Save the world from the clutches of evil by going back in time.
One of the biggest reasons that I enjoyed Tales of Phantasia so much, was because it had such a innovative battle system that really brought out the latent potentials of JRPGs for the Super Nintendo. Similar to the Star Ocean attempt at a real time battle system, Tales of Phantasia allows for the player to control either the main character or allies and move them from left to right on the battlefield. In doing this, it is possible for the player to launch ranged attacks depending on how far from the opponent they are. A long-ranged attack would allow the character to run up to an opponent, attack them, and then retreat a ways back to avoid counterstrikes. A short-ranged attack would be performed when the character is within striking distance of the opponent, and instead of retreating, the character would hold their ground in order to launch another attack. Slash attacks were dealt by just pressing the button to attack, while stab attacks were launched using the up arrow and the attack button. By using a combination of the specified directional arrows and the attack button, you could deal special attacks on the opponent.
Also while in battle, you could use the menu to cast magic and such on the opponent. Of course, it would be wise not to be so close to the enemy when doing so, so you would want to put your mage's and archers further back, while putting your attackers in the front. This could be done using the battle setup in the main menu.
The Tales of Phantasia storyline revolves around a young boy who is just coming of age to weild a sword. As such, he is being sent on one of his first missions by his father, a powerful sword master in the area, to hunt down some dinner. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Of course, while he is out in the woods, the town siren goes off to indicate that the village is under attack. Desperate to assist his father and the village, the main character runs back to the village. Unfortunately by then the village is in ruins, and everyone has been killed, including your father, your friend Chester's mother and sister, and everyone you knew and loved. Determined to find the murderers and avenge their deaths, you race ahead without your friend, wielding your father's prized sword, only to run into your uncle in the next city. However, unknown to you, your uncle has turned you over to the bandits, and now you are no more then their prisoner. When you awaken, you are in a cell without any weapon or way to get out. However, a mysterious woman helps you out, and the two of you end up working together to escape the jailhouse. There is a lot of commotion here, and you end up running into Chester again at the mansion of the girl who saved you's father. He reveals to you that the pendant that was taken from you had a match, and that together they could be used to unleash the most horrifying creature to have ever lived. But it is too late to stop the events from occuring, so you jump in after the beast when he finally awakens, and are taken to the past.
[SPOILERS END]
Visually, Tales of Phantasia is probably on the same levels as many of the other JRPGs for the SNES. It has some scenes where the graphics are magnificent, and others where they are just poor or sloppy (i.e. the overworld sequences, and sometimes in battle they get choppy and lag). As far as battling goes, the graphics for the characters are often well done, while some of the backgrounds are blurred or foggy. As more occurs in battle, and your team reaches it's maximum, battle sequences may sometimes lag causing sloppy graphics. However, other than that it is pretty good graphically.
Audio quality is sometimes good on Tales of Phantasia. Actually, some of the audio files reminded me of those in Star Ocean, as they were hard to make out, and sometimes a bit distorted. However, a lot of them are well done, for example, the battle audio.
Here's the breakdown:
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Storyline: 9.5 out of 10
Battle System: 9 out of 10
Gameplay: 8.5 out of 10
Graphics: 8 out of 10
Audio: 8.5 out of 10
Sidequests and Mini-Games: 8 out of 10
Replay Value: 9.5 out of 10
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
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I enjoyed playing Tales of Phantasia because it introduced some interesting new features that had not previously been introduced to RPG gaming. If you're looking for another great SNES classic RPG, Tales of Phantasia would be it. I strongly recommend this game to fans of the Tales franchise and series, RPG fans, JRPG fans, classic Nintendo game fans, and classic RPG fans.