"Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds" might not exactly be a fighting game (though there is a PVP segment to the game), but being the brawler with the most "fighting game" centric system out there, its hard for me not to fall in love with trying all the characters. I DID get a majority of the characters to decent levels, at least unlocking all of their skills, at least. Here are my opinion on all the playable characters in the game, minus the Clone Mikotos and L. These characters are all graded BASED ON MY OPINION, of course.
Mikoto Nishina
Mikoto is the main character of the game and would probably be the first character that most players would try. I mean, she's a black haired college student with clothes that resemble Gothic Lolita fashion. Oh yeah, she uses a freaking great sword, and is voiced by Nana freaking Mizuki. Well...damn. Wielding a great sword, she has good range on melee attacks, she does good damage, and she brings forth a surprisingly good variety of special attacks. She's not bad to start with, but I wouldn't say that she's the easiest of the 4 starting characters. Clearing the game once or twice with her on normal/hard modes are doable, but on Nightmare and above, she starts having some trouble. Out of the 4 starting characters, I'd say she's the 2nd easiest to play.
Mikoto's combos are easily to link on most, if not every enemy in the game, so there's little issue with her killing off most enemy types. Her damage is quite high so she kills most normal mobs quickly enough, though against huge mobs her effectiveness takes a dip. Out of her 3 specials, the regular one fires a projectile called Schneidend, the double forward one has her dash through all enemies through a short distance (this one is called Gestrichen), and her down special is an uppercut (called Geschwind). Gestrichen is great for AOE clearing but the other 2 specials aren't. Schneidend ends on the first enemy it hits and the EX version has her fire multiple Schneidends, but if the enemy numbers are massive it won't have much of an effect. Gechwind can be comboed into Gestrichen into the air, which is nice for a combo. Her Phantom Break, Schaurig, fires a massive projectile across the screen which is perfect for AOE clearing. Honestly, its possibly the best Phantom Breaks in the game as it does an insane amount of damage to bosses as well.
Combos: 3.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 2.5/5
P.Break: 5/5
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
+ Has a wide variety of specials to compensate with different situations
+ Powerful combos that do a good amount of damage overall
+ One of the best Phantom Breaks in the game
- Quite slow on move speed and combo speed
- Sub Par AOE clearing
Waka Kumon
Design wise Waka is probably one of my favorite characters in the game. She's one of the starting 4 characters in the game, she wields a halberd and because of that, her range exceeds that of the other characters. To round that off, she's really slow and has some of the lowest starting damage in the game. Her specials are mostly based around zoning and control, with one special that focuses on rushdown instead. She's really weak early, but rounds out to become stronger later. Out of he 4 starting characters, she's the hardest to play. Even when compared to some of the unlockable characters, its debatable that she's even harder to use than they are.
Waka's combo strings can be quite awkward to fully link on most enemies because of her range. If you start the combo on some enemies at max range, mid-combo you'll start to lose hits on them. You'll need to distance yourself appropriately from enemies before you start to combo with Waka. She's probably horrendous at 1v1s, especially boss battles, but later on, she's quite strong against mobs. With 2 of her specials, Suitouha (which summons a shockwave as a projectile, going through enemies) and Kouryuha (a spinning uppercut with a decent travel), she controls enemy swarms well as long as they are in front of her. Sougetsujin is great for closing the gap as well. Her Phantom Break is a massive anti air tornado, which is decent up close, but doesn't have any full screen properties.
Combos: 2/5
Speed: 1.5/5
Specials: 3/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Very Hard
+ Great Combo range compared to the rest of the cast
+ Good at AOE clearing
- Starts off very weak
- One of the hardest characters in the game to use
Itsuki Kouno
Itsuki's combo damage is insane, and honestly, for a maid using a hammer, her combo hits fast as well. You'll be mashing ABC most of the time, and before you know it, you have a pile of dead bodies in front of you, its that ridiculous. Because her range isn't the best, her combos are easy to connect, you can probably hit anything and everything. And because she swings around like a madwoman, her AOE is quite impressive, even in just a normal combo. Her specials are all used for close ranged combat, with the exception of one that acts as a gap closer, making her shallow in terms of attack variety. Vapor Wave and Bullet Stinger are great for stun locking or knocking down enemies in front of you, while Fike Helix is a gap closer that also knocks enemies away in ridiculous fashion. EX versions of Vapor Wave and Fike Helix are just amazing for taking out waves, while an EX Bullet Stinger gets you out of a bind. Her Phantom Break, Grand Slam, summons a big ass bullet bill to consume the entire screen. Its probably her only ranged attack, and as you can guess, its amazing for AOE clear, but not so much against bosses. It only hits once.
