When I was a kid just discovering the emulation scene I remember this game blowing me away! I still enjoy it a lot for nostalgia purposes, it truly was among the best offerings of its time.
Same here! I was maybe 10 years old around 2000 when I discovered emulation and this game (with the Dejap fan-translation) and it made it one of my favourite RPGs to this day, alongside Chrono Trigger and FF4-FF6.
Thanks for finally giving a solid, fair review of TOP. I agree with everything said in this video. For anyone who liked the game Tales of Symphonia, for gamecube/ps2, keep reading: This game takes place 1000 years AFTER the events of Symphonia (despite this game being released first.) Cless is a descendant of Lloyd and Colette. At the end of Symphonia, Lloyd takes the eternal sword and splits them into the flamberge and vorpal. 1000 years later you play as Cless and collect the flamberge and the vorpal and merge them back together to get the eternal sword. At the end of symphonia, Kratos leaves on Derris Kharlan to be with the angels of Cruxis. DK is a giant ball of mana, but not an infinte supply. 1000 years later, Dhaos comes from DK to this world because DK is out of mana. In symphonia, all the summon spirits give you a ring. In Phantasia, with each spirit you get you collect the ring first and the spirit chooses it. At the end of symphonia you merge the worlds together. Phantasia uses the map of Tethe’alla and Sylvarant merged together and rotated 90 degrees. Alvanastia is Altamira, Midgard is Asgard, and every town corresponds with a symphonia town. Symphonia’s Toize Valley mine has a door you never get to go through. That is the lower levels of the Moria Gallery.
Also, the giant machine Mithos gets in for his final form is seen in the GBA version in Dhaos’ second form. a sort of nod to the symphonia prequel, it is obviously a Derris Kharlan battle machine
Such an impressive game. My friend who is really into JRPGs drove me up the wall until I finally gave in and tried it, and I'm really glad he did. The visuals and sound are nearly PS1 level. Those combos aren't impossible by the way, the trick is to make sure you're standing in the right spot and get the rhythm down. ;)
I remember when the GBA version came out in the US, I literally got my first paycheck at the job I had at the time, and the first thing I did was buy Tales of Phantasia. I played it on my lunch break and was so happy. Ah good times
I played this game in Japanese, and I can assure you the original dialogue is NOT crude, it's just standard JRPG fare. What you're seeing is a total innovation by the fan translators, and I agree that it's immature and not warranted by the source text.
I'm playing the translated version of TOP right now and yeah like 3-4 times I was like WTF ?! So crude !! I did not minded, it added a little something to the experience. At least, up to now the game is consistent about it.
@@ThatFetcherFargoth I know that there are at least 2 different fanmade English translations for the PS1 version of the game. Plus, the PS1 version has improvements over the SNES original, so you might wanna look into that direction.
Yeah, there's no way the designers wrote the dialog as it's translated. If I were them I'd be upset at the misrepresentation. It definitely doesn't fit the game.
I remember finding the translated rom sometime in the late 90s or early 00s and loving it, especially the music and the fact that the start screen had a music list that you could just listen to.
I played this one before I got my hands on Tales of Symphonia. Imagine my IMMENSE satisfaction when I got to the first summon battle. Fighting of the spirit is such a great song.
Same here dude! I actually got stuck fighting gnome, and spent a good 20 minutes listening to the song. Its so good, and i looked into ToS (still havent played it rofl) and i heard the song there , i was so amazed
This was my exact experience too. I thought it was weird seeing Symphonia use the same items as Phantasia like gels/gummies, but then I realized these games were a SERIES... so then I loved Eternia and Abyss too
When I played for the first time Tales of Phantasia I couldn't believe that a Snes game can look and sound so good. I was really impressed. I love the graphics and I love the soundtrack; where Tales of Phantasia is different than any other RPG games on snes is on the atmosphere. It is so unique that really feels like a tale! The Snes version is close to my heart, but I think the PSX version is just overall way better, the GBA version just looks bad. In my opinion, Thales of Phantasia is one of the most unique rgp ever made, it has one of the most memorable music on Snes! Great review! Thanks!
Yeah, would have been nice to hear about how Wolf Team split and some of them formed Tri-Ace... then they made... Star Ocean... (Hell, Star Ocean III on PS2 plays EXACTLY like you'd imagine Tales of Phantasia SFAM to actually play in 3D... Long Range/Short range... analog button control instead of having to use a directional key...).
I've just started playing this on my SNES mini. It's got the usual SNES-JRPG tropes that you'd, but it's got a fantastic look and once you get used to the combat system (as it's slightly more rudimentary for your main character than i.e. Symphonia) it flows nicely. Also, as with all Tales games, the music is on point and voices in a SNES game is next level.
I remember playing the PS1 version (English translation) a lot on PSP back in the day. There is also a sequel game to this called Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon (Game Boy Color) which was also remade for the PSP in 2011 (Narikiri Dungeon X) and that version contains the PSP remake from 2006/2007 (subititled Full Voice Edition). The Game Boy Advance version is just low quality version of the sprites from the PS1 version though. Character art by Kosuke Fujishima.
Thank you for this. I liked the game and tried to play it through several times, but never succeeded because I thought it was too boring every time... but I must say I tried because the visuals are stunning, even for today. I wish there where more like this still today... it something that when they have limitations l, it bring forward so much more then today. It shows! I always loved your reviews! Thanks. What make you so great compare to others is that you have a better more nuanced picture of the games then the rest! Oh: star ocean next pls
When I was in my early 20's I remember going to a K-mart for something basic like an alarm clock or something. When I went to the electronics section I noticed a bin with games that no one bought from a previous game generation. It was a treasure trove. FFVI and Tales of Phantasia for GBA were both in there. $10 dollars each I got them for, brand new. I was so stoked. I was so happy in fact that I forgot whatever I went in there for originally.
Oh my God ! This looks so amazing ! I never heard of this. It's beyond ridiculous that Tales of Phantasia didn't get a proper North America release. Just...wow.
