Quick Look: Phantom Dust

The dust jokes are coming!

That looks like some xbox shit. Hm, this just seems so out of place nowadays has that 90s early aughts shittiness that they called 'tude.

@rccrf: I feel like this game has a lot of flaws but "'tude" isn't one of them

Wow, this game looks terrible. Ugly and tedious.

@rccrf: it's more like japanese post apocalyptic teenage anime

Bill Gates will personally port Fusion Frenzy as its his favorite game.

They would literally have to pay me to have this garbage take up space on my Xbox.

I can see how a modernized version of this might have been really cool.

Are we getting Breakdown Remastered soon?

Also this doesn't look like anything I expected...which was just a virtual card game with some fancy effects.

Imagine this game but using the Harry Potter license, now that would be amazing.

Also, the reason he was getting skills he didn't put in his arsenal is because he's playing quick match which gives you a premade arsenal.

Microsoft should get From Software to make a new Otogi.

Also a new Jet Set Radio.

Surprised by the negativity in these comments (Well, no, that's a silly sentence)

This thing certainly hasn't aged well visually (neither technically nor stylistically), but there's a heck of a game under there. Strongly recommend not reading this book by its cover.

Now all we need is a good HD remaster of Metal Arms!

People liked this game huh? Wow.

Every time I hear this title I think of Dust: An Elysian Tale. Never played this one and probably won't but now I want to go back and finish Dust.

@tomac: Yes to both. Yes yes yes

I wholeheartedly agree. There is something very special and original here that I think should continue.

Enjoyed this game a lot when I played it way back when. It could certainly be frustrating and tedious at times, but the uniqueness of the gameplay and a story that surprisingly went to some interesting places kept me hooked. Kind of rolling my eyes at the excessive negativity in some of these comments.

I kind of get it.. If this video is your only introduction to this game, it probably looks like crap. This is not the way to show off this game.

That said to those of you who are just seeing this for the first time, this game has a super deep and rewarding depth to it. And the single player does a great job of walking you through it and getting familiar with it.

Just jumping into multiplayer as shown here is not a good idea. But if you give it a chance, this game is so much fun.

This is my favorite game of all time, and this video does it a disservice :(

Also, despite what Ben says about his story progress, he isn't even past the tutorial.

The guys in this game look like rejected JoJo characters.

If FF Type-0 and Dissidia had a child, I bet it would come out a bit like this. I think it looks really good, personally, and am watching it download with excitement.

Old XBOX shit is some of the most underrated in the medium. That Buffy game that was great, Otogi was dope, JSRF (the credits should have just said STYLE over and over), DOA 3, Ninja Gaiden, PGR2, and I will be adding this to the list. Very much a repeat of the Dreamcast -- a short run of interesting gems, then death.

This looks very jojo inspired

This was a really poor showing of this game. I hope people seeing Phantom Dust for the first time don't look at this and jump to the conclusion that this game sucks.

Yikes. Well, the environments being destructible is cool at least... The pacing of the gameplay and the scope of it don't look like they'd be appealing to me, contrary to what I was expecting. I didn't know the singleplayer was just a series of battles in an arena, either.

"What if we took the cars out of Twisted Metal and applied a very thin veneer of RPG mechanics?"

-The origin of Phantom Dust

This is a really poor showcase of the game unfortunately. Ben had mostly played the multiplayer it seems and this can make the game super confusing. The single player missions each give you a progression of how the game works really thoroughly. They do a really good job of scaffolding too.

For example, in the mission against the "Jukebox" it outlines that it's about Erase skills. The Jukebox has only Erase and Defense Skills. You're supposed to time your Defense skills to block its Erase skills, then wait for your Partner to use his Erase skills to get rid of its Defense skills so then you can hit it with your Attacks. This is not me guessing, it's explicitly stated at the beginning of the mission by your Partner. All you have to do is read. All of the scenario missions progress like that from the very basics of what everything in your UI is etc. For example, right before this is a mission that makes your work on timing using your Defense skills, and how they operate against some Skills and not others.

I chalk this up mostly to it being really hard to play a game and talk about it at the same time but if you're remotely interested in the game, give it a shot. It's not nearly as opaque as it appears in the QL. I've never played this game until this release and with the 2 hours I have a single player I feel like I have a good grasp of what's going on in the game. I feel I'm not just pressing Skills to see what they do like what Ben had to do here.

The gameplay might hold up but the visuals certainly haven't.

I love the Xbox One! Not a big fan of the Xbox One though..

Well explained. And to say that the story is serviceable is a strong understatement and with his 2 hours into the game he's played about 10% of the single player campaign. The reveals throughout the story are truly amazing. Plus it seems unfair to fault the game for having different skills which you have to read to be able to use them effectively.
That said, I didn't know that this was coming, so I am happy that they made a quicklook.

This game looks seriously cool, and although the micro transactions took me off guard I'm glad to see they act more like cheap cheat codes than general exploitation (and the game is free, so I don't really mind). I'll have to check this out ^-^.

Perhaps it's because I'm in a weird Virtual-On/Gundam Versus/ARMS (though I'm still a little skeptical of how that Nintendo game will come out and compare) mind these days, but I can't help but think this game looks cool. Even with the not-stellar showing.

Don't forget the dose of Sega!

This game looks dope and I really dig the concept. Kinda bummed about the sequel now. My mind is racing with possibilities of what could have been.

If you Press the D pad in the Direction of a Spell it Pop up what it Does So Left Dpad give description of the Spell Equipped on X

To the people who are convinced this game is really good why would someone want to play this over say Nier Automata, Prey, Doom, The Witcher 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, or literally dozens of other really good better made games of recent years?

There just doesn't seem to be anything worth going back to this game here. Nostalgia is one thing but I can replay through Quake a million times and never get bored yet this looks like a boring mess. I would like to know what makes it so good though that people are so surprised by the fact it doesn't look "fun" which should be the cornerstone of wanting to play a game.

Well why go back to any game then? That's a silly thing to say. I think a lot of people don't think like you do.

The game is unique. Some people are going to like it and appreciate it for that. I am not a fan of this game personally but there are random games I personally feel that way about, like Die by the Sword. Am I going to choose to play that over the Witcher 3? No, but I'll still play it again and find it cool.

This is also a pretty bad showing of what the game is like if you have actually played it.

no,never move on move on!

haha yes I thought this at the time as a fan of TM. I think the RPG part does a lot though.

I know this game is old and stuff but damn, this looks grimy and rough as hell.

@bonechompski: It's the way GIANTBOMB is playing it... it's actually super easy and fun as hell.

@steveurkel: Got the game and haven't stopped playing it! It's awesome and wicked fun to play... its even greater when your destroying your friends if you have any that are cool

Too bad Austin isn't around anymore to Quick Look this. Ben did a good job considering he never played this before, but it takes some time to really get your head around this game's quirks.

@steveurkel: I mean... it's free? Like, costs no money?

Also it's pretty unique, and like many here have said, more interesting than this video makes it look like.

But by all means, stick to the modern stuff if that's more your speed. I'm mostly happy to have this in a playable state that doesn't force me to plug in an original Xbox

The future has been microtransacted. The brave new frontier is to microtransact...the past!

Also, can anything that carries the cost of enduring the Windows 10 store truly be considered free...?

@kordesh: Considering a strong majority of PC owners are Windows users and the only price they have to pay is clicking the Windows Store icon, I don't think the price is that high.

Solid quick look from Ben here. Think I might check this out cause it seems like a unique game I should have some experience with.