Check out this comeback: in early May 2017, Microsoft released the first gameplay of the remastered version of Phantom Dust, a cult classic of the first Xbox that many people never even got to play at the time.
The original came out in Japan on September 23, 2004 and in North America on March 15, 2005. It was made by Microsoft Game Studios Japan, directed by Yukio Futatsugi, the same person behind Panzer Dragoon, in an attempt by Microsoft to gain ground in the Japanese market. The approach is unlike anything else: it mixes real-time action with a collectible card game. You build your “Arsenal”, a deck of abilities, and use those powers in fights against rivals, while collecting new abilities by completing missions on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
In the story, humanity lives hidden underground after a mysterious apocalypse, and the Espers, people with psychic powers, go up to the surface trying to find out what was lost.
The remaster was coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 with Xbox Play Anywhere support, improvements in balance and frame rate, and multiplayer over Xbox Live on both console and PC.
And there is behind-the-scenes drama: before this version, Microsoft had announced at E3 2014 a reboot of the game for Xbox One with Darkside Game Studios, but the project was canceled in February 2015 over budget issues. The remaster, made by Code Mystics, was the way to bring the game back.
What came next
The remastered Phantom Dust arrived on May 16, 2017, and for free, as a free-to-play title. The original had been well received by critics, with an 81 average on Metacritic, but it was not a commercial success. For anyone who likes offbeat games, the remaster was the chance to meet a classic that almost nobody had seen running.
Source: Microsoft, Xbox Power.
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