"Tales of Disappointment"

Ah, the "Tales" series... One of the most beloved and vastly known RPG franchises in Japan. Yet, the Tales games don't always make it out of Japan, due to mysterious low sales outside their mother country. The latest entry in the series, Tales of the Tempest, is most likely destined to stay inside Japan as well, to fans' disarray. There are numerous reasons to this, though it's fair enough to admit that Tales of the Tempest is not what fans were eagerly expecting. There is definitely something missing from it.

Not that Tales of the Tempest is a terrible game, but it sadly lies somewhere between mediocre and decent, and that very reason is why you shouldn't feel bad about missing out on this Tales. Even if you are the biggest Tales fan, Tales of the Tempest ultimately disappoints in many ways, and does not do justice to the series, being the weakest entry to date.

In a broken world...

As expected from a Tales game, Tales of the Tempest puts a lot of emphasis on the story line, which tells of a world where the Lycanths (weremen or beast-people) used to live peacefully, progressing further and faster than Humans in technology, magic and spirituality. This led to a war between the Lycanths and Humans, in which most Lycanths perished. The story takes place 100 years after the war, and starts with Caius, the soon to be hero of the game, who lives in a quiet village with his father. To make a long story, unknown monsters suddenly attack the village, a dying knight entrusts a mysterious stone to Caius, who also learns his father is a Lycanth. He then runs away with his best friend Rubia, and together, they travel to save Caius' father, taken away by the Church people who are after Lycanths and Caius' stone.

Obviously, there is a lot more to the story line, Tales of the Tempest being heavy on dialogue, but this is what it revolves around as it begins. There are some twists along the way, a fairly decent character development leading to expansion in many directions, but somehow it feels uninteresting down the road. The main problem with Tales of the Tempest's plot is not that it's not good, but that the game does so little to get you involved into the story that it's difficult to be engrossed. Tales of the Tempest almost solely relies on cutscenes, leaving little place to actual gameplay. Your three party members (in addition to Caius and Rubia) are thrown into your team very early in the quest, in sort that you never really feel like you worked to obtain something or get somewhere.

A journey to nowhere...

Everything in the game just seems to happen, or be in place, so the story can progress. The sad truth is that all Tales of the Tempest consists of is walking from point A to point B, just so you can see the next development in the story line. You'll run from a village to another, watch a cutscene, then walk to the next town, watch another cutscene, then walk, again. There are absolutely no dungeons (aside from an optional one at the end of the game), and only one single puzzle in the entire game. Tales of the Tempest is about running across a barren world map and exploring a few very small villages made of two or three buildings. It's obviously also about battling foes, and bosses that are so easy they feel like regular enemies. Walking and fighting in-between cutscenes is unfortunately all you do in Tales of the Tempest.

Not that this isn't what RPGs are about, but it's very possible to do that, and more, in a way to immerse the player in the quest he is part of. Tales of the Tempest's quest fails to immerse because it isn't endearing. Unlike other Tales games, there is nothing engaging throughout the adventure. Everything in the game reflects emptiness. Intended or not, Tales of the Tempest's world feels inert and dead. The villages are lifeless, with very few NPCs to talk to, barely any side quests (so no reason to ever re visit a town once you're done exploring it -- which takes about three minutes). You just walk here and there to advance the plot, with no real motivation of a goal ahead of you. Getting to new locations is unexciting, because all the places you'll visit are dull. You simply move along, never halting to appreciate the adventure.

I recall Famitsu complaining that the game didn't have enough random encounters, but I can assure you that it has far more than enough, and even way too many. Rarely on the world map can you walk for more than 5 seconds before running into an enemy, which becomes extremely bothering. Since a large portion of the game is about traveling in the vast overworld, you'll spend a lot of time trekking between far away locations, often up to 15 minutes. Add to this the three minutes battles every five steps and be ready to spend sometimes around 30 minutes walking on the world map just to get to your next destination. It's a good thing Tales of the Tempest has a day and night cycle to brighten up the dreary landscapes while you travel, but there is nothing relevant to it aside from different enemies depending on the time.

Tussling your way through...

