Tales of Phantasia

"A Glorious Step in RPG Evolution"

I first found out about Tales of Phantasia after I stumbled into the emulation scene a few years ago. I had just played the fan translation of Final Fantasy V all the way through, I and was genuinely impressed with what hackers and translators could do with an unreleased Japanese game. On a web board I visited, the ToP translation was mentioned as one of the finest accomplishments of the entire “scene”, so naturally I checked it out. I want to say first that Dejap did a truly professional job translating this game. I’ve seen less from profiting software companies. Hats off to those guys.

I am also fortunate enough to have acquired an original Japanese cart of this game. My first run through of ToP was Dejap’s translation, but my second time through was on a real console, so I have experienced this game in a way that few get the chance to try. Thanks to a decent TV and a nice stereo system, I am able to evaluate ToP to the fullest.

Tales of Phantasia came out in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, and only in Japan. It was produced by Namco, and created by Triace, which would later go on to make such Enix games as the Star Ocean series. Now at first, when I saw that Squaresoft didn’t produce this game, I almost blew it off without a chance. I had seen a couple non-Square SNES games before, and I wasn’t impressed with them at all. Yet as soon as I got hold of ToP and started it up, I was taken aback by the presentation in front of me. This was more polished than anything Square had made up to that point. They would later redeem themselves with games like Chrono Trigger and Seiken Densetsu 3, but it’s hard to forget what Namco put forth when they did. The game’s consistency with diversity, combined with an overall high level of quality, truly raised the bar for anyone in the console RPG market. I believe we have Namco and Triace to thank for making those last few years of golden-age SNES RPGs even better by pushing themselves hard enough to make an influential game like this.

Having said that, I’ll get on with my point-specific review. I would like to start this by saying that I grade games on a true 1-10 scale, where 5 is average and 10 couldn't be any better. I see lots of reviews all over Gamefaqs.com that deem a 5 an insult, and will deal out 10 to something that the reviewer admits isn't perfect just sentences later. ToP scores highly, but I think it’s necessary to be honest in a review and declare faults for what they are.

Graphics: 10/10

Let's start with something very positive. Anyone who says that Tales of Phantasia has poor graphics obviously hasn't spent any time in the 16 bit gaming world. You really won't find anything better than this. The due amount of graphics from the relative magnitude of the 48mbit cart should be enough of an indicator by itself; heavy tile repetition is certainly not a problem here. But what is more important is that while playing the game, I couldn't help but also marvel at the quality of the art. It's in the anime style, of course, but every graphic is extremely well done on an artistic level. Everything comes together to form a consistent and unique world within the game, where every town and forest has its own distinctive mood, but is also a part of the whole. Let's not forget the spells and battles, which are equally impressive visually. Putting the art aside, the programming of the dozens of special effects throughout the game was also done to a level of precision I have never seen in another Super Nintendo RPG. Nothing else can be asked of a game graphically. The fluidity found in Tales of Phantasia is a challenge to produce even now, and will be always.

And if you really don't like distorted character sprites, you better just stay away from this era of gaming.

Music: 7.5/10

I'll be blunt and say from the start that the music in Tales of Phantasia really doesn't reach the level of other masterpieces in this era, such as the Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger scores. However, it is definitely above almost every other soundtrack of this time, including other RPGs. First off, almost all the instrumentation used was well created and appropriate. Also, the audio even has an advanced ''surround'' sound simulation mode, which is very impressive on a real console. The music itself accomplishes the basic mission it needs to, in that it provides a solid audio backdrop for the quest. It actually does this quite well, as can be proved by specific memories invoked by listening to each song, at least for me. Some songs are very remarkable indeed, and earn a place amongst my all-time game favorites (Lake on Ymir is beautiful). My only complaint is that while there are many good songs, others simply lack any real musical complexity and depth. That makes it difficult for its associated event or place to be bound to it. There are many songs in the sound test that I have no recollection of at all. Make no mistake though, even if you don't find this soundtrack to be memorable, I'd be surprised if it actually annoyed you.

