Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds

***Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds*** (ファントムブレイカー：バトルグラウンド, *Fantomu Bureikā: Batoru Guraundo*) is a beat 'em up spin-off of the *Phantom Breaker* series developed and published by 5pb. and originally released worldwide on Xbox 360 on February 27th, 2013.

An updated version of the game, ***Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive*** (ファントムブレイカー：バトルグラウンド オーバードライブ, *Fantomu Bureikā: Batoru Guraundo Ōbādoraibu*), was released on PlayStation 4 on July 21st, 2015, and Nintendo Switch on December 7th, 2017. This version adds news skills and equipment for all characters, including DLC characters, Kurisu Makise and Frau Koujiro.

On March 4th, 2024, both the original *Battle Grounds* and *Overdrive* will be delisted from digital stores.

## Gameplay

*Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds* features a beat-em up gameplay that takes inspiration from *Guardian Heroes* with the ability to change foreground and background planes. It's mixed with 2D graphics and Retro-Style music that pays homage to *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game*.

## Plot

In *Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds* players play as chibi versions of Mikoto, Waka, Itsuki and Yuzuha as they fight against large groups of enemies. Their friend, Nagi, has been captured by Phantom and the girls must go through hordes of Phantom's minions to try and rescue her, with each one having unique encounters and dialogue with the enemies.

### Story

*After being granted powerful mystical weapons by the mysterious Phantom, the chosen Duelists fought in ever-escalating battles to try and claim the ultimate prize: a wish granted. Their battles, however, were all a part of Phantom's schemes to create breaches in the barriers between the parallel universes and weaken the seal keeping his powers locked away.

Waka—a member of a demon-slaying family that opposes Phantom—stood against him to thwart his plan, but he escaped to another universe after kidnapping her younger sister, Nagi. Joined by Mikoto (a powerful Chosen One) and with the help of Itsuki (the Maid of Justice), and Yuzuha (a ninja who escaped Phantom's temptations), they set out together to track down Phantom and rescue Nagi.*

## Characters

### *Playable Characters*

* Mikoto Nishina (仁科 美琴, *Nishina Mikoto*)
* Mei Orisaka (折坂 芽衣, *Orisaka Mei*)
* Yuzuha Fujibayashi (藤林 柚葉, *Fujibayashi Yuzuha*)
* Waka Kumon (九紋 稚, *Kumon Waka*)

### *Sub Characters*

Characters that are unlocked by playing the story mode, but are only playable in the Arcade and Battleground modes.

* M (影霧, *Eimu*)
* Cocoa (心愛, *Kokoa*)
* Infinity (インフィニティ, *Infiniti*)
* Nagi Kumon (九紋 ナギ, *Kumon Nagi*): Waka's younger sister, who was kidnapped by Phantom. She's usually lacking in battle prowess, but...

### *DLC Characters*

Characters that are unlocked after buying them on the online store, but are playable in Arcade and Battleground modes.

* Kurisu Makise (牧瀬 紅莉栖, *Makise Kurisu*): First released on the 360 version of the original on March 12th, 2013, and then on the Steam version on March 13th, 2015 as part of the Kurisu Pack, which also raises the character level limit.
* Frau Koujiro (神代 フラウ): A guest character from *Robotics;Notes*. She says she just suddenly realized that she will be joining the fight. First released on the Steam version of the original game on November 17th, 2016, and then on the 360 version on March 7th, 2017 as part of the Frau Pack.

## Trivia

* *Battle Grounds* is the first game in the *Phantom Breaker* series to release outside Japan, since the original game never got an Western release. Thankfully, it would contribute to *Omnia* getting a worldwide release years later.
* The game was featured in the official music video, "Move" by I Fight Dragons.

## References

1. ↑ https://rocketpandagames.com/news/important-update-regarding-legacy-versions-of-phantom-breaker-battle-grounds/

## External Links

* Official site
* Official site (Overdrive)
* Official site (Overdrive on Switch)