Namco Bandai is finally showing the PlayStation brand some love with the next three Tales of titles announced for Sony's machines.
The first announced title - and the one with the most information - is an enhanced PS3 port of the previously Wii-exclusive Tales of Graces. Planned for release late this year, the newly dubbed Tales of Graces F will follow the story of the young noble Asbel Lant as he tries to become strong enough to protect those close to him.
So far, we know the updated port will feature a graphical enhancement, new additional Mystic Artes, and the game's heroine, Sophie, will be gettting an updated character design. I expect there will be more additions revealed in the coming months.
Tales of Graces F will be available for PlayStation 3 in Japan sometime this Winter.
The second confirmed title is Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 for PSP, which apparently will feature over 80 Tales of cameo characters. Woo.
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 will be available for PSP sometime next year in Japan.
Finally, the megaton announcement was that the next mothership Tales of title will be debuting on the PlayStation 3.
There is no further info on this title - not even a name yet - but if the single image released by Jump (top of the article) is any indicator, the title looks to have a more mature feel about it than previous entries in the series.
Overall, I am sort of dumbfounded by these announcements. After all the resentment from the last timed exclusive Tales of title, I had thought Namco would have learned its lesson, but apparently not. Initial adopters of Tales of Graces will not be pleased.
As for the unnamed PS3 Tales of game, I imagine it will eventually find its way to other consoles. I mean, ToG just got the same shaft ToV did. This looks to be a continuing trend.
And I can add another reason to why I hate this console generation. Thanks, Namdai.
According to the Official Nintendo Magazine (the Nintendo Power of the UK), Namco Bandai will be bringing the latest iteration of the Tales of series, Tales of Graces, to Europe sometime this summer.
One of the biggest JRPG series in Japan, the Tales of games and their fanbase in the West have been repeatedly slighted or overlooked completely by Namco Bandai, with only 1 in 3 Tales of games ever seeing the light of day outside their home country. With little rhyme or reason to which Tales of games are allowed a chance in North America or Europe, many feared that the recently released in Japan Tales of Graces would be similarly forgotten.
While the ONM article provides new hope that an English release may be in the cards, many North American Wii owners are already very aware that Europe has repeatedly got the better end of the stick with Nintendo this generation, having received bundles and games that Nintendo of America seems bent on preventing.
Though the Tales of Graces article offers few details, the 'Summer 2010' release date alone is welcome news to many eager fans, and hopes for an official announcement from the publisher have been renewed.
I had my doubts about a new Tales of game on Wii. After playing Tales of Vesperia in beautiful HD, I wondered if I was ever capable of loving SD graphics again. HD or nothing, I thought. But then, Tales of Graces showed up, and slowly but surely, has made me a believer.
Sure, the graphics aren't up to ToV's standard, but the game's feel and story seem to be everything I love about Tales of. So when ToG shows up with a new trailer (like the one below), I can't help but smile a little. Check it out.
Yeah, I'm definitely going to need to play this.
Tales of Graces will be available for Nintendo Wii on December 10, 2009 in Japan.
Yes, I have once again fallen behind in scan coverage. So here I am, trying to make it up in one fell swoop. As usual, take a look at the scans below, or at least the ones that interest you. :)
End of Eternity (Resonance of Fate in NA) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 tri-Ace, Sega Winter 2009 (Japan), Spring 2010 (North America)
Last Rebellion PlayStation 3 Hit Maker, Nippon Ichi/NIS America Winter 2009 (Japan & North America)
Magna Carta II Xbox 360 Softmax, Banpresto, Namco Bandai August 6, 2009 (Japan), Q3 2009 (North America)
Tales of Graces Nintendo Wii Namco Bandai Winter 2009 (Japan)
Lots of cool-looking titles on the horizon, that's for sure. I will take translation requests in the comments, though I would like to get a hold of some nicer scans for Magna Carta II and Last Rebellion before trying to read the whole articles.
Tales of Graces, the next entry into the main series Tales of games, will be coming to Nintendo Wii in Japan this winter. The game follows a young noble named Asbel Lant who sets out on a journey to acquire enough power to protect those he cares about.
