Tales of Phantasia

"A weaker remake of an outstanding game is still pretty good."

This is not by any stretch of the imagination the best entry to the "Tales of" series. In fact, this is widely considered the worst remake of Tales of Phantasia to exist. That does not mean that this game is any way bad. No, quite the opposite: this game is outstanding. It'll engross you at the outset and hold your attention up until the final battle... and at the low price it's going for now, it would be silly to pass a game like this up.

As a side note, please remember that this review is on the GBA version of the game. Ergo, it will only look at the GBA version. It will not make an attempt at rating it better or worse than the SNES version, the PSP version, or any other version. Also, since this only looks at the GBA version, it will be using the GBA names (i.e. Cress instead of Cless). Don't like it? Tough.

Story 9/10:

Extremely well written and played out. Cress and Mint, descendants of those who imprisoned the evil Dhaos, must defeat him once and for all when a freaking idiot psycho-maniac (there's always one) lets him loose. Of course, the two kids are incapable of dealing with him for now, so they get flung 100 years into the past to beat the crap out of him before he time travels (his time travel necessitated his imprisonment, by the way).

Time travel creates its usual array of paradoxes, and since none of these are ever spelled out the story gets a 9 instead of a 10. However, everything else about the story is fabulous. A major plot twist is hinted at throughout the game, however you won't know it until the very end unless you are a really deep thinker and pay a lot of attention.

Graphics 10/10:

Nothing to complain about here. The graphics seem very well done.

Music & Sound 8/10:

The music is great. Some themes are very memorable, and not just because you will hear them so often. I especially like the boss music, both for regular bosses and Summon Spirits (some people like the Summon Spirit boss music more than the regular boss music... to each their own, I suppose).

The sound is another story. It's not all bad, but half of the time you can't tell what the freak the characters are saying. And the opening line from Dhaos ("What the HECK is THAT?") is so out of character it's not even funny.

Gameplay 10/10:

When I bought this, I expected it to be a turn-based battle system. Standard fare for RPG's, y'know? Boy, was I in for a surprise when I found that battles in this game are 100% real time. There is no waiting patiently for your turn. There is no pausing while an active time bar fills. It is fully real time... I suppose you might think of it as what happens when a fighting game marries an RPG.

This of course means that you have to have some modicum of skill to play this game. Strategy counts, but unlike most RPG's it will not win the game for you. You will have to swing that sword yourself, boyo.

At the start of the game, you have two control modes: Auto and Semi-Auto. Auto let's the computer control your character, though you can still command him/her (like all party members) to use items and skills. Unless you are just spamming level-ups, Auto is boring and useless.

Semi-Auto is fun. You get to walk on your own and choose when and how to attack, and with timing (or just spamming buttons) can combo your attacks. The "Semi-Auto" aspect is that you will only dash when attacking from a distance, will automatically dash back after attacking, and only jump when you initiate specific attacks.

Late in the game you can get items which give you access, when equipped, to the Manual Mode. Like it's name implies, you control everything (you don't even auto-target anymore!).

As stated before, the battles run in real time, so if you just sit there thinking about what to do, the enemy is going to walk up to you and relentlessly beat the living crap out of you. You have to think on your feet.

Otherwise, the standard RPG conventions exist in this game. You can rest in Inns to recover, purchase armor, weapons, and items from stores, and cannot have more than four party members in any one battle. What the others do while you're getting slugged by Mythril Golems, I don't know, but they certainly aren't fighting.

Replay Value 9/10:

After you beat the game, you unlock a short, non-canonical mini-game and New Game +. Unfortunately, the only thing New Game + allows you to do is keep the data on items and monsters you collected. Lame.

So why does this still get a 9? Because this game is so awesome, chances are you'll come back again anyway. Just because.

Total Score = 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/07, Updated 09/14/07

Game Release: Tales of Phantasia (US, 03/06/06)