Tales of Phantasia

"Phantastic!"

An avid RPG player, I was worried that there were no more after Golden Sun and FFIV. So, as soon as Tales of Phantasia (ToP) was announced, I couldn't wait to get it! I enjoyed it immensely, but how does it stack up?

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics are mostly very good, especially in battle with magic moves and summons; However, some of the town settings look as though they could have been touched up a little bit (Venezia, Altavista). Still, the majority of the artwork looks great, and the game runs smoothly despite impressive graphics.

Audio: 9/10

The music in the game is some of the best I've heard from an RPG. The world map music is a fresh, rejuvenating piece, while the battle theme is action-filled, and various other songs are mysterious, sad, joyful, etc... and all arranged very nicely. The sound effects are good, too - especially the shouts of your character as they execute a move in battle. Cress will yell "Sword rain!" as he does his Sword Rain attack, Arche will yell "Indignation!" when the proper magic is used, and it's a tradition I've only seen in the Tales series, but enjoy very much.

Story: 8/10

Pretty original, the story takes the hero Cress from the present to the past to the future trying to stop an evil king that is wreaking havoc upon the world. Of course the story is much more involved than that, but let it suffice to say it is engaging and interesting. After all, you wouldn't want me to spoil it, would you? ;-)

Gameplay: 10/10

Now this is where games earn their main criticism or praise: The gameplay. ToP's field controls are normal for an RPG, but it's battle system is different. I, for one, enjoy the difference. Your party members are AI controlled, although you can tell them to use a certain item or cast a certain spell. But you, as swordsman Cress, execute all the physical attacks you can. The catch is that Cress moves at a slower speed than you might expect. You have to time your slashes, thrusts, and secret skills into combos that pummel your enemy for extra damage. It's not very hard to pick up, and rather addicting when you do get the hang of it.

Length/Replayability: 10/10

This game is LONG. Perhaps you wouldn't want to replay it, but you'd get enough out of it the first time you wouldn't need to. You don't need to spend endless hours idly training to try to beat a boss, but you'll want to train to learn Cress's Secret Skills: He learns Deadly Skills on his own as he levels up, and you need to execute each one 100 times before you can use a Secret Skill containing that Deadly Skill. For example, if you know Demon Fang and Swallow Kick, then to learn Demonic Swallow Kick you must have used both Demon Fang and Swallow Kick 100 times each. A lot of work, no? But fun work! In addition to that, the story is long and involved, taking you all over the huge wide world in all three time eras. Have fun!

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

This is old-school fun at it's best. I would recommend this to any RPGer that enjoys games like Crono Trigger and Final Fantasy III. A classic in my GBA library, I hope you pick this one up today!

Buy or Rent? BUY

You most likely won't have enough time to finish the game should you rent it, and besides, this is just to good not to own!

Conclusion: Tales of Phantasia shows that not only have old-style RPGs not died out, they are some of the best games on the market today!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/06