Post by Avelon on Mar 21, 2005 15:24:32 GMT -5
If I could just use one word to describe Tales of Phantasia, it would be 'Fap'.
For those of you who can't play a game if its graphics quality doesn't give you an erection (or make you cream yourself if you're a woman), worry not! ToP is one of the only 32-bit cartridges released for the SNES.
From the music (which can easily stand alone) to the battle system, ToP catches you and doesn't let go. The opening theme actually has lyrics, and there are voice clips strewn throughout the game. I'm not enough of a nerd to go look the actors and actresses up; however, I will say that your cleric's voice is dead sexy.
You are Cless Alvein, the son of an instructor in a swordsman's academy. You're going with your friend Chester on a hunt in the forest just south of your village. Upon entering the forest, you spot a boar, but it runs off. After tracking it down to the center of the forest (It's not overly large a map), you'll be greeted with a cut scene: A voice speaks from a near-dead tree, asking Cless to protect it. The boar chooses this time to reappear, and you have to kill it. But no break for you! The village's emergency bell starts to toll.
When you get back to the village, you'll find it burning and the villagers all dusted...including your parents and Chester's little sister. Oh noes!
So begins Tales of Phantasia.
The battle system is really strange. The only character you have direct control of is Cless. Everyone is lined up, and enemies can appear to either or both sides. Cless is your tank/physical attacker. The others will either be Chester (an archer) or a magic user of some kind. You'll have access to a witch (offensive spells), a summoner (more powerful and costly than the witch), and a cleric (healing magic) through most of the game. The biggest challenge is keeping their asses alive without having them run out of TP (Tech Points) casting spells. You can set their tactics so they'll cast spells at half their normal rate, a quarter of their normal rate, or not at all unless you direct them to. For your cleric, you can have her tactics so she will use spells only when you are low on HP.
Controlling Cless, you can move left or right (everyone else will move when they are able), attack (A), or use a tech (B). Using the 'Up' key, you can stab with your normal attacks, or perform your alternate tech. Simple, isn't it? Heh, fooled you. Press X!
The in-battle menu lets you direct your magey-types to cast a certain spell, change tactics, change how far apart/close together everyone stays and in what order they stay in, or use an item. Using an item in battle takes some time. Some items can take FOREVER - like a Remedy Bottle. Others are almost instantaneous - like Apple Gummies. Gummies are your standard medicine, restoring a percentage of your maximum HP. Some items have additional effects when used in battle - a Pure Bottle (Poison Cure), for instance, cuts your physical attack strength by 20% if used in battle (for the duration of the battle). They are, however, MUCH faster than Remedy Bottles... And you can always use a Flare Bottle (raises attack by 30%) right after that. Cless won't be able to do anything while an item is in use, since apparently he's the one who keeps everything.
The music, as I said above, can stand alone. There's a little bit of everything in the soundtrack, from Light Jazz (Sakuraba Solo) to Metal (Decisive Battle). The greatest part? It all fits together somehow. While there ARE a few tracks that I will admit are harmful to the health, I could say that about any video game, album, or movie ever created...and I would be right.
The graphics make me feel inadequate. It is because of the ponds in ToP that I halted production on my own game. Get this: There's not only your reflection in the pond, but it tints and shades as parts of the reflection move in and out of the shade. If a leaf falls onto a pond, the water ripples. If it happens to be on your reflection, your reflection will also ripple. The pond reflects every movement you make (yes, while rippling, even).
The replay value is astronomical. You could play it back to back and not have boredom issues, because the one fault of this game is the sidequests are huge. By the time you complete a sidequest, you forget what the hell you were supposed to be doing in the first place.
Now, go and download the ROM! It's 7 megs of SNES goodness. I think it's legal to have the ROM anyway, since it was never exported. DeJap is, as always, our friend. =)
For those of you who can't play a game if its graphics quality doesn't give you an erection (or make you cream yourself if you're a woman), worry not! ToP is one of the only 32-bit cartridges released for the SNES.
From the music (which can easily stand alone) to the battle system, ToP catches you and doesn't let go. The opening theme actually has lyrics, and there are voice clips strewn throughout the game. I'm not enough of a nerd to go look the actors and actresses up; however, I will say that your cleric's voice is dead sexy.
You are Cless Alvein, the son of an instructor in a swordsman's academy. You're going with your friend Chester on a hunt in the forest just south of your village. Upon entering the forest, you spot a boar, but it runs off. After tracking it down to the center of the forest (It's not overly large a map), you'll be greeted with a cut scene: A voice speaks from a near-dead tree, asking Cless to protect it. The boar chooses this time to reappear, and you have to kill it. But no break for you! The village's emergency bell starts to toll.
When you get back to the village, you'll find it burning and the villagers all dusted...including your parents and Chester's little sister. Oh noes!
So begins Tales of Phantasia.
The battle system is really strange. The only character you have direct control of is Cless. Everyone is lined up, and enemies can appear to either or both sides. Cless is your tank/physical attacker. The others will either be Chester (an archer) or a magic user of some kind. You'll have access to a witch (offensive spells), a summoner (more powerful and costly than the witch), and a cleric (healing magic) through most of the game. The biggest challenge is keeping their asses alive without having them run out of TP (Tech Points) casting spells. You can set their tactics so they'll cast spells at half their normal rate, a quarter of their normal rate, or not at all unless you direct them to. For your cleric, you can have her tactics so she will use spells only when you are low on HP.
Controlling Cless, you can move left or right (everyone else will move when they are able), attack (A), or use a tech (B). Using the 'Up' key, you can stab with your normal attacks, or perform your alternate tech. Simple, isn't it? Heh, fooled you. Press X!
The in-battle menu lets you direct your magey-types to cast a certain spell, change tactics, change how far apart/close together everyone stays and in what order they stay in, or use an item. Using an item in battle takes some time. Some items can take FOREVER - like a Remedy Bottle. Others are almost instantaneous - like Apple Gummies. Gummies are your standard medicine, restoring a percentage of your maximum HP. Some items have additional effects when used in battle - a Pure Bottle (Poison Cure), for instance, cuts your physical attack strength by 20% if used in battle (for the duration of the battle). They are, however, MUCH faster than Remedy Bottles... And you can always use a Flare Bottle (raises attack by 30%) right after that. Cless won't be able to do anything while an item is in use, since apparently he's the one who keeps everything.
The music, as I said above, can stand alone. There's a little bit of everything in the soundtrack, from Light Jazz (Sakuraba Solo) to Metal (Decisive Battle). The greatest part? It all fits together somehow. While there ARE a few tracks that I will admit are harmful to the health, I could say that about any video game, album, or movie ever created...and I would be right.
The graphics make me feel inadequate. It is because of the ponds in ToP that I halted production on my own game. Get this: There's not only your reflection in the pond, but it tints and shades as parts of the reflection move in and out of the shade. If a leaf falls onto a pond, the water ripples. If it happens to be on your reflection, your reflection will also ripple. The pond reflects every movement you make (yes, while rippling, even).
The replay value is astronomical. You could play it back to back and not have boredom issues, because the one fault of this game is the sidequests are huge. By the time you complete a sidequest, you forget what the hell you were supposed to be doing in the first place.
Now, go and download the ROM! It's 7 megs of SNES goodness. I think it's legal to have the ROM anyway, since it was never exported. DeJap is, as always, our friend. =)