TALES OF ETERNIA

is a Japanese PlayStation action role-playing video game released by Namco in 2000, and later ported to PlayStation Portable in 2005. ''Eternia'' is a 2D anime-style RPG with an original real-time battle system taken from its predecessors, ''Tales of Phantasia'' and ''Tales of Destiny''. It is the third main game of the Tales RPG series; the Linear Motion Battle System, as well as various other aspects from previous ''Tales'' titles, still feature prominently.
Its North American release was titled ''Tales of Destiny II'' to avoid copyright infringement on the name Eternia, which is owned by Mattel in North America for the ''Masters of the Universe'' toyline. This is problematic, because there is now a PlayStation 2 game actually known as ''Tales of Destiny 2'', which is a true sequel to ''Tales of Destiny'' and takes place in the same fictional world. ''Tales of Eternia'' is not directly related to ''Tales of Destiny'', except for a few brief character cameos that are typical of all ''Tales'' series games after ''Tales of Phantasia''.
Both the North American and Japanese releases of the game feature an anime introductory video; the Japanese version has an accompanying song called ''flying'' by GARNET CROW. The game inspired ''Tales of Eternia'', a 13 episode anime series co-produced by Production I.G., which is loosely based on the game. The series focuses on the four main characters while introducing a few new faces in a subplot unrelated to the game's actual plot. All 13 episodes of the series were animated in early 2001.

Contents

Gameplay

Battle system

Plot

Setting

Characters

Story

Audio

Reception and legacy

Related Media

''Tales'' allusions

''Tales of Phantasia''

''Tales of Destiny''

Classic Namco references

''Tales of Eternia'' anime series

Melnics language

References

External links

Gameplay

Following the precedent set by previous ''Tales'' games and the CRPG genre in general, ''Tales of Eternia'' has four major game modes: the 3D world map, 2D town/dungeon maps, the battle screen, and the menu screen. The overworld map is used to navigate from one location to another in the game's fictional world; the individual locations on the overwold map are represented with 2D backgrounds and sprites. Cities and towns, which are extensively populated with NPCs, are valuable sources of plot progression and background information. Additionally, city merchants will exchange Gald, the in-game currency, for items or equipment that can be vital to completing the game. Random encounter-based combat is resolved on the battle screen using the Linear Motion Battle System, a hybrid that combines fighting game and traditional role-playing game elements. The menu screen is where the player organizes and uses items, creates new magic spells, develops battle strategies, changes character equipment, and views character statistics. Selected features from the menu screen, such as item use and AI settings, are also available in battle. The player can also learn recipes throughout the game, using them to cook status-enhancing or healing food out of combat.

Battle system

''Tales of Eternia'' carries on the tradition of the Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS), a system that is somewhat similar to a 2D fighting game. Commands are entered in real time, and both allies and enemies act out their orders in real time in the 2D plane. Normal attacks and special techniques are usually executed instantly, but spells have a chanting time that increases with the complexity of the spell. Unlike the previous two games in the series, ''Tales of Eternia'' executes spells in real time, probably due to the increased graphical capabilities of the PlayStation console. Therefore, spells no longer act as interrupts that freeze time, so spell effects can be dodged and evaded if the player is skilled enough, adding another dimension to the gameplay. Future games in the series would choose to retain the real-time chanting and casting system for spells.
Battle strategy options, such as individual character commands (AI behavior) and party orders, have been slightly expanded, but their functionality remains essentially intact. Much like its predecessors, ''Tales of Eternia'' gives the player a large degree of control over computer-controlled allies and the techniques they use. Since the player only directly controls one character at a time, all other characters are governed by the general rules of AI behavior set by the player before and during battle. During battle, the player can switch which character he or she is controlling, while issuing specific orders to other allies to execute certain techniques on command. However, totally controlling all of the characters' actions throughout a battle requires a large amount of micromanagement, and most players end up delegating control of allies to the AI during normal encounters. During important and difficult boss battles, the player may choose to take direct control and issue more forceful commands in order to keep the party alive and functioning at maximum efficiency.