PS1 version has the best graphics which have been quite improved as well (I only prefer some of the music on the SNES version a bit more). I recommend everyone play the PS1 version of this game if they want the best all-around version richest in content.
"better"? Why not just enjoy it all? Genesis has the Shining Force series which is excellent and Phantasy Star IV, Pier Solar and the Langrisser games, all classics but there's not much else that I know of. Saturn also has greats like Panzor Dragoon Saga, Shining Force 3, Langrisser 3, Dragon Force, and I'm sure alot more Japan exclusive ones that I don't know about. Dreamcast...Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star Online? Again, better is not the word here. Variety is the key here and it's a good thing.
I was obsessed with this game when it was being translated and got to play it early on, one of my favorite RPGs. I like the crude humor Dejap added personally. As you mentioned it gives the characters actual depth and raises it above standard SNES JRPG story telling.Arche seems like a saucy Elf throughout the game until you realize what really happened to her and you see it's a defense mechanism. That's how I saw it.
The guy who made the hack of Mega Man X3 where you can freely switch between X and Zero (who is also attempting such a hack for X2), is hacking Tales of Phantasia to add similar improvements and QOL things. Look him up here on UA-cam under Xjustin3009X, and be sure to check his twitter.
I remember my buddies playing this game 20 years ago in snes with that floppy disk device (can’t remember the name) no English patches during that time XD but they knew what’s good
Woa! This game looks amazing. I can't believe I missed out on playing this. I really wished we'd get a return to this formula for RPGs. This style is timeless. I'm having fun with Tales of Vesperia but now that I've seen what this can offer then this is what I want to play. 5:56 Remember this trope in games? Coolest thing ever. We need to revive this style.
I really wanted this game back when it came out, because I loved JRPGs (still do), and I was a huge fan of the artist who did the character designs for the game, Kosuke Fujishima. At the time, he was doing a manga called Oh My Goddess, and because I was such a huge fan of his work (My UA-cam avatar is actually of Belldandy, the female lead from this manga), I just had to play it because of his involvement with it. When I eventually did play the fan translated version, I found it to be a flawed masterpiece. There really is so much to love here (the graphics, the music, the unique towns and design of the world), and it's obvious a lot of time and attention went into the game. But, there are just the hyper repetitive battles, and the somewhat cliched story that drag it down. Still, I'm glad I played it, and I always consider it a very good game that could have been a great one with some fixes.
I played some of the earlier sequels like Tales of Destiny and Tales of Symphonia. I'm more of a retro gamer these days, so I haven't played any of the more recent titles.
I remember thumbing through game magazines back in the day like EGM, Gamepro, etc to the back sections. They used to list Import games for sale and I used to drool over the box art and one sentence game synopsis alone for this game and dozens of others like Star Ocean, SD3. Games I always wished I could have played as a kid, but here I am 20+ years later finally getting the chance thanks to ROMs and repro carts
The spell casting stopping the action mid fight was fixed in the later versions of the game. I played both the Playstation version and the PSP version and it made the combats a lot more enjoyable. They also added a new character in the Playstation version (Suzu) and in the PSP version "Tales of Phantasia Narikiri Dungeon X" (Rondoline). This is easily my favorite JRPG of all time. If they released a new version of this today I'd buy it all over again.
I finished watching this at 10:20PM so there’s only 1 hour & 40 minutes left to have a great rest of my day. Let’s hope that sentiment can carry me through tomorrow as well. Great video as always
I bought a reproduction of the SNES version after someone told me the GBA release was junk, and it looks awesome! Thanks for an objective look at this one.
The backgrounds and sprite animation were gorgeous honestly! Need to play this game somehow! My first Tales game was Tales of Destiny on PS1 and I never owned a GBA to play the english version of this
There are 2 translations for the PSX version of the game. I personally liked the PSX version a bit more than the SNES one. www.romhacking.net/translations/1214 www.romhacking.net/translations/1787
What kind of liberties did they take? Sounds like an interesting game, but if the translation is way off base, then that's an absolute pain (particularly if it changes the tone heavily)
@deanolium Like the video says, crude humor. the original game implied certain things, where the translation not only makes it obvious but turns it into something juvenile. There is a hot springs scene in the original game, but it's not that explicit, the translation changes the meaning. There's a scene where Arche is sleep-talking, and she mentions the protag, the translation turns it into... A different kind of dream. Like that boat scene in the video, just an innocent conversation asking about which character the protag prefers, but the translation turns it into something adult. These are a few of the examples I remember, it caught me off guard at the time, I'm not offended or anything, it's just out of place. It's better than having no translation at all, I was still able to beat this game, and still enjoyed it regardless of the translator's sense of humor.
Cronocke the gba translation has it’s own set of issues, the best translation for phantasia is the ps1 port done by phantasia productions. Absolute zero’s translation was good as well. I was hoping someone would retranslate the snes version, or do an addendum patch to fix a lot of the... flavor... dejap addedp
Not getting this game in the West back in the days is a tragedy (yes a tragedy). It was so unique I would have loved this game . I'm still playing the Tales of this day.
This series really picked up on the Playstation. They added better combat options (like a secret 2 player mode) and the story was easier to get into. The graphics and music have allways been a strong point for the series but I really think it peaked from ToTA to ToV. The more recent title's lack all the charm the games used to have and just feel like typical JRPG's. If your looking to get into this series I recommend starting here but I would definitely suggest starting with the GBA version as it does a better job with the fighting system. You can change from automatic (pretty much the default that you see in the video) to manual were you no longer keep running back and forth on the field. I believe you can even change characters in the GBA version, although don't hold me to that as it has been a long time since I have played it.
@@davemarx7856 Eternia was a good game. 2 worlds you could fully explore so much potential from the first cutscene onward. I really liked it. Like I said you really had to love how well the games progressed. They kept getting better with each game. These days though there isn't much that defines each game. I would say buy them for the story if anything. But yeah ToE was really fun. I just wish I could get that kind of joy from this series again. BTW I had the ps1 version witch was ToD2 witch proved to be vary confusing to me when I found out there was actually a direct sequel to ToD1 released only in Japan (at the time) so when I discovered the version I had went by a different name I have to say the first part of the game ToE surprised me. I thought it would be a sequel. Lol pretty fun times back then. Before the internet.
