<center>![](https://i1.wp.com/racketrenegade.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ESqQakmVAAA7q24.jpg)</center>
<center>[Image Source](https://racketrenegade.com/phantom-rose-scarlet-guide/)</center>

Found this gem on my recommend games on [Google Playstore](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phantomrosegame.phantomRoseScarlett&hl=en&gl=US) and I did not regret the play experience. They also have the [Steam ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054550/Phantom_Rose/) version of the game with some small changes to the UI. 

> Note: Most of the images used in this post are my screenshots from the game.

<center><iframe width="727" height="409" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y3hiAN8M9Bg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>

<center>[Makaroll YT Channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4Wr_258wQDstqhKKB01yg)</center>

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### Story:

The game sets you in an intro where the protagonist, Reina, was killed in Charlotte’s mansion and revived by the mysterious entity that identifies themselves as Time for reasons unknown. Reina wakes up and wanders the mansion seeking to finish the job she failed to do, kill Lucia, (Charlotte’s daughter). 

The game rewards you with more content from the story as you complete the challenges along the way. I haven’t finished the story at the time of this writing but I’m halfway there and don’t need to know the whole plot to get the feel for the possible end. It’s not a complicated plot.

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### <center>Warnings! Spoilers ahead.</center>

This is one of the [spoilers](https://www.reddit.com/r/PhantomRose/comments/lym4j5/can_someone_explain_the_story_of_phantom_rose/) I have come across while trying to learn more about the game, lore and tactics. It fits the narrative I have uncovered so far in game. For those that can’t be bothered with external links, this is my own version or the backstory:

Nox was the god that promised immortality to humanity but was evil and no fun. So humanity and the rest of the gods banded together to banish the god under the banner of Valora, treated as a goddess by the church. It resulted to the wipe out of the rest of the gods but Nox was a sore loser so they cast one curse that plague humanity. When one dies they turn into a phantom and walk the land as a living dead and a shadow of their former self. 


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The church forbids any experimentation among these phantoms and the rest of the knowledge are kept within their domain for public safety. When phantoms get eliminated they leave behind a crystalline rose that has dense magical energy stored. Each petal was speculated to power up engines that can travel thousands of kilometers but these are unconfirmed as any progress in understanding phantoms is taboo by the Church. Even Valora, the flag bearer of the institution had obscure origins whether she was a capable human mage or a goddess. 

Charlotte was a great witch that owned this huge mansion where she employs a lot of mage and does freaky secret experiments with phantoms. The goal was to find a solution to end the Nox curse. 

Her friend Orphea, sent her best servant Reina to help. Now Reina did well as a volunteer test subject and a maid to Charlotte’s daughter, Lucia. The great witch’s daughter showed signs of the Nox curse beginning to manifest. Reina made the call to end Lucia but Charlotte said nope lol and killed Reina.

Reina wakes up finding the mansion in a terrible state after revival. She wanders off searching for phantoms to slay and maids to rescue. This is the plot I have uncovered so far and the story can still change as I could be wrong and missed some content along the way.

End of spoilers. 

***


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### Game Mechanics:

It’s a turn based strategy card game if you take out the fancy visuals. The order of cards to be active are from the left to right. There are no time pressure when completing a turn and you can see what the enemy will use prior to locking in your moves. The cards you are given are random and so as the cards dropped by phantoms you defeated or get to choose from mini events. 

Whatever you acquire during a stage will not remain with you once the entire mini campaign is finished. Throughout each run, the valuable resource called rubies are you in game currency within the battle. 

You can use these to trade for more cards from the shop, for healing, for card upgrade, for resetting some placement, payment for engaging with mini events, and re-rolls. The mistake I made was thinking these are permanent and you can take with you the rubies unspent once the run is done so I ended up being cheap on the in game battle shops and had a bad time clearing the challenges. 

|<center>Early Stages</center>|<center>Later Stages</center>|
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|<center>![Battle2.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23t773NsKWYxSFkGTeNnXvtNYMciCkpwNEY2zknmnZdfzrSFCoHfyB8aEw2q1YpGWzKFh.jpg)</center>|<center>![Battle3.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23swib57hD1cEvc9YPySDr3YEPrJg3dTHXxaXF6YH7Eq5Sbp7fkUGH59EYbkGmSWD6FaB.jpg)</center>|

The entire stage is made up mini event sections where the player is asked whether to move to point A or Point B. Pick a path where you are to encounter a monster, save  maid by fighting a monster, or enjoy a mini game for a bonus item. 


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It takes some getting used to the routine but after three or five clears at the beginner level, everything just went by smoothly. As you get used to the sequence, the challenge is familiarizing more cards introduce into the game as you progress difficulty. You don’t take home the cards you obtained during battle runs. And starting each run will give you random sets to work with which makes it more challenging to not stick to the same strategy. 

A pitfall I did during the early games was trying to force a deck set when luck with RNG fails me and this made some battles more difficult. Be fluid with the cards to use while minding what type of enemies you’d also encounter along the way. 

