Tales of Phantasia

"Interesting..."

As someone who had never played any of the other games in this series I didn't know what to expect when I first loaded Tales of Phantasia into my GBA. I was in for a mediocre ride.

Story - 4/10

The story is okay...Nothing too special. Go back in time to defeat a great evil that was released from a prison. Whoop dee doo. Still, originality isn't everything. The most annoying thing I found about the story was that I felt no need to continue on. I mean, okay sure, a huge evil man thing is wrecking the world and the only thing that can stop him is magic. Well that's great, too bad your characters can't USE magic. Well...not at the start anyway. I just failed to see why I would want to continue on. To see more of the badly done cut scenes? To witness another event that won't actually flesh out anything? No inspiration whatsoever.

Graphics - 6/10

The graphics are passable. Not as good as some GBA games out there (Golden Sun for instance) but decent enough that you won't wince every time you load up the game. The battle sprites are alright. I like the touch at the end of every battle where the hero sort of waves his sword in victory. That's pretty cool.

Characters - 8/10

The characters would be the ONLY reason you'd even THINK of touching this game. They have deep personalities and, you know, romance happens. What's a game without romance eh? A sad, lonely game, that's what.

Sound and Music - 3/10

I actually had to go back and play the game again to remember what the music sounded like to be able to review this section properly. It's not very good, even for a GBA game, horrible tunes really. Even the battle tune is a bit worn out and you'll be listening to that almost ALL of the time.

Gameplay - 5/10

Ho hum. Not very exciting. The developers have done a good job at making a real-time based battle system but it really turns into a turn by turn system in the end. You hit the monster it hits you. There's a small chance you'll dodge the attack which is basically like turn based really...The dungeons are stupid as well. The puzzles are either incredibly easy or openly obtuse. You'll be consulting a walk through more then once for this game. Frustration at it's finest.

Re-playability - 0/10

No one. I repeat, NO ONE would come back and give this game another whirl. Even if they were trapped on a desert island, by themselves, with only this game and nothing else to do.

Rent or Buy: Don't go near it unless you're renting it because you're desperate for something new. It seems okay at first but then it starts to get on your nerves.

Overall just stay away from this game, there are plenty of other better games out there. Go pick one of them. This game doesn't even have two player so you can share the misery with a friend. You can do better then this.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/10/06