The Tales series' strong appeal has always been its battle system, mixing real-time and 2D fighting to create something new and exciting. This could have been Tales of the Tempest's redemption, but somehow, the game managed to miss this as well. The 3-on-3 battle system allows for 3D movement, but on rails. It's like having three layers of 2D. You can move up and down between the three lines, where you can go left or right, so it's not totally like moving in real 3D. You can set your party members on different lines, placing the healer at the back and the attackers at the front, for instance. Enemies will also be set to different lines and can move between them, just like you. The way the battle system works, you're supposed to use the lines to get behind your enemies to attack them, but switching from a line to another seems impossible unless you use the stylus to select an enemy, in which case your character will automatically run to it and attack. Needless to say, the 3-on-3 aspect only succeeds in hurting a battle system that was already perfect.

Using the stylus makes the battles feel a bit too mindless however, as all you have to do is tap the enemy and your character will systematically attack until you stop tapping on it. You'll need to use the buttons to pull off the special moves and combos also, so in the end, it's pretty pointless to use the stylus save for locking into enemies. Switching from the stylus to the pad for this is very cumbersome. The battles are fast as always, but the rail system slow them down quite a bit compared to other Tales games. Otherwise, the AI controlled characters work wonders, and you can control any character you want, may it be one of your healers, sword-wielders, or Lycanth characters, who have the power to transform into beasts during fights. This aspect might sound appealing, but it honestly adds nothing to the battle system. You can have up to three party members on the battlefield at the same time, and the fights work on Auto, a very useful function when you're tired of the frequent random encounters.

A barren land and distant melody...

Thankfully, the level of details in Tales of the Tempest is pretty high, though still not enough to make the game feel atmospheric. A good artistic style is very important in adding to a game experience, but Tales of the Tempest feels bare in this regard. It's like looking at something pretty that doesn't inspire you anything. The game is fully 3D, from the world map to the villages, with three different environments (forest, desert, snow) and building interiors packed with many detailed objects, but that feeling of emptiness plagues Tales of the Tempest in every aspect. It's like the developers created a world, but forgot to give life to it. The villages lack a touch of charm, the world map is immense, but bland, and the enemies and character models, which appear to be an attempt at cel-shading, come off as awkward looking. Bodies look reasonably good, but the faces look extremely blurry and expressionless, something that could have been corrected given enough work.

Tales of the Tempest's score is reminiscent of previous Tales games, you'll recognize the battle themes and other sounds, but everything else is like the rest of the game, uninspired. A few good musical pieces here and there, but if you don't pay attention to it, the music will go unnoticed. Another addition to the soundtrack is wind blowing in the background and the sound of waves knocking against rocks, but the fact that it's louder than the music makes it a bit harassing. The best feature is undoubtedly the characters' battle cries, as cute as always. Although there is no voice samples during dialogues, the characters will talk as they cast spells and perform attacks.

The Tale comes to an end.

Where Tales of the Tempest disappoints the most, however, is in its length. At the best, the game might last 15 or 20 hours, but it's really a 10 hour game. Considering you're watching cutscenes half of the time, it might even be around 7 hours of play time. With no worthy side quests or necessary backtracking, Tales of the Tempest is a very linear game that only focuses on going from beginning to end, without any straying from the straightforward path. Not that there is anywhere else to go anyway, and I'm not sure I could have endured much more overworld wandering and random encounters.

It saddens me to have to give reason to Tales of the Tempest's bad reviews. I really wanted the game to be good when I got it, but the truth is too blatant to deny. Tales of the Tempest just doesn't do anything to be more than average, introducing nothing to the series. It has the "Tales" name tagged onto it, but it doesn't feel like a Tales game. It's wholly bare of any creativity or that usual charm the series has. I generally like the part in RPGs where you walk around and explore, but Tales of the Tempest feels too insipid when it comes to that. The story line and graphics might be good, but "good" is not enough to save the flimsy gameplay.

Breakdown

Presentation 6/10 Good storyline, but too many cutscenes versus not enough gameplay. The Tales universe is recognizable but the game lacks personality.
Gameplay 5/10 Dull quest that has you simply walking from town to town in an extremely linear way. No dungeons. The battle system is somewhat fun, but flawed compared to previous Tales games. Random encounters on the world map are too frequent.
Graphics 8/10 Great 3D feels drab because of a lack of creativity. Environments look detailed, but are empty. Character models are a decent try at cel-shading, though out of place.
Music/Sounds 7/10 Nothing very inspired, a couple of Tales trademark songs, but all really forgettable.
Replay Value 4/10 Once this 10-15 hours game is over, it's over. No side quests and the adventure isn't very compelling to begin with.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/07, Updated 09/07/07

Game Release: Tales of the Tempest (JP, 10/26/06)