Okay while it is not super "original", Tales of Phantasia beat it to the punch, Tales of Destiny offered a great quest with moderate length that rarely had any downfalls. This RPG, for those who have never played TOP, has the same battle system as its ancestor. There is no turn based lag time present at all. The battles are fought in real time with you and enemies duking it out while using special techniques or spells which vary in time depending on how powerful the spell is. Regular attacks depend on which directional button you press. For example for a jumping foward attack hold diagonol up to preform it. The same goes with special moves. Each direction makes the character do a different move.The rest of the play mechanics can best be summarized as simply "Old School" RPG playing. There is a world map that seems to be in every RPG along with different modes of transportation. For example, all your traveling in the first half of the game is done on foot or by ship. Only late in the game do you get to ride a sea dragon and only before the final fight do you get to use and control a airship. I would have preferred air trvel much earlier in the game to open many new options but since I am not really into side quests that much until the second time through it really did not affect the score.
The graphics are 16 bit. The whole game could have been done very easily on the SNES WITH the voices, however, if you read my review on Albert Oddesyee then you know how I feel about the backgrounds. The sounds are good as nothing really stands out that much good or bad. I take that last statement back. The music stands out very well. I love it. In fact buy the soundtrack if you can find it.
The dungeons are nice in size seeing how none of them are ultra long. The only ones I dreaded going through were on that cursed Aethersphere. However one thing that can really mess any novice player up is the puzzles. Some of these things are just freakin hard to do. I had to read a FAQ just to get through some places. The only other thing that I can think of is that at times there are just too many random battles.
Overall the game is great. The mood may begin funny and lighthearted but by the end of the game the world is blanketed in darkness while you basically prepare to do war with Kronos, the villan. The story is good enough to keep me interested enough to finish the game. And while the graphics may have needed a tuneup, the music more than makes up for it as I found myself talking to townspeople multiple times to hear some of the great music. There is plenty of replay value too which makes for one fun quest that old school gamers can enjoy. A very easy buy even if the price may be a bit steep.
home
reviews
FAQ's
Classic games
