Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive

 Switch
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. DarkStation
    Mar 9, 2018
    40
    I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. It's a simple game that quickly left me bored and never got much better. The game is alright in some areas but it suffers from being mindless and simple, which isn't what I look for in a game. Phantom Breaker serves a purpose, though the Switch is so loaded down with games at this point that space on the console is better off being used for something else.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. thaesino
    Dec 17, 2017
    9
    TL;DR: Give an 8.5 for short Story Mode. Arcade mode is a ton of fun. Character differences give the game high replayability, so do the 5TL;DR: Give an 8.5 for short Story Mode. Arcade mode is a ton of fun. Character differences give the game high replayability, so do the 5 difficulty modes. Nintendo promises to bring Online Multiplayer soon after release. Game is $10, and that's a good thing. Switch version has two extra characters: Makise Kurisu and Frau (Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes, respectively). Music is nostalgic.

    I give it an 8.5. The only reason, to be honest, is because the Story Mode is short and resorts to cheap gimmicks in order to be short. But also.. I never got to fight the big bad boss we're chasing after the whole time. I completed the game, credits and all. Maybe I missed something???

    Now, Story Mode aside, this game is fun as hell and offers a ton of replayability due to the cast of characters all having different play styles, but also due to the fact that the level up system is never "set in stone," so you can retract points and use them on different Stats or Abilities whenever you want.

    The game looks nice on large screen, but naturally looks even better on Handheld, and was the main reason why I got it for Switch instead of PS4. (Some early reviewers or previewers mentioned only the PS4 version had Online MP.. this is entirely false - Switch promises to have it soon after release). The Switch also has some extra content not available in the 2015 PS4 version - Makise Kurisu and Frau (Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes) - as has been common with many old games now ported to Switch.

    The music is decent. Some of it takes you back to Street Fighter, while some other sounds more like it would be at home in a SNES Kirby game. Definitely nostalgic.

    The actually mechanics of the game are what make it so much fun. There are weak, medium and high attacks. You can link these together to perform combos. There are also grabs that are a ton of fun to get in there, especially when surrounded by 15 enemies. There are also specials - as many Beat 'em Up games have always had - but in this game they do not have a set limit. The limit is based on whether you use your "Special" bar or not, since other things can deplete this.

    As for more replayability, there are 5 difficulty modes; these are unlocked as you beat certain aspects of the game. You only start out with Easy and Normal, but beating the story will get you the Hard setting, and so on and so forth. All in all, for $10 bucks, this is a no-brainer and may even get you back into nostalgic Beat 'em Up games, as I see a certain future for them on the Switch.    … Full Review »
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