Tales of Phantasia

"Come see where it all began."

Here we are at the first American version of the "Tales of" series. Sure, we've played Tales of Symphonia, and Tales of Legendia, but this is the first of that series, which all the rest have come from (in one way or another). Also, it's the first time I've played this game, since I don't really get the chance to fly to Japan and play too many Japanese-only games.

This is the first North American port of the Tales of games. And boy did they do well.

Gameplay 8/10
Very well done handling outside of town. I enjoy the fact that the in-game menus are simple yet discriptive so they're not confusing. I also like the fact that you can run pretty darn fast outside of battle, something which so many games nowadays don't allow you to do. This way, it doesn't take you half a year to get from one side of the town to another.

Of course, I mention this because, located within this nice little cartridge, the antithesis of "fast." The only complaint I have about this game's gameplay would be it's battle system. It's simply too slow and sluggish. I enjoy the mechanics, and I think it's a very nice layout for a 2D action RPG battle system, but it runs too slow. Every action you take has you slowly running to the enemy, then jump and attack, and land back on your feet. But for some reason, to do a similar attack, your character will run away, pause, then attack. Why the characters do this, I do not know.

It is bearable, however. I will hand it that. I enjoy the mechanics of the battle system, if I just excuse the fact that the battles simply run too slow.

Story 8/10
It's got a very nice story. It's interesting to see that this game is where the "Tales of" series began from. It has numerous cliches that I won't mention for the sake of not spoiling it, but it still tells us its story very well, along with a couple tear-jerkers right at the beginning of its tale.

There's not too much to say here. I enjoy the whole "time/space" story they have going on, and don't get me wrong when I say that the story is cliched. Just because the story's somewhat cliched, doesn't mean that it's a bad story in any way. In fact, it's just the opposed; it's a very fine story.

Graphics/Sound 9/10
Not bad. The graphics look excellent. I haven't seen too many better 2D graphics. They really updated this game really nicely (as opposed to the way it first looked like, years ago). They did very well with the graphics, and the music is also very nice.

My only gripe would be the odd voices every now and then. I suppose there was a time when people really enjoyed sympathized voices, but luckily those days are over. In case you were curious, here they are. The old voices are back. Of course, it's nothing serious, and it won't get in your way from enjoying your game.

Replayability 3/10
There's not really much replayability here, unless you wish to complete the different little goodies. Of course, not all games have high replayability, and this is one of those games. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but there's not too much to be had on the second playthrough ( all though it is still fun the second time around ). Because it doesn't need to have great replayability, I will not take points off from the overall score.

Overall 8/10
Overall, this is a very well done game. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I highly recommend it to anyone 1) new to the series, or 2) is a veteran who's interested first game. While the graphics and battles are all re-worked, the story remains the same, as it must. While it is of "Tales of" quality, it is cliched. Then again, like I said before, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I'd recommend you purchase this game, if you like RPGs. The battle system's the only big complaint about the game, but you can excuse it, as I have. If you like the "Tales of" series, or are new to the series, here's your chance to go to where they all began.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/06