Combos: 4.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 2/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Easy
+ Ridiculously easy combos and high overall damage
+ Aggressive playstyle is very easy to adjust to
-Very melee oriented, lacks any ranged attacks outside of Phantom Break
Yuzuha Fujibayashi
Yuzuha is probably my favorite out of the starting 4 characters. I mean, a super energetic ninja girl is always nice to have around. Plus, she's voiced by Aki Toyosaki, and she uses the very same tone she used for Yui in "K-on!" for Yuzuha, making her sound super moe. Anyhow, despite being adorable as shit, Yuzuha is deadly on the battlefield. I mean, she's a freaking ninja. Boasting the highest speed and having the best mobility of the starting 4 characters, she's a more techinical character for those who love a bit of a challenge. She's not as hard as Waka, but compared to the likes of Itsuki and Mikoto, Yuzuha doesn't have that monstrous damage. She lacks that, but compensates in terms of tricky attacks and high hit count combos. Out of the 4 starting characters, she's the 2nd hardest (or 3rd easiest) to play.
Yuzuha's damage isn't amazing, especially not at the start, but its enough to get by. Her long combos mean that she's quite good at keeping the opponents locked down, but that also means she's open to being attacked from different angles. However, she's fast, so she can come in on her foes fast and hit them fast as well. Because of her speed and high combo count, she's great in boss battles, especially with level 2 Overdrive, you just start shitting on them so fast. She has a variety of specials. Hyou Hail is a spammable projectile that can be chained an unlimited amount of times, Reppashou is a melee attack that knocks enemies away, giving you space, while Rakuhouzan has Yuzuha disappear, then appear a set amount of units forward, before damaging enemies behind her. Other than Hyou Hail, Reppashou and Rakuhouzan have situational uses, but make for some great set-up opportunities. That said, her AOE clearing is bad...outside of her Phantom Break, Kasumi Warriors. This one has a massive AOE, and does insane damage, it can miss on occasion.
Combos: 4/5
Speed: 3.5/5
Specials: 3.5/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Medium
+ Long, lengthy combos
+ Variety of special attacks
+ Spammable ranged poke, probably one of the safest characters in the game
- Lengthy combos leave her wide open to attacks from other enemies
- Lackluster AOE clear outside of Phantom Break and EX specials
M
M is cool beans. Design wise, she probably takes the cake when compared to all the other characters, just because she looks so unique. She's one of the unlockable characters, and honestly, she's probably one of the best ones in terms of play style. M is a trickster, she has a little bit of everything in her arsenal, and she's marketed as some sort of a trap character. Well in reality, she's not, M is more akin to a mixture of Mikoto and Itsuki. She brings moderate damage and speed to the field, as well as a variety of special attacks used for a multitude of situations. She is among the first batch of unlockable characters alongside Cocoa.
M's basic combos are decent, though against some enemies they do tend to not connect all the way. She also isn't the fastest character around, so she sometimes struggles trying to get hits in against some of the faster enemies. M needs to get up close and personnel for her combos to do full damage, but its hard to do that when her speed is so subpar, so in that sense, she falls off in that department. However, she has some mean specials to make up for it. Meteor Blast is an awesome projectile with little to no recovery time, Rubble Crash is great AOE damage in front of her, and Junk Rolling is probably one of the most broken specials in the game, which has priority over almost ANY attack. Ever got stun locked so hard in a boss battle against M when she spams Junk Rolling and you just CAN'T hit her? Yeah, it works against enemies too. Any of her EXed specials are deadly as hell and work wonders against enemy groups. Her Phantom Break though...is probably the most inconsistent one in the game. It summons countless bombers to rain down, hitting whatever they please. Its okay in a dire situation when you're swarmed by enemies, but its completely useless against bosses. Even if you're surrounded, EX Junk Rolling works better.