@@jasonmnosaj oh gods yeah... dumb suits screwing with release titles... thinking it'll be *less* confusing or sell better 😧 I've played demos of the newer 3d titles and I'm unimpressed. They aren't bad... it's like you said... they don't stand out.
Never played this but I definitely have to try it out. Love the content on this channel. Long Live the SNES. Do you have any information on High Quality SNES Homebrew games?
This is the game that got me into the series. I had started ToD on PS1 and wasn't that into it and didn't finish, but in HS I took a C++ class, so naturally I loaded emulators on my computer and played games during class. SD3 and ToP took up a lot of time, and once I finished ToP, I replayed ToD and enjoyed it more (still not my favorite) and was able to finish. Been a fan of the series ever since.
Another solid review! I snagged a repro cart a few months back and having never seen or heard anything about this b4 I was very impressed. I like the battle mechanics and really really like the graphics. At the same time I picked up Brave Battle Saga on Mega Drive which I liked even more. Get your hands on that if you haven’t already.
I remember back in 2006 my brother had this game, I would play it hellllaaaaaaa on the gameboy. Discovered a new super easy and simple emulator for newer iOS devices that don’t even need a computer to put a rom on and have been reliving my childhood
I had no idea that so many of the design features in the Tales series were already around in 1995, like the Tech system and the distinction between A-button and B-button moves. Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorite RPGs, but it seems like the biggest difference between it and this is greater control over your AI characters; Lloyd plays almost exactly the same as Cless.
This game takes place 1000 years AFTER the events of Symphonia (despite this game being released first.) Cless is a descendant of Lloyd and Colette. At the end of Symphonia, Lloyd takes the eternal sword and splits them into the flamberge and vorpal. 1000 years later you play as Cless and collect the flamberge and the vorpal and merge them back together to get the eternal sword. At the end of symphonia, Kratos leaves on Derris Kharlan to be with the angels of Cruxis. DK is a giant ball of mana, but not an infinte supply. 1000 years later, Dhaos comes from DK to this world because DK is out of mana. In symphonia, all the summon spirits give you a ring. In Phantasia, with each spirit you get you collect the ring first and the spirit chooses it. At the end of symphonia you merge the worlds together. Phantasia uses the map of Tethe’alla and Sylvarant merged together and rotated 90 degrees. Alvanastia is Altamira, Midgard is Asgard, and every town corresponds with a symphonia town. Symphonia’s Toize Valley mine has a door you never get to go through. That is the lower levels of the Moria Gallery.
The crude aspects of the translation get blown a bit out of proportion. Such moments are rare, with the translation overall being fine. Also, while the PS1 version has the edge in several ways, the difficulty curve is better here than in that version (which has easier random mobs but harder-hitting, damage-sponge bosses for some reason).
Tales of Phantasia X for the PSP is the definitive version It was bundled with Narikiri Dungeon X, a sequel-spin off to the original game It's got full voice acting, more refined battle system, and additional party member You can play as other characters as well
This is one of the top games I would love to play again for the first time. My main gripe is that when exploring a dungeon the random battles get annoying.
When I bought this game back in 1996, I was blown away that the Super Nintendo could still pull out awesome RPGs. This game made me leave my newly bought N64 alone for a good four months...
Oh man....the first time I loaded this up on my emulator in 2003...blown away! While I'm not a big fan of the _Tales Of_ series myself as I went on to play many of them, this one will always have a special place for me. I hadn't experienced anything else like it at the time, and I ended up buying it later for GBA without a second thought. Top notch for the SNES!
After playing tales of destiny on ps1 I had to get the rom and was very impressed with the quality as a SNES game. I found the battle system way more fun than the standard at the time, and all RPGs where grindy back then so it wasn't that bad. Destiny 2 is still my favorite tales game though.
The only other SNES game that was 48Mbits is Star Ocean. Together they are the largest SNES games ever made. The graphics in those titles are pretty mind blowing, but those voice overs are definitely the most attention grabbing thing of all. The SNES is just NOT suppose to be capable of that! Sure, there are a few other SNES games that have a tiny bit of voice sampling, but they're not anywhere near the extent of these games.
I still prefer Phantasia, Destiny and Eternia over the other games in the series. Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia were great, but I love the look and sound of the first few games even if the battle system is very clunky for them
I'm playing through Vesperia right now on Switch. I'm enjoying it. My first Tales game. But now that I've seen what Phantasia can offer! This is mind blowing. I love this style RPG. It's timeless. Really wish they'd do a return to this formula. 5:56 Remember flying around in these games? So amazing! Secret of Mana was the first time I seen it & it blew me away. Thank fully Octopath Traveler is kind of bringing back this formula. I really hope we get more games like this.
I played the PS1 version and that translation wasn't crude at all, so it was either that the script changed in the remake, or the fan translation took too many liberties with the source material.
One, the dialogue here is all fucked up because of DeJap filthying up the translation and yes, it's immature. The PS1 translations are more accurate. Two, those are big name Japanese voice actors playing those characters. Takeshi Kusao of Dragon Ball Z and Slam Dunk fame plays Cless and Chester, Kazuhiko Inoue of Naruto and Muteking fame plays Klarth, Mika Kanai, voice of Jigglypuff, plays Arche, and Satomi Korogi, voice of Pichu and Francine, plays Mint. The late, great Kaneto Shiozawa plays Dhaos.
Way back when that translation first came out, it was seen as super cool and reflective of what we'd been convinced was the far edgier and more adult type of dialogue the original Japanese versions of these types of games had. It's still a little nostalgic for all the turn-of-the-century video game forum memories it brings but boy, it didn't really paint an accurate picture any better than a Woolsey translation would've at the end of the day.