We still know almost nothing about the game itself, but Namco Bandai has graciously released a trailer for the title, which is highly viewable below.
Tales of Graces will be available for Nintendo Wii sometime this winter in Japan.
There are a bunch of new scans this week which may or may not be relevant to your interests. For your browsing pleasure, I have posted them below, as per the usual setup.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers Nintendo Wii Square Enix TBA
Rorona no Atelier: Arland no Renkinjutsushi (Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland) PlayStation 3 Gust June 25, 2009 (Japan)
Takt of Magic Nintendo Wii Nintendo May 21, 2009 (Japan)
Tales of Graces Nintendo Wii Namco Bandai Winter 2009 (Japan)
Takt of Magic, previously announced at Nintendo's not-TGS press conference, has finally started to get some exposure, even though it goes on sale in Japan next month. I wonder if Nintendo actually cares if people are interested in it? Ah, probably not. It's not called "Wii Sports" or "Wii Fit," after all, so it will likely get as much attention as ASH did. Such a shame.
Anyways, if any of the above scans interest you, go ahead and leave a translation request in the comments. (Except Atelier Rorona, which is way too poorly scanned to be properly legible. Sorry.) Cheers!
The latest issue of V Jump gives us the first look at the long-obscured-from-view Wii Tales of title, now confirmed to be titled Tales of Graces.
The article doesn't give us many details, but the game's protagonist has been revealed to be a young man named Asbel Lant, the 18 year old son of a regional lord who sets off to seek power after a certain event. The game's theme is reportedly "to protect," though we have no further details on the game's story at this time.
The game's character designs appear to be entrusted to Megumi Inomata, one of the series' staple character designers. It is unknown if the title is being developed by Team Destiny, or if a new team is handling the development.
Tales of Graces will reportedly be available sometime this winter on Nintendo Wii in Japan.
The article also briefly announces that the PlayStation 3 will again be receiving the Xbox 360's hand-me-downs, as last year's highly popular in Japan Xbox 360 RPG, Tales of Vesperia, will be reportedly be ported to Sony's fat 3rd child later this year.
To sweeten the deal, it appears that a new character will be added to the game. Her name is Patty Fleur, and she is a child sailor in search of the famous pirate Aifread's treasure. She reportedly fights with guns and knives (so I would imagine she will handle similarly to Raven).
Tales of Vesperia will apparently be ported to PlayStation 3 sometime this year in Japan. Since it was touted as an Xbox 360 exclusive here in North America, it is unknown if the PS3 port will make it over here, or if it will remain Japan-only like the PS2 port of Tales of Symphonia.
Incidentally, you may also be interested to know that Tales of Vs. (indeed pronouced 'Tales of Versus') was announced to indeed be a Tales of crossover brawler for PSP, in the same vein as Dissidia: Final Fantasy or Super Smash Bros.
Tales of the Abyss' Luke fon Fabre, Tales of Symphonia 2's Richter, Tales of Vesperia's Yuri Lowell, and Tales of Hearts' Shing Meteoryte have all been confirmed as playable characters, and the game appears to support up to 4 players simultaneously.
However, since it isn't an RPG, I won't be covering it any further.
Personally, Tales of Graces looks quite promising from the little bit we've seen. Asbel is one of Inomata's most likeable character designs to date (imo), and its nice to see the next main series Tales of game appear on a console (as opposed to the DS).
Tales of Vesperia being ported to the PS3, however, is rather insulting. Xbox 360 owners should be upset that a game they already paid for is being moved to another platform with extra content that they (likely) won't get, while PS3 owners should be upset that they have to settle for a port of a year-old game rather than receive their own. It is my view that nobody wins with timed exclusives.
...Except maybe console fanboys who get to gloat about it, but I don't consider them real people anyway.
As a head's up, since all of these games were revealed yesterday, I'm going to tentatively tag them as "RUMORS" until we get further confirmation. The scans look legit though.
Namco Bandai is finally showing the PlayStation brand some love with the next three Tales of titles announced for Sony's machines.
The second confirmed title is Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 for PSP, which apparently will feature over 80 Tales of cameo characters. Woo.
