bit-tech Shopping: Nintendo Tales of Phantasia (GBA)

• Action/Adventure
• Role Playing Games (RPG)

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: Fun Tales game never before released in the US

Weaknesses: Old school and maybe a bit too hard for many gamers

Summary: Tales of Phantasia is a Game Boy Advance port of an original Japanese-only Playstation 1 game. As such, it is a totally new adventure for U.S. gamers. It has been updated somewhat with some of the newer features from more recent Tales games like Tales of Symphonia (e.g., the cooking and title aspects of that game were added). The battle system has not been updated, however, and those familiar with Tales of Symphonia's fluid 2D real-time battle system may be put off by the more sluggish battles in Phantasia. It also has random battles in contrast to Symphonia where you could see monsters in the overworld and avoid them if you wanted. This is a classic-style RPG - just be prepared for a challenge and some outdated battle mechanics and you may just find this game enjoyable.

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: One of the first Tales games revisited

Weaknesses: Sluggish controls

Summary: Tales of Phantasia is a fun look at the origins of the Tales series as we know it today. The real-time battle was fully implemented in a 2D space even back on the SNES, and it works very well within the dimensional limitations. The controls are a bit sluggish, however, requiring you to lead commands considerably more than you would expect (hitting jump a second before you really need to jump, for example). For fans of the series, I consider it a must; for RPG fans, worth a peek.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 6 Months

Strengths: Tons of quests; action-packed battles; plenty of side missions and items

Weaknesses: Gameplay is a bit too open-ended

Summary: Tales of Phantasia is a cute and memorable fantasy RPG that was originally released for the SNES in Japan. This game is a solid RPG with plenty of quests to work with. The battles are very fun and exciting. On top of that, you'll have many items worth looking for and picking up to use as well as side missions galore. Unfortunately, the gameplay seems a little too open-ended which can add hours upon hours to your gameplay and can get frustrating because you might feel lost for hours on end. If you don't mind this unnecessary lengthening of the game, then Tales of Phantasia is recommended for any fan of RPGs.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Weeks

Strengths: Updated Graphic! Nice generic Story line! Real Time Battles!

Weaknesses: Boring Music soundTrack!

Summary: Tales of Phantasia is the very 1st of the long and amazing tales series of games. 1st released in Japan on the super ninten do, never-ever localized until now.The game has a classic story-line, generic when compared to most RPG's today, but when you consider the time-frame when this game was released, it was masterpiece, graphic & gameplay & side quest has been updated. which was a nice touch. One thing to be notice about the tales series is the real-time action battle gameplay, which is a nice break from the old school turn-base RPG's. still simplylistic, with button mashing will get you through 90% of the battles in the game.The games has a few flaws, music is kinda dated, knoeing this is a remake, the music could be more upbeat IMO, and NPC in gam,e isn't very helpful letting you know where or what to do next.Other then those few flaws it's an amazing game I would rec to any RPG fan and it's Portable!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Year

Strengths: Story, Extras Added From The Original Version

Weaknesses: Battle System Feels Dated, Hard

Summary: While Tales of Phantasia is coming to the US for the first time it's good that it has made it over here being the first Tales of game seeing that so many other Tales of games have been released in the US it's nice to see the first game that started the series make it's way to the US. Tales of Phantasia is a classic RPG with a turn based battle system and the while not bad does show it's age being so slow so it may be tough for some to deal with. Namco did add in extra quests and a cooking mode for new items which are new and weren't in the original version. I would highly recommend Tales of Phantasia to anybody that likes old styled RPGs and can deal with the somewhat dated battle system and doesn't mind hard RPGs as the story is well done for those with a taste for the old school RPGs.