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animan09's Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP)

[January 12, 2008 04:04:21 AM]

Session 1

Summary:
You begin the game as a custom character you create at the start of the game. You are born from the World Tree in Terresia and then informed by a creature named Mormo that your world is being threatened by a 'devourer'. You must find allies and travel the world while completing quests in order to eliminate the 'devourer'.

Gameplay:
One of the best features of this game is the fact that you are able to create your own character which helps you feel more attached to the character. However, unlike most custom characters from other games, these characters actually have speaking parts in battle. In addition to your custom character you also have other allies, many who are familiar from other games in the Tales series, such as Kratos and Raine from Symphonia and Luke and Tear from Abyss. The voices are fairly close to the originals but it seems like a little more effort could have been put into the English voices.

The storyline is very interesting as I described in the first paragraph but it's not like a conventional RPG. The characters do not set out on a quest in the beginning of the game. You began the game by joining a guild and satisfying quests from clients. Special quests allow you to continue the story as well as satisfying other requirements.

I feel that the gameplay is really phenomenal because it integrates many features of the previous games as well as introducing some new features including the Artes system and Unison attacks. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Tales series, the fighting style is somewhat similar to Star Ocean and Radiata Story.

One of the other features I find entertaining and practical is the fact that you can change the appearance of your character by equipping weapons and armor. Everything you put on give you a different appearance unlike the other games in which only the weapons changed.

Another feature I like is the innovation of cutscene style conversations. The prominent characters are displayed on the screen in high resolution pictures while the rest of the action of the scene is occurring in the background.

Session 2

Design:
After playing this game for about another 2 hours, I have made a few more discoveries of how this game compares to it's predecessors. Just like the other games, it does not have any CG cutscenes which is a little disappointing because the opening movie is absolutely astonishing but there could be so much more.

There are a couple of new features that have been introduced that I feel are really great. You are able to change classes/jobs, but you start over at level 1. However, if you decide to change to a former class, you will be the same level as you left off. Another great feature is the party members. There are so many to choose from including characters that the game has created. Completing quests awards you fame points (along with gold and other things) which increases your respect by other characters. Someone could deny joining your party because you don't have enough fame so you have to work to earn their trust.

The level design is very simple. Every dungeon has a different layout with a certain number of floors but the floors are very big and full of enemies which makes the levels seem even longer. You can revisit all of the dungeons but once you find the treasure chests you won't be able to find them any more. The complexity of the levels often create many conflicts. Sometimes, certain objectives must be fulfilled in a certain order so you have to travel to one part of the map and then figure out that you're in the wrong place.

Challenges mostly lie in the battles and knowing when to change classes. If you are under leveled and you decide to fight strong enemies, things will become much more difficult. You also have to know when to change classes at the right time because you drop to level 1 if you start a new class. That being said, you are rewarded with items, money, and other things such as Grade points which allow you to purchase special items.

This game is very fun and so complex that it is difficult to describe all of the features in the game. One of the only complaints I have though is the control scheme. The use of the joystick/nub is highly unnecessary because the d-pad is quite sufficient. Other than that everything else seems to be acceptable and I would highly recommend this game to anyone that loves RPGs.

This entry has been edited 3 times. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 13:58:06.