Dear readers!
I congratulate you on the upcoming New Year and wish you all the best in the New Year: the best events, the best news and the best games.
A to create a New Year’s mood – here’s a colorful anime blog for you.
Everyone who loves Japanese games finds something of their own in them. For me, a JRPG is a kind of work of art, which intertwines unusual design, rich art, an interesting plot and great music. Every game strives for this ideal to the best of its ability (and some don’t strive at all).
Regulars of the site know that I have a particularly warm attitude towards the Japanese RPG series Tales – precisely because for me they particularly correspond to what I expect from a JRPG.
One of the main advantages of the series Tales – their long-time character designer – Inomata Mutsumi.
These are her works outside the series Tales
Some of them refer to old issues Dragon Quest
She created characters from long-running anime classics: Leda: The Fantastic Adventures of Yoko (Genmu Senki Leda), and sadly – an aesthetic version of Romeo and Juliet Windaria (Windaria).
Now, on New Year’s Eve, I want to briefly introduce you to this great series, which has come a long way in almost three decades and has recently appeared on PC.
Why on New Year’s Eve?
Tales videos perfectly create a fabulous and lyrical New Year’s atmosphere, especially since almost every one has a beautiful winter scene.
I do not pretend to be a complete review of the series: (17 main games and 15 (according to Wikipedia) crossovers and minor games from the so-called “escort”). This site has a detailed story about each game in the series from FoxHeaven. But not everyone has time to thoroughly get to know them.
Therefore, I decided to briefly talk about the series and collect in one material the openings of the main parts of Tales with a short story about each game. I will fit them into the context of the development of the gaming industry, I will list the main games that were released simultaneously with the next part of the series in the East and West.
Happy reading!
Part one. Ancient Tales.
The birth of the series or competitors of Chrono Trigger.
1995 (SNES, PS1, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable).
Two years before the release of the first Fallout, 3 years up Baldur’s Gate.
Two years before Final Fantasy VII, 4 years up Legend of Mana.
Openings Tales has set the bar high from the very first game, showcasing the charming spirit of a slightly naive, colorful and enjoyable anime adventure.
In 1995, two games about time travel were released in the Land of the Rising Sun: Chrono Trigger And Tales of Phantasia. Surprisingly, each of them marked the beginning of a glorious series that left a warm mark in the hearts of the players.
Chrono Trigger, from which it later spun off Chrono Cross, it hardly needs any introduction – this is a classic JRPG of the legendary era, built on time travel and the attempts of a funny team (including a robot, a primitive woman and a knight turned into a frog) to overcome the Huge Scarecrow from Space, beating her with anything in the era of dinosaurs, then in the kawaii Middle Ages, then in the future.
But we’re not talking about her.
Also in 1995, the first JRPG in the series was released Tales, developed by the company Wolf Team for the SNES and released in Japan on December 15. (Remakes or ports of the game were later released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable). And it was also about time travel!
The key characters, having left the village due to heroic need, discovered that while they were away, it was burned by the people of Glavgad – a blond superman named Dhaos. Having become angry, they decided to take revenge. It soon turned out that Gad was too tough and the friends – who were joined by the charming priestess Mint, in whose memories we see the opening – needed to look for a creative way to defeat him.
As a result, a sorcerer friend sent them back in time, to a time when the magic of the world was stronger. I won’t take bread from you Gryis, whose detailed retelling of the game’s plot is posted on this site. The heroes have traveled a lot through the past, the future and their alternatives. And Taoist turned out to be the last representative of the dying civilization of another planet and the world wants to destroy not just like that, but for the sake of saving his fellow tribesmen. A colorful background and impressive appearance, however, did not help the Taoist – in the end he was epically beaten.
Here is the first version of the game’s opening on SNES, and at the same time a sample of its graphics.
A short interlude with an era upgrade. (Tales of Destiny 1-2, Tales of Eternia).
In 1997 it comes out Tales of Destiny (PS1) – a tale about a village boy who is looking in all sorts of nooks and crannies for intelligent swords left over from the times when the world was teeming with Laputas.
In the opening we are shown those same swords mixed with team members.
The series continues in 2000 Tales of Eternia (PS1), where the heroes prevent two neighboring planets from colliding.
Opening in which the heroes work, study https://vegasampedcasino.co.uk/ and beat up wolves to sad music.
Part two. Newer tales.
I date the middle era of Tales from the transition to PS 2.
Tales of Eternia on PS 1
Tales of Destiny 2 on PS 2 Compare for yourself!
The first on the new console was Tales of Destiny 2 (PS2, PSP) came out in 2002 and rewarded us with an excellent lyrical opening:
describing love doomed to break up.
The local hero, having decided to steal an ancient lens from the ruins, successfully broke it. A charming girl from OpenPeng got out of a broken lens and said that she URGENTLY needs a hero. And GG is not suitable for this role. Naturally, he immediately became a hero! He soon realizes that being called a hero is not enough, and his girlfriend is not at all simple – which, in truth, could be guessed based on her appearance. However, let’s not be strict with them. JRPG heroes are not Deadpool and don’t know that they live in an RPG.
Battle Yo-Yo or Tales of Symphonia.
2003 (Nintendo GameCube, PS2, PS 3, PC).
In the west came out: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Corsairs 2, Gothic 2 Night of the Raven (English). translation came out 2 years later)
On east came out: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
An unexpectedly playful and bright opening dedicated to the adventures of a girl doomed to the role of a victim and her lover.
