Tales of Eternia Online beta begins

TOKYO--Namco has begun closed beta testing in Japan of its debut massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Tales of Eternia Online. As the title suggests, Tales of Eternia Online takes place in the same universe as 2000's Tales of Eternia for the PlayStation (released in North America as Tales of Destiny II). The beta test lets players travel around the western half of Inferia, including the continents of Barole, Mints, and Moruru. The game features locations from the original console RPG, such as the village of Rashuan, where TOE's main character Reid Hershel was born and raised.

At the current stage of beta testing, players can create up to three characters per server and select each character's gender and class. Five different classes are currently available for selection: warrior, swordsman, martial artist, white sorcerer, and magic sorcerer. The player can choose to start out from one of three locations: the port town of Barole, the village of Moruru, or the town of Mints.

TOEO uses a symbol encounter system similar to the original TOE, wherein the player enters battle mode whenever he or she bumps into an enemy symbol that's moving around the field map. The players fight in real-time using the series' Linear Motion Battle System. Players can perform combination attacks if they execute moves in a certain order in an allotted time span. If the character dies in battle, TOEO's "piggyback system" lets characters carry around the deceased. If they make it to a church, the dead character can be resurrected with no experience penalities.

Namco has not yet announced an official launch date for the game. For a look into Tales of Eternia Online, check out the new screenshots.