Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds is a fantastic co-op experience, with 10 playable character each with unique movesets excluding DLC and enough challenge that goes beyond just button mashing, I really enjoyed my time with it, and likely will continue to as I continue to play it.

Something to keep in mind however is the fact it's rather short, and the game depends on you enjoying it enough to replay it with different characters or with friends to be most enjoyable and get your moneys worth.

Also, make sure you have a controller, as much as I hate to say this, don't even bother if you don't own one. The game is built around use of a controller and the unchangeable keyboard bindings are pretty bad.

Stage one you're running through Akihabara beating up some creepy otaku and gyaru girls, even fighting through 'Hey' arcade and eventually other areas in Tokyo .. You'd probably have to be familiar with Phantom Breakers to get what the characters are grudging over, but none of that gets in the way.

Enemies are amusing, and often they heavily reference enemy types from Streets of Rage and sometimes even TMNT in some very humorous ways and the art may be taking some visual cues from the Scott Pilgrim beat-em-up (and that's a great thing). That in my opinion is the best part of this game, is all the references that are packed in, the care put into the backgrounds and how it all just comes together with really fun and slick controls. If you're a fan of these things, from Akiba culture to beat-em-up references, you'll love the subtle treats they have in store for you.

If you have the controllers, this game is well worth it whether it's to play co-op TMNT style or to play it solo. There's 5 difficulty modes, characters to level up and plenty of challenge in this package. And even if you just wanted to show 5pb. there's a place for them or Steins;Gate on Steam, you can't go wrong.

Very, very fun Beat ‘em Up game with cute anime graphics and RPG elements – namely your character levels up as you complete (or fail) a stage, and you assign level-up points you get to character’s stats or use them unlock various special moves. You can also re-distribute the points you’ve assigned, so you can experiment without worrying about making mistakes.

I fully recommend Phantom Breaker to all fans of Beat ‘em Ups, or action games in general!

*Edit as of 09/15/16: Still not flipping the thumb becuase it's still not as good as the PS4 Version that was released a few months after this port was. I woud recommend that version of the game if came to steam, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

I originally recommended the game, but currently I would only recommend this game if it were:

1) On sale for at least 75% or less (explained further on)
2) Have nothing else to spend a couple hours on
3) The developers actually make it better or on par to the console/vita counter-part.
4) If you like waiting (and I really mean waiting) for updates and patches to be released.
5) If Phantom Breaker: Overdrive came out on PC with all the DLC carried over from this one to not screw over customers who have already purchased it

TLDR: Just know that the PC port at this point is still obsolete to the newer version out on the PS4 and that this version is a 2 year old port of an Xbox 360. There is also a superior version of the game that exists called Phantom Breaker: Overdirve on the PS4 that has more feaures than the PC port. Keep in mind that because of this, this is a review more based on a port to Steam and functionality rather than pure game-play elements.

Now let's start with a few positives:
1) Because this game started out as a fighting game, the combat system has a complex combo system that is incredibly satisfying to pull off.
2) With the story and arcade mode in the game, it makes for a decent amount of fun for 2-5 hours.
3) The character progression in this game is done well with spending points into skills and base stats.

Because I actually do love this game, a lot of the following comes with why this game is such a bad port compared to the other versions of this game, why it's failing/ not worth your time as a PC game in general, and questioning developer decisions.

Now on to the Negatives (It's a lot):

I originally loved this game when it first came out on console and steam. But with nothing but disappointment after disappointment from terrible developer choices, limitations brought to the PC port, and bugs that are still plaguing people (me not included), I'm left in utter disbelief on what this game was and what it could have been on PC.

With only 8 stages and 4 difficulty levels with the 5th one being impossible unless you have the level 99 DLC and/or friends to play with, the game lacks the replay-ability to even remain relevant. Even then, the hardest difficulty is pointless for anything other than points becuase you can't even gain experience from it. If you want the evidence, take a look at https://steamdb.info/app/329490/graphs/ and see for yourself how well this game is currently doing.

I hit the level cap(50) at the start of Nightmare difficulty (This was from starting at level 1 on Hard because I unlocked Nagi). They finally did add achievements with patch 1.04, but it was implemented way too late. Take a look at the global achievement progress and have a look at how many people actually have the first achievement http://steamcommunity.com/stats/329490/achievements/


A very important issue that many people do not realize, the content, pricing, and age of the game. This game was originally released on Xbox 360 on Feb 27, 2013 at $10 and later re-released on PS Vita for $12 on Mar 13, 2014 (JP) or Aug 12, 2014 (US). Now the pricing isn't very high, but the fact that the game price went up over time and was released on PC at $12 also is really weird. I asked one of the developers about why the price went up and instead received a round-about answer avoiding an actual answer.

