Tales of Phantasia

"While not fantastic, it was an enjoyable experience."

Tales of Phantasia is a Super Nintendo game that was ported (after a pitstop on the Playstation, though the PS1 never made it out of Japan) to the Game Boy Advance after some time. It is the first game in the Tales series and is the sequel to the well-received Tales of Symphonia, one of the most successful Tales game stateside. Some people may get their hopes up too high when entering this game and end up coming out disappointed, but if you come in expecting a good game with a few flaws then more often than not you will leave satisfied.

Story: The story in Tales of Phantasia revolves around time travel. After losing their friends and family to a heinous attack organized by an unknown force, Cress and his friend Chester swear revenge. Cress then embarks on a journey of vengeance that eventually gets him tangled into something far greater. The story, itself, is quite good for a SNES game. All of the main characters are characterized greatly so that helps in making the player care more about the story and the polygonal actors that portray it.

Gameplay: This is the soft, sweet nectar of the Tales series. The series is renowned for its real time battle system. The battle system in Tales of Phantasia may take a little getting use to. The beginning may be especially rough as inexperienced players may end up getting a good thrashing from the local owls and other woodland creatures. It does pick up, however, and not long after starting the game, the battle system will feel like second nature to you. You can control any of the six playable characters by putting them in the lead position in the form menu. Each character has at his/her disposal a varying array of Deadly Skills (Learned through special events or by levelling up) and/or Magic Spells (Same as Deadly Skills, only they usually require a brief pause to execute).

One of the characters, Claus, uses the Summoning ability as his main weapon. As you progress through the story you will encounter various spirits and, having the right pact ring, you can form a pact with them and summon them during battle. Each summon has its own attack animation.

There are a plethora of minigames for the player to partake in during the course of the game. These minigames often result in you obtaining a new title or two for you characters and a few items.

Speaking of titles, each character can equip different titles. To acquire these titles, one usually has to do a number of things. Some titles involve simply levelling up while others ask for mastering a certain mini-game. Regardless, the titles are purely for asthetics unlike Tales of Symphonia.

The rest is standard RPG fare. Exploring villages, dungeons, talking to people, that sort of thing.

Graphics: The graphics are quite detailed. All of the sprites have a vibrant look to them and the main characters are especially detailed. All of the battle animations look great though there is some slow time during battles but most people can get used to it eventually.

Sound/Music: The music in this game is quite captivating. Definitely on of its strong suits. The voice acting, while sounding a little distorted, fits in with the game.

Replayability: After completing the game, it gives you the option of carrying over your monster book and Item collection books data over to a new game. The game offers reasons to replay such as completing the sidequests you inadvertently missed or finding all of the titles and deadly skills. Since the game is relatively short, one would be more inclined to play through it again at a later date.

Recommendation: If you're a fan of RPGs and the Tales series, then I recommend seeing where the series began. While not a great game, the game has enough good merits on it to provide an enjoyable experience.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/06