The enemies have a fixed decks you can familiarize with but as more content at the late stages get introduced, these guys also come up with new gimmicks. While the game’s enemies have repetitive sequences you can get by, the RNG element plays a major role on the quality of your runs this makes each run different than the last with the same stage especially when you reach greater challenges.

|<center>In Game Events</center>|<center>In Game Events</center>|
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|<center>![In game events2.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23swfwFWim8sw1vYqxf1gihBXsMMMoBhdPR88MJovEXE183gQQoskyLHQku9bUZhdMzUx.jpg)</center>|<center>![In game events 3.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23tkmuNk1bnZKbAynWsx3AySERFuTQEqdc7byu63hzGBt3hEmfBndK4aNVCd1jU5jPTw1.jpg)</center>|

The reason for the repeat runs are probably a lack of content or just the game etching its system onto the player. Let’s say I want to access more notes or diary content to know more about the plot, I have to go over the same monsters from the beginner levels but more buffed. It’s fighting Lucia but with more steroid, then it’s fighting Lucia again with steroids and a new gimmick. And then there’s no longer a Lucia but a plotwist character which similar deck sets. Once you’ve cleared the dungeon runs, you are rewarded with a small amount of jewels for long minutes of your trouble. 

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|<center>Chill Wallpaper</center>|<center>No Chill Wallpaper</center>|
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|<center>![Home Page.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23t79KYCvJGYJAGdcLxrRzaXrKvpfEYWsmXcuGjoJDRsfkCWScBZUVZGEEshQwj2kQDFX.jpg)</center>|<center>![Home Page 2.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23t7B78ASpXGXTMWPUptWNSa9W7PQwwQZuLqcDWNh9uD6fZUkSmRyc6fpCNSqeT5Zwe5j.jpg)</center>|

### What made me like the game?

The art style and challenge just resonated with me naturally. I’m not really into a lot of flashy action visuals as these tend to hide some features of the game lacking in mechanics and challenges. I think the art style just resonated with me for it’s goth themes and simplicity to be an eye candy. I didn’t expect I’d spend a lot of time grinding those levels to be rewarded with a few drops of gems for upgrades and saving up for free skins. But it didn’t seem like a chore a new challenges come by with each run initiated. 

The leveling system here doesn’t affect your in game performance. It lacks any purpose as far as I know. The real measure whether you’ve progressed as a player is clearing the levels faster with quick decision making and running the math as soon as you see your hand and what the enemies will try to play. The cards you buy at the shop only introduces more cards that you could possibly obtain during the in game battles. Once a new game is started, you are left with the bare basic set and work your way into building a new deck as you go along the run. The music fits the atmosphere and battle themes well. 

|<center>Premium Skins</center>|<center>Premium Skins</center>|
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|<center>![Premium Skins.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23t7DdE7SWFvZzXBMMqhuzx3wWxroX2gAbhkTPqo27JQnDcp4TJo79L2kQSLHnMu92TNX.jpg)</center>|<center>![Premium skins2.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/adamada/23tGdvwnbcmPBzJ1PR2YcrrdYdxuMiShuKoVmM6HDNJSU6Q15WXrPJP4sNVoCA1xMnnHT.jpg)</center>|

There are no energy refill mechanics when performing an in game action while not in battle. You can play as much as you want. But I do confess the ads can be annoying at times. It’s a 50-50 depending on your tolerance with ads. Sometimes they pop up after slaying a monster or accomplishing an event. How often? Pretty subjective but the more you play the game the more it regularly pops up. Is it so annoying? Not really, no. It depends on my mood as the 3 seconds of idle time doesn’t really bother me. I have to remember that I’m not spending any real money on the game and these ads are a means for the devs to monetize their work. It’s fair exchange. 

***

### Is it pay to win?
No, you can clear the game without spending real money buying those booster cards as you can grind for them along the way. There are no bonuses in buying these aesthetics when it comes to your instance run. The game doesn’t feel like a grind if you’re aiming for card upgrades but the free skins are a different thing. The free skins cost a  lot of materials and there’s not a lot of animation differences from the base design. There are no leader boards or PvP.

Are the premium skins worth it? It depends on how much you want to invest on visual flare. Some look nice but not enough to compel me to spend real cash on it. I would spend real money for a nice skin but bulk of the reasoning would just be a way to support the devs and clear some ads on my game time. Even premium skins lack new animations. If I pay for those skins, it feels like the same energy as paying an artist for commissions to decorate your character in mind. Seen from the screenshots are the amount equivalent to my local currency and these aren’t cheap rates and neither does commissioning artists for the same visuals on flat 2D, so it’s fair price for me. 


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### Would you recommend playing the game?

For those into turn based strategy card games with fantasy themes, it’s one good game to pass the time. There aren’t a lot of flashy animations with this game but flashy wasn’t the main focus. 

It’s challenging enough and the difficulty can be customized with arcade options provided by the game. The end game routine is waiting for additional story content, collecting free skins, and speed run challenges to clear the game. As a time killer, it accomplishes it role quite well. 

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<center>If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time. This is a creative footer by @adamada. A Hobby Illustrator</center>