Plot

''Tales of Eternia'' follows Reid Hershel as he tries to prevent the Grand Fall, a cataclysmic event that would destroy his planet along with that of newly-found traveling companion Meredy. Specifically, the Grand Fall entails the violent collision of twin planets Inferia and Celestia. The journey takes Reid across both planets as he seeks out those responsible for this movement towards the brink of annihilation.

Setting

The story takes place in Eternia, a world where two planets, Inferia and Celestia, face one another, separated by the Orbus Barrier. Interaction between the two planets has been infrequent over the last few centuries despite their proximity; the Bridge of Light linked Inferia and Celestia in the distant past, but the link has been severed for an extensive period of time. The Aurora War, an ancient conflict that set Inferia against Celestia over two thousand years ago, continues to generate persistent mistrust between the two groups. The Orbus Barrier has shown recent signs of weakening and possible collapse due to the actions of an unknown external force.

Characters

Age: 18

Origin: Inferia

Class: Hunter

Japanese Voice: Akira Ishida

Reid is the red-haired protagonist of ''Tales of Eternia'' who wields a wide variety of mêlée weaponry, including swords, axes, and halberds. His main strength is his vast array of powerful close-combat special techniques that utilize his high physical power; Reid's high HP and defense statistics also help him survive close-quarters combat. Reid and Farah have known each other since childhood, growing up in the same small village, Rasheans, and have become close. Reid cannot use magic, but he has the special ability to use Fibril, the so-called "Power of the Gods", to execute some unique and powerful techniques late in the game.


Age: 17

Origin: Inferia

Class: Farmer

Japanese Voice: Yuko Minaguchi

Farah is a hardheaded farm girl from the same village as Reid, Rasheans, and they are almost always together as childhood friends. Throughout the game, a light romantic relationship is implied between Reid and Farah; however, nothing substantial develops. Farah uses her martial arts prowess to inflict hand-to-hand damage on her enemies through punches and kicks and can link many of her special attacks into each other, and she also has a narrow selection of healing magic. Farah's weapons are knuckles that augment the strength of her physical blows, and she plays more of a supporting role than Reid both in and out of battle.


Age: 17

Origin: Inferia

Class: Mintche University Light Craymel Graduate

Japanese Voice: Soichiro Hoshi

Keele is a scholarly researcher who spends his time at Mintche University investigating Craymels and their applications. Keele has the ability to cast offensive magic and summon based on what Greater Craymels are assigned to him. Although he has a few innate spells that are gained automatically, the vast majority of Keele's spells must be gained through Greater Craymel assignment and fringing (combination) to develop new techniques. Therefore, both Keele and Meredy are highly customizable, but assignment of Greater Craymels among them is a zero-sum game, so a balanced selection of spells is optimal. Keele fights with staves and maces, but his physical attacks are unimpressive.


Age: 16

Origin: Celestia

Class: Craymel Engineer

Japanese Voice: Omi Minami

Hailing from Celestia and speaking a language alien to the Inferians, Melnics, Meredy is never without her companion Quickie. Meredy's home is Imen, the city of Craymels, in Celestia. Meredy has the same Greater Craymel options as Keele, including fringing, offensive spellcasting, and summoning. Like Keele, Meredy has a handful of innate offensive spells. Meredy uses whistles to command Quickie and attack from long range; she can obtain a special item late in the game to control him more accurately while defending or casting a spell, increasing her power as a stand-alone character.


Age: 12

Origin: Celestia

Class: Pirate

Japanese Voice: Junko Noda

Descended from a famous pirate, Aifread, Chat styles herself an oddball pirate who is the captain of an impressive ship, the ''Van Eltia'', but she has no crew. Before meeting Reid in the course of the story, Chat lived in relative isolation and avoided contact with others. A unique and specialized character, Chat has the ability to steal from enemies; her weapons are handbags.She can perform a counterattack against enemies if she defends against their attacks with the right timing.


