Microsoft had a rather surprising announcement at E3 last year, revealing that the cult classic card game Phantom Dust would be rebooted into a modern Xbox One exclusive. Considering the 2005 original was flawed in so many ways, Microsoft has to think of a different way to approach it. One strategy, is seems, is toning down on the story a little bit.
Speaking on the Inner Circle Podcast, Microsoft Studios’ Creative Director Ken Lobb spoke about the shortcomings of the original Phantom Dust, and how they were being addresses in the reboot. Most notably, the original took far to long to kick into gear, something which won’t happen this time around.
“One really big flaw: if you started playing this game, you had no idea it was an arena game until you played three to six hours.”
Lobb wants to introduce players to the meat of Phantom Dust earlier in the game, but not at the expense of a lacklustre story. After all, Lobb considers narrative “one of the strengths of the game,” but realises that not many played enough to actually see it through. In order to correct this, Lobb wants players to essentially be playing PvP battles before the six hour mark, and have pretty powerful decks at around 15 hours.
That sounds like nothing for a JRPG, but Phantom Dust will probably clock in at a far lower number than expected. Lobb expects the narrative to last around 30 hours – a lengthy piece of gaming but not that much in the RPG sphere. Pricing also factors in here, with Lobb suggesting that the game won’t ship with the standard, full price tag. Instead, he compares the pricing to Killer Instinct, which offers various different editions and varying low prices.
After all, it’s the PvP that is really going to have people coming back for more. Lobb is really invested in getting Phantom Dust off the ground again, saying the the original was a fantastic game that was sadly just “way ahead of its time.”
“This game was better than it was rated. It’s a game that not enough people got to see.”
Let’s hope we get to see all of this hard work soon then.
Last Updated: January 13, 2015
Admiral Chief
January 14, 2015 at 07:53
[mandatory staff support comment]
HairyEwok
January 14, 2015 at 08:16
One exclusive ill let Xbone just keep for themselves.
Pieter Kruger
January 14, 2015 at 08:23
I don’t get/like JRPG’s. Not sure what this remake is about, I’ll rather keep looking out for other imminent remakes like Age of Empires, Banjo, Perfect Dark and Battletoads.
Hammersteyn
January 14, 2015 at 08:32
JRPG’s are rarely successful on XBOX. I would love to try it though
Thats_how_I_Troll
January 14, 2015 at 09:04
Something in that header just reminds me of Far Cry 4, must be the colour purple
PhantomDude
January 19, 2015 at 00:14
You guys have no idea how awesome the original game was, especially the live multiplayer battles