This is exactly the kind of in depth coverage of this series that I've wanted but just did not exist in a polished format until now. I hope this project of yours does well and is allowed to continue till the end.
i just randomly came across this channel and had no idea that this is Digi LOL but after reading your comment and listening to his narration its completely obvious
It's great to finally see someone do an in depth analysis on the tales of series. I think another great series to look into is the legend of heroes. Very little is talked about for old Falcom games.
I like that you called the multiplayer "younger sibling mode. Tales has been a bonding game for me and my younger siblings for time now. It's the perfect game to play as a family of anime and rpg nerds.
"absolute zero who are probably the biggest contributors to tales of translations over all." Were...they were. Damn it why did they have to close shop and take down all their work. Maybe one day Destiny Directors Cut and Phantasia X will be translated by someone. But great to finally see this up, I was anticipating seeing this happen. Very thorough, mentions cool tidbits about the staff, and even made sure to mention The Kangaroo. Also thanks now I remember where I dropped the game on GBA and it was the Basilisk quest.
I played on the gba version, and I really enjoyed my time. I also learned that not only could you set your team mates next spells, you could queue up multiple abilities per team mate, so I'd have them constantly making the moves I want them to while I kept them safe. I was probably heavily under leveled because american kid playing a grind heavy JRPG, but with the ability to "pause" and set up my teams attacks, I was able to power through and win some of the really hard fights.
19:44 You are correct Digi I remember reading the translation notes when the site was still around that they gave the technical ring already due to the fact that a lot of people playing would be those that have played the later games in the series
Great retrospective! This was the game that inspired me to start learning Japanese back in high school, initially to catch the ones that didn't get localised but ended up really changing my life afterwards as I ended up majoring it in college and lived there for a few years afterwards. I played the (now a bit non-PC name) Dejap translation of it back in the day.
Also, I love the fact you recognized the animation staff just from seeing the style of the cutscenes. Keep that part up, even if fewer ppl are interest in this :D It's great hearing about this sort of trivia stuff (animation cast, VAs, etc.) that few would go into detail about.
Good video. I didn't know you had a games channel and Tales is my favorite JRPG franchise. Needless to say I subbed. One small criticism I do have is that you neglected to mention the destruction of Midgard in the future timeline. You stated how little changed, but the destruction of an entire city that is so closely connected to the overall plot is no small thing.
Tales of is my literal favorite series and as one of my favorite youtubers I've gotta say its refreshing to here you talk about something you enjoy versus you dishing out the dislikes towards anime you don't. Seriously digi, while you are smart and all focus on the positive and what you enjoy and you will attract a lot more fun conversations because...duh
Digibro doesn't know how deep this gets for me. I was never a huge final fantasy fan but. This shit got me going, real time fucking combat on ToS gave me goosebumps and it's my favorite game of all time lol.
I have this game really deep in my heart, despite having played the SNES version only once like 9 years ago. I most vividly remember loving the characters, though the translation patch gave a lot of flavor, especially for my 13 year old mind back then. After replaying it I would probably agree with you on most everything. Can't wait for Symphonia. Have not played this since basically forever, always wanted to replay it to see if it holds up, especially in terms of the story. And, albeit a bit less, Abyss, which I replayed this year and found myself kind of disappointed with.
Ooooh man, I love me some Tales of Phantasia. The SNES version is such a technical miracle, the PS1 version is a goddamn masterpiece, and the GBA version is hilarious as fuuuuuuck. Best game in the series still.
I agree with this guy. I've played up to Xillia. Phantasia on an SNES emulator is still my favorite by far. These newer games try too hard to be anime. Then they release anime for them before the game drops. What a surprise.
Oh, I have a soft spot for the Tales of series as my first game was Eternia and somehow my copy still works. Beaten that game multiple times and while I've touched some others in the series I'm getting through Berseria right now. While we wait on the video on Destiny I'm reminded how the PS2 Director's Cut has been a major want of mines for such a long time. As for those Narikiri Dungeon games... Had one from my old emulator back in the day.
It's really a shame that so many wonderful game series find themselves partially/completely locked in Japan. I'm not against emulation, but it just isn't the same as playing games on actual hardware.
