Tales of the Abyss surfacing on 3DS

Good stories can improve with age, something Namco Bandai is banking on as it prepares a pair of rereleases in its long-running Tales series of role-playing games. Today the publisher announced that it would be bringing the 2006 PlayStation 2 game Tales of the Abyss to the 3DS later this year and put a 2012 North American launch window on Tales of Graces F, the PlayStation 3 revamp of the 2009 Wii original.

When Tales of the Abyss arrives for Nintendo's latest portable, it will do so with a handful of enhancements. Besides support for the system's glasses-free stereoscopic 3D feature, Tales of the Abyss will make use of the system's touch screen in battle and include special animations for the game's mystical attacks.

In Tales of the Abyss, players assume the role of a young aristocrat who was kidnapped as a child and left with no memory of the events before the abduction. Although he has been confined to his mansion since his return for his own safety, the young man eventually finds himself transported out into the world through a strange rift. There he must overcome not only his adversaries, but also his naivete of the world outside his manor.

As for Tales of Graces F, the game takes place on Efinea, a planet dominated by three kingdoms competing for the right to rule. After losing a close friend, Asbel, the eldest son of a feudal lord, enlists in a knight's academy in his kingdom's capital to learn to better protect those he loves. Asbel's father subsequently dies, and Asbel then takes his place as a feudal lord, and the adventure begins. The Wii version of Tales of Graces has yet to see release outside of Japan.

For more on Tales of the Abyss, check out GameSpot's review of the 2006 PS2 original.