Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero Introduces Its Main Characters

NIS America and Nippon Ichi Software shared more details about the upcoming tactical RPG Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero, which is a sequel to the PlayStation 2 title Phantom Brave (aka Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle). These new details introduce some of the game’s main characters and how Marona will come to embrace piracy.

Marona is a cheerful and optimistic girl, who has the ability to speak and interact with the Phantoms. She uses this ability to work as a Chroma, a contractor who takes on requests to solve various problems. Initially feared for her strange power and labelled “The Possessed One”, she is now viewed as hero following her victory over the demon Sulphur. Ash is a young man with a strong sense of justice, who acts as both Marona’s partner and guardian. After a fateful event, he turned into a Phantom and vowed to protect Marona since her parents passed away. Apricot is a Phantom girl who inhabited Skullrock Island alone for years, yearning for her father, who is the former captain of the renown Argento Pirate Crew. She possesses a great swordsmanship skill she owes to the teaching of her father.

Like its predecessor, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is set in the oceanic world of Ivoire. This title takes players to a region where territories are occupied by various pirate factions. As Marona and Ash return home from a regular job, they are attacked by the ghost ships of the Shipwreck Fleet, during which Marona’s powers are stolen by a masked man and she and Ash are separated. After washing ashore, Marona encounters a Phantom girl named Apricot who agrees to help her fight the new threat that looms over the seas of Ivoire, prompting Marona and Apricot to become pirates themselves in their quest to assemble a crew capable to defeat the Shipwreck Fleet. They will have to take care of their own ship and fight to expand their territory.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero continues with the gridless combat of the original game. Characters are able to freely move within a certain radius on their turn. Marona’s powers allow allied Phantoms to possess, or Confine to, items on the map to participate in battle. However, Phantoms will only remain Confined for a few turns before being removed from battle, and each Phantom can only be used once per battle. New gameplay elements include Confriend, Confire, and ship customisation. Confriend allows Marona to be possessed by a phantom, granting her new abilities and potentially increasing her stats. Confire is the ability for a phantom to possess gadgets and make use of their characteristics.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is planned to release worldwide in 2025. The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.