The Sleeping Princess of the Forest of Thorns, Dreaming for a Thousand Years, Sleeping Princess
Her Flowing Hair is Emerald, Her Blushing Cheeks Rose Crystal
The Sleeping Princess of the Forest of Thorns, Unwaking, Sorrowful, Imprisoned Princess
Cursed by Poisonous Feelings, the Demon of Scarlet Hair Weaves,
The Splintered Depths of the Forest of Torns, Forever, Forever Dreaming
A Dream of the End of the World
Beneath the revolving White and Black Moons, people have lived in lukewarm peace throughout the continent for some time, under the rule of the Great Empire. The fairy tales of "the Sleeping Princess of the Forest of Thorns," "The Dream-Eating Monsters," and "The Black Moon which must someday fall" are perpetually retold.
However, in recent years, a mental pollution commonly called the Despir Plague (could possibly be translated as "Despair Plague") has been spreading. Though thought to be nothing more than a fairy tale, the dream-eating monsters known as "Zerom" have been discovered to be real, and have begun to devour the Spiria within people's hearts.
The only thing that can stand against them are powerful weapons that house the powers of the Spiril Links, called Soma, buried deep within the Spiril Maze - a labyrinth that takes shape from the Spira within people's hearts.
(Whew) That was quite the daunting translation due to all the made-up words specific to ToH. Speaking of these made-up words, the Famitsu article provides a handy glossary of some of them. I'll give you a quick run-down:
Spiria (The Energy within People's Hearts) - basically, a natural force that creates "that" out of "that." (A confusing definition to be sure. Probably best compared to The Force from Star Wars.) For people, it's their hearts.
Zerom (The Monsters that Devours Dreams) - the dream-eating demons that appears in the story "The Sleeping Princess of the Forest of Thorns." (Note that the Japanese is a bit ambiguous regarding this, and "Zerom" could refer to either multiple monsters or a single one. It's hard to know which it is without more information.)
Despir Plague (The Mysterious Mental Pollution) - the Zerom have been proved to be real. Acting as parasites, they live off the Spiria of people and other living things. This Despir Plague is the mental pollutant that occurs due to the feeding from the Zerom. It confuses, destroys, and manipulates the Spiria, and drives the host mad.
Soma (The Mysterious Weapons) - these make entering the Spiril Maze possible, and are the only weapons that can stand up to the Zerom.
Soma Link (The Special Power of the Soma) - based in the hearts of Soma-users, this an inner power that networks and builds understanding between others.
Spirune (The Crystalization of People's Feelings and Desires in the Depths of their Hearts) - crystals hidden deep within the labrynth created in people's hearts. If a portion of it is lost, corresponding emotions and awareness is lost...
Next up, the article showcases the first two main characters.
Shing Meteoryte (16) - A young man who possess a strong curiosity, a trait that is now very rare in the current world. He has lived in the small border village of Sheeple with his grandfather Zecks for as long as he can remember. He lacks any restraint in his speech due to his strong curiosity and his lack of experience in dealing with other people, but is pure enough to be able to learn from his mistakes when he realizes them.
Kohak Hearts (17) - A young woman who, for some reason, left her hometown and started on a journey. She is rescued by Shing after collapsing on a nearby beach while searching for Soma. It seems as though her actions are related to someone she occasionally speaks of as "her"...
Tales of Hearts defines itself as an RPG that focuses on the connection people share with their hearts, and will mainly focus on the existance of the Soma and the Zerom.
The game is being developed by Team Destiny (the Tales Studio responsible for Tales of Destiny, Eternia, Destiny II, Rebirth, and Destiny remake), and brings Mutsumi Inomata's character designs into much more traditional 2D sprites reminiscent of the game's PS1 days.
Similarly, the battles will all be handled on a traditional 2D linear line, but promises high-speed action, huge combos and spells, and dynamic camera work. (Not sure how they're going to acheive that in 2D, but hey, I'm willing to be surprised.)
As previously reported, the game will feature either 2D anime cutscenes handled by Production I.G (a staple for Tales of games), or 3D CGI cutscenes handled by Shirogumi (the 3D animation studio behind many well-known games' 3D FMVs, including No More Heroes, Rule of Rose, and Dirge of Cerberus).
Tales of Hearts is set to release on Nintendo DS from Namco Bandai in Japan this winter. There is currently no word on a North American or European release. (But given Namco Bandai's track record of bringing Team Destiny games to North America, I would guess we probably won't see it. Especially since its on the DS...)
Though I wonder where they got whoever named all the characters (I mean, Zecks?), the story sounds rather promising, and I'm all for another 2D Tales of game. Those CGI FMVs, though... Do NOT want!
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