Way back in the innocent time of 2013, MAGES released a beat 'em up called Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds on Xbox 360. A few years later, an enhanced version by the name of Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive landed on PlayStation 4, followed by a Switch port. All of those versions were delisted earlier this year, but there is good news! The game will be coming back to life on all modern platforms as Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate, courtesy of Rocket Panda, the new IP owner.
PBBGU, as we'll shorten it, will feature:
REVAMPED GAMEPLAY: Gameplay has been rebuilt from scratch in Unreal Engine 5, giving smoother gameplay and flashier special attacks. ONLINE CO-UP AND VS MODES: Team up with friends in local co-op or challenge up to 8 fighters from around the world with cross-platform online play. PLAY AS THE ENEMY: Take on the role of powerful adversaries from the Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds universe, each with their own distinct combat style and abilities in Arcade Mode. REMASTERED SOUNDTRACK: Players can choose an all-new soundtrack composed by all-girl J-rock band The Phantom Breakers or the classic versions from PB:BG or PB:BG Overdrive.Is it a good or bad thing that Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is getting a remake instead of a new game? Well, Rocket Panda did release a fighting game called Phantom Breaker: Omnia a few years back, but that one was also an enhanced version of a previous game. This series doesn't do new games, and that's okay. A new version of Battle Grounds that comes out on everything and has online co-op and cross-play is certainly a cool thing. Also, the trailer song is rad.
In the Ultimate version, 4-player local co-op and 6-player online co-op will be supported. That's a lot of co-op! All previous DLC will be included, too, so this version promises a lot of content.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate will arrive on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Steam, and Epic on February 13, 2025. That's quite a wait, but in the meantime, you can visit the official website to learn more.