Phantom Breaker: Omnia review

Chaos;Head’s Rimi Sakihata, Steins;Gate’s Kurisu Makise duke it out with MMO addicts, cosplayers, magic girls, and even a few handsome husbandos, as MAGES fighter makes its long awaited Stateside debut.  

Shibuya-based MAGES is probably best known for their visual novels, with rousing reads like Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes Elite earning the developer a legion of devoted fans. But in 2011, the company entering the fighting game arena with the release of Phantom Breaker for the Xbox 360. While a beat-‘em-up spin off would eventually get localized, the main series never materialized in the States, despite a vow from SouthPeak Games’ digital distribution subsidiary.

Thanks to RocketPanda Games that omission has finally been rectified, with Phantom Breaker: Omnia arriving for PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One. Although the charming fighter flaunts attractive, anime-style characters and has accessible, easy to master movesets, a few blemishes keep Omnia from rising to the genre’s upper echelons.

Flashy Moves Made Easy

Fighting games can be standoffish to newcomers, especially after multiple iterations add complexity. Although Omnia is the fourth revision of the game, there are several qualities that add a bit of sophistication without making battles too technical.  One of the biggest contributions to approachability is rooted in the game’s trio of fighting styles, which players can select before heading into a match.

As the name implies, Quick Style provides characters with faster movement speed and a double jump. While your offensive and defensive abilities are reduced, the mode balances this with single-button combos and filling your Burst Gauge faster, which allows for more Special Moves. Heavy Style, on the other hand, only allows for heavy combos and reduces your movement speed. But the upside is that your attacks are palpably more powerful. Additionally, you’re able to use Protection, which can undermine enemy strikes.

Omnia Style offers a balance between Quick and Heavy Styles. Select this and you’ll have access to the double jump as well as light, medium, and heavy combos. But you’ll sacrifice abilities like Phantom Breaks, where 200% of your Burst Gauge can be converted into a crushing assault. Much like Street Fighter Alpha 3’s “Isms”, you’ll probably cultivate favorite style, but revisit the selection as you increase your proficiencies.

Four Button Finesse

Matches in Phantom Breaker: Omnia are built around a four-button combat system with light, medium, and heavy attacks, as well as specials mapped to the face buttons. But instead of the tricky quarter-circle rotating and involved inputs, most moves are performed with a directional pad and a button or two, recalling the convenience of a Super Smash Bros. match. Each of the game’s twenty playable characters have their own unique moveset and fighting style, but they share seven basic inputs. As such, Omnia is a very ‘pick up and play’ fighter, ideal for the player who likes flashy skirmishes but doesn’t have weeks to invest in learning the minutia. The main problem is that movesets are buried within the game’s menus rather than being immediately accessible.

Despite the ease of tapping out some powerful combos, there’s enough sophistication to engross fighting game veterans. High levels players will likely want to master Counter Bursts, Air Recoveries, and Emergency Mode- which swaps your Burst Gauge meter from an instant of invincibility. Quick Style allows you to Slip Shift instead of relying on your basic guard. The upside here is that your opponent is susceptible to counterattack, making the maneuver an ideal opener.

While these particulars might please pros, there’s a possibility that they won’t be enamored by the pacing of Phantom Breaker: Omnia’s fights. Landed hits, even Special Moves, tend to remove a small amount of health from challengers, making matches feel a bit lackluster. Given that combatants are armed with weapons, the diminished damage feels off. While characters can dash toward fellow combatants, movement speeds can feel lethargic, and forward jump don’t always clear much distance.

“Say it right, Hououin Pervert-Kyouma!”

Omnia demonstrates different levels of visual proficiency. Character design is expectedly successful, with Mages offers a cast of a maid in frilly dresses, shine maidens, high school-age ninja, a few loligoths, and even a trio of handsome lads. Certainly, Science Adventure fans will be content with controlling Chaos;Head’s Rimi Sakihata and Steins;Gate’s Kurisu Makise. But there’s a slight visual quality, with some characters flaunting the detail of traditional 2D sprites while others resemble the look of a softer, polygonal-based fighter. While character portraits that pop up during Specials are eye-catching, backdrops aren’t always detailed and lack the signature animated elements can make other fighters feel spirited.

It’s evident that care when into Rocket Panda’s English dubs. But the game’s text-based localization isn’t always as adept with an instance or two where the proclamations seem slightly out of character. While players might expect MAGES’ experience with visual novels to supply some interesting narratives, Omnia’s stories are only serviceable. Bits of adequate exposition bookend the fights, but there’s a minimum of character portraits.

That said, Phantom Breaker does supply more modes that the average fighter, and the absence of DLC is certainly commendable. While there’s not a lot of divergence between classic modes like Score and Time Attack, Endless Battle, and Arcade Modes, any attempt at longevity is advantageous. But as Rocket Panda had previously mentioned, there’s no rollback netcode in the game. That’s a shame as online matches demonstrated sporadic bouts of lag.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that Phantom Breaker has finally arrived stateside. As an enjoyable, accessible anime fighter, I’m sure I’ll be revisiting Omnia regularly, much like I do with Melty Blood: Type Luna and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. But it’s disheartening that the developers couldn’t provide a more dynamic tutorial or even a list of movesets in the pause menu. While diehard fighting game fans will want to jump into the ring, more prudent players might want to wait to see if these blemishes will get patched.

Phantom Breaker: Omnia was played on Switch
with review code provided by the publisher.