Nippon Ichi Software has just revealed their next PS2 simulation RPG. Phantom Brave sees a few of the elements that made Makai Senki Disgaea (Disgaea: Hour of Darkness in the US) popular return: character designs by Takehito Harada, and a game system with a high level of freedom. Phantom Brave will feature a view from 8 angles- an improvement over Disgaea's four.

Phantom Brave takes place in the world of Ivoire (a word meaning 'ivory' in French), a world constituted by many small islands. The islands have various topographical patterns, and belong to "countries" such as volcanic land, jungle land, a desert-like land, etc. The game's main character, a warrior by the name of Ash, is living on a ghost island. Having lost his life in a fight, he is himself a spirit, and lives with Marone, a girl with the power to manipulate ghosts. For a living, they take commissions to free people of the spirits possessing them, a job only they can do since they can see ghosts. Their aim is to save up enough so they can buy the island on which they are living. Marone also has another goal: her parents said people would like her if she helped them...

The game will thus feature a succession of quests. Party allies (ghosts) can be created with the "character make" system, and can have various jobs such as warrior or magician, etc. Items found on the island can be equipped and act on a character's status. As the characters level up, the number of things that can be done on Ghost Island will increase. Rather than the usual "grid" used for the battle field, Phantom Brave will use an innovative system of circles to show the sphere of movement of a character (visually similar to that of Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits). The system will not be turn-based, but will rather let the faster player or enemy play first. Equipped items can be held or thrown, such as various swords and axes, but also flowers, mushrooms, and even party members and enemies.

Phantom Brave does not have a release date or price, but we will keep you informed as soon as new info emerges. In the meanwhile, take a look at the first 22 screen shots and some artwork!