I basically missed out on Phantom Brave when it was first released on the PS2 several years ago, so I was very interested to get a second chance to play it on the Wii. Those of you familiar with NIS America’s catalog probably know what to expect, as Phantom Brave is an anime-themed tactical RPG in the same vein as Disgaea. The plot is very different, and some of the game’s rules are changed (such as using a more open system for moving rather than relying on a square grid), but it is very much in that sort of style. While it can be difficult at times, it’s generally fun and gives you plenty of content to play with.

Phantom Brave follows the story of Marona, a young girl who can see the spirits of the deceased and summon them through a ’Confining’ process; making them possess a nearby object such as a rock or tree, which somehow returns them to the form they had while alive. Marona almost always uses this ability to protect others and help them, but the majority of the people she meets mistrust her all the same, fearing her power. Watching this situation progress and evolve is a major theme in Phantom Brave’s plot, one that should last you several hours.

Marona’s ability to summon phantoms isn’t just a plot element, it’s a major part of the gameplay. While you have a variety of characters to pick from, Marona is one of the few who stays on the map for the whole battle. Most of your characters are summoned, but they will vanish after a certain number of turns. This leads to a very interesting thing players have to consider; you can’t level up a ’super unit’ who can destroy all comers, because he will inevitably disappear before the stage is complete. Likewise, bringing out your big guns against the minor enemies at the start of the map is no good; you’ll be left with your weaker reserve units against the stage’s boss in many cases if you do that. This requires you to both maintain a good roster of characters to use, and pace yourself so that you don’t run out of troops mid-battle.

Beyond that change, Phantom Brave mostly plays like other games of its kind from NIS America. The rules are very loose (it’s entirely legal to just pick up an enemy and fling him around the map if you wish, or even have allies throw one another around to get to places more quickly) and encourage a certain level of micromanaging; your characters can develop all kinds of special abilities later on if you pay close attention to various details.

While this is primarily a port of a PS2 game, there have been some improvements. The visuals seem to have been touched up some, and while they still look a little dated and ’last gen’, they’re certainly acceptable. More important is the addition of the "Another Marona" mode, available immediately upon starting the game. This mode features several chapters that take place after the main game (and you’re strongly advised to play through said main chapters first), which may be enough to bring in those who already bought the PS2 version.

This isn’t to say that Phantom Brave on the Wii is perfect however, as it does have two noteworthy problems. One is that anyone trying to play the game straight through (i.e. just going from plot stage to plot stage) will probably encounter trouble after a while, strongly encouraging you to go ’level grind’ on some of the side stages for better equipment and skills for your characters. Almost as bad are some pretty severe translation errors both in the storyline and in RPG mechanical text. For example, if you attempt to do an area-of-effect attack to hit several foes at once, but an ally is in the way, the game will warn you: "You’re running into an ally!" Those are the exact words; they clearly meant "You’ll hit an ally!" and I’m not sure what the original Japanese text was, but that is a ridiculous mistake all the same.

But those issues aren’t deal-breakers. Phantom Brave will last you a very long while, and it isn’t just a port; it does add some all new content. If you’re the sort who enjoys extremely detailed tactical RPGs, this game should suit you just fine.