I hate the fact that Woolsey got so much hate from people who assumed that he robbed them of some Shakespearean masterpiece when he translated FFVI. Then the fan translations started to come out and everyone who wasn't a rabid Japanophile realized that not only did he add flavor and personality to a very dry script, but he did it under extreme pressure in about a month, WHILE cutting it down due to memory restrictions.
The PS1 and PSP remakes are amazing, with extra characters and events, as well as improved controls and mechanics which really help smooth out the combat (though I think that it wasn't until Tales of Eternia that the combat didn't pause when your party used spells), and the former even got a more accurate fan translation. The GBA port was a dumpster fire, with a shoddy localization to boot.
This is an old fan translation after all, you know how they used to be... Look up ToP on Legends of Localization, it goes into some detail about the ''tiger'' thing and some of the other ''stuff'' that happens after that. Basically DeJap took liberty and changed some things up, much like FF4 by J2e. As far as favorite version goes this is my second favorite, only losing to the PS1 version. That version is a masterpiece and easily one of the most well done remakes I've ever played, from graphical upgrades to enhanced combat system and even a character that used to be just a NPC now is a recruitable character and she is GOOD if you know how to play with her. I must've played this version like 50 times, that's just how much I love it.
The GBA version was fine, looks good, sounds good, plays good. I bought it literally the day It came out while I was on my lunch break lol and played it the entire time.
I gotta say for a guy that knows nada about the SNES I do enjoy your videos and you should have way more subs by now. You should look at some of the JRPGs on the handhelds that is where I love Nintendo the most being I have a GBA SP and a 3DS XL and I have been playing FF III for the DS and it is great!
Currently half way through this game. I thoroughly enjoy the battle system, even if it is a much more 'simplistic' version of later incarnations, for no other reason than seeing how its developed and progressed from humble origins. It's also nice not to play a turn-based JRPG, every now and again. ToP graphically is top draw and while the story is classic JRPG fodder it's interesting enough to hold my attention to want to keep playing.
Klarth and Arche don't get new spells just by leveling up though. Klarth gets them through the story with battling summon spirits, and Arche has to find her spells.
The first Tales I ever played was Eternia I had never seen anything quite like it and my dumb tweenage self was not ready. Grown up a bit now, I actually like leaving battle up to the automated system. I'm the guy who spends the first hour of an rpg mass murdering lv1 goblins. My only issue with it now is the same with any older rpg - if you put it down for a day, good luck remembering where you are.
![Forgotten Games: Tengai Makyou Zero [Far East of Eden Zero] - SNESdrunk](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4ZIvclspSTo/mqdefault.jpg)
When I was a kid just discovering the emulation scene I remember this game blowing me away! I still enjoy it a lot for nostalgia purposes, it truly was among the best offerings of its time.
Same here! I was maybe 10 years old around 2000 when I discovered emulation and this game (with the Dejap fan-translation) and it made it one of my favourite RPGs to this day, alongside Chrono Trigger and FF4-FF6.
"she f*cks like a Tiger"...
Dejap legendary work right there!
Wow, that grass field looks incredible for SNES.
Thanks for all the content. Great video as always. I love waking up to seeing a new one
me too man
Thanks for finally giving a solid, fair review of TOP. I agree with everything said in this video. For anyone who liked the game Tales of Symphonia, for gamecube/ps2, keep reading:
This game takes place 1000 years AFTER the events of Symphonia (despite this game being released first.) Cless is a descendant of Lloyd and Colette. At the end of Symphonia, Lloyd takes the eternal sword and splits them into the flamberge and vorpal. 1000 years later you play as Cless and collect the flamberge and the vorpal and merge them back together to get the eternal sword. At the end of symphonia, Kratos leaves on Derris Kharlan to be with the angels of Cruxis. DK is a giant ball of mana, but not an infinte supply. 1000 years later, Dhaos comes from DK to this world because DK is out of mana. In symphonia, all the summon spirits give you a ring. In Phantasia, with each spirit you get you collect the ring first and the spirit chooses it. At the end of symphonia you merge the worlds together. Phantasia uses the map of Tethe’alla and Sylvarant merged together and rotated 90 degrees. Alvanastia is Altamira, Midgard is Asgard, and every town corresponds with a symphonia town. Symphonia’s Toize Valley mine has a door you never get to go through. That is the lower levels of the Moria Gallery.
Also, the giant machine Mithos gets in for his final form is seen in the GBA version in Dhaos’ second form. a sort of nod to the symphonia prequel, it is obviously a Derris Kharlan battle machine
@@joshuaread9366 that is awesome ! I couldn't see the link since I ragequit the game ! Thank you for the explanation !
Was ToS also on ps2? Or it was a GC exclusive?
@@alessandrobaggi6129 It was firstly released in gamecube and the year after on PS2
@@johanlequellec2194 Good to know. Thx. I'll try and find it for ps2
God, this game was so cutting edge at the time!
It is right
To this day I still go back to Phantasia bc of how fresh it feels this kind of rpg in snes ;;♡
Such an impressive game. My friend who is really into JRPGs drove me up the wall until I finally gave in and tried it, and I'm really glad he did. The visuals and sound are nearly PS1 level. Those combos aren't impossible by the way, the trick is to make sure you're standing in the right spot and get the rhythm down. ;)
I remember when the GBA version came out in the US, I literally got my first paycheck at the job I had at the time, and the first thing I did was buy Tales of Phantasia. I played it on my lunch break and was so happy. Ah good times
I played this game in Japanese, and I can assure you the original dialogue is NOT crude, it's just standard JRPG fare. What you're seeing is a total innovation by the fan translators, and I agree that it's immature and not warranted by the source text.
I'm playing the translated version of TOP right now and yeah like 3-4 times I was like WTF ?! So crude !! I did not minded, it added a little something to the experience. At least, up to now the game is consistent about it.
*FUCKS LIKE A TIGER*
@@ThatFetcherFargoth I know that there are at least 2 different fanmade English translations for the PS1 version of the game. Plus, the PS1 version has improvements over the SNES original, so you might wanna look into that direction.
