Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire

Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire is a really cool rogue like deckbuilding game that has some of the most gorgeous looking anime art you will ever see! It has a bit of a gothic look to it which is what I think pulled me in, to be honest with you. The more I looked into this game, the more I became interested in it. I know that we get about a million games per year these days that can be put into the “rogue like deckbuilding” category, but this one I feel is doing its own thing to stand out more.

Saving The School

I think that most students would probably want their school to be destroyed, but Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire is not about that! Instead, our main character Aria is a real heroic student who is fighting to save her school from these evil demons that are trying to ravage the school! The game is going to be more story driven than you would think and you can come across other characters and learn their stories which will flesh things out more.

A Joker In The Pack!

That was a little attempt at a Persona 5 reference for you there, not sure I nailed it, to be honest with you! Anyway, what I feel makes Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire standout from the other rogue like deckbuilding games is that while you build your deck by winning battles against the various monsters and bosses you come across in the game. Your hand is not just randomly made from your deck. Instead, you get to see what you have at all times and strategically use cards when you want to use them as there is a cooldown system here. It makes for a fun and exciting system that relies more on skill than luck and randomness.

A Hat Or A Sword?

One of the more interesting aspects of Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire that piqued my interest was how you have two decks that you can choose between. These are actually classes and each one has its own set of cards that you can utilize in battle. You have The Blade Class and The Mage Class. One of the things that I got a kick out of here was how Aria would be dressed differently and while I think that the Blade Class is the one for me, but she looks awesome rocking that witch’s hat.

Making Movies!

While I think the premise of the story and the skill based deckbuilding gameplay of Phantom Rose 2 Sapphire is awesome. I will fully admit that it was the awesome anime art that sucked me in here. Aria looks cute and badass at the same time and I just love how dark and kind of gothic the whole thing looks. It has a kind of “if Tim Burton did anime” vibe about the whole thing and that is something I think is very cool. The monster designs and the other students that you can save in the game are designed really well and the whole game just has a ton of personality.

Pros:

• The school setting and the dark story are cool
• This game has an awesome anime art style
• I like the approach it is taking to the rouge like deckbuilding gameplay
• You can play as two different classes, each with its own deck!

Cons:

• If you struggle with games in this genre, it may be hard to get into
• It would be cool if they added more classes as DLC later