Tales of Phantasia

"Oh ma Gawd... Don't like RPGs? Play this, then see what you think"

Wow... this game is quite probably the best on the SNES; Secret of Mana is another good game (But there are loads of reviews for that one...). For those of you who love RPGs, try this, and you'll never be able to look at your favourites in the same way again. For those who don't like RPGs, try this and your faith in all RPG games will be brought into you. For those who want to try something different, play this. Its one of the only games I can think of that has this type of battle system (read on, it rocks) and all the sexual innuendos. In fact, only devout religious types should steer clear of this game, lest they lose their cassock and what have you.

Story _9_

The hero is called Cless. He’s the innocent, deluded hero type, as always. He is the son to a great warrior, but when his hometown gets burnt down, he journeys to find the man responsible and defeat him. Along the way Cless encounters other party members. First off is Chester; he is a bowman who lived in the same town as Cless. When his younger sister dies in the fire, he travels with Cless to find the person responsible. Next, comes Mint, Mint is a healer who Cless finds when he escapes from Jail one day (as you do). Mint is the love interest of Cless, although it takes Cless a long time to realise it. Klarth is the next person you find, he is a summoner who can summon powerful spirits to attack enemies. He joins your group when you find him in his hometown. Your party says you need his expertise, and he gets bothered until he joins you. Arche is the final party member; she is a witch and can cast some powerful spells. She joins your group because she has a crush on Cless, but she eventually ends up falling for Chester.
The main enemy is a powerful wizard called Dhaos. Dhaos was locked up in a magic crystal for years, but he somehow got freed when a mind-slave released him. Dhaos was indirectly responsible for the burning of Cless's hometown and as such, the party follow him to hope to destroy him. The group travels through desert, forest and ice plains, even through time itself to chase their quarry.
The story, as I said, revolves around Cless (and to a lesser extent, Mint), and although the story is serious, there are some hilarious bits in the whole game (Like when Arche is complimenting Mint on the size of her breasts, Chester goes to have a look and gets hit by a bucket) and the whole game will have you chuckling.

Game play _10_

Let me first tell you about the Battle System. Tales of Phantasia revolves around a non-turn-based system. You always control Cless in battles, leaving the rest of your party up to pre-set AI. You can charge enemies and jump on them, or stab them and slash them, you can attack as often as you like and use items and magic whenever you feel its needed. The enemies for the most part are relatively easy to kill if you are at the correct level, but all the random encounters can get bothersome if you have no means of curing.
Arche and Mints magic can be used to harm foes and help allies respectively, whereas Klarths summons are used to cause powerful damage to the foes. Cless is a pure melee fighter, his weapons can deal stabbing or slashing damage, or he can do jumping attacks if he attacks from far enough away. He also has a number of special techniques that he is either taught manually or he learns automatically. Chester is a bowman, and he doesn't have much else to do other than shoot arrows at enemies.
The controls are easy to use and remember, and the many mini-games you encounter are easy to know how to do properly after a couple of tries. Although there are hard parts in battles, the story is mainly continued by the solving of puzzles and finding your way through mazes.
There are many different items that will help you in your quest; one of the most important ones is the food bag. Put food in it, and your heroes eat it as they travel to restore HP.
As with all RPGs, it is the game play that attracts you, and this is no exception. Most of the games components are different from normal RPGs and this is definitely what attracted me to the game.

Audio/Video _9/10_

At first glance, you find the graphics good... but not brilliant. The sound is good... but not brilliant, and the voices are nothing to be proud about. But... hang on... isn't this the SNES? Since when have SNES games had voices? And not many have graphics of this calibre... and the music is great compared to say Final Fantasy IV or Chrono Trigger... Maybe this is a game worthy of my eardrums...
But alas, the voice acting is only the occasional scream of hope in battle, or the yell of victory. Yes, this rocks! But after a while you start to find it nothing more than a quirk. It will also make you lose interest in other voice-less games. The graphics are brilliant though, and although there are no Videos to speak of, there is some kick-ass graphics after the final credits and the in game animations are brilliant. The music changes depending on what you are doing, but to be honest, I mainly just had the music off and listened to a CD =P. Voice acting and kickass graphic are nothing compared to Linkin Park's Meteora =)

Replay ability _9_

You think of all RPGs, and you think you can possibly complete the game in about 3 different ways. Once with beating the boss, another time by getting all the mini-quests done and beating the boss. The last by restricting yourself to no magic, no techs and dying at the third enemy. This game is no exception, first time through, you marvel at the brilliance, next time you marvel at the range of mini-quests, then you marvel at the ways you can complete the game without using magic one bit, or without touching the control pad in battle. It has about 35+ hours of game play your first time through and around 45+ hours if you try new stuff to make it better. The game is very good, and you will want to play it again anyway.

Buy or Rent? (Or Steal...)

Well, this is definitely a buying game. If you rent it, then you will find yourself wanting to buy it when you finish. You could get it on emulator, and that’s fine for the Europeans who never saw the game on Console, but it is better on SNES or (if you can find it) Playstation.

My final grade? 10/10 of course...

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/11/03