Age: 38

Origin: Celestia

Class: Gunner

Japanese Voice: Masashi Ebara

The leader of the resistance group, Shileska, which is aligned against the de facto Celestian government; Shileska is headquartered in the Celestian city of Tinnsia. Max wields high-powered energy guns as a ranged attacker.


Age: 25

Origin: Inferia

Class: Merchant

Japanese Voice: Hiroshi Isobe

Ras originally appears to be on the party's side and serves as a playable character temporarily, but his true intentions as a Senior Knight of Inferia are eventually made clear. Ras is an agile swordsman who uses sabers in quick attacks and techniques. Despite his calm demeanor, Ras eventually becomes an adversary, opposing Reid's goal of traveling to Celestia and stopping the Grand Fall. Ras has the same special powers as Reid regarding manipulation of the Fibril; this is another parallel with Reid, as they also share a common weapon and some sword techniques. As portrayed in the game, Reid is not on good terms with Rassius; the two often compete, with Reid shown as jealous towards Ras's relationship with Farah, as she shows a certain affection towards him.

Story

Reid Hershel, along with his childhood friend Farah Oersted, notice an unusual change in the color of the Orbus Barrier coupled with the flight of a strange ship from Celestia. When they go to see what happened, they meet Meredy, who is dressed in a strange fashion and speaks a bizarre foreign language, and her pet Quickie. Consequently, Reid and Farah visit their childhood friend, Keele Zeibel, in search of answers regarding the identity of Meredy. Reid learns that she speaks Melnics, an ancient civilization's language. After traveling to Morle, Reid's group receives a special translation earring that allows communication with Meredy.
Reid continues on to Inferia City, the global capital. The group asks the King of Inferia for help, but Reid is accused of spreading fear and confusion throughout the land; the punishment is a death sentence. The queen wants to know more about what Reid has to say, so the group is released. Reid explains the situation, and the leaders of Inferia hold an organizational conference. The Inferians announce they will uncover the Bridge of Light and stop the Celestians from executing the Grand Fall by taking aggressive military action. Reid is aided by Efreet, Undine and Sylph; the group is lead by Rem to the Bridge of Light, which resides atop the highest mountain in Inferia. After climbing the mountain, Reid locates the Bridge of Light in its stone sanctum. Reid's group is confronted by Ras, who tells them that his real name is Rassius Luine, a senor knight loyal to the Kingdom of Inferia. Ras loses to Reid in combat, and watches the group escapes via the Bridge of Light to Celestia as Inferian reinforcements arrive.
Upon arrival in Celestia, Reid is greeted by the citizens of Imen, Meredy's hometown. Reid travels by rail to the ruined city Luishka; a professor there examines Reid's body as he houses an unknown fibrill, or magical energy. Reid discovers the Greater Craymel Gnome in a nearby cave, and the group enlists his help. Reid stumbles upon Chat's hut, and the party is accepted into her crew after a series of puzzle-based tests; the group now has access to the sea-based form of transportation. Using the ''Van Eltia'', Reid reaches Peruti, the frozen town near the dominion of Greater Craymel Celsius. Reid climbs the nearby mountain and helps Celsius regain her sanity, saving Peruti. Reid's group is invited by Max to join the Shileska liberation army in order to stop Balir, the cause of the Grand Fall; however, Meredy senses pain and suffering from Imen, so Reid decides to return there first. When the party reaches Imen, the city is in ruins with the majority of its citizens killed.
At the technologically advanced city of Tinnsia, Reid meets with Ayla and Max, the leader of the Shileska liberation army; Max joins the party. After finding the Greater Craymel Volt trapped in a machine at the Ruins of Volt, Reid frees him and receives his power. Using the Craymel Cannon combined with the support of Shileska, the group manages to break through the fleet loyal to Balir. Infiltration of Balir's Castle leads to Shizel, the ex-Queen, who is ruling in place of Balir; Reid is forced to retreat due to the powerful Dark Aurora Arte of Shizel. After improving the ''Van Eltia'' and enlisting the help of Greater Craymel Shadow, Reid is given the Divine Aurora Arte by Seyfert, the god who created Eternia. Seyfert wishes to preserve his creation, while Nereid desires the destruction of both planets; only Reid's Divine Aurora Arte can defeat the Dark Aurora Arte given to Shizel by Nereid.
The group is now free to travel between the two planets via the Orbus Barrier using the ''Van Eltia''. Reid recruits the Greater Craymel Rem at Regulus Knoll in preparation for the final confrontation at Shizel's Castle. Both Shizel and Nereid are defeated by Reid, who uses his Aurora Arte to counter that of Shizel. However, the Grand Fall continues on unabated despite the banishment of Nereid. Reid's group is forced destroy the Seyfert Ring, which forcefully connects Inferia and Celestia, using the combined power of the two Aurora Artes; this action stops the Grand Fall, but the two worlds drift apart and the party is split. Despite the separation, Chat's modified ''Van Eltia'' can fly from Inferia to Celestia, reuniting Reid with his allies.

