move. Once I got the hang of this stuff, I was stringing together combos with ease and that felt good - but that again introduces another key point: auto combos.
I don’t know if it is just the audience this game is going for, but every fighting style has at least some form of basic auto combo. This is not something you can disable and while some styles have more auto combos than others, all of them reinforce this “streamlined” feeling. This is further reinforced by the fact that each character has the same command list, just different moves resulting from those inputs.
This makes the core to game easy to learn - which can be good - but when that core is as slow and floaty as it is, it doesn’t quite feel right. Compare this to BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle for example. That one also streamlined its controls and was more beginner-friendly, but had the movement, the mechanics, and the speed to make higher levels of play possible.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong here and I just have not unlocked the potential behind this one and with time, other players will demonstrate that. But as it stands, this feels more like a casual fighting game to pick up and play at maybe a party and just have fun messing around with friends. That’s not even a bad thing - it’s just something to keep in mind before picking the game up.
Characters
This game has 20 unique ones and they offer up a good amount of variety. Speedy types, power types, ranged types, technical types - combined with the three different fighting styles and you’ve got quite the selection. I sampled them all and, while there were a few that I just straight-up did not like playing as, most felt fine and I eventually gravitated towards a select few that I really liked.
Art and Music
The character designs are also pretty good and the style reminded me a lot of Under Night In-Birth. That said, I was not a fan of the mixed 2D and 3D characters. I have no idea how that came about, but having a 2D character fighting this 2D, yet 3D CG looking thing was really off putting.
The backgrounds are fine too, but I can’t say any of them really stuck with me. The music was a bit better, but this is definitely no BlazBlue, so perhaps not something I’ll listen to much outside of the game.
Multiplayer
Perhaps the biggest problem a lot are going to find with Phantom Breaker is its multiplayer - and for two reasons. One being that this game is releasing right around a couple other notably bigger fighting games - King of Fighters 15 and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax - and will likely lose a lot of audience to those. And 2 being that there is no rollback netcode here.
I’m not some rollback elitist, but for a niche fighting game like this launching in a crowded space, the devs are really shooting themselves in the foot with the potential multiplayer reach. I fully expect there to be maybe a few hundred players for the weeks following launch and then this game just completely dropping off the radar and becoming something you’ll need to make arrangements with another player to actually play online.
Singleplayer
There is at least a decent chunk of singleplayer stuff. A story mode for each character, your classic arcade mode, score attack, time attack, endless battle - yeah they’re all practically the same gameplay-wise, but at least the options are there. If you’re wondering about the quality of the story - sorry to say but don’t expect much there. You get your little visual novel segments in-between fights and it’s the most basic thing ever and barely held my interest.
Performance
The 1080p lock was unfortunate to see as someone with a 1440p monitor - I ended up having to stretch the game to maximize it. The framerate was solid throughout, but I did run into a few crashes. I think it might be some sort of bug with the main menu because all three happened there and only after idling for a little bit.
Overall
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is just okay. The fighting has some depth to it, but feels overly simplistic and floaty. There’s a good amount of singleplayer stuff, but no rollback netcode for multiplayer and this is the type of game that is probably going to struggle with maintaining a playerbase on top of that. Unfortunately, I can’t say it’s one I’ll be coming back to.
Oh yessssss! You wanna know what time it is? It's phantom breaking time! Oh yeah! Leeet's gooo! The fire in my heart is burning! Is your body ready? 20 different characters! Are you okay?! 3 different fighting styles, multiplied by 20 characters and, well that's... a lot of combinations! Maximum c-c-c-combos! Maximum fun! Hyeh! Hyuh! No way! Fighting! Lots and lots of fighting! Oh myyyy! Spicy! Go into overdrive and let's go CRAAAAAZY! Ya ya ya! Boombaya! Unleash the power of a thousand suns on your opponent. Not gonna lie I'm actually excited about this one! Giant magical tigers, oh yes indeed! Get out of fighting game jail card! Pass go and collect 200 dollars! Battle your way through story mode because reading is an essential life skill! What is she looking at?! MEDIC! YOU SAID YOU WANTED MORE WORDS AND WE LISTENED! PUUUUUUSH! YEAAAAAAAAAHH!!! Click, clack! Badabing, badaboom! Are you ready to break some phantoms?! Phantom Breaker Omnia! March 15th, 2022! The fire in your heart will be burning like habanero salsa!