Tales of Destiny

"Simply an amazing rpg"

Tales of Destiny is one heck of an rpg game. Fulled with plot twists, great storyline, and much, much more. Tale of Destiny is one of my favorite rpg games. It has everything a true rpg player wants. Read on to see why this is such a great game.

Gameplay:
Tales of Destiny has a medium difficutly rating. So far, I haven't died once or had a game over. Although, the bosses are pretty challenging, thus encouraging the player to level up and always keep a stock full of healing items. Tales of Destiny always keeps things fresh, never boring you. Very cool.

Story:
Unlike most rpgs, Tales of Destiny has a unique storyline. It isn't exactly like the same ol', ''saving world'' thing. You start out as the main character, Stahn who is found sleeping on a flying dragon ship. Some soldiers find Stahn and take him to the king. The king accuses Stahn of trying to steal the ship's treasure. The soldiers knock him out cold and then taken to do mop the deck of the ship. Suddenly, monsters arrive at the deck. You must control Stahn and find the treasure the king was talking about. Once you find the treasure, you can begin doing battles.

Graphics:
Great graphics. The game is completely composed of sprites. There are totally no 3-D or polygonal componenets at all. The sprites look pretty cool. Stahn has a nice blonde hair with white armor. The game is shown on a ''bird's eye view'' throughout the entire game. You always see the top of people's heads unless in battles which are in 2-D.

Audio/Video:
The music in the game is a little bit above average. You don't find anything too special but the battle, boss, and town themes which are awesome. It is hard to find rpg games with a good battle theme. This is a rare gem. At the start of the game, you see a little intro movie. The movie is composed of an anime cartoon. The short scene is cool and shows how nicely Namco can present their games.

Battle System:
The battle system is completely original. Just like Tales of Phantasia, the battle is 2-D. You walk around left and right. You attack by pressing X or whatever you set your controls. You may only control Stahn.. You can tell what the computer to do for your other party members. Setting tactics for your party members is very important because you don't want the computer to do a stupid move.

Replayability:
Excellent. The game is extremely long with many side quests and secret characters. You can do everything in the game just by playing the game once but there is a lot of side/optional quests to complete. I remember there iss this side quest where you get to ride a tricycle on the world map.

To buy or to rent?
I strongly suggest that you buy this game. If you are a true rpg player, you won't even need to think twice about renting it first. Tales of Destiny is simply that good. Rent it if you like but you'll love it.

Overall:
I give Tales of Destiny an 9/10 but simply because the graphics could've been done a little better. I don't like the ''bird's eye'' view. In battles, you should be able to switch whom you would like to play as. Once again, I strongly recommend you to buy this wonderful rpg game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/01, Updated 03/29/01