Audio

The soundtrack for ''Tales of Eternia'' was jointly composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura, and the OST was released in Japan on March 16 2001 by Marvelous Entertainment on two Compact Discs.

Track listing
#	Title	Length
Disc 1 (74:27)
1	Main Title	1:17
2	Music Box 1	0:16
3	Music Box 2	0:17
4	Intermission	0:08
5	Card Game	1:22
6	Inferia Map	2:51
7	Ship	2:28
8	Aerial Board	1:48
9	Rasheans Forest	2:38
10	Rasheans	3:15
11	Regulus Dojo	2:02
12	Mintche	4:16
13	Mt. Mintche	1:21
14	Ability Test	2:51
15	Nostos Cave	1:57
16	Morle	2:24
17	Undine Stream	2:49
18	Forest of Temptation	2:44
19	Inferia City	4:38
20	Inferia Castle	2:06
21	Royal Observatory	2:00
22	Barole	2:34
23	Sylph Cavern	2:14
24	Chambard	2:56
25	Efreet Gorge	2:14
26	Mt. Farlos	2:45
27	Stone Abode	2:03
28	Seyfert Garden	3:22
29	Regulus Knoll	2:44
30	Below Regulus Knoll	2:14
31	Glimmer Spire	3:41
32	Inferia Ground	1:52
33	Below Mt. Farlos	2:27
34	Port	2:19
35	Seyfert Church	2:05
36	Farah's Theme	2:47
37	Meredy's Theme	3:01
38	Keele's Theme	2:56
39	Ras' Theme	2:53
40	Inferia Forces	3;31
41	Farah	3:47
42	Celestia Map	3:49
43	Cape Fortress	3:11
44	Imen	2:34
45	Dragon Rock Mountain	2:09
46	Railroad	2:38
47	Luishka	2:24
48	Mine of Gnome	2:57
49	Gnome Village	2:50
50	Chat Hut	2:41
51	Mt. Celsius	3:26
52	Peruti 1	1:22
53	Peruti 2	2:53
54	Imen 2	3:17
55	Tinnsia	2:20
Disc 2 (60:30)
1	Shileska	3:15
2	Ruins of Volt	2:07
3	Great Battle 1	2:32
4	Great Battle 2	2:04
5	Seyfert Shrine	2:52
6	Battle's End	0:04
7	Jini	2:12
8	Shadow Cave	2:47
9	Below Celestia	2:13
10	Celestia Ground	2:06
11	Bar	1:38
12	Chat's Theme	1:56
13	Dance Music	1:00
14	Seyfert Observatory	2:13
15	Final Battle	1:38
16	Meeting Place	2:09
17	Strange Labyrinth	2:25
18	Eternal Mind	2:39
19	The Van Eltia	2:21
20	Aifish	1:35
21	Aibird	1:53
22	Submarine Cave	1:38
23	Strange Theme	2:15
24	Aifread Theme	2:01
25	Comical Dungeon	1:40
26	Determination	1:15
27	Relaxation	1:40
28	Easygoing	0:58
29	Dullen	1:51
30	Hurry	0:55
31	Crisis	1:04
32	Ouch	0:38
33	Encounter	0:49
34	Sweet Memories	1:13
35	Bad Memories	2:41
36	Despair	1:14
37	Sadness Theme	2:30
38	Van Eltia Theme	1:10
39	Rem Theme	2:04
40	Inferia Battle	3:13
41	Mid Boss 1	3:50
42	Heroic Shadow	1:41
43	Celestia Battle	3:04
44	Mid Boss 2	4:24
45	Sadness Battle	5:09
46	Strange Battle	3:00
47	Shooting	2:22
48	King Fanfare	0:04
49	Time Battle	2:32
50	Harmonica 1	0:04
51	Harmonica 2	0:04
52	Wake	2:05
53	Minigame 1	1:34
54	Minigame 2	1:36

