Phantom Dust

Phantom Dust (ファントムダスト, Fantomu Dasuto) is a 2004 real-time strategy action video game developed by Microsoft Game Studios Japan and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. The game was released in Japan on September 23, 2004 and in North America on March 15, 2005, licensed for release in North America by Majesco. Phantom Dust is an action/strategy game with elements of digital collectible card games. Taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth, the unnamed player-character must interact with the few human outposts that remain, all of whom have suffered a form of amnesia, to understand what has happened to the planet. Throughout the game, the player takes missions to collect artifacts of the past to help piece the past together, and where they face off in battles with other non-player characters. The player collects numerous skills by completing missions, which are used to assemble customized "arsenals" that they take into battle arenas against enemies. The game also included a multiplayer mode, allowing players to compete against each other using their arsenals. Microsoft sought to use Phantom Dust to draw in a larger market in Japan for the Xbox, bringing in Yukio Futatsugi, director of Panzer Dragoon, to design and produce the game. Later, it was decided to localize and release for Western markets. Phantom Dust was generally well-received, but was not a commercial success. At E3 2014, a Phantom Dust remake was announced for the Xbox One, to be developed by Darkside Game Studios. However, due to monetary issues, Microsoft decided to cancel the remake, leading to the closure of Darkside. A remastered version of the game developed by Code Mystics was released in May 2017 for Windows 10 and Xbox One.