Phantom Trigger

 Xbox One
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Xbox Tavern
    Apr 20, 2018
    48
    Phantom Trigger looks great and plays well for the most part, that much goes without saying. However, the game is far too taxing and fails miserably to fill its interesting world with meaningful content and lacks exploratory structure. It doesn’t help matters that the core loop remains dull and repetitive from the get-go. In a nutshell, this game is sub-par at best.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Xbox_Alive
    May 8, 2018
    7
    The hack-and-slash genre is a genre that has spawned some classics over the years and it’s a genre that I’ve sunk a great deal of hours inThe hack-and-slash genre is a genre that has spawned some classics over the years and it’s a genre that I’ve sunk a great deal of hours in over my lifetime, so I’m always willing to try a new title out in this genre. Phantom Trigger is a hack-and-slash game that has a unique side to it, but its shortcomings and similarities to certain games in the genre stop it from being placed in the higher echelons of this specific genre. Don’t get me wrong it gets more right than it gets wrong and some of the things it gets right were a pleasant surprise. Without a doubt the thing that surprised me the most was the story in the game. The story has quite a lot of depth going for it and it makes you want to continue because it’s interesting and that means it hooks you pretty much all of the time. This is a good thing because it distracts you from the repetetive gameplay. Don’t get me wrong the gameplay is actually pretty good but after an hour or two it gets too samey and that does make things become tedious. Thankfully though I didn’t find the combat in the game to suffer with the same problems and this more than satisfied me throughout my time with the game. The main reason why it kept me satisfied is because the combat and enemies you fight against have a great deal of variety implemented into them and this without a doubt makes being involved in battle both fun and enjoyable. After enjoying being in battle as you can imagine I was expecting a lot from the boss battles, but unfortunately they didn’t deliver here. I don’t know if it was the lack of variety in the level design or if it was the lack of variety in the bosses but I found the boss battles to lack creativity and in the end all they seemed to do were frustrate me a great deal, which is a shame. One of my favourite things about Phantom Trigger was how they handled the presentation side of things. Visually the game looks great and the pixel art shines through at all times. The sound design has also been done really well and when you combine it with the awesome visuals they both make the game have a touch of immersion, which is great. At the end of the day Phantom Trigger doesn’t do too much wrong it’s just that it doesn’t do anything that makes it stand out from the rest of the game’s in the genre. If you’re a fan of hack-and-slash games though then you will find enough here to satisfy your needs, but don’t expect it to be as good as some of the classic games out there. That being said despite its shortcomings it does do enough to get a recommendation from me.… Full Review »
  2. GBG_Jason
    Apr 26, 2018
    6
    In 2009, Demon’s Souls set a new standard for what gamers have defined as a difficult game. From Cuphead to one of the many Dark Souls clonesIn 2009, Demon’s Souls set a new standard for what gamers have defined as a difficult game. From Cuphead to one of the many Dark Souls clones that have been released since, many comparisons have been made to the Souls series for difficulty. As much as I hate to continue using the stagnant term, Phantom Trigger ranks up there with one of the previously mentioned games.

    Phantom Trigger features the intertwined stories of Stan, a man dealing with some medical issues and is seeking alternative treatment opposed to standard medicine, and the Outsider, a being who is working their way through a strange limbo-ish world, filled with enemies, traps, and NPCs that offer only vague responses. The game wastes no time putting you in the thick of it, facing off with a number of enemies with Stan’s story peppered in occasionally when certain points are reached. I found the story to be equal parts frustrating and intriguing, as I really wanted to try to solve the mystery of how the two characters were connected.

    The game starts you off on the hard setting, which isn’t much different than the normal setting that I dropped it down to pretty early into the adventure. While the initial levels are not overly challenging, the game quickly reaches the game over screen within the first couple of hours. The Outsider has a number of attacks: a light, hard, and ranged attack that allows you to pull enemies toward you, as well as a dodge that must be used flawlessly to dispatch the various creatures the game throws at you. Failure to do so will result in a swift death and often times a significant amount of backtracking, as the checkpoints are usually spaced out quite awkwardly. You’ll often be stuck in small areas where enemies respawn frequently and seem to ignore the fact you are dodging or dashing away, resulting in unfair hits becoming the norm. On more than one occasion, I’d complete one of these segments to only have a similar one occur seconds later, just before a proper checkpoint. Outside of the combat, there isn’t much else to see here gameplay-wise other than a few fairly easy puzzles, which only require the player to hit certain items in a sequence using specific color coded attacks.

    The overall presentation is where the game shines, however, the character models are really where the visuals shine. The enemies are well rendered and convey a sense of horror despite the minimal details. It reminds me of a darker version of Toe Jam and Earl with its flat Metroidvania style layout. I found this to be particularly refreshing, as these games usually opt for the side scrolling format. It’s pretty well polished, although I did experience a few issues with it freezing mid game, which seemed to be more prevalent when streaming or dealing with a large group of enemies.

    If you choose, you can bring in a second Outsider via couch co-op, which works as a drop in/drop out system. While this makes dealing with the waves of enemies slightly more manageable, you share a single life bar meaning if either player dies its game over. Additionally, there is a Mixer interactive component that can be turned on; I streamed the title for quite a bit with a number of viewers, but I did not notice much of a change in gameplay. Much like the rest of the game, there is a lack of player direction, which may have been intentional to give it that Souls feel. While I can respect this, I find it to be a major turn off.

    Phantom Trigger is by no means a bad game, it’s just super difficult and definitely won’t be for everyone. If you’re up for a challenge and want an interesting story, I would recommend giving the title a go. I just hope you can survive better than I did.    … Full Review »
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