After really enjoying the last Phantom Breaker game I played I decided to get Phantom Breaker Battle Grounds Ultimate. Plus they got one of my favorite musicians to do the music once again. That and the fact that the limited edition wasn’t done through Limited Run Games convinced me to splurge on the all of the added merch which I got a lot sooner this time around. What surprised me was how different this game was to Phantom Breaker Omnia. Instead of it being a traditional fighter this game played like a classic arcade game and I can’t wait to talk about my experiences.

The gameplay is the heart and soul of this game as it is a classic sidescroller where you can play solo or with a party of players. You navigate through hoards of enemies beating them up to advance to the next area till you reach a boss scene and you do this for each of the seven stages of the main story. Combat here is a lot of fun as it’s a hack and slash type game but you have a myriad of moves to choose from after purchasing upgrades. You can spend points to upgrade character stats and add special abilities for all kinds of combos.

Story wise it’s not bad as it’s your typical save the multiverse from the evil Phantom. It’s not complex as the game really puts more focus on the gameplay which is fine here as the gameplay is very charming and lots of fun. I’m mainly mentioning the story here to let my readers know that while a story exists and it does its job well it’s not the thing that’s going to keep you coming back to this game. It doesn’t take long to beat the main story but you have multiple characters to play the game with and see the adventure from their experience and the gameplay is so much fun it really makes it worth playing the story over and over again.

Speaking of charm the presentation was really great here. It may just be me talking but I really got a modernized classic feel to the visuals. It looks and feels like an older arcade game but with much better quality without compromising what we know and love from the clear inspiration behind this game. It’s a nice balance that made this visually pleasant.

As for the limited edition I really enjoyed all of the cool stuff that came with it. I got an art book and keychain but the things I really liked about this were the cards, soundtrack, figure and magnet. I can’t recall ever getting a magnet in a special edition game but I really like this one as it alternates from the start logo of the game to an action scene of it’s leading character.

So overall this was a fun game. It’s a nice experience that focuses on very fun gameplay that feels like a modernized version of a classic beat em up arcade game. It’s got a story but it clearly takes a back seat to the charm of the game’s aesthetic and gameplay. The music is wonderful and I really loved all of the cool stuff I got from the limited edition. Plus unlike the limited edition of Phantom Breaker Omnia I got this shortly after the game’s release showing that the developers took a much better approach to getting the game out their to fans like myself.