Tales of Phantasia

"This is one Tale you won't want to miss."

-Intro-

1995 was a good year for the Super Nintendo. No, no, it was a great year for planet Earth. Some of the best RPGs today were made in this year. First came Lufia II, then Chrono Trigger, then Seiken Densetsu 3, then Secret of Evermore, and then Terranigma. And as a grand finale, Tales of Phantasia was released in December of that year, marking the last big release of 1995. However, Namco for some reason decided they would torture the U.S. by not releasing it anywhere outside of Japan. It was a huge shame too, as Tales of Phantasia was the most advanced SNES game yet. It packed in a total of 48 megs, the absolute maximum for a SNES cartridge. Tales was fully capable of having high quality voice acting in battle, a feat never before achieved on the console. The game started a huge series that would become one of the most popular RPG series of all time. All of this is all well and good, but how good is Tales of Phantasia?

Well it's damn good! This game innovates in a number of ways, but probably the most obvious innovations is in its battle system. But we'll get to that in the gameplay section. I know, I know…but later!

-Gameplay-

Tales of Phantasia consists mostly of the same basic ideas that we see in all RPGs, that is, you enter towns, fight through dungeons, meet bosses, and travel to the next destination. However, it changes the fighting part of that immensely. The battle system is original and makes this game a blast to play.

Let's talk about that battle system, eh? The battles are triggered randomly like standard RPGs, and you are taken to a battle screen. Now what makes this battle system stand out is the fact that its an action RPG on a two-dimensional field. This is called the “Linear Motion Battle System”. Basically it plays out looking something like a fighting game. You control Cless, a swordsman who also wields axes and spears. In battle, you have two different types of standard attacks, slash and stab, and you also have special techniques you can use that cost TP. Later, if you master two specific techs, you can combine your techs into a single, more powerful attack. Each time Cless does any type of action, he will have a voiced line in battle. You will have four other characters join you in battle, three of whom are mages and the last being an archer. The mages will cast spells behind you during battle (voiced acted), and most of the spells freeze the action for a few seconds. You cannot play as any of these extra characters. A lot of people seemed to dislike that idea, but I had no problem with playing as only Cless. The other characters are controlled solely by the AI.

I absolutely loved Tales of Phantasia's battle system. It is without a doubt one of the best on the SNES and of any console ever. It is very innovative and a fresh twist on the standard action RPG formula. Sure some of its sequels managed to outdo it, but that can't take away from the original greatness of Phantasia's. The battles are fast-paced, impressive visually, engaging, and normally require a larger amount of concentration. Some of the random battles later in the game become quite hard, and mere seconds wasted could mean a game over. I've always liked that “keep on your toes” feeling.

Now that the battle system is explained, we can talk about what is a slight flaw of the gameplay: too many random battles. Yes, this has always been a complaint of Tales of Phantasia, and I agree with it for the most part. The encounter rate is just too high and this can create an annoyance when trying to explore dungeons and such. Not that I'd normally mind, since the battle system is good enough for you to want to fight. However, it can make the gameplay become repetitive and not nearly as fun as it should be. There is an item called a Holy Bottle which will decrease the encounters, and that seems to solve the problem somewhat.

So despite this small annoyance, Phantasia is a very fun game to play from beginning to end. There is a large amount of side quests to do late in the game, which adds to the replay value. There are also many hidden spells, summons, and technique combos to find. In addition to all this, there are many hidden spots on the map that you can find treasure in which adds even more depth to this fantastic game. So much to do, so little time!</lame>

-Story-

The game starts off with four unknown warriors fighting an unknown man in an epic battle. It then zooms to the present time and at the peaceful village of Totus. Two young fighters, named Cless and Chester, decide to go hunting today. After killing a wild boar and planning to return home with their prize, the town alarm goes off, alerting the boys to rush back to the village. When they arrive they are in for a surprise of their life.

