After playing a few games in the Tales series and becoming a fan, I finally went back to where it all began with the very first Tales game, Tales of Phantasia.
Tales of Phantasia has only been officially translated into English twice: first for the Game Boy Advance in 2006 and then as a disastrous iOS port in 2014 that has since been removed.
Since I prefer to play official releases and heard negative things about the GBA version, I didn’t think I’d get to play Phantasia unless they remade it… until I heard the GBA version’s glorious voice acting, at which point I bought a copy as soon as I stopped laughing.
(I’m not even joking.)
(Un)fortunately, voice acting does not show up often in Tales of Phantasia, mainly limited to battle cries and that beautiful intro. The story follows a young man named Cress who is sent back in time to find a way to defeat the Demon King Dhaos, who was sealed away in the past but now is free again.
Time travel is at the core of the game’s story, although there isn’t much back-and-forth. It’s a simpler story than what I’ve seen in other Tales games, and the GBA version lacks skits, but it’s an enjoyable game with an interesting plot and likable characters.
Click for Tales of Phantasia spoilers
And when I say the story is simpler, I mean they wait until the very end to reveal the big twist in regards to Dhaos’s motivations. The story still has its intricacies, it’s just presented in a more straightforward manner.
I would have preferred to actually hear Dhaos explain his story, though, instead of having the characters recount what he said after the fact.
I also completely missed that Dhaos in the future is different than Dhaos in the present because of them changing the timeline. Okay, maybe it’s not such a simple story after all.
The final party member joined too late to ever really feel a part of things, but I read that she was an NPC in the original version, so it makes sense that her role would be lessened. Aside from her, I thought the cast had a good dynamic.
Now, it’s an old game. At times, it feels old. Combat in particular is strange and slow and pauses entirely for most spells, and there are also little frustrations such as having to equip the Sorcerer’s Ring as an accessory to use it.
Then there’s the translation, which had some dubious moments, the best of which is its infamous “Kangaroo” line (instead of Ragnarok).
But it really has a lot of heart. I’m not entirely sure how to explain it, but as I was exploring the world, discovering side quests and secrets, and watching the characters interact with each other, it made me think about how much I love this genre. Tiny sprites and limited graphics don’t stop Tales of Phantasia from being emotional and sincere. Sometimes I feel like newer JRPGs have lost some of that soul. It’s hard to say what it is, but there is something heartfelt about older JRPGs like this.
I’d love to see a remake of Tales of Phantasia (or an official English release of one of the later versions), preferably keeping its world map and everything else intact.
Overall, I liked Tales of Phantasia a lot. Its age shows and the GBA version might not be the best way to play, but I enjoyed seeing the origin of the Tales series. Have you played Tales of Phantasia?
We haven’t talked too much about Tales of Crestoria, the next upcoming mobile Tales game.