Tales of Destiny II

"Great RPG overall!!!!"

Graphics ~ 8
Well the game has pretty good graphics I really enjoy the character sprites in battle. I also think they did a good job on the main dungeon traveling screens. The animation is very fluid and enjoyable. The anime cut scenes are pretty nice and quite graphical. But in the wake of other PSX games like FF 9 and FF 8 these graphics don't really have that ultimate awe. In short the graphics are definitely on par with games like Legend of Mana but not the nicest thing you have ever seen.

Gameplay ~ 10
Again this game is a blast to play the battle system is very unique and cool. When you enter a battle the screen goes 2d and you are allowed to control the main character. You control the other characters through commands and by the strategy you give them before or during the battle. The battles are real-time but they do have a turn based feel a little. This is not a clickfest the game allows for both to take their turn though sometimes you can get about 2 to the opponents 1 attack. Especially if you issue commands quickly.

Story ~ 9
The story is very intriguing you meet a young girl who is supposedly from another world she speaks in a foreign language and your party can not understand anything she says. When you bring her before the town elder she is banished from the village. The main characters Farah and Reid decide to go with her and figure out what exactly she is and where she is from. Of course once they finally understand her it becomes a quest to save the world. Typical RPG fare but the dialog is cute and the characters all have a lot of personality.

Sound ~ 7
The music in the game is GREAT!!! I really do enjoy the many songs throughout the game you can also access a sound test feature to listen to any song or effect in the game. The reason why I did not give it a 10 was because of the horrible American voice effects. I can not believe how bad these are they lack no tone and really put the game in a bad light. Luckily they only use the voice effects during important parts of the game. So you'll only have to hear them talk to each other about every 20 minutes or so . This really hurts this great title as it is one of the only major flaws in the game. This is proof that translations are always done half assed and we get screwed over on a great title such as this.

Control ~ 10
This game controls great it is easy to move the characters on the main screens and in battle it is very intuitive and precise. No problems at all in this category excellent job done by the Namco team.

Overall ~ 9
Unfortunately this game does not get a perfect score from me. I kept praying for a decent translation from the Namco team but again they ''screw'' us Americans by giving us this watered down masterpiece. I still would strongly recommend it if you are an RPG nut and can't wait for FF X to come out this will keep you busy for at least a month!

Rent or Buy????
I would suggest buying the game unless you either A.) Hate RPGS!! or B.) Own the much better Japanese version. You will not be disappointed in this game just realize that the voice acting is not very good, and it seems like they hired some definite no name or talent voice actors.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/01, Updated 09/19/01