Tales of Phantasia

"One of the Greatest RPGs Ever"

This game truly is one of the best games I ever played so far. I would probably also consider this to be the most underrated game ever since this game was never even released in the USA. At of all the rpgs I have played, I would put Tales of Phantasia right next to Chrono Trigger because this game really does rock.

Graphics
This game has to have the best graphics on the SNES in my opinion. The graphics are amazing for this game and really did impress me. Nice background and the spells and characters look nice. Easily has to be one of best snes games in terms of graphics.

Sound
The music to this game is good, but not great like Chrono Trigger. Also the game has a lot of voice acting during the battles. Like when you are battling an enemy, the characters shout their spell out. Also, when the characters get hit or die they shout things out too. Some music of the game can get boring and repetitive like they have the same music for a town and a dungeon. Overall, I would have to say that the sound is good, but nothing amazing or great like Chrono Trigger.

Gameplay
The gameplay to the game is very unique and what sets it apart from other RPGs. The controls are easy, in my opinion, and didn't give me any problem. You control one character during the battle which would the main hero/character in the game, Cless Alvein. By pressing the A button, cless will run to the enemy and press A again to nail the enemy with your weapon. you can also stab by pressing up a. Like Chrono Trigger, there are techs in this game, but only for Cless. Techs are useful because they can do a lot more damage than sword attacks. Super techs are acquired by mastering two techs. What I mean by mastering is on your menu, there is a % next to your tech. That tells you how much you mastered it. you need 100% to master the tech. Super moves are real powerful, so in the beginning, you should master all the techs you get. The other characters during a battle you can't control their movements but you can tell them what to do like in turned base rpgs. There is a tactics menu that is available during a battle and outside of battle. The tactics menu allows you to control what type of fighter you other characters are. like either use spells all the time which means keep casting spells that you have set. Or there is cast spells sometimes, which means cast spells sometimes not all the time. You want to have spells all the time during a boss battle because you want to keep attacking the boss. By the way, you only get one spell caster in the game.

The other character in the game is has the ability to cast summons. The summons are more powerful than spells except for the spells you get at the end of the game. Summons you get from certain creatures in the game which you fight and at the end, when you win, you get a contract with them using a ring, so you can use a summon. The other character is a healer. The healer can only heal and provide battle assistance such as protect spells, etc. The healer is essential especially during boss fights which can get tough. The last character game who is Cless's best friend in the beginning of the game, Chester. Chester only attacks with his bow.

Storyline
The story is touching and exciting. The story in the game hooked me to the game in the beginning along with the gameplay. The story is long, thorough and very dramatic. The game starts off in a sad mood and it gets real dramatic. The story keeps you glued to the game then towards the middle of the game; it gets a little boring, but heats up at the end. The game is about Cless Alvein who seeking revenge against the person who raided his hometown. He goes on a quest that involves time traveling to get seek revenge. Along the way, he acquires 3 people who decide to join him. You learn that the person who was behind this is Dhaos, who is the main villain of the game. Dhaos compared to other villains, would probably be ranked up in the top 10. Overall, the storyline is very good and well done with a lot of drama and some plot twists.

Challenge
The game is not a walk in the park. The game can get very frustrating at the point in a game where random enemies can kill you if you are not careful. So save in the game when you get the chance to. Boss fights can also be a pain or can be a piece of cake depending upon if you a good enough levels and techs. I personally only had trouble on some bosses and some enemies. Overall, this game to me was pretty difficult, but if you take the time to level and master your techs, you will be fine.

Length/Replayibility
The length of this game for me including all the side quests was 28 hours. The sidequests in the game are plenty and interesting. One of the sidequests involves you going to back to dungeon to a new part of it. That was the hardest part in the game to me because the enemies were real strong. The sidequests are very useful and makes the end easier. You will get plenty of items and equipment. The replay value of this game I would give and average score because I aver only played through it once and would probably play it again if I had the time(I'm currently playing other games).Tales of Phantasia has a hard mode after you play it incase your up for a harder challenge.

Overall, Tales of Phantasia is a quality rpg that is a must play by anybody who is into rpgs. I would consider this game to be on the top ten of my list of videogames.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/04