Sound: 9/10

This is a minor category, and doesn't really have as much weight in the final score, but it deserves mentioning anyway. After all, a significant amount of the 48mbit cart is devoted to it. Tales of Phantasia has a wonderfully diverse set of sounds, which includes real (Japanese) voices. In battle, every move the main characters make has a name that is shouted out as it is executed. To some, it might get annoying after a while, but the voices were done well, and I enjoyed them. There's probably about two minutes total of voice acting, not including the intro song. That's incredibly rare on the Super Nintendo. Aside from all that, the normal sound effects of the game, such as swords clashing and spell casting, were mostly pretty good as well. Some sounded a little too cartoony, but I wasn’t expecting anything else. Only a few were actually poor and/or annoying. I was also surprised to see that most sound effects, especially in battle, use stereo phonics, often adding a hint of realism to the game. For example, when Cless is on the far right of the battlefield and he attacks an enemy, the sound of the strike will come out of the right speaker. I’ve never heard this before in an SNES game.

Plot: 8/10

To say that Tales of Phantasia has a mediocre plot would be flat out incorrect. Considering once again the time of its release, it had a depth to its plot that rivals any other RPG of the era. There are plenty of characters who are well developed, an original story with plenty of twists, and is overall a lot of fun to play through. The only reason why I don’t give it a better score is because I got the impression that they were running low on ideas toward the end. By the time I reached the final quarter of the game, I was honestly a little bored with the story. It didn’t strike me as being especially climactic, but instead I was just waiting to beat the final boss. The ending provides a sharp twist which makes up for a lot of that, but it was too little too late.

Gameplay: 6/10

I have to say that if the battle system of this game was anything, it was at least original. ToP uses a side scrolling beat-em-up game style fighting system, and it was very fast paced and with plenty of magic and techniques. It was actually really fun at times, even though it was often repetitive. The developers did a good job making sure that the player was usually unhindered by the system, and that it would always be involving. So why a slightly above average 6? First off, the frequency of random battles was so high, I found myself getting upset and aggravated with it like I never have with any other game before. I know someone who stopped playing this game solely because there were so many battles. The second time I played through ToP, I put an item in my inventory to reduce the battling via PAR code (Scout Orb). And I don’t regret it one bit. As for the battling itself, the only negative thing I found was the difficulty in controlling the other 3 characters on the screen. The player only has constant command over the main character, Cless, while the others are left to an average AI. Occasionally, the other characters would do such stupid things it would cost me the battle. It is possible to control the others through a separate menu, but it makes the fighting much more slow and inefficient. In the end, the battling was fun, but it was often frustrating and repetitive.

Non-battle gameplay is pretty much exactly like every other RPG out there. Nothing more needs to be said.

Challenge: 8/10

Like sound effects, this doesn’t carry as much weight, especially for me. But since it is an important part of gaming, I’ll talk about it a little. To put it simply, this game has adequate challenge. You can make it harder by never building up your levels, or you can make it easier by doing the opposite. You’ll almost certainly die on occasion, no matter what. The real challenge, which I mentioned not liking just before, is dealing with the numerous random battles. Either way, if you’re not into challenge, you’ll make it through, and if you are, you’ll be satisfied.

Replayability: 6/10

Another small category, but I see it so much in other reviews that I thought I should put it in. In all honesty, ToP is basically a one-time play. Sure, like most other games, playing it a 2nd time means you’ll be wiser in how you play, and it’ll be easier, but there won’t be many startling plot revelations to be found. There are no alternate endings, either. It’s really up to how much you enjoyed the story, and if you’d enjoy seeing it again.

So that’s my review of Tales of Phantasia. In the end, I give it 8 out of 10, a very good score, although there are better games out there. Still, I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in playing 16 bit RPGs, or really just RPGs in general. It’s got everything you could expect from one of these games, and then some. In the grand scheme of things, it's an important and magnificent RPG. One way or another, you owe it to yourself to find this game and give it a try!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/02, Updated 12/26/02