I completely forgot DigiBro was doing this series. Pleasant surprise! Fairly recently I set off on a quest to finish all the Tales games. I still haven't finished even though it's been years, but Phantasia was one that I remember being fond of while playing, but was also one that didn't stay in my mind very long afterwards, unlike, say, Destiny. I definitely remember the characters more than the plot, but I do think this is partially because of its scope due to its age. I had fun playing it, but I don't remember having such trouble navigating like DigiBro did. I find it interesting that DigiBro goes more into game mechanics than story/character analysis for this series - and given his usual chosen genre to critique - but I do think this gives a good excuse to set up certain Tales staples (15 items max, battle system, etc.) that this video series can avoid later. If in-depth analysis could be forgone for any Tales game, it'd probably be this one. My favorite part of the fights (and also the most heart-pounding part) is when I'd have to start strategically item-throwing to keep from Game Over, too lol. Thanks for the video!
Tales of Phantasia, Deserves an Absolute Remake. And the next games to remaster or, re imagine, i hope, Rebirth, Legendia, and a third for Destiny, combined with Destiny 2 and if is possible, Eternia, must return.
Alright Digi. First you give me a boner by announcing videos on log horizon and tales of, now you make it even better by making the first video of each so long. Christmas is early around there...
Due to being the first game in the series, you can also expect a bunch of Phantasia cameos in the later games, and especially in the non--canon escort titles. I highly recommend Tales of the World Radiant Mythology 1 - 3 and Tales of the Rays if you want to play as these characters in a 3D modern Tales battle system.
I'm leaving the video. I have to. Phantasia is the best Tales of game. The rest are the same damn thing repeated. And the battle system hasn't actually improved. If that's your thing, go play Star Ocean.
I literally gasped when I saw this video. A blast from the past on my favorite franchise of all time. I really find it interesting that every little thing you listed as unique about the series, like the cooking system, are all things that made it stand out for me and made it nostalgic in my mind. Can't wait for your videos on Tales of Eternia/Destiny 2 (depending on which country you live in boy is that a confusing mess.) It was the first game I ever played and would gladly do so again if an english copy of the game wasn't 400 bucks Also looking forward to Legendia. It's probably my favorite in the franchise in terms of characters, but it's so unbelievably flawed, can't wait for you to tear it apart.
Like I said in your intro video, I only played the gba version and I guess I didn’t get tooo far in it, i faintly remember time travel and the big heads in the battle system (which i thought was adorable) but it just made me wanna play Symphonia again. Hell with the streamlined old school way the battle system was designed, I even wanted to play Legendia again. I remember just getting stuck in a cave in Phantasia when I was playing it on my gba while on a flight home and just couldn’t figure out what to do and just ... put it away forever. Sad, maybe I’ll revisit one day .............. anyway, good video, look forward to more. Curious about other entries in the series I didn’t/couldn’t play.
Oh yeah, phantasian productions modded in that extra ring, their translation took so long to come out because they programmed in some QoL changes, including that ring.
This series was the only reason I subbed to this channel, and it's starting to close in on a year since its upload. Has Digi said anything about this series since?
Digi isn't making videos for this channel anymore. While I may look at the series myself some time in the future, it probably wouldn't be in the same style as Digi did here
My only comment is that, while it isn't relevant right now, production teams, such as Team Symphonia or Team Destiny, and directors/producers, like Higuchi or Baba, will become _obtusely_ relevant later on. Just something to watch out for as the series progresses.
I think you forgot to mention that the remake of Narikiri Dungeon game is actually a bundle with Tales of Phantasia X-cross which introduce a new playable character and better gameplay and art and its very great, I played the japanese version normally and it was a great experience(I didnt finish ToPX because my psp broke but I finished Narikiri Dungeon).
nope, you said it! But I played both versions... ut never finished cz my psp dies... sad... but it is worth it! The itens have icon images that makes it simpler to those who knows the gme and want to try it anyway, also, the narikiri dungeon is also good to play, you wont understand anything but I manage to finish it!
Is a shame that you ended up using game footage from a variety youtube videos instead of recording your own footage. Only because of the names don't match with your narration
ive played NDX and yeah no story but the combat is totally batshit and saves the game, i turned the friendly ai off and just did crazy sick wall to wall flying combos the entire game, then i got to the end. So if you ever want to see what tales would be like if it were marvel vs capcom then check it out otherwise probably pick something else.