I hate when fan translations try to be edgy. Like that awful FF6 Brave New World translation.
Yeah, there's no way the designers wrote the dialog as it's translated. If I were them I'd be upset at the misrepresentation. It definitely doesn't fit the game.
I remember finding the translated rom sometime in the late 90s or early 00s and loving it, especially the music and the fact that the start screen had a music list that you could just listen to.
I played this one before I got my hands on Tales of Symphonia.
Imagine my IMMENSE satisfaction when I got to the first summon battle.
Fighting of the spirit is such a great song.
Same here dude! I actually got stuck fighting gnome, and spent a good 20 minutes listening to the song. Its so good, and i looked into ToS (still havent played it rofl) and i heard the song there , i was so amazed
This was my exact experience too. I thought it was weird seeing Symphonia use the same items as Phantasia like gels/gummies, but then I realized these games were a SERIES... so then I loved Eternia and Abyss too
Really happy to see you make this one. Great review, dood!
-Morrigan
1:48 holy crap, that parallax effect is amazing
Yup. All the battle backgrounds have parallax scrolling with an insane amount of detail!
When I played for the first time Tales of Phantasia I couldn't believe that a Snes game can look and sound so good. I was really impressed. I love the graphics and I love the soundtrack; where Tales of Phantasia is different than any other RPG games on snes is on the atmosphere. It is so unique that really feels like a tale! The Snes version is close to my heart, but I think the PSX version is just overall way better, the GBA version just looks bad. In my opinion, Thales of Phantasia is one of the most unique rgp ever made, it has one of the most memorable music on Snes! Great review! Thanks!
Great video! Would love to see a Star Ocean review next.
Yeah, would have been nice to hear about how Wolf Team split and some of them formed Tri-Ace... then they made... Star Ocean... (Hell, Star Ocean III on PS2 plays EXACTLY like you'd imagine Tales of Phantasia SFAM to actually play in 3D... Long Range/Short range... analog button control instead of having to use a directional key...).
I've just started playing this on my SNES mini. It's got the usual SNES-JRPG tropes that you'd, but it's got a fantastic look and once you get used to the combat system (as it's slightly more rudimentary for your main character than i.e. Symphonia) it flows nicely. Also, as with all Tales games, the music is on point and voices in a SNES game is next level.
It’s gonna be one hell of a great day!!!! Thanks man. You just made my morning. Keep ‘em coming brother!
I love this series! My first Tales game was Tales of Destiny on the PS1 and it's easily one of my favorite 32-bit RPGs.
I remember playing the PS1 version (English translation) a lot on PSP back in the day. There is also a sequel game to this called Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon (Game Boy Color) which was also remade for the PSP in 2011 (Narikiri Dungeon X) and that version contains the PSP remake from 2006/2007 (subititled Full Voice Edition). The Game Boy Advance version is just low quality version of the sprites from the PS1 version though. Character art by Kosuke Fujishima.
Thank you for this. I liked the game and tried to play it through several times, but never succeeded because I thought it was too boring every time... but I must say I tried because the visuals are stunning, even for today. I wish there where more like this still today... it something that when they have limitations l, it bring forward so much more then today. It shows!
I always loved your reviews! Thanks. What make you so great compare to others is that you have a better more nuanced picture of the games then the rest!
Oh: star ocean next pls
When I was in my early 20's I remember going to a K-mart for something basic like an alarm clock or something. When I went to the electronics section I noticed a bin with games that no one bought from a previous game generation. It was a treasure trove. FFVI and Tales of Phantasia for GBA were both in there. $10 dollars each I got them for, brand new. I was so stoked. I was so happy in fact that I forgot whatever I went in there for originally.
Oh my God ! This looks so amazing ! I never heard of this. It's beyond ridiculous that Tales of Phantasia didn't get a proper North America release. Just...wow.
I have a translated repro cart of this and it's one of my favorites, glad to see you review it!
Another fact about Tales of Phantasia is that it's set within the same timeline, albeit long after, Tales of Symphonia.
Matthew Overcash woah thats pretty cool, I didnt kno that
And Phantasia is set long before the latest two installment of the series, Tales of Zesteria and Tales of Berseria
This is actually before Tales of Symphonia I'm sure.
@@joelrc648 it's after, Symphonia is set up as s prequel.
The game was really ahead of its time with the tech. The PS1 version does have one big addition, it adds skits, which are all completely voiced too.
PS1 version has the best graphics which have been quite improved as well (I only prefer some of the music on the SNES version a bit more). I recommend everyone play the PS1 version of this game if they want the best all-around version richest in content.
This, FF6, Chrono Trigger and Seiken Densetsu 3 are the main reasons SNES will always be king of RPGs. To me any.
@@xyzmaster86 I could of went on forever
I would include Star Ocean also, but I understand why some people wouldn't. I still hold it as dear in pure nostalgia terms as SD3, CT, and ToP.
Agreed, it has some top tier RPGs and then some really solid ones too like Robotrek
"better"? Why not just enjoy it all? Genesis has the Shining Force series which is excellent and Phantasy Star IV, Pier Solar and the Langrisser games, all classics but there's not much else that I know of. Saturn also has greats like Panzor Dragoon Saga, Shining Force 3, Langrisser 3, Dragon Force, and I'm sure alot more Japan exclusive ones that I don't know about. Dreamcast...Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star Online? Again, better is not the word here. Variety is the key here and it's a good thing.
Jason Voorhees really can you name some?
I was obsessed with this game when it was being translated and got to play it early on, one of my favorite RPGs. I like the crude humor Dejap added personally. As you mentioned it gives the characters actual depth and raises it above standard SNES JRPG story telling.Arche seems like a saucy Elf throughout the game until you realize what really happened to her and you see it's a defense mechanism. That's how I saw it.
