Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) has announced the worldwide release of their new strategy RPG, “Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero,” scheduled for 2025. The game was unveiled just over a week ago during Nintendo’s latest Direct and will be available on Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 4 & 5, and PC via Steam.

In conjunction with this announcement, a promotional video featuring the game’s story and characters, set to an epic soundtrack composed by Tenpei Sato, has been released.

“Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero” is an RPG set in Ivoire, a world of unique floating islands. It follows the adventure of a young girl named Marona, voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi, known for her roles as Ougi Oshino from the Monogatari Series, Michiru Matsushima in The Fruit of Grisaia, and Minami Shimada from Baka and Test.

In Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero, Marona can communicate with Phantoms, the spirits of the deceased, and alongside her dear friend, the Phantom Ash, they fulfill the wishes of others by traveling around the islands as Chromas, helping people solve their problems.

On their way back from a routine Chroma job, Marona and Ash encounter a tragedy. Their ship is attacked by a fleet of ghost ships called the “Ship Eaters.” Ash ventures into enemy territory alone to rescue Marona, whose powers have been stolen by a mysterious masked man, leading to their separation.

After escaping the Ship Eaters and washing ashore on a deserted island, Marona meets a Phantom girl named Apricot, who wishes to be reunited with her missing father. Apricot’s father was the captain of the Argent Pirates, who once defeated the Ship Eaters. With the loss of their captain, the Argent Pirates were on the verge of disbanding. Marona offers to help Apricot resurrect the band of pirates her father left behind and find her father.

The only way to navigate these pirate-dominated seas is to become a pirate yourself and expand your territory. Thus, Marona and Apricot work together to reunite with their loved ones and revive the Argent Pirates.

This game is a long-awaited continuation of 2004’s “Phantom Brave,” rather than serving as another remake or re-release.

The game’s appeal lies in its dynamic and versatile combat, featuring a high degree of freedom while in combat, allowing for free movement across a gridless battlefield.

The free movement system allows players to “Confine” friendly phantoms to items on the map, enabling them to join battles alongside Marona. The freedom of movement on the battlefield and the chaotic, high-freedom combat are major attractions of this title.

The game introduces new elements such as “Confriending,” where Phantoms of allied characters with deepened bonds can be confined within Marona herself to gain powerful abilities that can change the tide of battle.

Additionally, “Confiring” allows players to control things such as cannons and tanks placed on the map by confining Phantoms within them. Utilizing the confine system strategically will broaden the player’s tactical options.

In addition, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero features character creation, enabling players to create over 50 types of units, and character development to strengthen favorite characters to their limits. The game includes random dungeons for leveling up and collecting rare items, and other extensive gameplay elements reminiscent of the “Disgaea” series.

As a free-movement RPG, this game includes innovative and unique systems such as picking up and equipping items found on the map, throwing troublesome enemies off the map, stacking objects to reach high places, and lifting allied characters to use their skills or even use them as weapons. Let your imagination run wild and conquer the game in your own way.

The wait until next year is going to be tough, but I’m sure it will be worth it. “Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero” will be released simultaneously in Japan and the West in 2025, available on most console platforms and PC. To stay updated, you can visit the game’s official webpage and follow NIS’s Twitter account.