My favorite tales in order are Vesperia Symphonia Abyss Berseria Xillia 2 Grace then the rest since i love then all since i LITERALLY played all of then even the crossover ones XD
I love Tales of Phantasia so much. It's such a stupidly charming experience and though I'm biased due it being one of my first Tales of games, it has an everlasting charm to it, even in the GBA version which honestly is awful but somewhat playable sometimes. ToP's anniversary was yesterday in Japan as of writing this comment. Random, but whatever. Nice video!
The video is great don't get me wrong but it would really help if you distinguished the ps1 footage from the snes footage. I can only speak for myself but it allow me to more clearly see the contrast between each version.
Hey Digi, a game you should think about looking at is Agarest: Generations of War. It's one of my first and favorite JRPGs. I'd love to see what you think about it!
Here is an archived link to the defunct Phantasian Productions webpage with a functional download link to the translation patch, in case anybody sees this comment: web.archive.org/web/20111227020210/tales-cless.org/
"Games" is a tad confusing of a choice of name to refer to the main character when, in this video, "game" or "games" is also used super often in the non-main character context.
This is exactly the kind of in depth coverage of this series that I've wanted but just did not exist in a polished format until now. I hope this project of yours does well and is allowed to continue till the end.
Hope it continue as well
i know it's kind of off topic but does anyone know a good site to stream newly released movies online?
Projared - Final Fantasy
GC Positive - Dragon Quest
I Am Games - Tales Of
I like this trend of channels taking on huge, legendary RPG retrospectives
Clemps - Drakengard/Nier
I doubt Jared is going to continue that
Over 40 minutes
This is digibro that i know
i just randomly came across this channel and had no idea that this is Digi LOL but after reading your comment and listening to his narration its completely obvious
I honestly had hoped this would be one of the few times digi actually followed through with a project. This video was so good
the length of this video explains it all
It's great to finally see someone do an in depth analysis on the tales of series. I think another great series to look into is the legend of heroes. Very little is talked about for old Falcom games.
I'd love to see that since legend of heroes series has some of the best written characters and world building in any jrpg.
Finally, all the other videos on this channel were pretty pop, but now we get the boogie.
what
@@KoaAbyss
boogie = what the artist wants to do
pop = what is popular in culture
@@amanofculture4892 ok ty but is this a british or a southern thing or something
@@KoaAbyss if you watch Digibro enough said thing is explained. That's also the naming reason of Boogiepop, a light novel series Digibro really likes
@@strubberyg7451 ok that makes sense ty, i don't watch him enough to know that lol
I like that you called the multiplayer "younger sibling mode. Tales has been a bonding game for me and my younger siblings for time now. It's the perfect game to play as a family of anime and rpg nerds.
Cute
"He has a real name, but I don't care." I love you Digi, you're the best.
I've watched the channel today, never knew it'd be so interesting to hear you talk about games. A good reason to sub!
Videos like this are why I always longed for a video game analysis channel from you for so long, I dig it so hard dude.
"absolute zero who are probably the biggest contributors to tales of translations over all."
Were...they were. Damn it why did they have to close shop and take down all their work. Maybe one day Destiny Directors Cut and Phantasia X will be translated by someone.
But great to finally see this up, I was anticipating seeing this happen. Very thorough, mentions cool tidbits about the staff, and even made sure to mention The Kangaroo.
Also thanks now I remember where I dropped the game on GBA and it was the Basilisk quest.
I played on the gba version, and I really enjoyed my time. I also learned that not only could you set your team mates next spells, you could queue up multiple abilities per team mate, so I'd have them constantly making the moves I want them to while I kept them safe. I was probably heavily under leveled because american kid playing a grind heavy JRPG, but with the ability to "pause" and set up my teams attacks, I was able to power through and win some of the really hard fights.
Love the concept art characters names at around 14 minutes. "Bowman the Bowshooter" NAILED IT!
19:44 You are correct Digi I remember reading the translation notes when the site was still around that they gave the technical ring already due to the fact that a lot of people playing would be those that have played the later games in the series
I LOVE these retrospectives you guys have been doing! LOVE THEM
Man I was obsessed with this game as a kid. This was the RPG that got me to start thinking deeper than bad guy bad.
Great retrospective! This was the game that inspired me to start learning Japanese back in high school, initially to catch the ones that didn't get localised but ended up really changing my life afterwards as I ended up majoring it in college and lived there for a few years afterwards. I played the (now a bit non-PC name) Dejap translation of it back in the day.