The guy who made the hack of Mega Man X3 where you can freely switch between X and Zero (who is also attempting such a hack for X2), is hacking Tales of Phantasia to add similar improvements and QOL things. Look him up here on UA-cam under Xjustin3009X, and be sure to check his twitter.
what's his twitter?
yo that's fucking cool
that person is a blessing to humanity
4:56 ''f*cks like a tiger'' !???
She's 17...
And he's 29
Awkward
Fantasy dialogue by the amateur translators.
lol
Also the game explains 'glamorous' means 'big tits'. It makes sense!
@@JetWolfEX In a medieval-like fantasy universe I doubt they care much about it.
I have been waiting for this day. Thank you.
I found a rom of it yeara ago not knowing what it was. I was hooked! I could not stop playing it!
No way! I just started this game last sunday because of your earlier bulk-reviews and loving it so far! Thanks for the review
You have a modicum to mitigate? That's my man, right there! Great work. I don't care how long ago you made this, you rock every week sir.
I remember my buddies playing this game 20 years ago in snes with that floppy disk device (can’t remember the name) no English patches during that time XD but they knew what’s good
Woa! This game looks amazing. I can't believe I missed out on playing this. I really wished we'd get a return to this formula for RPGs. This style is timeless. I'm having fun with Tales of Vesperia but now that I've seen what this can offer then this is what I want to play. 5:56 Remember this trope in games? Coolest thing ever. We need to revive this style.
I really wanted this game back when it came out, because I loved JRPGs (still do), and I was a huge fan of the artist who did the character designs for the game, Kosuke Fujishima. At the time, he was doing a manga called Oh My Goddess, and because I was such a huge fan of his work (My UA-cam avatar is actually of Belldandy, the female lead from this manga), I just had to play it because of his involvement with it.
When I eventually did play the fan translated version, I found it to be a flawed masterpiece. There really is so much to love here (the graphics, the music, the unique towns and design of the world), and it's obvious a lot of time and attention went into the game. But, there are just the hyper repetitive battles, and the somewhat cliched story that drag it down. Still, I'm glad I played it, and I always consider it a very good game that could have been a great one with some fixes.
Had no idea it was the same artist.
Have you tried the other Tales games?
I played some of the earlier sequels like Tales of Destiny and Tales of Symphonia. I'm more of a retro gamer these days, so I haven't played any of the more recent titles.
@@yusakug tales of Eternia is a ps1 classic. It is basically a snes level game with ps1 voice acting and anime fmvs.
I felt the same, When I won the third Battle against Dhaos I was Already tired of the game
I remember thumbing through game magazines back in the day like EGM, Gamepro, etc to the back sections. They used to list Import games for sale and I used to drool over the box art and one sentence game synopsis alone for this game and dozens of others like Star Ocean, SD3. Games I always wished I could have played as a kid, but here I am 20+ years later finally getting the chance thanks to ROMs and repro carts
The spell casting stopping the action mid fight was fixed in the later versions of the game. I played both the Playstation version and the PSP version and it made the combats a lot more enjoyable. They also added a new character in the Playstation version (Suzu) and in the PSP version "Tales of Phantasia Narikiri Dungeon X" (Rondoline).
This is easily my favorite JRPG of all time. If they released a new version of this today I'd buy it all over again.
I finished watching this at 10:20PM so there’s only 1 hour & 40 minutes left to have a great rest of my day. Let’s hope that sentiment can carry me through tomorrow as well. Great video as always
I bought a reproduction of the SNES version after someone told me the GBA release was junk, and it looks awesome! Thanks for an objective look at this one.
One of my favorite SNES games, the presentation is just incredible.
"Fucks like a tiger"... Yeah that screams of fan translation right there
The backgrounds and sprite animation were gorgeous honestly! Need to play this game somehow! My first Tales game was Tales of Destiny on PS1 and I never owned a GBA to play the english version of this
star ocean on snes was an amazing game which played kinda like this too
I do wish this game would get retranslated, dejap took a LOT of liberties when they localized this
There are 2 translations for the PSX version of the game. I personally liked the PSX version a bit more than the SNES one.
www.romhacking.net/translations/1214
www.romhacking.net/translations/1787
What kind of liberties did they take? Sounds like an interesting game, but if the translation is way off base, then that's an absolute pain (particularly if it changes the tone heavily)
BassForever It did. look for the GBA remake, it’s basically exactly the same for gameplay and graphics and everything, just with a new translation.
@deanolium
Like the video says, crude humor.
the original game implied certain things, where the translation not only makes it obvious but turns it into something juvenile.
There is a hot springs scene in the original game, but it's not that explicit, the translation changes the meaning.
There's a scene where Arche is sleep-talking, and she mentions the protag, the translation turns it into... A different kind of dream.
Like that boat scene in the video, just an innocent conversation asking about which character the protag prefers, but the translation turns it into something adult.
These are a few of the examples I remember, it caught me off guard at the time, I'm not offended or anything, it's just out of place.
It's better than having no translation at all, I was still able to beat this game, and still enjoyed it regardless of the translator's sense of humor.
Cronocke the gba translation has it’s own set of issues, the best translation for phantasia is the ps1 port done by phantasia productions. Absolute zero’s translation was good as well.
I was hoping someone would retranslate the snes version, or do an addendum patch to fix a lot of the... flavor... dejap addedp
Not getting this game in the West back in the days is a tragedy (yes a tragedy).
It was so unique I would have loved this game .
I'm still playing the Tales of this day.
It came out on gba so it wasn’t that bad
You know you can hold right to move the party forward so he doesn’t keep running back during battles
@Jason Voorhees he also reviews new games every week all while making not enough money to only do this as a job. Respect for @SNES drunk not for you
@Jason Voorhees u just hate young people having fun, gtfo
This series really picked up on the Playstation. They added better combat options (like a secret 2 player mode) and the story was easier to get into. The graphics and music have allways been a strong point for the series but I really think it peaked from ToTA to ToV. The more recent title's lack all the charm the games used to have and just feel like typical JRPG's. If your looking to get into this series I recommend starting here but I would definitely suggest starting with the GBA version as it does a better job with the fighting system. You can change from automatic (pretty much the default that you see in the video) to manual were you no longer keep running back and forth on the field. I believe you can even change characters in the GBA version, although don't hold me to that as it has been a long time since I have played it.
