It was a game that was somehow similar to another game that I became close with, and that game was Fire Emblem.
However, this game was different. It was on the mobile and it had some interesting design choices that made me like the game at first glance. That being said, behold one of the underdogs of the SRPG genre.
Enter... Phantom of the Kill's Reader's Review. For more information, feel free to go to their website at https://phantomofthekill.com/.
Title: Phantom of the Kill
Date released: May 19, 2016 in the US (with constant updates keeping into consideration)
Company: Fuji&gumi Games (gumi)
Genre: Strategy RPG
Platform: Mobile
ESRB Rating: None (but it's a sure-fire Teen)
Brief Background: gumi was founded in June 13, 2007 and the company has been since popularly known in the mobile community with games like the immensely popular Brave Frontier, the now defunct Chain Chronicle, and the recent Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, a game developed in cooperation with Square Enix and Alim.
What do you do here?
In a world where malevolent forces dominates the land, you serve as a commander in this Norse-inspired post-apocalyptic world where the many weapons of legend are at your disposal; in the form of people known as "Killers". These are a selective few who partake a secret yet dangerous proposal by the Ragnarok Institute known as the Killer Project where these individuals are granted beast blood and essences from legendary arms (known as Killium) in order to make a last-ditch attempt to save humanity from utter destruction. However, these powers do not come without risks...
Killer Princes, male test subjects of the Killer Project, tends to go haywire when they undergo "Beast Mode" for long periods of time; making them more savage and uncontrollable. This is where you, the player, steps in. Commanders possesses a unique material called "Vibium" granting them the ability to keep these men in check. The troubles do not step there however, as a horde of monsters have taken over humanity and its up to you, and your army of Killer Princes and Princesses, to stop them.
What makes the game interesting?
The game play is simply a straightforward Strategy RPG; choose a unit, pick where you want to go, attack enemies, rinse and repeat. This is very cool as people who are fond of the Fire Emblem series will be able to identify these mechanics very easily. However, there are some mechanics that are quite distinct for this game. One of them is the elemental affinities. These affinities greatly affects on how much damage you can both deal and take. Additionally, each character are not basically carbon copies of each other unlike in other Strategy RPGs. While each of them can have the same job, the play style of each unit differs from one other; from the stats that they get when they level up to the unique special moves that they can learn. Speaking of special moves, specific characters can undergo special quests known as "Character Quests" where you see the origin of story of each Killer Princes and Princesses, after which they receive a special skill that you can use in battle. Another interesting thing about this game is that it has tons of Event Quests for you to enjoy, from the experience-filled Metal Gardens to some very important side quests like Gold Rush and quests that you can do to get evolution materials. There are two ways to recruit units, via Lazulis and another one using Mana Points, which you can use to make powerful units early on. Finally, there are a lot of updates going on right now, so be on the lookout for future upgrades in game modes and other stuff. Also, I would like to add that the game has no permadeath, so this will probably give some breathing room for those people who are not fond of that particular feature.
What are the flaws I found in this game?
Being a free-to-play title, it also utilizes micro-transactions. Fortunately enough, the game is so balanced that you won't be needing much Lazulis (the game's premium currency) to proceed further of the game. Also, with the game just recently released in the West, it is quite short and still needs more content to fill in to. Furthermore, like every other freemium games out there, it relies on a random number generator to determine certain outcomes; from the units that you want to recruit to the critical hit chance of your attacks. Weapon fusion also relies on RNG, which sucks because I am quite hesitant to fuse my strong weapons only to get useless ones in the end. Despite these short-comings, these are compensated by a very-well balanced combat system and a daily rewards system... just make sure to check in every single day! The arena matches are fun, but what's more fun is that they remove the EXP limit that players can receive (or at least increase the threshold).
How did you know about Phantom of the Kill? What was your initial reaction to it? Who is your favorite PotK character so far?
I am not entirely sure what to say at first, especially that the trailer that I watched is so cheesy that it's easily to assume that its terrible, but after playing the game, I must say that I am quite caught off guard. The game play is nice despite its random nature, and there really is no need for you to do anything special, which I've already mentioned above. I have to be honest, the game is not ground-breaking but it is a very nice addition to the mobile library by every means, if it only because of its familiar game-play. As for my favorite character in the game, I have to say Labrys, because she reminded me of Love Live... for some strange reason. :D
Can you recommend this game?
I say yes. The mechanics of this game is very much recognizable (if not innovative) and the game-play is so balanced that newbies can be able to get into the game so easily. Also, with a lot of constant updates and features, the developers really do know how to keep their player-base interested with the game.
Overall rating: 8.7/10
As expected from a freemium, this game has the setbacks and limitations of being an online-only game. Nevertheless, it is not a frustrating experience and it has a lot of things going for. Updates, events, freebies, you will be sure to play this game for a long time. Now then, go out there and bring victory for humanity!
Fight on, Commander!!!
--END OF REVIEW--
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