Phantom Brave on PC receives a major update that brings it more in line with its PS5 port

As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming under my belt, I can confidently say that the recent update to Phantom Brave has been a game-changer. The attention to detail and commitment to improving the player’s experience is nothing short of commendable.

Today, NIS America unveiled the PlayStation 5 adaptation of “Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered.” Meanwhile, the original PC version of Phantom Brave, first launched on Steam in July 2016, has undergone a significant upgrade. This update incorporates enhancements that the PS5 version has introduced, as detailed by Peter “Durante” Thoman, CTO of PH3, in an extensive post on the game’s Steam page, outlining the additions made to the PC port of Phantom Brave.

In the Phantom Brave PC version, you’ll find several enhanced features such as customizable anti-aliasing settings, reintroduced UV texture animations on lava and quicksand terrains, and an optional CRT shader effect. Moreover, for easier gameplay, elemental skills are now visually distinguished by color-coding, allowing players to quickly identify which abilities possess elemental properties when making decisions about a character’s actions during their turn.

In the PC version of “Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle,” originally titled as such on the PSP, the character known as the “Dungeon Monk” NPC was completely revamped and included within the game; this NPC offered a useful feature to skip through generated dungeons by providing a shortcut option.

Additional improvements comprise the ability to run at frame rates beyond 60fPS, improved map texture quality, automatic saving after episode completion, and a host of other features as well.

Play Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered right now on your PlayStation 5! You can also find this game on contemporary platforms such as Steam, and on Nintendo Switch within the Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 1 collection together with Soul Nomad & the World Eaters.

On January 30, 2025, the sequel to Phantom Brave, titled The Lost Hero, will be released globally for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch all at once. The PC version, available through Steam, is expected to come out later in 2025.

Major Phantom Brave PC Overhaul Update!
Hi everyone,
Today, we’re excited to share a significant upgrade for Phantom Brave PC, packed with novel features and solutions to persistent issues. Many aspects of this update, beyond computer-specific adjustments, stem from our work on Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered for PS5. This release incorporates all relevant enhancements into the PC adaptation of the game. Personally, I’m thrilled about this project because Phantom Brave is my preferred Nippon Ichi SRPG from that period, and it ranks among my top favorites in the strategy role-playing genre.
New Features & High-Profile Bug Fixes
Anti-Aliasing Settings
Restore UV Animations of Lava, Quicksand, etc.
CRT Shader Option
Color-coded Elemental Skills
(Re-)Introduce the “Recreate” Dungeon Monk Option
In the PSP edition, there was an option to quickly respawn dungeons provided by the “Dungeon Monk” NPC. This shortcut has been revived and incorporated into the latest update.
Prevent Randomization of Unit Stats
When starting a new unit in Phantom Brave, its attributes are randomly assigned (within certain limits), and you can see these attributes when choosing a character to create. However, with the exception of the PSP version, the attributes are partially re-randomized after selection, leading to the actual generated character having distinct stats from those shown in the preview.
We adapted the PSP behavior to better suit players, which seems to align with its original intent.
High Frame Rate Support
Phantom Brave now supports framerates higher than 60 FPS!
Keep in mind that this game is quite old, having been initially released over two decades ago, which makes me feel a bit nostalgic. Consequently, due to its age, much of its functionality was tied to fixed frame rates. During our efforts to unlock the framerate, we’ve addressed numerous issues, and more during the beta testing phase. However, it’s possible that some issues might have gone unnoticed. If you come across anything unusual or suspect, please let us know.
Fix Z-fighting Artifacts on Several Maps
In the PC version of the game, Z-fighting problems were prevalent on various maps due to inadequate use of the Z buffer precision, even though the game’s graphics were relatively simple geometrically. However, we’ve worked hard to optimize how the game distributes its geometry within the Z buffer range, effectively resolving all these issues.
Higher-resolution Map Textures
In the new version of the game, you can adjust the graphics quality by choosing higher-definition textures for certain maps in the 3D models. However, this improvement does not affect the game’s sprite images.
Additional Improvements & Fixes
Here’s a hopefully complete list of smaller changes which were not mentioned above:
Added a quality of life feature which automatically selects the currently equipped item when switching equipment.
Resolved Z-offset issues on AMD and Intel GPUs (make sure you are on the latest drivers!).
Greatly improved saving and loading speed.
Fixed a potential crash on shutdown.
Fixed various issues with the handling of configuration options, and change the defaults for some settings.
Fixed a potential memory leak.
The game is now DPI-aware.
Improved/corrected usage of some button prompts, especially with mouse/keyboard controls.
Fixed many small language and text issues throughout the game.
Improved resolution/display mode handling.
Fixed game launch behaviour when stored in a path with non-ASCII characters.
The game now allows input from arbitrary gamepads when more than one is connected.
Added “-latest” flag to directly load into the latest save game.
Added autosaves on episode completion.
Added a “skip intro” quality of life feature.
Once again, I’d like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the entire PH3 family, with special acknowledgment to Markus and Alex who spearheaded this project, not forgetting our partners at NISA. Lastly, a big shout-out to our diligent beta testers for their invaluable contributions to this release.
Enjoy!
– Peter “Durante” Thoman, CTO, PH3