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I purchased this game based on it's on-line reviews and my desire to find a game similar to Magic the Gathering Card game as Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds is nothing close to the original card game, my advise...don't even rent it. Now back to Phantom Dust...I was impressed with all the possible "memories" you are seeking to restore humanity to its former greatness "above ground", since what's left is huddled underground to prevent the race from becoming extinct due to this "dust" on the surface. The game's graphics are par for a original xbox game and it is Reverse Compatable with the 360 which is an added bonus to me personally as I never owned the original. Game play is RTS and FPS and RPG basically all wrapped into one game depending on how far you have advanced into the games story-line. Each style has its appropriate place and thus far I have no complaints but one...the controls are to "sensative" which makes "dodging" during combat to easy, instant direction changes aren't quite realistic even though this is just a game. This is the one point that forces me to only rate the game as "good" as excellent is to strong a rating in my opinion. Take my review at its worth...I enjoy what I paid for and intent to defeat the game eventually. On a side note...choose one of the names they offer you, waiting to get to the end of the choices to find out if you can "create" your own name will lead you to a disappointing end and you'll have to accept the final name they "give" you, then you just delete the current game and start over until you get to the name you like best from the original names offered the first time you loaded the game. Sorry to spoil this fact, but I believe in an informative review without giving away any obvious gameing secrets or tactics. Good day everyone and I hope you found this particular review useful. Scott A (40 min north of San Diego, Ca. - north county area)Read full review
Phantom Dust is a unique action/rpg/arena combat hybrid game. The game eliminates relentless level grinding by making your skill selection based on chance. Whatever you find on the battlefield in a condensed orb of energy is your arsenal. These orbs spawn at random and have different properties. The game is reliant upon a "range" system for the effectiveness of attacks; different skills have different effective ranges. The controls in this game are relatively solid. You approach skill orbs and then equip them with one of the face buttons (A,B,X,Y). Skills can be overwritten as necessary, which can be beneficial if you don't like what you have. The downside of this system is if you're trying to attack your opponent and accidentally walk over a skill, the attack you are trying to use is overwritten in favor of the skill you walk over. Jumping in this game is difficult, as it is performed by clicking down the movement stick. This method of jumping was something I was never a fan of, even in first person shooters. You don't jump very high or very far, but if you are hit in mid-air, you can go sailing. The enemies on the battlefield range in difficulty in regard to the ease required to eliminate them. In general, enemies will always be moving, making them challenging to hit, which is certainly not a bad thing. The game's format is divided up into missions. Each mission has one or more objectives and you also are able to pick a partner, or have one assigned to you (you can not choose whether your partner is automatically assigned). Typically, your partner is a NPC (Non-Player Character) run by AI similar to the enemy AI. Different NPCs will utilize different tactics, and over time you can get a sense of each character's strategy. The major drawback to this game is that each mission has a fifteen minute time limit. If you do not complete the mission in fifteen minutes, the mission is failed. It is evident that the emphasis of this game is on arena combat with RPG elements and an action-oriented battle system. The problem here is that those RPG elements and battle system stagnate in these arenas, rather than giving the player to explore this mysterious world. This game originally retailed at $20, and I found it here on ebay for $8. It was a good deal at $20, and a fantastic deal at less than that. This game is very hard to find in retail stores that traffic used games. I've been searching for this game ever since I saw it on the Xbox360 Backwards Compatibility list, and finally having found it, I must say it was well worth the effort to search for it. This unique game is staying in my collection!Read full review
Graphics: The graphics are awesome. The lighting effects and character composition is very well done. Every skill has its own look, while every character has their own unique appearance. The graphics also do not lessen with the online play and still are as vibrant as always. The game has its own unique style, also comes equipped with destructive levels as well. Presentation is wonderful. Sound: Though it isn't the best, the game gets great points for one sound feature that many games SHOULD have, and that is Custom Soundtrack. I put my favorite band on this game and made each level have a different song and that made my ideas of sound in the game go through the roof. Sure it's not the game's original music but Custom Soundtrack was put there so you can use it, and is a part of the game, and the premise of it makes the music totally in your control. And before I score this, let me add the awesomeness of having Custom Soundtrack available when you play online. Gameplay: Magnificent. This is some of the most fun I've ever had. I played this game a lot because its just so fun (not to mention I was ranked one of the top 10 in the world, but we won't say that's a bias of this game, no, no of course not.) It is like a card game except not. You have an arsenal, which is like a deck, and you have skills, which are like cards. You have to bring up your Aura which is like energy to use more skills. Then you can use your skills and hurt the opponent. You run around and can dodge and do whatever. Seems simple? There is over 300 cards and 5 schools of cards and you can only have 1, 2, or 3 school in your arsenal depending on which arsenal you have. The more schools you can have in your arsenal the slower your aura level regains. There are attack skills, defense skills, environment skills, status skills, and more. All have an required amount of aura. Most skills don't delete your aura level but you spend that much aura and then it regains to the level you had. I won't go too far into detail as this is a review, not an FAQ. The game does a great job at explaining how to play throughout the course of the game. There's also over 100 missions to play in single player. There's a split screen versus mode and then there's the online play. You can trade skills online, or play a bunch of different types of games with your own arsenals over the internet with up to three other players. Team battles or free-for-all's can take place online with normal battle rules, Heavy battle rules, Ante, and more. The gameplay of this game is just amazing. It will keep you playing on and on. Overall: Though it may not seem it, this game is amazing, and underrated, pick it up, you shouldn't be disappointed. X-Box Live is a huge addition to this game as well. What are you waiting for? GET IT!Read full review
RATINGS (scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being Terrible and 10 being Awesome): -Graphics: 5 -Sound: 5 -Controls: 4 -Gameplay: 4 -Story line: 7 -Overall: 5 I just didn't like the whole "skill spawning" thing. At least, I didn't like having to run back and forth to the starting point because that was where the skills spawned. The gist is that you can carry up to 3 skills (attack/defense/neutral) at one time (on the X,Y,B keys) The A button jumps. So, when you start a level, you usually start off by the spawn point. After a given time, there will be 3 or 4 skill orbs that will pop up and you can walk up to them and press X,Y,B to assign that skill to that key. Each skill has various attributes like effective range, damage, mana required, etc that you have to either memorize each one or evaluate on the fly...which for me got old. Really...the best bet to judge this game before you buy is just to rent it...but you can buy it almost for the price you can rent it!!! ;-) I might wind up playing the game more...but for now it is at the bottom of my "to play" list!!!Read full review
hey peeps I use to play this game on the original xbox when it was for $20 I just bought it on here and to me its still great strategie game to pick up and play I use to have fun for hours trying new strategies against freinds and new rivals for the price give it a try once I get my copy ill see you on xbox live this is a game that needs the attention that it should have gotten for its great game play back when it first came out ok check you later peeps