Tales of Phantasia
In _Tales of Phantasia_ the player controls a young boy named Cless, who lives
together with his parents in a quiet village. It was a day like all the others
when Cless decided to go hunting with his best friend Chester. Chasing a wild
boar, Cless discovered a strange talking tree in the forest who was pleading
him for help. But as soon as it stopped speaking, the two friends heard the
sound of an alarm. They returned to the village and found it burnt down, and
all its inhabitants murdered. Before Cless’ mother died in his arms, she told
him this terrible massacre had something to do with the pendant she and her
husband gave Cless for his birthday… what connection could there be? Cless
decides to visit his uncle who lives in another town, but he doesn’t realize
his journey will take him to much more remote places than that.
_Tales of Phantasia_ is a Japanese-style role-playing game with an unusual
combat system: the battles are action-based and are fought on separate side-
scrolling screens. The player directly controls one character, while other
party members are controlled by AI. It is possible to pause the game at any
time and use magic, items, or choose an overall strategy for the allies.
Good characters
Good graphics, music and sound
Too long for arc of story
Not replay worthy
Ultmately, I liked some parts of this game- namely the graphics and music, but the gaemplay was frustrating; the “hack and slash” mixed with regular RPG type battle system was either too fast or too simplistic, and the sheer amount of random battles was RIDICULOUS, to the point that if I wasn’t speeding up the battles I would never have wanted to beat this game. Really pretty looking but not great gameplay.
Score Breakdown
“The Tale”
Story- 7
Pacing- 6
Characters- 8
Originality- 7
Linearity- 6
Length- 5
Epicness- 7
“The Presentation”
Visuals- 8
Display- 7
Music- 8
Sound FX- 8
“The Mechanics”
Ease of Use- 5
Innovation- 7
Replayability- 4