Not a bad import, but hardcore Tales gamers may be dissapointed

User Rating: 7 | Tales of the Tempest DS
By kaelishida | Review Date:
Namco Tales Studio have been fairly busy pretty recently. It just ported Phantasia to the PSP, made Radiant Mythology for the PSP, and now have come out with Tempest for the DS. Thankfully, despite their fairly busy schedule, they've come up with a pretty good game. Pity though, it lacks stuff that should have been there in the 1st place.
The game's storyline is fairly interesting from the start (i shall not spoil it) and it's able to keep the player glued to the screen(s), provided you understand it of course. Of course, it's not one that will become an epic story, but it provides a fair bit of entertainment.
Graphics are rendered in the same cel-shaded style graphics that came since Symphonia, but the DS graphical limitations make the spirtes look very blocky and stiff. This doesn't help the fact that the song opening isn't a usual anime cutscene, choosing to show off some gameplay graphics instead. Somehow, it looks a bit sluggish and stiff, but the battles run quite well, running smoothly without making the animation too lagged.
Which reminds me... About the battles, Tales veterans will feel a bit dissapointed. The lack of two shoulder buttons won't help you very much if you want certain characters to do certain skills. You can't jump, and you can't earn grade, and this makes getting combos very hard. Hardcore Tales people would find it dissapointing (I personally think it is) but new Tales players would find it rewarding to fight in the battles.
Overall, Tempest is one import you MAY consider getting. Not exactly very good, but it's worth playing it

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