The main character here is so young that they don’t give him a sword – he had to arm himself with a wooden. And his friend beats monsters with a yo-yo. This wonderful company decided to protect a classmate on her pilgrimage to the Very Tall Tower. The magic of the world is gradually depleted and in order to renew it, someone must sacrifice himself. This position is very respectable, but friends are not too happy. And the world turned out to be not so simple. A couple of kilometers from their home fantasy village, a high-tech concentration camp with force walls was discovered, and the hero, like his friend Colette, hides many secrets.
An HD remake was released in 2016 Tales of Symphonia on PC, but this part of my favorite series didn’t appeal to me at all.
The Cat Queen or Tales of Rebirth.
2004. (PS2, PSP).
In the west came out: World of Warcraft, Fable, Space Rangers 2: Dominators
On east came out: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Phantom Brave
Lyrical opening featuring a pretty blonde, an armored cat and an unusually eared empress.
Surprisingly, but true: the game about intelligent cats was made based on the screenwriter’s trip to Yugoslavia, where brutal interethnic massacres were well-known at that time.
In this world, people cohabit with intelligent cats, although not very soulfully. At the beginning of the game, the dying cat king used the “Power of the Moon” (the wrong one), after which people with superpowers, which had previously been the privilege of cats, began to appear en masse in the world. His daughter contributed to the chaos by ordering the most beautiful girls to be kidnapped and delivered to her. Unfortunately for her, the main character’s sister was among them.
Ship’s Tales or Tales of Legendia.
2005. (PS2).
On west came out: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (on PC), Dungeon Siege II, Sudeki, The Bard’s Tale
On east came out: Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst.
Lyrical and epic, action-packed opening.
On one of the pirate expeditions in Tales of Berseria sailors found a ship as huge as an entire continent. Then I regretted that this interesting place was not included in the game itself (And, by the way, I decided that the ship was sailing). As it turned out, the continent ship was the setting for another part of the series: Tales of Legendia. In it, brother and sister (yes again) arrive on an unknown continent. They didn’t bring cats there, but they brought cheerful beavers – oresorens.
However, the sister is kidnapped anyway, since she can make a continental-class ship work – and, by the way, the ship is a space ship. FoxHeaven described this game as “strange” – and I won’t argue with him. Alas, the format does not allow us to tell you more about the secrets of the local world.
Unchained in the Abyss or musical history. Tales of Abyss.
Still 2005. (PS2, Nintendo 3DS)
On west came out: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (on PC), Dungeon Siege II, Sudeki, The Bard’s Tale
On east came out: Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst.
This opening took on a cheerful and playful tone, concentrating on fights with creepy monsters. I especially recommend beating up monsters with a giant plush toy!
The basis of magic in this world is music, and the main character is distinguished by aristocratic snobbery and great bastardism. Although he is engaged to a pretty blonde princess from under his cloak, he glances at the black goth who attacked him at the beginning of the game and dragged him to God knows where.
Skeleton of Laputa or Innocence. Tales of Innocence.
2007 (Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita)
In the west came out: Mass Effect, The Witcher, BioShock, Overlord
On east came out: Final Fantasy XII, The World Ends with You.
Again wonderful lyrics and charming young heroes. At the same time, the horned villain is not the antagonist of the game at all.
Main character Tales of Innocence so young that he probably doesn’t yet understand why some chuckle so ambiguously when looking at his huge sword.
His home world of cute steampunk once went through some very dark times when the Horned Lord went rogue aboard the local Laputa. Many years have passed since then and they still don’t like him very much. And what should the main character do, who one day realized that he is the reincarnation of the deceased Dark Lord?? Look for other similar reincarnations, while trying to beat monsters of your level!
There is also a second, stylish version of the opening, focused on action, and succinctly introducing the characters.
Slum Knight and Smoking Dog: Tales of Vesperia .
2008 (Xbox 360, PS 3, Xbox One, PS 4, Nintendo Switch, PC)
On west came out: Fallout 3, Mount & Blade, Fable 2, King’s Bounty: Legend O knight
In the east came out: Valkyria Chronicles.
A carefree song inviting you to wander and a flying sturgeon.
Tales of Vesperia more than a worthy representative of his gaming year.
The game greets us with a colorful hand-drawn prologue video and tells us about a world where people many centuries ago lost ground to hordes of monsters and are forced to live in a few cities protected by magical barriers created by a lost ancient civilization.
The story itself begins with a water supply accident: someone took a magic crystal from a fountain in the slums of the capital and the lower city was flooded. The main character is a cynical and disillusioned former knight Yuri,
Under suspicion – magician plumber!
The truth-seeking activity was not met with understanding by the guards, and Yuri moved to prison, escaped from the palace, took a girl who looked like a princess for company and was surprised to find himself and his smoking dog Rapid investigating a global conspiracy in the company of a witcher-kindergartener.
An HD remake of the game was released on PC in 2019 and earned high ratings, despite the original graphics.
Let’s stop here for now . During the New Year holidays, wait for the end of the material, that is, the chapter:
Knights And hats or Tales of Graces
Progress and pigeons. Tales of Xillia
Super agent from the kitchen. Tales of Xillia 2
He is the hero of the day. He is the CHOSEN! And he’s afraid of crabs. Tales of Zestiria.
Revenge and rags or Tales of Berseria.
Two worlds, two heroes, two openings. Tales of Arise.