Old-School RPG which was remade for the PSX, get this classic now folks!
Genre: RPG-Action
Developer: Namco
System: Playstation (PSX)
Total Score: 90/100
Value Score: 9/10
• Story: 10/10
o You play as Cless Alvein, who is training to become a swordsman like his father, however one day an attack occurred at his home town killing his parents. He somehow survives only being caught and placed in prison from his captors. Cless eventually meets a Methodist by the name of Mint, who's mother ends up saving them both. With a special ability both were transported to the past where they hear about the story of Dhaos. The two decide to go on a journey to defeat Dhaos, meeting a summoner named Klarth and a Half-Elf named Arche. Eventually they get back to their own time defeating Dhaos, however the plot thickens, as the story not involves the past, present, but also the future.
• Characters: 9/10
o The characters in the Tales series have always had a lively atmosphere, character development isn't as well made as recent tales games, but its better than most generic RPGs that were release in the past. It has the same feeling as the Star ocean series, the way the characters grow and interact with each other. There are a lot of comical scenes within the game , it has the anime type feeling in which the tales series is famous for and the characters reflect that. In terms of supporting characters and such as the villain, the development in the beginning is kind of slow, but the pace gets picked up as the storyline continues towards the end.
• GamePlay: 8/10
o Gameplay is similar to the older Tales series games, 2D Platform style, due to the limitations of when ToP was made, the plane of the gameplay is 2D left and right dimension like a Mario game. You gain experience points, leveling up your characters, you learn skills which characters can use in battle to support the party or to damage enemies. However some skills can only be learned through the treasures in the game, storyline scenes , side quests or even purchasing them via various npcs. In ToP, you'll mostly be playing as Cless, as playing as any other character wouldn't be recommended especially due to the fact of the AI. The AI for the enemies are decent but you can trick/block enemy attacks with your own attacks. However the same cant be said for your allies, sometimes your allies will do the wrong skill healing the enemy more than often. The creators at least gave you the option to set commands for the characters during the battle. The formation/strategy setting doesn't help much, as sometimes the characters just stand there (you'll notice Arche doing this a lot for no reason). This game also consists the 15 item limit like the rest of the Tales series, cooking is also available which is a alternative to healing at inns.
• Graphics: 10/10
o When compared in its own generation, ToP was one of the best looking games. Even though the game was 2D, it was a major improvement over its original from SNES. The PSX version looks as sharp and crisp as Chrono Trigger (another famous RPG). The environments in the game are detailed and sometimes have additional effects such as walking on water will make splash animations. Although most wont agree with the sprites, the difference between the SNES and this version is greatly different and more detailed for the PSX version. When it comes to a 2D game, it doesn't get better than this (in terms of non-HD era).
• Sound: 9/10
o Sound effects are actually remixed compared to the SNES version. One of the greatest aspects of Tales of Phantasia back than and even now in this version was the fact that the game is one of the first games to feature an actual voice acting recordings within the game. The voice acting was remade for the PSX version as the sound difference between a SNES and a PSX game was too much of a big difference to ignore. (It would have been a waste if they didn't attempt to remake the sound). Namco also did well to add fine tuning remixes of sound effects for the environment.
• Music: 10/10
o The Tales series have been praised for its incredible music, no surprise here, as the music composer for the game is also the same composer for the Star Ocean series which also had an amazing series of OSTs. The music in the PSX version have been remixed with a higher quality output, not as good quality as the other PSX titles but gets the job done.
• Length: 8/10
o Tales of Phantasia has a average of 25-30 hours of completion for the storyline, this is without doing the extra dungeons, side quests and if you didn't super grind your way through the game. By doing all of that, will add you at least about another 5-10 hours.
• Replay Value: 6/10
o The replay value of ToP isn't as top notch as the other games in the series. It involves transferring a finish game save file for next play through, however the rewards are higher difficulty and transfer of the entire Monster Encyclopedia. Not really much replay here, but still nice for those who want more of a challenge.
• Player Value: 10/10
o Really good RPG which is recommended for everyone, especially for those who are starting RPG series or who want to start the Tales series. The PSX version includes Animated cut scenes rather than regular CGI like most other PSX games. Good OST, Great graphics, incredible gameplay with a few flaws, storyline is original and character development is as good as the other Tales series.