Reception and legacy

'Review scores'

Publication	Score
IGN	8.5 of 10
''Electronic Gaming Monthly''	7 of 10
''Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine''	3.5 of 5
GameSpot	7.1 of 10
Gaming Age	B+

''Tales of Eternia'', known as ''Tales of Destiny II'' in the North American market, received generally positive reviews upon its release, garnering a rating of 78 on the aggregation site Metacritic.^[1] Multimedia website IGN appreciated the gameplay, citing "a great action-oriented battle system that has no close equivalent in any other game".^[2] The Gamespot reviewer, Brad Shoemaker, stated that "Tales of Destiny II [Tales of Eternia] would not be out of place on the Super Nintendo about eight years ago" regarding graphics;^[3] however, Doug Erickson of Gaming Age claimed that spell effects made up for this, with "boss encounters border on eye-flaying, with screen-filling alpha-loaded spells firing off every few seconds".^[4] Namco's localization effort was generally seen as sufficient, with the humor of the script translated to the North American audience, but reviewers found the game's voice acting to be deficient and unremarkable.^[2][3][4] ''Tales of Eternia'' generated enough popularity in Japan to support a thirteen episode anime series, which was run on television in 2001. Additionally, the game warranted a PSP re-release in Japan and the PAL territories.

Related Media

The original game made reference to a number of previous projects completed by Namco, and ''Tales of Eternia'' was popular enough in the Japanese market to justify an anime series that used the four main characters in an unrelated storyline. Melnics, an in-game original language, has been used outside of ''Tales of Eternia''.

''Tales'' allusions

''Tales of Eternia'' contains a number of references to previous entries in the ''Tales'' series; these include character cameos, item names, and design similarities.

''Tales of Phantasia''

★ Tristan appears in Inferia; he mentions that Cless (NA: Cress) is preparing for the arena.

★ Klarth (NA: Claus) hosts the second Namco quiz.

★ Cless and Arche appear in a special arena battle with Chester, Mint, and Klarth in the audience.

★ Mint's face briefly appears on-screen when the Resurrection spell is cast.

★ Arche briefly appears as a playable character when Keele or Meredy casts Shooting Star under special conditions. Her attacks are a reference to the Groovy Arche shoot-em'up minigame found in the PlayStation version of ''Tales of Phantasia''; they are the most powerful forms of her shots, which also appear as normal spells in ''Tales of Eternia''.

