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When Bandai Namco launched into its remaster venture for its long-standing Tales collection, Tales of Eternia was not one of many entries I anticipated to see get any consideration. Different Tales titles like Tales of Graces F and Tales of Xillia made sense on this context, as these have been early HD-era titles locked to consoles that might fairly see new life on new platforms. To not say creating these remasters is trivial or straightforward, however the hurdle in delivering refreshed variations of those entries felt extra doable. They have been comparatively latest (within the context of the collection as a complete), usually acknowledged within the JRPG area, and would not want in depth rework past their unique English releases.

Tales of Eternia is none of these items. That Tales of Eternia Remastered even exists in any respect remains to be considerably astounding to me.

Not solely is that this sport from 4 console generations in the past, however Eternia has at all times felt like an missed entry within the collection – at the least within the West. On our personal feeds right here on RPG Website, we have seen quite a few responses from followers in search of remasters of Abyss, Legendia, Phantasia, Future, or the white whale of assorted Tales video games unreleased in English. Tales of Eternia itself appeared merely … forgotten.

In a 2021 video (shortly earlier than the discharge of Tales of Come up), Bandai Namco revealed worldwide gross sales knowledge for collection entries to that time. Eternia ranked eighth globally, largely attributable to its Japanese launch, behind titles like Tales of Future, Tales of Phantasia, and Tales of the Abyss — all titles I felt appeared extra more likely to get the remaster remedy. Eternia did not rank in any respect within the prime ten in North America, and landed at #9 in Europe.

Whereas Eternia could also be one thing of a black sheep entry within the franchise, it truly stands out as the Tales of title that had probably the most to achieve from a well-executed trendy remaster, exterior of Tales video games which have by no means been launched in English prior. Whereas one thing like Tales of Berseria Remastered felt like a minimal replace to a sport that did not but want one, Eternia is virtually on the alternative finish of the spectrum — an entry that was desperately in want of a contemporary tune-up, even when it did not appear to be one which followers have been essentially asking for.

To say Tales of Eternia has had a rocky English localization historical past is placing it frivolously. It initially launched in North America for the unique PlayStation beneath the title Tales of Future II, and this model by no means made its method to Europe. That is made much more complicated as Namco launched a “actual” Tales of Future 2 in Japan a yr later — an precise sequel to Tales of Future, not simply usurping the identify for a localization.

Tales of Eternia did get a re-release in 2005 for the PSP, the English model of which, attributable to unusual circumstances, was launched solely in Europe and never North America. Whereas it had the correct title this time round, the English launch got here with a pink flag that is nigh unthinkable within the trendy trade. The primary print batch of UMDs for this launch *all* contained an unavoidable game-breaking bug — referred to as the Volt Glitch — which rendered the sport fairly actually unbeatable. As a sport that by no means launched digitally, this was one thing that might solely be addressed with a reprint, not a patch. For those who ever had the pleasure of shopping for a second-hand UMD for Tales of Eternia, you have been rolling the cube on whether or not you obtained a bugged disc or not. I do know this from expertise, because the PSP copy of Tales of Eternia alone shelf is among the damaged ones.

That Eternia, of all Tales video games, is getting a complete remaster looks like an opportunity to do proper by a sport that deserves it; not as a result of it’s in style or straightforward, however as a result of each sport warrants an opportunity to be the perfect model of itself, no matter its previous historical past could also be. It is the alternative of low-hanging fruit; an endeavor that requires appreciable effort and diligence, whereas probably missing the industrial upside of different fan-favorite entries. 

To be sincere, I am not particularly occupied with evaluating Tales of Eternia when it comes to its high quality as a sport itself. Briefly, it is a turn-of-the-century middle-of-the-pack entry in a long-standing franchise. I am keen on its arcadey-yet-clunky 2D battle system, and the proto-Symphonia narrative comes throughout as comfy, basic RPG storytelling that is not going to shock anybody. So far as this remaster goes, I am rather more curious in regards to the effort Bandai Namco and TOSE put into giving Tales of Eternia the remaster that it warranted.

We have seen different re-releases of basic PlayStation 1 JRPGs miss the mark to some extent. Grandia HD Remaster nonetheless has a blurry sprite filter that nobody who grew up with these video games truly cares for. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Version suffered a number of severe efficiency points in its remaster, though a few of these have been alleviated since launch. It will have been straightforward for Tales of Eternia to be given a low-effort re-release that stumbled over a number of the extra primary pitfalls, however as an alternative, Eternia Remastered is a considerate endeavor that understands the project.

The developer behind Eternia Remastered is TOSE, a Kyoto-based studio that has co-developed tons of of video games going again a long time, way back to a number of Last Fantasy ports on the PlayStation and Recreation Boy Advance. They have been additionally the studio answerable for Tales of Graces F Remastered, which we felt was a ‘lovingly executed refresh’. If there was any developer that I may belief with a basic RPG port, TOSE is on the very least on the shortlist.

