The fighting game genre has seen a massive resurgence due to the growth of the competitive scene.
This has allowed for games that were once seen as niche arcades titles to flourish in the mainstream.
Mages Inc's Phantom Breaker: Omnia is one of those cult classics that has been brought back due popular demand.
Phantom Breaker was originally released in 2011 on the arcades and consoles available at the time.
Since its first release, there have been numerous versions of the game that featured rebalanced gameplay, new characters, new techniques, and extra fighting modes.
The Phantom Breaker games were praised for their diverse roster of characters and high speed game play.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia will be the first game in the franchise to be released outside of Japan after the successful spin-off Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds.
Phantom Breaker’s story unfolds in Tokyo where a mysterious figure called Phantom has lured duelists to battle each other.
Each fighter is equipped with mystical weapons of great strength known as Fu-mension Artifacts.
Phantom has promised each of the combatants a wish if they survived the battle. But unbeknownst to them the clashes between Fu-mension Artifacts caused distortions in space-time, which will break Phantom’s seal releasing his destructive powers.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia features detailed stories for each of its characters, fleshing out their motives for wanting to take part in the battle.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is filled with several anime tropes but they have been well worked here making each character stand out in their own right.
Visually Phantom Breaker: Omnia has a dazzling anime aesthetic, with characters sporting alluring designs.
The entire world of Phantom Breaker: Omnia is vibrant and fun with so much intricate detail being paid to each of its characters.
Attack animations radiate so much personality especially when you unleash their ultimate attacks.
The soundtrack hosts a great variety of different tunes to accompany the high speed combat, with players given the choice to either use the original or remix versions.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia has dual audio with both Japanese and English being available. The stellar voice over performances for each character sounds amazing during battles and cutscenes.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia has a great selection of offline modes which all offer different experiences.
Story mode will let players enjoy each of the characters' adventures filled with well written cutscenes.
Arcade mode allows players to experience the game as it was in the arcades, I did feel this mode was a tad harder than the others.
There’s also score attack, time attack and endless battle on offer. These different modes will certainly keep players busy for an ample amount of time without even needing to play VS modes.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is a four button fighter, where the player has the ability to chain together light, medium, heavy and special attacks in combos. This system has been well worked to complement the high speed combat.
There are over twenty different characters on offer here with fan favourites returning including Makise from Steins;Gate and two new fighters.
The beauty here is that players can pick from three different fighting styles which will alter each character's stats and gameplay, which just spoils the players for choice.
The three styles are Quick, Hard and the new Omnia. Each style caters from different types of play allowing players to really take control of how they fight.
Quick Style allows for Counter Burst cancels and makes it easier to land speedy combos in general. However, its overall offensive and defensive power is lower than other styles.
When using Hard Style, players can only perform Heavy combos. However, your parameters are higher overall and individual attacks do more damage.
Omnia Style sits between Quick Style and Hard Style, though with its double-jump, it leans slightly closer to Quick Style.
I’ve just given a basic explanation of what each style has on offer but there is so much depth to discover allowing for strategic gameplay.
Each style will utilise all the core mechanics such as Phantom Breaks, Overdrives, Guard cancels and more. They each come with their own special abilities such as Slip Shift or Protection.
I also found it very clever that inputting commands will also differentiate depending on what style players pick to keep in tune with that style's mechanics.
There’s a lot on offer in Phantom Breaker: Omnia, with the game even including its own achievements and an option to change to input lag to match online matches.
It’s all just simply phenomenal and comes together really nicely.
Verdict
In the midst of all the amazing fighters one the market Phantom Breaker: Omnia could be this year's hidden gem as its unique approach to creating an original experience is just fantastic.
It would simply be criminal for fans of the genre to give this one a miss, especially since it's on the Switch and can be played on the go.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is out for PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch on 15 March