Also, I love the fact you recognized the animation staff just from seeing the style of the cutscenes. Keep that part up, even if fewer ppl are interest in this :D It's great hearing about this sort of trivia stuff (animation cast, VAs, etc.) that few would go into detail about.
Good video. I didn't know you had a games channel and Tales is my favorite JRPG franchise. Needless to say I subbed.
One small criticism I do have is that you neglected to mention the destruction of Midgard in the future timeline. You stated how little changed, but the destruction of an entire city that is so closely connected to the overall plot is no small thing.
Man Tales of Phantasia is such nostalgia
Tales of is my literal favorite series and as one of my favorite youtubers I've gotta say its refreshing to here you talk about something you enjoy versus you dishing out the dislikes towards anime you don't. Seriously digi, while you are smart and all focus on the positive and what you enjoy and you will attract a lot more fun conversations because...duh
Digibro doesn't know how deep this gets for me. I was never a huge final fantasy fan but. This shit got me going, real time fucking combat on ToS gave me goosebumps and it's my favorite game of all time lol.
A Tales of series video that seriously covers the series? Hot damn! Well done, Digibro.
Long, In-Depth videos on JRPGs? More of this shit please!
I have this game really deep in my heart, despite having played the SNES version only once like 9 years ago. I most vividly remember loving the characters, though the translation patch gave a lot of flavor, especially for my 13 year old mind back then. After replaying it I would probably agree with you on most everything.
Can't wait for Symphonia. Have not played this since basically forever, always wanted to replay it to see if it holds up, especially in terms of the story.
And, albeit a bit less, Abyss, which I replayed this year and found myself kind of disappointed with.
That’s the first time I’ve heard someone call a version of a game an “adaptation“
cant wait for the rest of this series, love the tales of games keep up the great work Tom and digi
Good to see you agree that Ben Saint is the best character.
Ooooh man, I love me some Tales of Phantasia. The SNES version is such a technical miracle, the PS1 version is a goddamn masterpiece, and the GBA version is hilarious as fuuuuuuck. Best game in the series still.
I agree with this guy. I've played up to Xillia. Phantasia on an SNES emulator is still my favorite by far. These newer games try too hard to be anime. Then they release anime for them before the game drops. What a surprise.
This digi-video is a digi-dream come digi-true.
Another dead series, huh? This dude's A.D.D is amazing, don't start what you obviously don't intend on finishing.
yeah I was just checking his other uploads to see if he did more eps of this series and theres nothing :(
Oh, I have a soft spot for the Tales of series as my first game was Eternia and somehow my copy still works. Beaten that game multiple times and while I've touched some others in the series I'm getting through Berseria right now. While we wait on the video on Destiny I'm reminded how the PS2 Director's Cut has been a major want of mines for such a long time. As for those Narikiri Dungeon games... Had one from my old emulator back in the day.
I'm pretty sure people are going to demand Destiny: DC localization and Legendia remake after Vesperia gets released. XD
I'm so glad you're making this.
It's really a shame that so many wonderful game series find themselves partially/completely locked in Japan. I'm not against emulation, but it just isn't the same as playing games on actual hardware.
Hope iamgames keep on growing this video worth the wait. JRPG analysis i am so happy
Looking forward to seeing more long form video essays about video games from you.
(:
I completely forgot DigiBro was doing this series. Pleasant surprise!
Fairly recently I set off on a quest to finish all the Tales games. I still haven't finished even though it's been years, but Phantasia was one that I remember being fond of while playing, but was also one that didn't stay in my mind very long afterwards, unlike, say, Destiny. I definitely remember the characters more than the plot, but I do think this is partially because of its scope due to its age. I had fun playing it, but I don't remember having such trouble navigating like DigiBro did.
I find it interesting that DigiBro goes more into game mechanics than story/character analysis for this series - and given his usual chosen genre to critique - but I do think this gives a good excuse to set up certain Tales staples (15 items max, battle system, etc.) that this video series can avoid later. If in-depth analysis could be forgone for any Tales game, it'd probably be this one.
My favorite part of the fights (and also the most heart-pounding part) is when I'd have to start strategically item-throwing to keep from Game Over, too lol.
Thanks for the video!