Eternia
@@davemarx7856 Eternia was a good game. 2 worlds you could fully explore so much potential from the first cutscene onward. I really liked it. Like I said you really had to love how well the games progressed. They kept getting better with each game. These days though there isn't much that defines each game. I would say buy them for the story if anything. But yeah ToE was really fun. I just wish I could get that kind of joy from this series again. BTW I had the ps1 version witch was ToD2 witch proved to be vary confusing to me when I found out there was actually a direct sequel to ToD1 released only in Japan (at the time) so when I discovered the version I had went by a different name I have to say the first part of the game ToE surprised me. I thought it would be a sequel. Lol pretty fun times back then. Before the internet.
@@jasonmnosaj oh gods yeah... dumb suits screwing with release titles... thinking it'll be *less* confusing or sell better 😧
I've played demos of the newer 3d titles and I'm unimpressed. They aren't bad... it's like you said... they don't stand out.
4:56 Humorous dialogue
Never played this but I definitely have to try it out. Love the content on this channel. Long Live the SNES. Do you have any information on High Quality SNES Homebrew games?
This is the game that got me into the series. I had started ToD on PS1 and wasn't that into it and didn't finish, but in HS I took a C++ class, so naturally I loaded emulators on my computer and played games during class. SD3 and ToP took up a lot of time, and once I finished ToP, I replayed ToD and enjoyed it more (still not my favorite) and was able to finish. Been a fan of the series ever since.
Great review! makes me want to try this game!
Where do I find the fan-made English translation? My dad picked this up for me in Tokyo, and I have a Retron 5---- but ....
... What do I do?
caffeineadvocate I don't know...maybe Romhacking?😓
Another solid review! I snagged a repro cart a few months back and having never seen or heard anything about this b4 I was very impressed. I like the battle mechanics and really really like the graphics. At the same time I picked up Brave Battle Saga on Mega Drive which I liked even more. Get your hands on that if you haven’t already.
I remember back in 2006 my brother had this game, I would play it hellllaaaaaaa on the gameboy. Discovered a new super easy and simple emulator for newer iOS devices that don’t even need a computer to put a rom on and have been reliving my childhood
I had no idea that so many of the design features in the Tales series were already around in 1995, like the Tech system and the distinction between A-button and B-button moves. Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorite RPGs, but it seems like the biggest difference between it and this is greater control over your AI characters; Lloyd plays almost exactly the same as Cless.
This game takes place 1000 years AFTER the events of Symphonia (despite this game being released first.) Cless is a descendant of Lloyd and Colette. At the end of Symphonia, Lloyd takes the eternal sword and splits them into the flamberge and vorpal. 1000 years later you play as Cless and collect the flamberge and the vorpal and merge them back together to get the eternal sword. At the end of symphonia, Kratos leaves on Derris Kharlan to be with the angels of Cruxis. DK is a giant ball of mana, but not an infinte supply. 1000 years later, Dhaos comes from DK to this world because DK is out of mana. In symphonia, all the summon spirits give you a ring. In Phantasia, with each spirit you get you collect the ring first and the spirit chooses it. At the end of symphonia you merge the worlds together. Phantasia uses the map of Tethe’alla and Sylvarant merged together and rotated 90 degrees. Alvanastia is Altamira, Midgard is Asgard, and every town corresponds with a symphonia town. Symphonia’s Toize Valley mine has a door you never get to go through. That is the lower levels of the Moria Gallery.
The crude aspects of the translation get blown a bit out of proportion. Such moments are rare, with the translation overall being fine. Also, while the PS1 version has the edge in several ways, the difficulty curve is better here than in that version (which has easier random mobs but harder-hitting, damage-sponge bosses for some reason).
But I’m a mega man enjoyer and I like skill games like ToP psx
So much love in this game...the music is a masterpiece
Klarthe sounds like a Game Grumps name for Link XD
I love these videos. Really informative. So the intro always makes me laugh
I really wish this game had come to the states... It looks awesome.
It did but on GBA.
GBA version was downgrade version.
Man i love this game! this is how a action rpg should be made!
Tales of Phantasia X for the PSP is the definitive version
It was bundled with Narikiri Dungeon X, a sequel-spin off to the original game
It's got full voice acting, more refined battle system, and additional party member
You can play as other characters as well
I hope you have a great day too!
Played the Dejap version years ago in emulation... great game :)
This is one of the top games I would love to play again for the first time. My main gripe is that when exploring a dungeon the random battles get annoying.
I remember beating this game in college so many years ago. Thanks!
Long wait for this one! Great review
One the best looking games of Snes and beyond, there is games released nowadays without such graceful graphics and attention to the details!
I remember playing this on snes9x back then and being blown away. It looked freaking amazing and it had some voice acting.
Love your videos, man.
your videos are so good they make me happy
Wow for its time this is an awesome game. Wish it came here in North America earlier in the days.
When I bought this game back in 1996, I was blown away that the Super Nintendo could still pull out awesome RPGs. This game made me leave my newly bought N64 alone for a good four months...
Oh man....the first time I loaded this up on my emulator in 2003...blown away! While I'm not a big fan of the _Tales Of_ series myself as I went on to play many of them, this one will always have a special place for me. I hadn't experienced anything else like it at the time, and I ended up buying it later for GBA without a second thought. Top notch for the SNES!
After playing tales of destiny on ps1 I had to get the rom and was very impressed with the quality as a SNES game. I found the battle system way more fun than the standard at the time, and all RPGs where grindy back then so it wasn't that bad. Destiny 2 is still my favorite tales game though.
Shusoraizan!!!!!! I loved how these characters yelled with so much conviction when I played this as a kid.... yeah I enjoyed the fighting!
In a UA-cam era of hyperbole for views (generally only saying that something is the best or the worst), you, sir, have integrity, and thus my respect.