Eternia’s remaster comes with a veritable military of additives and changes — far too quite a few for me to listing each single one right here. Some changes are extra typical (however appreciated) for RPG remasters, corresponding to an encounter price toggle and a New Recreation+ mode. Others are additions that really feel like they need to have at all times been there, like the flexibility to set ‘run’ as an alternative of ‘stroll’ as your default motion velocity, or the flexibility to pause/skip scenes. Different changes might solely be appreciated by those that have performed earlier variations of Eternia, corresponding to unlocking Nereid’s Labyrinth on a primary playthrough, or making a sure Area match replayable as an alternative of a one-time-only likelihood.

By way of remaster choices, probably the most welcome is a toggle to modify between ‘unique’ and ‘remastered’ graphics modes. Contemplating some remasters of pixel-based video games do not permit any choices for his or her presentation, that is one thing that, actually, must be extra commonplace. Personally, I truly do not thoughts the redone background artwork in Eternia Remastered (which you see in a lot of the screenshots on this web page), however the remastered sprites for gadgets on prime of that background stick out poorly, be it a treasure chest, merchandise bag, or Load Level. It is price noting that the sprites for the characters themselves are literally unchanged no matter setting, which makes the opposite ‘remastered’ sprites stick out in distinction even moreso.

The remaster additionally provides goal icons (which could be toggled off), which not solely level out the place you’ll want to go to proceed with the principle storyline, but additionally the place sub-events can be found and if they’re restricted in availability. Any Tales collection fan is aware of that, particularly within the older entries, typically these types of sub-events have been simply missed (and typically just a little obtuse), so having the sport define these is a welcome addition for individuals who need it.

The remaster additionally comes with quite a few changes to merchandise and talent names, a few of that are identified to those that have performed a number of Tales titles. Merenol is now Mjolnir, WakeUp Allure is now Stun Bracelet, Replicate is Reflex, Pico Revenge is now Pow Hammer Revenge, simply to call a number of examples. 

Most likely the only most noteworthy outright addition for these of us within the West is the inclusion of Skits, one thing that was omitted from the earlier English releases. Anybody who has performed Tales is aware of these: small bits of banter between the characters that may be merely foolish or amusing, but additionally may also help complement character writing or world-building.

I truly went again to play a little bit of my (forever-broken) PSP model of Tales of Eternia to see the way it felt compared to the remaster. Instantly, having to carry down a button to drive my sprite to run bought tedious rapidly, and the shortage of Skits led to the sport feeling prefer it’s merely lacking part of its soul. Some issues we take with no consideration additionally aren’t there, like the flexibility to load a save from the menu (because it requires an outright restart of the software program as an alternative), and naturally, the load occasions grow to be one thing it’s important to cope with. The older translation and voice performing additionally rapidly jogged my memory that, yeah, that is from the early 2000s.

That stated, the remaster additionally comes with a brand-new English dub, which incorporates most primary story scenes and greater than 250 skits within the sport. Whereas some might have nostalgia for the corny appeal of the unique voices, Eternia advantages from each improved localization and voice efficiency, and the brand new forged does a outstanding job. Sadly, it looks as if the brand new English voice-over forged will not be credited within the sport (though audio studio Cup of Tea is), one thing that the collection has struggled with all through its historical past. Fortunately, the sport’s newly completed translations (together with the redone English script) do appear to have all been correctly credited, with the English translation completed by Aspect. There may be, in fact, the choice to make use of Japanese voices as nicely.

There are a number of parts that purists of the unique PlayStation launch might discover disappointing. There is no method to play the remaster in a 4:3 format in case you’re attempting to recreate the texture of the unique, and you may’t use the unique English voices, which, whereas very “90s” in high quality, some might discover charming or nostalgic. Nonetheless, contemplating all the opposite changes and additions, huge and small, made to the remaster, I discover it laborious to argue that you just’d be higher off taking part in the sooner variations.

As unusual a comparability as it could be, Tales of Eternia Remastered truly jogged my memory of one thing that storefront GOG said a number of years in the past when it introduced again Alpha Protocol from a delisting: “Permitting video video games historical past, once-loved gems, to be misplaced in time, is one thing we can’t simply stand and watch – we struggle, for present and future generations to have the ability to get pleasure from video games; all video games, not simply the latest, in style releases.” 

Tales of Eternia Remastered provides an missed entry within the franchise a brand new lease on life with a outstanding and considerate remaster. That Bandai Namco determined to present Tales of Eternia, of all video games, a remaster like that is one thing that must be strongly counseled — not just because Namco is attempting to appease a fandom that was clamoring for it, as a result of that did not appear to be the case. Maybe I am being too beneficiant, however whereas some folks may even see this as merely filling in a slot within the launch schedule as we look ahead to the subsequent ‘new’ Tales, I select to see it as correct stewardship of Bandai Namco’s back-catalog — and I simply hope different franchise titles are but to return.