Tales of Phantasia Ranking: A
I played this game a long time ago, right when the fan translation was just released. Yes, this is another of those SNES RPGs that never made it State-side. It also pushed the SNES to limits few other games did. For one, it has a fully-voiced theme song. The characters all have voice acting in battle – and remember this is the SNES we’re talking about here. The music part of the soundtrack is also excellent. The real-time fighting game style combat system is fast and fluid and meshes really well with the more traditional RPG elements such as leveling up and equipping stronger stuff.
The plot revolves around this wizard with long, blond hair named Dhaos. He’s up to no good and he’s back from losing a battle several years ago, so you need to go stop him. It’s pretty standard JRPG fare, but along the way you go through immersive environments, solve cool puzzles (some of these can be kind of frustrating, but that’s more the exception than the rule), and engage other NPCs in cool little quests that really make the world feel alive. My favorite part of the game is a segment where Dhaos has retaken his fortress and is sending his troops out to attack. You join the war council and partake in a strategy meeting before being deployed out to a map where the enemy troops dynamically move around and intercept you while you’re trying to advance. After that segment, Dhaos decides to attack by air, so you fly up on a Pegasus to engage his air forces. I really felt like I was part of a military intercept-and-retaliate campaign against a hostile power.
The characters all have unique personalities except for the main character Cless, but then again he’s the protagonist so the player’s supposed to fill in for him. You’ve got Mint, the shy healer girl who has moments of rage; Klarth, the scholar guy who’s brash and actually kind of vulgar; and Arche, who…isn’t a prude. Not at all.
I played this game a long time ago, right when the fan translation was just released. Yes, this is another of those SNES RPGs that never made it State-side. It also pushed the SNES to limits few other games did. For one, it has a fully-voiced theme song. The characters all have voice acting in battle – and remember this is the SNES we’re talking about here. The music part of the soundtrack is also excellent. The real-time fighting game style combat system is fast and fluid and meshes really well with the more traditional RPG elements such as leveling up and equipping stronger stuff.
The plot revolves around this wizard with long, blond hair named Dhaos. He’s up to no good and he’s back from losing a battle several years ago, so you need to go stop him. It’s pretty standard JRPG fare, but along the way you go through immersive environments, solve cool puzzles (some of these can be kind of frustrating, but that’s more the exception than the rule), and engage other NPCs in cool little quests that really make the world feel alive. My favorite part of the game is a segment where Dhaos has retaken his fortress and is sending his troops out to attack. You join the war council and partake in a strategy meeting before being deployed out to a map where the enemy troops dynamically move around and intercept you while you’re trying to advance. After that segment, Dhaos decides to attack by air, so you fly up on a Pegasus to engage his air forces. I really felt like I was part of a military intercept-and-retaliate campaign against a hostile power.
The characters all have unique personalities except for the main character Cless, but then again he’s the protagonist so the player’s supposed to fill in for him. You’ve got Mint, the shy healer girl who has moments of rage; Klarth, the scholar guy who’s brash and actually kind of vulgar; and Arche, who…isn’t a prude. Not at all.