Phantom Breaker: Omnia | PS4 Review

If you had the opportunity to get your deepest wish granted would you go all out for it? Would you fight the world for that wish to come true? Against morals? That's the question posed to the duelists in "Phantom Breaker: Omnia". Propositioned by a mysterious man of magic known only as Phantom the girls and guys of parallel worlds within the given universe must decide whether their wish is to be fulfilled in a selfish or selfless way as they fight among themselves with weapons borne of their unbridled emotions. Led by the desire to do good, and some led by evil the duelists in question duel to the finish while trying to fulfill their end of the bargain. Deception is possibly at play though as Phantom's deal may or may not be as legit as it seems. This is, but one of many things that you'll discover lying in wait if you fancy giving this new fighting game experience a fighting chance ...

Phantom Breaker: Omnia is not your traditional fighting game experience in a lot of ways. Built with more defensive options than those usually seen in such fighting games this particular anime fighter lays it on thick, but in an ease-of-use kind of way. Keeping combos, special attacks, and finishers mapped out in a newcomer friendly fashion. At the heart of it all lies three different fighting styles which are available for all 22 characters. Each of which has it's own unique take on basic mechanics. These three styles include Quick, Hard, and Omnia. Quick does as it's name suggest and quickens the pace at which tension and burst meters are gained. At the expense of health, no less. It also adds in easy to perform rapid fire or auto-combos that are tied to the four button layout used in gameplay. By mashing Light, Medium, or Heavy attacks in rapid succession you can perform an easy combo that does damage accordingly. Additionally there's a button designated to specials that will, in tandem with directional buttons, activate special moves.

Hard style, on the other hand, is the more defense and high damage driven style of mechanic sets. It is geared towards a more hard hitting type of play at the expense of a slower movement speed, and has it's own unique (Back) + Medium attack. Additionally the auto-combos that can be performed  with Hard are only available for Heavy attacks. Being the polar opposite of Quick style, Heavy is the more beefy of the two. Boosting the three base character stats that include attack damage, defensive power, and speed. 

Lastly, Omnia style is the in between of both Quick and Hard. Allowing for more balanced play, but at the expense of some of the more powerful finishers and buffs like that of Overdrive, and Phantom Break. Also the style has no auto-combos. Making it a more traditional fighting game experiences where combos are performed using a combination of Light, Medium, Heavy, and Special. 

When it comes to the governing gauges in "Phantom Breaker: Omnia" you have a few to mind. The health bar/vital chamber displays both standard health and red recoverable health. The red health being that of the vital chamber. Of course it goes without saying that the end goal of each round or match is to get the opponents' health '0'. Using the Tension, and Burst gauges this can be done in numerous ways. With the Tension gauge, which fills up with both players, in accordance to player Clashes (attacks connecting simultaneously) a player can build up meter for increased damage output and more efficient movement/evasion options. It will also increase the Burst gauge recovery speed, and will refill the Burst gauge to 100% when it is filled/activated. With Burst, on the other hand, you'll gain access to things like Enhanced Specials, Overdrive, Phantom Break, and the Omnia style specific All Range Attack. Overdrive which is an additional boost to certain mechanics in Quick & Hard types comes with dual functions, respectively. For Quick you get a 'Clock Up' ability that increases movement speed and combo performance potential. In Hard the gained gimmick is known as Solid Armor. It boosts the Solid Armor feature for a short time making your character invulnerable to attacks, and staggering. Creating the ultimate defense against the more aggressive types. 

In the way of Enhanced Specials there are some button combos which when pressed will cost Burst Gauge to execute. This mainly ties into Heavy + Special + DPad inputs. Alternatively you can press Light + Special + DPad and spend no Burst Gauge at all. The Phantom break, which can be equally as useful in ending a match is the game's finisher move, and should be used as a last resort as it renders your Burst Gauge useless for a period of time. It is activated with a pressing of Heavy + Special when you have four bars of Burst built up. Finally Omnia's own alternative, the "All Range Attack", is yet another powerful attack that can be used to quickly finish off or deeply damage an opponent's health bar in a similar fashion. 

In the way of Burst gauge functions it features a basic burst, critical burst, burst counter, and emergency mode. These are done by combining a pressing of the Light + Medium attack buttons in specific situations, and with specific amounts of gauge built up. Basic burst will get you out of an attack buy literally bursting you free from the ensuing combo. Counter Burst is a bit different in that regard in that you'll have to have been hit at least a couple of times before bursting. Emergency Mode which is similar, but different is reserved for escaping the more damaging moves like Overdrive, and Phantom Break. The catch is it costs 2 full gauges to perform. Evasive moves aren't limited to those things though, and you will find options like dashing, back stepping, double jumping, and hovering are available as well for more advanced approach.

Defensive, and evasive mechanics are about as involved as the attack options, if not more so. In this anime fighter you can dash behind enemies, perform various parries to get past projectiles and melee attacks, and block both on the ground and in the air. Cancels are also a huge part of the technical side of gameplay as well. Cancels apply to just about every mechanic, and for all three mechanics types. Blocking, another crucial mechanic in the game, is your standard hold back ordeal and can be done both on the ground or in the air. Alternatively Slip Shift moves, which are basically background stepping projectile parries will cause the character to flash red when executed. To execute said Slip Shift you have to press forward as the projectile nears your character, and time it perfectly to pass behind it. In regards to a similar mechanic that is executed in fairly much the same way, but in close quarter combat scenarios you'll find that you can activate a Protection which will cause your character to glow blue by pressing forward as the opposing player dishes out basic attacks or combos. This will open up a brief window of opportunity for a punish as it slows down the opposing player's recovery. 

