Overview

It has been nearly a decade since NAMCO released Tales of Phantasia to the Super Famicom, AKA Japan's Super Nintendo. Tales of Phantasia gave birth to the Tales series that few out of Japan countries have known - Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia (Destiny II in the US), Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Legendia, Tales of the Abyss and the awaited Tales of Radiant Mythology are the only exposed releases. This game is considered an import classic to the few RPG fans who played it - it's release was during the time of the Golden Age of gaming, making it's sales third best to other RPGs (Final Fantasy being first, Dragon Quest being second). However, for some odd reason, NAMCO never distributed the game, or many other Tales titles, outside Japan. Tales of Phantasia is quite popular in Japan, making cameos in many other Tales related titles, sequels, being remaked to what seems like the best remake ever to exist for the Playstation and the not-as-good remake to the Game Boy Advance, and even a four-episode anime OAV! English gamers, dieing to grasp the game, have depended on ROMs and imports to play it. Some people even bothered to translate the games, much like DeJap on the SFC version. When the sales of Tales of Symphonia were so well outside Japan, as well as fans harassing NAMCO to release it, Tales of Phantasia is finally to be distributed to the United States in March 6, 2006 and the Europe in March 26, 2006.

The story of Tales of Phantasia at first seems like your generic RPG. But then again, this game has been since the 1990s. Swordsman Cless Alvein (Cress in the English version) and his best friend Chester Barklight's village is burned down for some unknown purposes, killing everyone in it. Since I can't spoil much, I'll elaborate: this incident traces down the revival of a Demon Lord who was sealed many years ago by Cless's parents, Tornix D. Morrison, as well as another's mother. The story involves a cast of lovable characters who journey to trace the pieces of sealing the Lord once more, as well as learning the interesting past that made these events take place. What does bring up about the game is the excellent, realistic dialogue (at least in the SFC version) that carries out the personality of the characters quite well. Although it seems like typical members, like a witch, a swordsman, and a healer, the personalities are quite unique. As the story unfolds, many events take place, as well as some sidequests all add to the story.


Small, but lovely pixels.
But that's not what makes a Tales game a Tales game, right? It's all about the gameplay. Unlike most RPGs, Tales of Phantasia is not a turn-based one. For the first time ever on the SFC, Tales of Phantasia uses a fighting-combat system like in fighting games. You control one character while the AI controls the rest. The default is Cless, although you can actually change your character. You also can manipulate how the AI fights - like changing position or altering their techniques. Meanwhile, you, assuming that you play Cless, have the ability to attack with a thrust or a stab, depending on how you press a button. This at first seems to be like button mashing, but that's when RPG elements kick in. Like an typical RPG, other characters can use magic, and the fighting types can use skills, which unlock as they level up, although some characters can also learn by talking to NPCs. As the story goes on, your summoner, Klarth F. Lester (Claus in the English version) can summon Spirits that you can summon all day long, unlike in Tales of Symphonia. Combos and the timing of your battles effect how much experience points you earn as well. There is a world map to save and travel, towns to vist, boats and ships to cross, and dungeons with puzzles to crawl.


The battle system is a bit clucky, but every battle doesn't make you bored.
So what is new to this game from the SFC version? First off, the cooking system of the PSX version has been moved to the GBA version. There are altered and added sidequests in the game, including the ever popular lots-of-levels dungeon. Finally, Suzu Fujibayashi, a ninja, who was once an NPC, joins your party, which adds to the storyline more. The battle system has also improved more - now you can easily jump and attack and use certain techniques without the annoying close-ranged, far-ranged crap the SFC version had. There is even some extra bosses added in.


Suzu Fujibayashi, the thirteen year-old ninja.
The graphics have stunning visuals, although they pale compared to the other versions. Like the PSX version, the sprites have gotten a make-over in the SFC version. In the SFC version, the sprites looked nothing like the character design artwork done by Ah! Megami-sama artist, Kousuke Fujishima. Now, they actually matched, with even more chibi-fied sprites. The amazing thing of Tales of Phantasia in the SFC was the amount of details portrayed in the backgrounds. You can see your reflection in water, hear birds chirp, and see them fly away.


Compare this... with now.
For the first time ever in video games during the 1900s, Tales of Phantasia allowed voice clips in the SFCs. They were performed by Japanese seiyuus, now to be dubbed in the English version. They don't talk outside of combat, but in combat, you can hear grunts, whines, and victory wins of the cast. The soundclips sound rugged now, in the GBA remake, but it's something, right? The game also comes with an interesting soundtrack, still rugged by the poor quality the GBA makes it. The music can be quite catchy. For the first time ever, the game also includes a fully vocalized theme song in the SFC version, performed by Yukari Yoshida, although most likely it is dubbed to instrumentals in the Englis version, hence the other titles.

So what about replay value? Well, when you finish the game, you can unlock a side-quest based on Arche Klaine, your perky, pink witch! It isn't really anything really combat wise- or at least it seems so. Your main objective is to complete missions to make others happy in order to save yourself from a curse. You also have different endings depending on how many missions you completed. There are some side quests to do as well - tournaments to complete, extra levels and extra summons, including a Monster Book to record all the monsters you get. And besides, with all this stuff, I bet you would want to replay over and over, right?