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.
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
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
"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.
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.
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 RU-vid under Xjustin3009X, and be sure to check his twitter.
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
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.
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
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!
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
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. ;)
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...).
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.
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.
By the way, *don't* get the GBA version. It might be the only official release of the game here in the west, but the combat is horrendous and broken, and the graphics got a noticable downgrade despite the GBA's superior hardware.
agreed, I have the GBA version, and it is really inferior. I never finished it and eventually got lost and cannot be bothered to start over.. (though I should give it another try one day)
@@johanlequellec2194Probably try the SNES version then. Later on in the GBA version, you get random battles that are sometimes unwinnable, even when you're overleveled. That's where I ended up ragequitting
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 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 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
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.
As someone who grew up with the GBA port, I find the edgy humor of Dejap's translation to be just as much of a turn-off as the GBA version's dry and boring localization. A middle ground between the two would be nice.
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
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.
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).
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.
The GBA version is...a mess. The music seems wrong, the graphics seem off, and losing two buttons is noticed by those who played the SFC version. The iOS version is an exploitative microtransaction-laden mess. Avoid at all costs. This is the one to play.
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.
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 word of caution about the GBA port, while they did add some improvements, tone down the more "risque" dialogue, and add some content, there are... aspects of it that butcher the experience overall.
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.
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.
If you think that's bad, there's a scene right after that where Arche gets drunk, falls asleep and starts yelling stuff about her getting fucked by Cless in her sleep.
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.
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.
Yeah, DeJap took some....liberties with the translation of the SNES edition. I think they ran with the "underage sex-addict" trope with Arche and made some really weird dialog changes by bringing subtlety into overt. The PSX edition is considered the definitive experience which was translated by a different team, contains a new character, rebalances Chester AND includes skits like the rest of the series. The GBA remake isn't terrible and does contain an extra character (which means more story elements and longer content) and some bonus content. The voice acting is laughable though. Supposedly the framerate isn't great either.
I don't agree with you on his comments about the battle system. IMO the battle system is FUN as heck. Get's even better when you get the upgrade to perform combo special attacks. I also disagree with your on his comments about the english patch. I think the fan translation is very lively and in the spirit of Working Designs localizations. It doesn't have to be totally literal mega-accurate translation of the dialogue all the time.
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...
48 MEGS ?? WTF... This game looks rather like a 32bit game than 16bit, with all those parallax scrolling, scaling effects and well animated sprites it could've been an early PS1 game and nobody would complain about anything.
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.
Looks like a solid game, but that battle system might be a deal-breaker for me. I dropped Tales of Symphonia after a few hours because I just couldn't stand the combat. This might be more palatable though, since it is 100% 2D. That would take care of one of my major complaints about Symphonia. My only other experience with Tales was a PS3 game that I don't recall the name of. I remember enjoying that one well enough, though I quit after a power outage corrupted my save :(
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 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.
This game does look pretty awesome, I might need to find a way to play it. But you saying it wasn't made my Square/ Enix at all is a bit surprising, as it looks like their style.
The translation is childish and crude. It's obvious they were trying to be funny, but it just comes across like teenagers translated this. So note to translators, don't do this.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
Dear Drunk, I would like to recommend a Bastion and/or Rogue Legacy review. Or maybe just ask if you played them and enjoyed them? Really enjoy your videos, thanks
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.
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 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.
I played this because it reminded me a lot of Summon Night Swordcraft Story on Game Boy Advance, except it looked and sounded even better, so of course it was gonna be the better game right? Well I don't think so... After a couple of days worth of playing it just wasn't grabbing me, I'd just awe at the graphics and music but then not really care much for the combat, or the characters... Maybe I just got into it with the wrong expectations? I don't know, but I'm not exactly in a hurry to find out, my backlog is too long...
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
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.
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