An absolutely fantastic role-playing game.
Introduction:
Tales of Eternia was originally a PSone game - it was released in North America under the name Tales of Destiny II(the real Tales of Destiny II, however, was never localized), and has now been ported to the PSP for release in Japan and Europe. It is a JRPG, and was developed by Namco Tales Studio.
Good Stuff:
Great battles
The battles in Tales of Eternia play similarly to a fighting game - you've got a 2D arena in which you, your party members and all the enemies are confined, and the battles take place in real-time. You only have direct control over one character(you can change who you control both outside battles and mid-battle), and your party members are AI-controlled. This isn't a problem though, as you can customize their AI in incredible detail. You can decide what techniques characters can and can't use, how aggressive they should be, when they should use healing magic, how they should prioritize enemies, and much more. These settings can be changed mid-battle, and if you don't trust the AI you can give commands(such as use spell X on enemy Y, or use item A on character B) whenever you wish. The battle system is as deep as you make it(if you want to, you can ignore the AI customization and still do alright), and a whole lot more fun that a regular, turn-based one.
Filled to the brim
This game is full of stuff. Aside from the lengthy main quest, there are countless mini-games, optional dungeons and bosses, side-quests and secret locations. There is also a nice cooking system. You gain recipes by finding the Wonder Chef, disguised as various objects around the world. If you've got the necessary ingredients, you can have a character cook a meal. Characters get better as they cook more, lowering the failure rate. If you want to find all the secrets and beat all the optional dungeons, you have between 50-60 hours of gameplay to look forward to - if you plan on starting a New Game+ and beat Hardcore mode, even more.
Looking good
Aside from the world map, Tales of Eternia looks really good. They 2D sprites are charming and detailed, and make the locations seem alive in a way that many 3D games fail to do. Screen-filling spells that combine 2D and 3D effects look fantastic, and the fact that the real-time action keeps going even then is really cool. The animations are pretty smooth, and in the rare cases where slowdown occurs, it's barely noticeable.
Might and magic
Different characters gain skills in different ways, which I'll list here:
- The two close-combat characters have a skill tree, which gives them new attacks based on how many times they've used already available ones. For example, using Sonic Blade 50 times gives you Twin Sonic Blade, and using Swarm 150 times gives you Neo Swarm. Using both of them 50 times, however, gives you a combination of the two - Neosonic Swarm.
- The second one is for the two magicians. You can equip a limited amount of "Craymels"(summon spirits) to each of them, and then "fringe"(basically combine Craymels) to get spells. For example, if one mage has the ice spirit and the other has the wind spirit, the mage with the ice one will get a blizzard spell. Moving one of the spirits will result in losing the spell, so you'll have to play around with different combinations to get all the spells you want. Craymels will also level up as you use them, giving you access to new spells. Using spells of a certain element in battle will fill a meter, and when it's full you can summon the spirit of that element for a super-powerful attack.
- The two special characters(not really mages, but not really close-combat purists either) attain new techniques by triggering special events or completing certain optional dungeons.
Gaining skills in these different ways is fun and works well - close combat characters will get stronger versions of attacks that you frequently use(which means you'll almost never get skills that you won't use), playing around with spirit combinations is fun, and there's something really exhilarating about triggering a secret cutscene or beating a hidden dungeon.
Bad Stuff:
Weak story
There are many reasons to buy Tales of Eternia, but the story isn't one of them. It's decent enough, but very clichéd(girl who has lost her memory, villain who's trying to destroy the world...). Some of the characters are, despite the lackluster voice acting, likeable, but if you want an enthralling story Tales of Eternia isn't the place to look.
Final Verdict:
If you're a fan of JRPGs, this game is definitely worth buying. If you haven't played any games in the genre(or despise turn-based ones), this might be a good entry point because of the real-time battle system. Tales of Eternia is, despite the unremarkable story, a fantastic RPG and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
