[HILO OFICIAL] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology

Meristation escribió:Tras una serie de remakes y adaptaciones la portátil de Sony recibe su primera entrega exclusiva de la famosa saga de rol de Namco, con algunos personajes de toda la saga y un sistema de lucha basado en el de Tales of the Abyss. Lo hemos probado y os lo descubrimos.

Dentro de la conocida saga Tales of…, con entregas en casi todas las plataformas, existe una subserie que ofrece historias paralelas a las de las series principales entremezclando a diversos personajes de las mismas. Tales of the World, que así es como se llama, ha tenido tres entregas en Gameboy Advance que no salieron de Japón, como otros tantos RPG de antaño.

En cambio, su cuarta entrega (o capitulo, ya que no guardan concordancias entre ellas), Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology tiene previsto su lanzamiento en el mercado norteamericano, en apenas diez días, el próximo 17 de julio, tras su éxito en Japón, donde ha estado disponible desde navidades del pasado año. Justamente hemos importado dicha versión y tras varias horas os la descubrimos en los siguientes párrafos.

El argumento de Tales of the World: RM nos sitúa en el devastado mundo de Terresia, invadido por unos malvados demonios que siembran el mal allá por donde pasan. En este mundo existe un enorme árbol que trajo la vida a todos los seres pero que está perdiendo su poder, por lo que utiliza sus últimas reservas para crear a un personaje que traiga la paz y la salvación.

Este personaje será el protagonista de la aventura y el que controlemos durante todo el juego pudiendo personalizar en el comienzo de la aventura su sexo, nombre, ropaje, voz y profesión. Esto último inicialmente entre sólo cuatro disponibles (luchador, clérigo, ladrón y mago) pero que, a medida que progresemos, podremos elegir entre diez: arquero, guerrero, ninja, sabio, guerrero mágico e invocador, además de los iniciales.

La aventura, que llega fácilmente a las treinta horas (aunque la gran cantidad de aventuras secundarias, búsquedas alternativas y enemigos opcionales hace que sobrepase las doscientas), al comienzo es bastante lineal, presentándonos a los pocos minutos a los dos compañeros del protagonista: Moruno, un gato blanco parlante venido de otro mundo; y Kanosono, una amnésica joven perteneciente a la resistencia que se agrupa en la villa de Ailily.

Pero, por otra parte, a lo largo de la historia iremos conociendo hasta un total de 19 personajes procedentes de otras entregas de la saga Tales of… que se unirán a nuestra causa temporalmente, entre los que cabe citar a Arche (de Tales of Phantasia), Lloyd y Rayne (Symphonia), Eugene y Annie (Rebirth), Senel (Legendia), Stahn y Reid (Destiny I y II, respectivamente), y Luke, del primer Tales of the Abyss, subsaga, de la que se inspira parcialmente el sistema de lucha del juego.

En ambos casos, tanto en la subsaga Tales of the Abyss como en este Tales of the World: RM, el sistema de lucha se llama “Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System” y permite hasta cuatro jugadores simultáneos en los combates, que son en tiempo real y con multitud de opciones, ataques, magias e incluso ataques combinados, denominados Unison Attack, muy similares a los de Tales of Symphonia.

Para los más asiduos al género el sistema de lucha les resultará ligeramente parecido al de Star Ocean 3, .Hack o juegos similares, con, por ejemplo, los encuentros aleatorios, que serán disminuidos ligeramente para la versión americana del juego, así como su dificultad, haciéndola más adaptada al público occidental.

Por otra parte, el título también permite descargar o subir personajes a un servidor online, para hacer así más fácil la aventura y comparar nuestro equipo con el de otros jugadores en un completo ranking. Por desgracia el juego no ofrece ningún modo multijugador aunque se ha comentado que una posible secuela sí lo incorporaría.

Gráficamente el juego ofrece unos personajes muy detallados y con gran número de polígonos, con escenarios muy extensos pero un poco repetitivos, a excepción de los interiores, que ofrecen una gran variedad. Las escenas, en forma de anime que narran la historia del juego, están muy trabajadas así como el audio del juego, que aún siendo remakes de anteriores juegos de la saga, ofrece una gran ambientación.

Según Namco-Bandai en una reciente entrevista, el desarrollo de Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology comenzó hace más de dos años, casi en los comienzos de PSP, lo que lo sitúa como uno de los juegos más trabajados de la portátil. A nivel técnico y jugable cumple con lo esperado y la historia, aunque simple, guarda ciertas sorpresas junto con la aparición de los personajes de otros Tales of….

Tras el lanzamiento de Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition, Tales of Eternia y la adaptación de Tales of Destiny 2, esta entrega, la primera concebida originalmente para la portátil, se sitúa como la mejor de todas ellas y un buen juego de rol para los seguidores del género y la saga. Ahora sólo queda esperar la posible confirmación para el viejo continente que, en caso de ser así, seremos los primeros en notificárosla.

IGN escribió:Want to start a fight? Gather fans of Namco Bandai's Tales series together in one room and get them to tell you which title is the best one of the franchise. You'll easily start a rumble that can quickly get violent. But is there any one game that might eventually settle this debate? It could possibly be the upcoming PSP title, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, which will be an incredible mix of every single Tales title to date. We managed to check out the title at a recent Namco Bandai event, and were able to put down the PSP long enough for some quick impressions.

