Tales of Destiny
Copyright © 1997 Namco Ltd., Inomata Mutsumi
Sony PlayStation
RPG
1 Player
1 Memory block
Rated: Teen
SLUS-00626
$49.95
Available Now
Where to buy
—by Eri Izawa
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How badly do you want to play a PlayStation fantasy RPG? That's
the question to weigh if you're considering TALES OF DESTINY.
Coming from, say, FINAL FANTASY VII
to TALES OF DESTINY is like
leaping backward in technology. No rendered graphics. No fancy
movement: no rotational control, no jumping, and no walking
diagonally! This is a game that hearkens back to the days of LUFIA on
the SNES.
The plot is also nothing to write home about. The main character is a
young man in search of adventure, who somehow winds up wielding a
Swordian, a sentient sword made in a war from hundreds of years ago.
(Yes, like so many other console fantasy RPGs, this is a world where,
hundreds of years before, a great war had occurred between the people
of the ground and the people who lived on floating islands in the
sky.)
The boy and his sword become involved in a desperate, if mismanaged,
recapture-the-crystal-to-save-the-world plot, taking them to
practically every country on the map, where they pick up new friends
and other Swordians along the way. Their efforts are rewarded, the
crystal is rescued, our hero goes home, and all is well. But that's
only a dozen hours into the game, and this kind of game is supposed to
take at least 40 hours to finish. Lo and behold things go all wrong
and our heroes must band together again to really save the world.
Their travels will take them across the world again, but also to the
newly reformed land-in-the-sky, where seemingly endless hordes of
monsters offer battle after battle. Ho, hum.
All is not lost with this game. The plot, for all its reused
elements, still has some new angles; there are plenty of small side
quests, and there's even a secret bonus dungeon for careful players.
The characters are moderately interesting, the music is OK, the
Japanese speech is funny (even if you don't know Japanese). The
combat is actually unusually fun and interesting for a game of this
style, using just enough action and real-time elements to make it
exciting, yet without requiring too many arcade-game reflexes. And
while there isn't the deep intrigue, moving plot, and psychological
intensity of (say) XENOGEARS, there also isn't the long interruption
of normal gameplay and the broken suspension of disbelief of
XENOGEARS, either. Sometimes, sticking with old technology and
tried-and-true formula can at least guarantee a finished and playable
product.
Well—almost playable. There's a serious bug in one of the puzzles
in the English version of TALES OF DESTINY, a bug that renders the
game practically unsolvable unless you know the answer. The
password's answer, as taken from Fritz Fraundorf's TALES OF DESTINY
FAQ at www.gamefaqs.com, is "FATE"
(though he recommends using "GIFT"
first). There. With that information, TALES OF DESTINY—at least
the English version—becomes a playable, enjoyable, fun, but
mediocre fantasy RPG.
Now, how badly do you want a PlayStation fantasy
RPG? 
Rating: **1/2 out of 4 |
