Nobody expected Nippon Ichi Software to announce a sequel to the 2004 PS2 strategy RPG ‘Phantom Brave‘, but over 20 years later, the company did just that. Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero sets sail on Switch on 30th January, and for those who want to see what it’s all about before release, NIS America has announced that a free demo will be available from 17th January (that’s this Friday).
In its reveal tweet, the company noted that all save data from the demo carries over to the full version, so you can give the trial your all and not worry about having to do it all again. Ahh, bliss.
But what’s this one all about? The Lost Hero is a sea-faring RPG where you play as Marona, a young girl with the power to contact those beyond the grave — OooOOooO. A fleet of ghastly ghost ships is on the prowl, and it’s up to you and your spectral pals (and some alive ones you pick up along the way) to stop it.
How you do this is through a series of strategic turn-based battles, where you can bind your phantoms to inanimate objects on the playing field and combine them with gadgets to take down foes — talk about environmental hazards. It’s a strange take on the genre’s usual Fire Emblem-style sword-focused affair, but hey, at least it looks cute.
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero’s free demo will arrive on the Switch eShop this Friday before its full release lands later this month. We were lucky enough to go hands-on with it briefly at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, and you can find our full thoughts in the round-up below.