For additional parry-like opportunities a simpler form of parry can be done by pressing and holding the Special attack button while on the ground or in the air. In a similar fashion as to the Protection mechanic this opens up a window for punish as the opponent's recovery is slowed down for a moment. Coupled with the Counter Burst mechanic is the Critical Burst. This move requires you to hold down Special while the Tension gauge is full until it darkens the screen and triggers a devastating attack. 

Modes of play, and content heavy features are a huge part of the "Phantom Breaker Omnia" experience, and as you'll find out Rocket Panda Games goes all in with the necessary tools for competitive and casual play. At your beckon call are several menu options ready to click on within the main menu. You have Story, Single, Vs, Training, and Online. That, and a Guide to controls and everything I just explained. Story mode comes to you like a heavy handed, and often times melodramatic anime plot with chapters reserved for each of the 22 duelists and scavengers. These interconnecting storylines with intermittent one round battles help the player to better understand the lore behind Phantom Breaker. Building upon character relationships, and each of their wishes in regards to Phantom's offer. Additionally, once beaten, these chapter inclusive tales open up Extra story paths to aid in the unlocking of gallery images, and other in-game content. 

For that single player action the developer has been generous to create four distinctly different one round per match modes that each have their own online leaderboards. This includes Score Attack, Time Attack, Survival, and Arcade. Score Attack is as it sounds. It's all about racking up that highest score in a single playthrough. At the end of each one round match a score tally is given for bonus points tied to health left, time completed, clashes, and finishers. During the match points are gained through everything from basic attacks to combos, and special attack uses. At the start of Score Attack you'll have to pick a letter & star valued list of characters to fight. These lists are the different AI difficulties, and will offer a proper challenge along with different point values, accordingly. 

Time Attack isn't too different from an arcade kind of playthrough itself. The difference with it though is that it is a timed affair. Meaning that time is of the essence, and the quicker you clear the entire playthrough the better your placing on the leaderboards will be. For those of you who don't know what a survival mode is it's basically a mode where you play single round matches against CPU opponents for as long as you can keep your health. Health left carries over each match, and slightly recovers given a win. In accordance to the leaderboard listings this mode is all about the win count. The more you win the more impressive your placing.

Those of you who want to combo train will find a Training mode with all the necessary meter & AI toggles for adjusting specific gameplay scenarios against specific characters. You get to choose both characters going in, and can set the list of gauge parameters as you see fit. Last, but not least is the VS menu. This is where local or versus CPU/AI play takes place. It has a 1P vs 2P option along with a 1P vs CPU and a CPU vs CPU option. Yes, you can watch the AI fight itself if you so wish. 

On the competitive side of things lies Phantom Breaker's Online mode. This comes complete with a lightly customizable profile feature, and extensive play data. The customizable profile features the players' console ID name, their favorite character background, and five feat specific badges that are unlocked through performing specific feats within the offline or online portion of the game. Character images, in particular are also unlockable through gameplay, and tie-in with certain mode completions. These badges of honor and preference will be displayed in the online hosted and joined lobbies. Speaking of lobbies the game has basic lobby settings for both Ranked and Player match types. In both modes the host can set the region, player level, and ping. Those who wish to join anyone online can also adjust these parameters for searching. I do believe you can also adjust the timer, and number of rounds. It's very basic, and to the point. As of this review I've not yet gone online, but was told by the PR that it's a game best experience on a wired connection.

Characters, which most of you are wondering about at this point in the review, are your over-the-top anime variety. I hear some are from Steins Gate, and others made specifically for this game. You have maid types, shrine maidens, tsundere, idols, transgender, and naval/military types ... let's just say it's as anime as anime gets. Perhaps even a little cliche, if I were to be honest. There are around 22 different characters that I noticed in my counting of the roster, and probably some hidden ones in the lot. Each character is fully voiced in both English and Japanese. Both in the fight and the story. To a point the ongoing in-fight commentary might get annoying for some players. The voice acting itself was well done though, and even the English translation was noteworthy. I think it's safe to assume there is a visually favorable character for all anime lovers, and one for the technical/casual side of the FGC spectrum.

The Verdict ...

Phantom Breaker: Omnia does it's best to break the mold of anime fighters. Though it looks like your traditional anime fighter it feels and plays a whole lot differently. With the many different defensive, evasive, and offensive options made available there's a lot of room for experimentation. While it's a basic four button fighter with mapped dual button triggers for ease of use it still feels super technical. More technical than games like BlazBlue or guilty Gear, if that's even possible.

That having been said, the combat is easy to pick up on as it should be, and all actions/types are viable under certain circumstances. I also think the decently sized roster which contains all character archetypes is enough to add matchup specific strategies to the mix. You will certainly find some broken characters, and characters that are vastly more technical. Combat itself is essentially a weapon based ordeal with special attacks and finishers thrown in for good measure. Those of you looking for the color palette swaps and gallery art will be happy to know that is in the package deal as well. For what it's worth, this package deal, I think it's alright. It takes some getting used to, but it has potential to bring something new and viable to the fighting game scene. If you want something new this is it. If you are looking for something familiar though this kind of sidesteps a little into undiscovered territory.