I also asked if they could make the Kurisu DLC free to at least regain lost faith and attract people to buying the PC version. I was then answered with, "It would be unfair to previous Mages customers who have bought previous versions of the game." I can see how that is a thing, but when your game is now 2 years old it doesn't do you any good to keep your prices the same. Re-releases do exist with more content in the form of GOTY editions and updated versions (Dynasty Warriors # __, Tales of __R, ____ GOTY Edition, etc.) with cheaper pricing and DLC included for free.

I would also like to point out that the game that was released on Steam was essentially an "Early Access" game. It was released completely bare bones with zero online features and as an experiment to see how consumers would react to it. And now slowly over time, the devs are slowly releasing slightly more content that is still not equal to the original versions of the game.

All in all, I could only recommend the game if it has fulfilled any of the things I have mentioned above at the start. But in it's current state, don't even bother touching this game until it receives the care that it deserves.

A message to the developers of Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds:

This game is a giant disappointment and your poor decisions have clearly held the game back from what it should have been on PC. You have released just another game on steam brushed aside into the trash, so GG. This thumb will flip when you can prove that this game is on equal footing with your new poster child Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdirve.

This is a decently fun beat-em-up with playable Kurisu from Steins;Gate, but it's an inferior version of the same game on PS4 and Switch. The newer Overdrive version is pretty much the same game with more content and was released in 2017.

Nearly 5 years later, this PC version has not received any of those updates, which is a big slap in the face to earlier supporters.

[OK]
- Steam Achievement
- Steam Cloud
- Can use Controller
- Great Voices
- Nice Soundtracks
- Oh, I forgot about characters style... They're beautiful
- Nice story
- So quickly to leveling up

[NOT OK]
- Can't setting resolution

[RECOMMEND]
Yes

[ADDITIONAL NOTE]

Originally posted by Cynical Brit Gaming:

If you own a pad (PC port is very barebones) and can tolerate the Magical Girl aesthetic, this is a really solid 2d brawler with surprising depth.

Pretty good Beat em up game. Action is very fluid, but the overall game is pretty short. The game has pretty good replayability as you attempt to get your character as strong as possible on the skill tree.

Apparently the max level right now is 50 (even though they have screenshot with a level 99 character). Devs have stated they are saving the level 99 and one extra character for DLC (*sigh* like every other game company...)

This is a fantastic game to play with friends. The music is great and the playable characters are adorable. There is also a lot of variety on their moveset, and they have Kurisu from Steins;Gate, so extra points for that. This game is really underappreciated for what it is tbh.

tl;dr: Get it if you just wanna have fun with your friends while beating up otakus and creepy egg dudes.

To preface this: despite me not recommending it it's still a fun beat-em-up that can fill the Scott Pilgrim shaped void after you adapt to the game's more..."unique" gameplay features that stem from the series' origin as a fighting game. I initially disliked playing it but I adapted, came to really enjoy it and eventually was able to beat it on its hardest difficulty.

Compared to another beat 'em up, Fight N' Rage, this game is a walk in the park. A beautiful walk in the park, I should add, because the graphics look hella fine.

Anyway, why don't I recommend it? Simple. It's the inferior version of the title. Just half a year after it was released on PC in January 2015 an updated version with more content and better gameplay was released on PS4 (PB: BG Overdrive) and then, two and a half years later, the Overdrive version was ported to the Nintendo Switch.

In one month from this review it'll be this game's 5th anniversary on Steam and we're still stuck with the regular edition while Overdrive contains (as stated on its official webpage):

• New skills and abilities
  
• More on-screen enemies
  
• Secret routes in levels that contain different enemies
  
• Equipment that changes what your Out-Range attack is
  
• Enhanced music

So until that version comes to Steam either as its own thing or an update to this one (be it purchasable or free), I'm going to be giving this one a thumbs down despite my love for it. It hurts me to do so but it also hurts to be left in the dust like this.

Edit: In December 2023, nearing the 10th anniversary now, it was revealed that a reduxed version of the game labelled "Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds: Ultimate" (made from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 and presumably containing the enhancements of Overdrive) is coming to Steam.

As THIS version of the game isn't being updated and is in fact being removed from the storefront in 2024 its negative review shall be retained. I believe there's enough changed in Ultimate (for better and worse) to warrant its own analysis and review when it releases.

...Also, in the time since this review Scott Pilgrim did release on Steam but infested with Denuvo and Ubisoft Play. Be careful what you wish for, I suppose.

Amazing beat'em up game, remind me a lot of the scott pilgrim game (rip) and I love the humor on the dialogues