Phantom Dust

A remastered edition of Phantom Dust, first released in 2004 on Xbox, which gained popularity through a unique combination of a few game genres: action, strategy, RPG, and card game. The refreshed version developed by Microsoft’s studio was supervised by the author of the original – Yukio Futatsugi, also known for popular Panzer Dragoon.

Plot

The action of Phantom Dust for XONE takes us to the post-apocalyptic realities in which Earth is wreathed in the titular, harmful dust, which makes people go underground. Among normal humans, suffering from amnesia because of the dust, there is a group called Espers. They can not only control the dust, but also derive supernatural powers from it. You assume the role of one of Espers who is found in a mysterious capsule, hidden deep in underground ruins. During gameplay, the protagonist will have to uncover details concerning his past and try to bring back the natural order on the Earth.

Mechanics

Gameplay has a few main layers. While in the underground metropolis, you mainly explore and chat with independent non-character players who can give you +300 missions. During exploration, you also find memory boxes and discover or purchase new special abilities symbolised by special cards. While carrying out missions, you are on the surface of the planet, where primarily you have to fight the wandering mutants. Combat is similar to that in card games and during fighting you can use abilities acquired before, which are divided into a few groups. There are typical offensive and defensive skills, but also ones that e.g. change enemies’ abilities or grant you the power of flying or teleportation. After RPG games, acquired abilities are gradually developed in the progress of playing.

Technical aspects

Upgraded to HD, visuals in the remastered version of Phantom Dust published on XONE really stand out. As more than a decade past since the release of the original, creators also introduced some changes in mechanics, so as to make them more similar to contemporary productions and trends. Just like the original, the title also features multiplayer in which four users can play on a split screen display or via Xbox Live.

Last updated on 09 January 2015