The only other SNES game that was 48Mbits is Star Ocean. Together they are the largest SNES games ever made. The graphics in those titles are pretty mind blowing, but those voice overs are definitely the most attention grabbing thing of all. The SNES is just NOT suppose to be capable of that! Sure, there are a few other SNES games that have a tiny bit of voice sampling, but they're not anywhere near the extent of these games.
This size is like older Pc games:.
Which is the primary reason for the huge ROM sizes. Its usually the voiceovers.
Those voiceovers aren't done by unpaid interns or game devs but PRO VAs like Takeshi Kusao and Satomi Korogi
Star ocean was made by the same producer after bandai namco changed ToP to the way it is today
I heard that star ocean is better tho. Tuis isn’t compatible with snes mini unfortunately
I still prefer Phantasia, Destiny and Eternia over the other games in the series. Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia were great, but I love the look and sound of the first few games even if the battle system is very clunky for them
I love Symphonia but Abyss is a bit overestimated.
@@johanlequellec2194 read my comment above explaining that phantasia is a sequel to symphonia.
I'm in the same boat here. I think it's cause I liked the old 2d hand drawn art more. Also feel like tales of Destiny really got the combat down.
I'm playing through Vesperia right now on Switch. I'm enjoying it. My first Tales game. But now that I've seen what Phantasia can offer! This is mind blowing. I love this style RPG. It's timeless. Really wish they'd do a return to this formula. 5:56 Remember flying around in these games? So amazing! Secret of Mana was the first time I seen it & it blew me away. Thank fully Octopath Traveler is kind of bringing back this formula. I really hope we get more games like this.
@@buckroger6456 Agreed, to me the series lost its charm when it went to 3D.
I played the PS1 version and that translation wasn't crude at all, so it was either that the script changed in the remake, or the fan translation took too many liberties with the source material.
One, the dialogue here is all fucked up because of DeJap filthying up the translation and yes, it's immature. The PS1 translations are more accurate.
Two, those are big name Japanese voice actors playing those characters. Takeshi Kusao of Dragon Ball Z and Slam Dunk fame plays Cless and Chester, Kazuhiko Inoue of Naruto and Muteking fame plays Klarth, Mika Kanai, voice of Jigglypuff, plays Arche, and Satomi Korogi, voice of Pichu and Francine, plays Mint. The late, great Kaneto Shiozawa plays Dhaos.
That combat presentation looks awesome
If there is evil it lies in the heart of the translations.
I have this game on psp. An absolute blast to play. Great spritework too.
I love this game and the series as a whole they always take the same concept in battles and build from it.
Way back when that translation first came out, it was seen as super cool and reflective of what we'd been convinced was the far edgier and more adult type of dialogue the original Japanese versions of these types of games had. It's still a little nostalgic for all the turn-of-the-century video game forum memories it brings but boy, it didn't really paint an accurate picture any better than a Woolsey translation would've at the end of the day.
I hate the fact that Woolsey got so much hate from people who assumed that he robbed them of some Shakespearean masterpiece when he translated FFVI. Then the fan translations started to come out and everyone who wasn't a rabid Japanophile realized that not only did he add flavor and personality to a very dry script, but he did it under extreme pressure in about a month, WHILE cutting it down due to memory restrictions.
@@Helvetica_Scenario
Isn't he the same guy who did the amazing Super Mario RPG localization?
@@aninymouse1651 I'm pretty sure he did, yes.
The PS1 and PSP remakes are amazing, with extra characters and events, as well as improved controls and mechanics which really help smooth out the combat (though I think that it wasn't until Tales of Eternia that the combat didn't pause when your party used spells), and the former even got a more accurate fan translation.
The GBA port was a dumpster fire, with a shoddy localization to boot.
This is an old fan translation after all, you know how they used to be... Look up ToP on Legends of Localization, it goes into some detail about the ''tiger'' thing and some of the other ''stuff'' that happens after that. Basically DeJap took liberty and changed some things up, much like FF4 by J2e.
As far as favorite version goes this is my second favorite, only losing to the PS1 version. That version is a masterpiece and easily one of the most well done remakes I've ever played, from graphical upgrades to enhanced combat system and even a character that used to be just a NPC now is a recruitable character and she is GOOD if you know how to play with her. I must've played this version like 50 times, that's just how much I love it.
Love Tales of phantasia, star ocean & Trials of mana so much
The GBA version was fine, looks good, sounds good, plays good. I bought it literally the day It came out while I was on my lunch break lol and played it the entire time.
ah, god yes! My dark horse favourite rounding out the tetrad with Chrono Trigger, FF6, and Link to the Past. Thank you!
I gotta say for a guy that knows nada about the SNES I do enjoy your videos and you should have way more subs by now. You should look at some of the JRPGs on the handhelds that is where I love Nintendo the most being I have a GBA SP and a 3DS XL and I have been playing FF III for the DS and it is great!
This game was one of the best RPGs for the system.
Currently half way through this game. I thoroughly enjoy the battle system, even if it is a much more 'simplistic' version of later incarnations, for no other reason than seeing how its developed and progressed from humble origins. It's also nice not to play a turn-based JRPG, every now and again. ToP graphically is top draw and while the story is classic JRPG fodder it's interesting enough to hold my attention to want to keep playing.
Klarth and Arche don't get new spells just by leveling up though. Klarth gets them through the story with battling summon spirits, and Arche has to find her spells.
The first Tales I ever played was Eternia
I had never seen anything quite like it and my dumb tweenage self was not ready.
Grown up a bit now, I actually like leaving battle up to the automated system. I'm the guy who spends the first hour of an rpg mass murdering lv1 goblins.
My only issue with it now is the same with any older rpg - if you put it down for a day, good luck remembering where you are.
Nice timing with the vesperia release 👍
This game is just great
Wow! That is definitely a pretty unique combat system for sure
First time that I like a video before playing it. Thanks for reviewing such a "popular" hidden gem on the SNES.
The GBA version is really good and visually it still has all of those little touches and overall looks great.