Radiant Mythology is actually a side story to the Tales franchise and takes place in the land of Terejia. However, instead of taking over a pre-existing character like the previous Tales titles, you create your own main character from scratch. This allows you to manipulate everything from the character's skin, hair and voice to their character classes. Initially, you'll be restricted to the four archetypical character classes, like fighters, magicians and thieves, but you'll be able to unlock 10 total job classes in all as you explore the game and defeat characters in previous Tales games in combat. That's right, a number of recognizable figures from older titles will make their appearance in Radiant Mythology -- at least 19 in all. Not all of these meetings will be confrontational, because you'll be able to add characters like Senel from Legendia or Annie from Rebirth into your party. Their personalities have been kept intact from these titles, and fans of the franchise will pick up on references to their own individual game as they continue along the adventure.

This may sound like a strange concept, especially since every Tales title has essentially been a separate world unto itself without any character crossover before. However, Radiant Mythology attempts to bridge that barrier with an interesting convention: the land of Terejia is where every Tales character actually lives. When they go off to have an adventure, they travel to their various worlds and the standard "Tales" game begins (kind of like a day job). Once that's done, they return to Terejia and go about their life like normal. However, even in this "real world," each character still keeps themselves busy by honing their skills with quests and other jobs.

Each quest that your characters receive is ranked based on its difficulty, and players will be told the number of party members that can be taken along with them on a mission, the summary of why you're taking on that job, and the amount of fame that you'll receive for successfully completing that objective. Fame is important, because as you become well-known, you'll unlock new quests and items. However, you have to be careful, because if you fail or die during a mission, your fame will take a hit and your party will disband. Fortunately, your character will be transported back to town, so you can try a different mission that might be better suited for you.

The game isn't simply limited to one location; players will travel to three different towns around the land of Terejia, entering the dungeons and ruins that surround these areas. Combat is somewhat of a mix of previous Tales titles. The battle system features elements from Abyss and Symphonia, and players will most likely find that the action in Radiant Mythology is just as fast as it is on the consoles. To make it easier for you, players can set characters to automatically perform specific attacks or skills in combat, and can establish shortcuts for heal spells or skill attacks on the directional pad.

Players interested in blazing their way through the title will experience at least 30 hours worth of play, although those interested in exploring every aspect of the game will find tons to do. With a level cap around 255, there's easily hundreds of hours of play here, including forging weapons, making clothes and synthesizing tools for your character. Some quests are character class specific, so you'll need to change between character jobs to experience them all. What's more, the skits that have become a standard feature of Tales titles will be part of Radiant Mythology. We'll have more on Radiant Mythology, which is slated to come out next month, very soon.

GameSpot escribió:Namco Bandai's "Tales" series of role-playing games have been popular for a number of years. They have been so popular that the series spawned a spin-off "Tales of the World" series, which, at least in Japan, has been successful in its own right. Now the series is poised to make its first appearance in North America with Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology for the PlayStation Portable. We spent some time with the handheld RPG at Namco Bandai's recent press event in San Francisco.

As soon as you start a new game in Radiant Mythology, you'll be asked to create a character and choose your gender. You'll also pick from numerous different faces, hairstyles, hair colors, skin tones, and voices. Then, you'll be asked to select a job for your character. There are four job classes to begin with (warrior, thief, priest, or mage), and a total of 10 jobs will be available to you later in the game. If you find that you don't like the job you picked, or you simply need to fill a void, you can change your class later in the game. Your previous job status won't transfer over to the new class, so you'll have to start from level one. However, you can always go back to the class you started in and your skill level will have remained where you left it.

Because we had limited time with the game and because it's a 30-hour RPG, we weren't able to find out much about the story, although we did learn a little bit. The World Tree is under attack by a monster called a devourer, and it summons a descender to save it. You just happen to be said descender. When you're summoned, you don't know anything about the world, but Mormo, the requisite cute flying creature helps you get acclimated as you begin your journey to save the world. But it won't just be you and Mormo on your quest because 19 characters from past Tales games make an appearance here. If you haven't played previous Tales games, don't worry; each character has a self-contained story, so you won't be lost. Reid, Rutee, and Archie are in the game, as well as Tear from Tales of the Abyss. Even characters from Japan-only versions have made the leap, so you'll be able to hear what Eugene sounds like with an English voice.

The main quest should take about 30 hours to clear, but there are plenty of side quests to tackle. We were told that taking on all of these extra quests would take "over a hundred hours." A basic quest starts with you heading into a town and meeting with your guild. Here, you're able to choose from multiple quests, such as going out and killing monsters, recovering lost items, or locating people. Once you've finished your assigned task, you return to the guild to receive your reward. You'll also earn fame for completing quests; the more fame you earn, the more quests you'll have available to you. You'll also be able to use items in your possession to create hundreds of new items. These items not only affect your character's attributes, but also his or her appearance, which is cool.

We didn't tackle any quests, but we did spend some time running around Radiant Mythology's vast and colorful world. The action takes place from a third-person perspective, and you're able to see enemies as you move about, so you can avoid them if you're not feeling up for combat. Of course, that's not our style. When exploring a volcanic area with lots of red-hot lava, we quickly ran up to a foe and were sucked into battle. Combat takes place in real time, and you control the main character while the CPU controls the rest of your party members. While we racked up our combo meter by pounding on the large rock monster, Archie flew around on her broom and made life miserable for our foe, who quickly vanished. A later encounter with what appeared to be a cross between a bird and a dragon was similarly intense, and this time, we fiddled around with some of the settings for our CPU allies to see how much flexibility the battle system offered. We were able to set parameters for the artificial intelligence so that it would only attack certain enemies based on distance or type (there were other options too), and we were able to tell it to charge or hold its ground as well. This customization will almost certainly play a large role later in the game, but in our brief time with the game, our CPU party members more than held their own without our meddling.

Twenty minutes was nowhere near enough time to dig our teeth into a game like Radiant Mythology, but it was enough to give us a good idea of what to expect from the game when it's released this July. We'll hopefully have more information on the game as its release date approaches.