"Mediocre game that's really not worth your time."

Introduction:

Tales of the Tempest is the first and only (at the time of writing) 'Tales' game for the DS. I recently got a DS and as a huge 'Tales' fan, it's inevitable that I play through this game. First of all, this game is short. I completed the game less than half an hour ago and it clocked at 16 hours. So if you're looking for a long, and epic adventure, I doubt this game is for you.

Story:

The story, like most 'Tales' games, has quite a few plot twists. The problem here is that the game didn't do a good job telling the story, so the plot twists just seem bland, some even expected. You just don't feel attached to the characters, nor care about what they do or happen to them. The main characters don't really have much background either, which definitely doesn't help. I stopped caring about the story halfway through, I guess it just didn't feel grand and important enough. It is a 'save the world' story all right, but you just don't feel like you're actually attempting that goal. The only people that recognise your party are the villains. The lack of interesting NPCs is just disappointing. I did not hate the story, but it just didn't grab me and pull me into the game, so I'll give it a rather average score of 6/10.

Graphics:

The graphics are decent. However, the character design is a let down. It took me forever to know that Romy's a female and I thought Tilkis was female until I heard his battle voice. I actually think that Tilkis is well drawn, but the female characters are just ugly. I have nothing against ugly people, mind you; but they are meant to be beautiful ladies, yet they look hideous. The Lycanths aren't really beautiful either, but I think that's the direction the designer was going for... I think. The battle animations are done nicely. Nothing over the top or visually impressive, but they are good. I'll give the graphics side a 8/10.

Audio:

The game only has voices in battles so there's not much to talk about regarding voice acting. I thought Caius' voice could've been better, but it doesn't affect much, since it's only in battles. Music is okay, but I wished they'd change the battle theme once in a while. Even boss fights use the standard battle theme. The final boss' battle theme is rocking, I like it. 8/10

Gameplay:

Woohoo!! The best part about the 'Tales' games! The amazing battle system, the combo chains, and more. Right? No. The battle system feels... broken. There are three lines for your characters and the enemies to fight on. So you can sneak up on someone and just smash him from behind. It's annoying how it's difficult to attack someone on the adjacent line because you're not lined up properly. You are only limited to 4 moves, and there are barely any combos. You can't really link up moves by yourself, there are preset combos. You only get to hit 3 times in a row throughout the whole game. There's also no way to ask a party member to use a particular move or skill. Just pray that Rubia uses Heal when you absolutely need it.

One thing I despise about this game is how far places are from each other. The good thing is that battles are so incredibly easy you can just set your character to Auto and browse the internet or something when there's a battle, then just keep pressing up to travel further to the next area.

There's a severe lack of good dungeons in the game. You find yourself travelling on the world map really often, in between towns. Sure, there are a few dungeons, but there really isn't any filled with awesome puzzles and a slight bit of difficulty. There's this one puzzle where you have to solve using the DS's touch screen, but it's programmed so terribly you'll find yourselves throwing the DS into a wall due to the unresponsiveness of the touch screen. Well, not really the touch screen, more like THE GAME.

Mediocre gameplay, sometimes frustrating. I give it a 5/10.

Conclusion:

I do not recommend this game to anyone but hardcore 'Tales' fans. It's really the worst game in the series, no doubt. You don't feel attached to the game and just wanna stop playing halfway through, despite its (short) length.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/07