Official new Tales titles sites online

TOKYO--Namco has opened the official sites for Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Rebirth, following last week's leak about the two Tales titles for the PlayStation 2. Tales of Rebirth is an all-new game, while Tales of Symphonia is a port of last summer's GameCube title. The Tales of Symphonia site only gives background information on characters and story lines which have already been covered by the GameCube edition's site; no details on the additions that will be made on the PS2 port have been revealed. However, the Tales of Rebirth site gives some additional insight into the title.

Tales of Rebirth takes place in the world of Callegeia, where two human races named the Huma and Gajema have been co-existing since ancient times. Both races have their different strengths: the Huma are intellectually adept, while the Gajema are physically powerful. The game starts out with peace between the Huma and Gajema, but the history of Callegeia and its two races has not always been harmonious. The Humas once surpassed the Gajemas in knowledge and power, and a war erupted as they tried to conquer the Gajemas.

Seeing this as a threat to the whole world, Georgius, the lord of the holy beasts, attempted to convince the Humas to stop. That only enraged the Humas even more, making their attacks towards the Gajemas crueler. The Humas also began to attack Georgius. Angered by the Humas, Georgius decided to annihilate all the Humas, which sets off a huge new war between Georgius and the other six holy beasts opposed to his decision. The holy beasts managed to defeat Georgius and seal his soul in the "Cordoba's Moon", which after, the beasts go into hibernation. After this war, the Huma and Gajema start to co-exist once again, building a new kingdom together. Peace is once again restored, but a new darkness begins to form where nobody realizes.

The main character in Tales of Rebirth is Veigue Lungburg, an 18-year-old Huma male weighing 71 kilograms (156 pounds) at 183 centimeters (72 inches). Veigue was born and raised in a village named Sules, located in the northern region of Callegeia. Veigue was brought up by the family of his friend, Clair, who took him in after he lost his parents at youth. However, Veigue is traumatized by an incident one year before the story begins. As a result, Veigue gives a cold impression to people, but he also has a hot-blooded side to him that doesn't allow him to ignore things that are wrong. As the game begins, life in Veigue's village is peaceful. But events soon drastically alter the situation, forcing him to embark on a journey he would normally never take.