Summary
It's like Real-Time Yu-Gi-Oh, only good.
The Good
The thing that most people will notice right away is that this is a pretty game. I'd go as far as saying this is probably one of the best looking Xbox games out there. Not just technically either, the character designs are fantastic, too. They reflect the "Post-apocalyptic, amnesiatic" feel of the game's underlying story to the letter.
The best aspect to Phantom Dust is collection and use of your powers. It functions like a sort of real-time card game. It adds a lot of strategy when you consider what abilities to bring to the fight and how they compliment each other/work against other types of powers. The real-time fights also add an element of urgency that isn't found in most card games. Plan all you want, but if you get hit with a lucky shot, it's over.
With several schools of abilities, ranging from psychic to elemental and beyond, and a ton of abilities within each school, it may take a while to collect them all. Add multiplayer over Xbox Live and you have a fun, nearly endless game.
The Bad
Being a lover of quirky games, it's hard for me to find too much fault with it. It's cheap, really fun, pretty, unique and pokes at that soft spot I have for collecting things. However, the one thing I can concede to is that the game could have used a looser structuring. Which is to say, t would have been amazing to be able to wander freely around this barren wasteland that you call home, fighting badguys as they appear. Instead, you choose a mission, wait for the area to load, fight, load again, and you're back at the base. The world is pretty constrained.
The Bottom Line
The summary pretty much says it all; It's a fast-paced, real-time card battle-style game. If you enjoy collecting games, building a powerful set of abilities to take online and try out against other people, or even if you just want to see some cool fights with pretty graphics and effects, this game is worth a look at the very least.