★ Sekundes, the Greater Craymel of Time, is directly based on Dhaos. Apart from the striking similarity in appearance, he also shares the same battle theme, attacks, and vulnerabilities. Both characters are voiced by the same actor and both respond with the same line when hit with the Indignation spell. Besides the ''seconds'' pun in his name, ''Sekundes'' may have also been intended to be read as ''second Dhaos''. Finally, the player receives the Derris-Emblem after beating Sekundes, which is an item associated with Dhaos's Castle and Dhaos's home planet, Derris-Kharlan.

★ Pluto, the Lich-like Summoning Spirit, is summoned by Shizel as one of her attacks, called "Summon Pluto".

★ The Vorpal Sword, Flamberge and Eternal Sword are all weapons used by Reid.

''Tales of Destiny''

★ Chelsea hosts the first Namco quiz.

★ The Swordian Clemente hosts the third Namco quiz.

★ Stahn's sister, Lilith, is the cooking champion in Chambard.

★ Irene is in Chambard and Tinnsia; she will you give prizes for collecting Lens.

★ Paintings of Stahn, Rutee, and Philia appear in the basement maze of Chat's house.

★ The thief costume that Farah tries on in Peruti is Rutee's outfit.

★ Bruiser (JP: Mighty Kongman) hosts the sushi eating mini-game in Tinnsia. He is erroneously referred as "Kong the Man".

★ The S.D. key item is the swordian Dymlos.

★ The Destiny summon spell brings forth Stahn, Rutee, Garr (JP: Woodrow), Philia, and Leon for a special attack, consisting Shikou Bakuenjin (Stahn), Snipe Air (Rutee), Dankuuken (Garr), Bomb Rain (Philia), and Marian (Leon).

Classic Namco references

Much like its predecessors, ''Tales of Eternia'' inserts many subtle references to classic Namco arcade games.

★ At Mintche University, the player can take three quizzes based on ''Tales of Destiny'' and various Namco games. Questions range from classics like ''Pac-Man'' and ''Dig Dug'', to contemporary games such as ''Klonoa'' and ''Tekken''. Even though the quizzes were changed as ''Tales of Phantasia'' had not been released in the North American market, there are questions about Namco products that never saw NA release, such as the ''Tower of Druaga'' board game.

★ Aifread's Tomb contains three distinct sections based on the Genji and Heike clans (''Genpei ToumaDen''), Shadowland (''Yokai Douchuuki'') and ''Splatterhouse''.

★ Glimmer Spire features the main theme music of ''Legend of Valkyrie'' (JP: ''Valkyrie No Densetsu'') and the central character as a boss.

★ The items Excalibur, Golden Armor, Golden Helmet, Red Shield, Blue Shield, Jet Boots, Hyper Gauntlet, and Crystal Rod are prominent items in the ''Tower of Druaga'' series.

''Tales of Eternia'' anime series

A 13 episode anime series also called ''Tales of Eternia'' was inspired by the game; the series originally ran on Japanese television from 8 January 2001 to 26 March 2001. ''Tales of Eternia'' was licensed by Media Blasters on 6 July 2002 for North American distribution, but the company's license expired when it failed to release the series. Consequently, the series is currently unlicensed and available only through import. The plot of the anime series is completely unrelated to the story of the original game; common elements include the four main characters, Greater Craymels, and spells.

Melnics language

In the Japanese RTS game '', the Melnics language is used as the official language of the Sacred Religious State, which is one of the four interstellar nations available to players. The language is spoken in the web novel series ''New Space Order -Link of life-''.

References

1. Tales of Destiny II (psx:2001): Reviews
2. IGN: Tales of Destiny II Review
3. Tales of Destiny II PlayStation Review
4. Tales of Destiny 2 Review for PlayStation
5. IGN: Tales of Destiny II Review
6. Tales of Destiny II PlayStation Review
7. Tales of Destiny 2 Review for PlayStation

External links

★ Official North American Website (PlayStation)

★ Tales Channel

★ Page for ''Tales of Eternia'' on RPGamer.com

★ ''Tales of Eternia'' anime series