The storyline in Tales of Phantasia is a large and ambitious tale, and will satisfy most RPG veterans. I would not say that it has the best story in an SNES game, but it is still very good. It may drag at times and suffer from the occasional cliche, but it still remains solid throughout the game. There is no problems with the pacing, and mostly everything that occurs has some relevance to the overall plot, which is important. There are several emotional scenes during the game, one example is when you find a dead woman in a dungeon and later find her daughter searching for her. You cannot find it in yourself to tell her and you bring her along with you.

The cast of tales of Phantasia is varied both externally and internally. Cless, the protagonist, is somewhat of a flat character who, like most characters in the game, develops very little. Mint is supposed to be the sweet girl type, Klarth is the arrogant and intelligent older man, and Arche is the cute and sassy girl. None of them change very much throughout the game, but ah well, this game is more about gameplay than character development.

-Music and Sound Effects-

This music is downright excellent! Yes, yes, Phantasia has the best soundtrack out of any game in its series. You can't go wrong with this music. It has everything: intense battle themes, soothing calm themes, heart-softening sad themes, everything! The music seems to perfectly fit every mood of every situation. The boss theme ‘Fighting Spirit' is one of the best battle themes ever. There is about a dozen great tracks in this game, which is quite impressive due to the relatively low amount of tracks. Good stuff…good stuff.

And with good music usually comes good sound effects. The sound effects in Tales of Phantasia are among the best on the SNES. Only a few games can compete with it in terms of sounds, and none could in terms of its voice acting quality. Star Ocean also had voice acting, but apparently with less quality. In battle, you will hear sword slashes and explosions and other booming noises that will impress and inspire. Good stuff…good stuff.

-Graphics-

It is my opinion that the late SNES era had the best graphics that mankind has ever produced. It is 2D perfection, whereas 3D has yet to be perfected. Tales of Phantasia is no exception, as it has some really nice visuals. The sprites are very detalied and the game seems to put emphasis on many of the little details. For example, you can see Cless's reflection in water. Not only that, but in hot areas you can see your characters sweating. It's the little things that count. I also love the town designs in this game, as they look more realistic than any other game on the console. The graphics in battle are exceptional too, with some impressive effects and nice animation.

Almost all of the animation is done in battle, and it is all done very well. Cless has a variety of techs that look nicely. The spells also create some cool effects. Not much else to be said. Beautiful game.

-Challenge, Length, and Replay-

I would say that the challenge in this game is medium. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it is a perfect challenge level. Most of the bosses in the game are tough enough to make you rethink your strategy, yet not tough enough to make the game feel frustrating. Some of the optional areas like the Moria Gallery are also very challenging and may require some leveling up.

As far as SNES RPGs go, this game is long. It usually takes me about 30 hours to complete the game with all side quests. It may take you longer on your first play through though. Don't worry, as this game is well worth your precious time.

The replay value is medium, due to the amount of hidden areas and side quests in the game. There is also a whole list of spells, summons, and technique combos to track down that will add motivation for a new play through. However, the game is fairly linear in terms of character customization which hurts the replay value a tad.

-Summary-

Gameplay – 9/10….…..great
Story – 8/10…………....good
Musics/Sound – 10/10…excellent
Graphics – 10/10……..excellent
Overall – 9/10…….…..great

-Final Words-

So there it is. Reasons why you should make it your duty to play this game. There are three different versions of this game (SNES, PSX, GBA), so which one do you play? Well it's up to you. SNES isn't in English but has a translated ROM, PSX isn't in English and doesn't have a translated ROM, and the GBA version is in English. I'd go with the SNES ROM, myself. If not that then the PSX version, as I've heard the GBA version is inferior.

This game is grand. Namco clearly tried to impress the gaming world when they were making their first RPG. Mostly everything about this game feels smooth and refined. And if not for the sometimes dragging storyline and unnecessary amount of battles, I would've easily given it a 10. It hardly matters though, as the game still has excellent graphics, a perfect soundtrack, and one of the best battle systems you will ever see. To quote Confucius, “This game kicks ass!”.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/07