Combos: 2/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4.5/5
P.Break: 1.5/5
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
+ Godlike Specials
+ Attacks have Decent power behind them
- Overall slow speed and her combos can be wonky
- Inconsistent Phantom Break
Cocoa
Cocoa is nuts. Probably the character I "WTF"ed at the most when I first saw her as a boss. She is ABSOLUTELY crazy, and when you finally get to play as her, you'll get to experience the craziness yourself first hand. I mean, she's a beast girl with a demonic claw that talks like a cat...that's kind of awesome. Anyway, if you've fought Cocoa in boss battles, you most probably know how she rolls. She's a full on rushdown/grappler type character that goes full ham on her enemies, kind of like Itsuki, though Cocoa's harder to use because she doesn't have that many high priority attacks. She doesn't have a lot of reliable attacks other than a select few, but those few alone make her extremely powerful. Cocoa let's you go ballistic on her foes, and it can be pretty fun. She is among the first batch of unlockable characters alongside M.
When it comes to combos, Cocoa isn't the best around. Her attacks are slow, and while they do connect well with one another, she gets interrupted all the time by enemies faster than she is...which are aplenty. They do some nice damage, but they're just not easy to pull off perfectly. She also isn't that quick to move around normally...but of course, that's where her specials come in. Cocoa excels up close, 2 of her specials are melee based, while the other is a gap closer. Kurzes Messer is probably one of the only low hitting specials in the game, and its great for nabbing blocking targets, similarly, she has Barbarischer Nabel, a grab special that explodes the enemies in her grasp. She can grab multiple enemies at once. However, these are useless if they're in front of Cocoa, that's where Stumpfer Flugel comes in. This is her annoying NYA NYA NYA spam attack that has her fly across the screen and bag ANY enemy in her way. Its spammable, its deadly, and it sets enemies up for her other attacks, this is probably one of the best specials in the game as well. Her Phantom Break, Unendliche Angst, has her rush to an enemy for a powerful combo. Its a powerful Phantom Break against bosses, but its lack of AOE splash makes it really horrible for mob clearing. If that's the case, you can just use Overdrive against a boss instead.
Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 2/5
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
+ Very powerful at melee range
+ One of the most powerful specials in the game with Stumpfer Flugel
- Quite slow overall
- Phantom Break is poor against mobs of enemies
Infinity
This bastard is good, REALLY good. Infinity is easily one of the most overpowered characters in the game, I have no doubt about that. Maybe him being the only dude in the game played some sort of role in that, but let's not go there, he's quite a fabulous fellow. Infinity is the zone heaviest character in the game, with ranged specials that focus on keeping enemies away, he's really hard to be closed in upon by most enemies. In order words, he's the cheesiest character in the game to play as, you can shoot enemies all day and move around with his lightning speed so that you'll never be caught. That being said, he dies quicker than other characters, so its always in your benefit to stay away as Infinity. Probably one of the least fun characters to play as, but damn would I be lying if I said this dude wasn't strong. He's among the second batch of unlockable characters alongside Nagi.
Infinity has melee combos despite being primarily a ranged fighter, and honestly, they're not too shabby. They do decent damage as well! I guess to link up with his ranged theme they gave his normals some decent range too, meaning that he has one of the safest combo ranges in the game, though he's still slightly behind Waka in that respect. He is CRAZY fast, so he has that going on for him. Obviously if we're going to talk about Infinity we need to talk about his specials. Edge Of Extinction and Horizon of Horror are both simple projectile attacks that attack forward, though Edge doesn't pierce through enemies, so Horizon Of Horror is better for AOE clearing. Both are amazing with EX though. Edge flies onward until it hits an enemy while Horizon only goes until a certain range. His other special is Flaming Judgement, while its decent, it pales in comparison to his other 2 specials since it takes awhile to execute and it awkwardly throws Infinity into the air. His Phantom Break, Pennance Of Confession, is another AOE screen wipe that's somewhat similar to that of Mikoto and Itsuki's breaks, though I'd say his is a tad bit weaker in terms of damage.
Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 5/5
Specials: 3.5/5
P.Break: 3.5/5
Difficulty: Easy
+ Ranged Cheese
+ Insane Speed
- Lack of break out moves makes him very vulnerable when swarmed
Nagi Kumon
Nagi is great. Towards the end of my playtime with the game, I was debating whether to raise Kurisu or Nagi level 99, because both were just amazing. In terms of the the play styles of the characters in the game, I'd probably pick Nagi as my absolute favorite. Sure, she probably has the most uninspiring designs in game, but her play style is just so fun and badass, its tough not to like her. Like Infinity, she's a little overpowered, but in a different sense. While Infinity spammed the living f**k out of projectiles, Nagi fights with a combined pack of mid ranged specials and deadly combos. Like most other characters in the game, she likes to be deep into the front lines, chopping up any and everything in her way. How the hell did she get kidnapped again? She's ridiculously powerful, much more so than her sister, at least. She's among the second batch of unlockable characters alongside Infinity.
First thing's first, Nagi's normal range is quite high. Its about Infinity's Range, which is still lesser than Waka, however, Nagi's combos are smooth and steady. They connect easily and do good damage, which is better than most other characters, to say the least. She's also pretty damned fast at moving around, not at Infinity's level, but if you take him out of the picture, she's faster than anybody else. 2 of her specials are ridiculously powerful, while the other is mediocre. First of all, for a ranged attack, she has Space Time Slice, which has a very awkward hitbox. It hits an enemy from afar while forgoing all other enemies that are BEFORE said target....yeah. It comes out fast and gives Nagi a short frame of invulnerability though. Thorn and Moonshine Formation are insanely good. Thorn calls forth a bunch of swords from the ground, stabbing everything in front of her. It comes out quick and does plenty of damage, similar to Moonshine Formation, which has her dash forward to perform an arc slash. This one has massive AOE, stuns all enemies, and does good damage, which is further amplified to godlike levels with EX. Her Phantom Break, Arc Moon Blade, hits everything in front of her for massive AOE damage.
Combos: 4/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 3.5/5
Difficulty: Very Easy
+ Fluid combos with high damage
+ Great speed that's second to Infinity's
+ Powerful specials that work well against bosses and enemy swarms
- Awkward hitbox on Space Time Slice
Makise Kurisu
Yeah, we all worship our beloved guest character, especially when that character is none other than Makise Kurisu. When I heard her theme play out in 8 bit format during the tutorial stage, I knew I was in for a treat with this character. She's the only character I brought to level 99 and also the only character which I beat Nightmare+ with in the Arcade Mode. Kurisu is a bit of an oddball, bringing a very weird combat style to the game. She excels in zone control for sure, but she also has plenty of weird tricks up her sleeves. I mean, her combos involve summoning Ruka and Amane to...beat her enemies? And she throws banana skins on the floor to...trip incoming foes? I don't know what's up with her, but I can say this: Kurisu is a blast to play as. Her completely unorthodox fighting style make for a pleasant and enjoyably experience. She's DLC, so obviously, you'll have to pay for her (in steam, she comes together with the level 99 cap).
Being mostly a zone control character, Kurisu suffers from wonky combos and mediocre speed. Early on, her combos hit worth shit, and while they severely improve as she receives upgrades, its still rather wonky against some enemy types. While she can do damage with them, the purpose of Kurisu's combos is to knock enemies away for further use of her specials. Using 2 of her Future Gadgets, number 1 and 5, she controls space very well. Gadget 1 fires a piercing laser beam that hits across the ENTIRE SCREEN (though it does shitty damage), and Gadget 5 burns the area in front of her, knocking enemies back. Hell, even her only melee special, Future Gadget 4, has her push an enemy back with an explosion. For Kurisu, its all about spacing, she needs her space to safely spam Future Gadget 1 for simple enemy extermination, in that sense, she's incredibly cheesy against enemy mobs. She does suffer somewhat against bosses though because of her lack of speed and proper combos. Her Phantom Break, Selection Of The Steins Gate, calls forth a massive...science thingy to collapse in an area in front of her for high damage. Good for mob clears, only okay for everything else.
Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 2.5/5
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
+ Ranged Cheese
+ Most of her arsenal pushes enemies back, so that she can safely cheese them with specials
- Mediocre combos and speed up close