Man this is so nostalgic, Phantasia was the first Tales game i played too
Cant wait for the Symphonia and Legendia one
CAN I BE IN THIS VI-- ...oh snap
Nobody covers tales like this. Great job yo
I can't wait till you get to Tales of the Abyss also great video keep at it
Now this is a good fucking video series! Actually going into version differences and nuance that most creators don't bother to is solid.
Tales of Phantasia, Deserves an Absolute Remake. And the next games to remaster or, re imagine, i hope, Rebirth, Legendia, and a third for Destiny, combined with Destiny 2 and if is possible, Eternia, must return.
Alright Digi. First you give me a boner by announcing videos on log horizon and tales of, now you make it even better by making the first video of each so long.
Christmas is early around there...
He wants your good patron money. Specifically yours.
Due to being the first game in the series, you can also expect a bunch of Phantasia cameos in the later games, and especially in the non--canon escort titles. I highly recommend Tales of the World Radiant Mythology 1 - 3 and Tales of the Rays if you want to play as these characters in a 3D modern Tales battle system.
Now THIS is what I was waiting for
Tales of series is lit.
Oh man I can't wait till this series reaches Tales of the Abyss
And he never made another...
*she
don't be a hater
14:07 Wow, The Tale Phantasia idea, basically sounds like what Trails has been doing.
I love how the plot of gaining spirits via pact is a thing in like all the goddamn games lol
KEEP DOING THIS SERIES FUCK YES.
You Sir of You Sir: Arigatou. My favorite Tales game. And always remember!
Mitsukete your Dreams!
Now I hate you. Why did you have to do that? Tales of Destiny was the first game I bought when I got a PS1. It wasn't better in ANY WAY.
I'm leaving the video. I have to. Phantasia is the best Tales of game. The rest are the same damn thing repeated. And the battle system hasn't actually improved. If that's your thing, go play Star Ocean.
I literally gasped when I saw this video. A blast from the past on my favorite franchise of all time. I really find it interesting that every little thing you listed as unique about the series, like the cooking system, are all things that made it stand out for me and made it nostalgic in my mind.
Can't wait for your videos on Tales of Eternia/Destiny 2 (depending on which country you live in boy is that a confusing mess.) It was the first game I ever played and would gladly do so again if an english copy of the game wasn't 400 bucks
Also looking forward to Legendia. It's probably my favorite in the franchise in terms of characters, but it's so unbelievably flawed, can't wait for you to tear it apart.
Man...if you remember even one in fifty of the songs from these games by the end of this, I'll be shocked.
This was awesome. Please do more.
You forgot to add that mint put a sheild aroudn the world tree preventing society from destroying it.
This was great, keep it up!
Dhaos' planet is Derris Kharlan from ToS
Subscribing just for when Digi gets to stuff like Tales of Zestiria, which feels like an unfinished rough draft that got slapped on a disc.
LIKE A TIGER!
Like I said in your intro video, I only played the gba version and I guess I didn’t get tooo far in it, i faintly remember time travel and the big heads in the battle system (which i thought was adorable) but it just made me wanna play Symphonia again. Hell with the streamlined old school way the battle system was designed, I even wanted to play Legendia again.
I remember just getting stuck in a cave in Phantasia when I was playing it on my gba while on a flight home and just couldn’t figure out what to do and just ... put it away forever. Sad, maybe I’ll revisit one day .............. anyway, good video, look forward to more. Curious about other entries in the series I didn’t/couldn’t play.
Oh yeah, phantasian productions modded in that extra ring, their translation took so long to come out because they programmed in some QoL changes, including that ring.
Wow he did it
You're gonna like Vesperia the most. No doubt. Unless you get totally sick of the Tales' fighting system by the time you reach it.
I'm playing the GBA version and I still think it is a terrific game despite the popular opinion around it
You got my upvote for pronouncing "integral" correctly.
At last, a reason I should subscribe tot his channel.
What, no talking about the best translation involving the dirty jokes?
I am GAMES, and this is GAMES.
The manual ring is modded, one of many presents of the translators (like including Dhaos in the monsters book) hahaha
This series was the only reason I subbed to this channel, and it's starting to close in on a year since its upload. Has Digi said anything about this series since?
Digi isn't making videos for this channel anymore. While I may look at the series myself some time in the future, it probably wouldn't be in the same style as Digi did here
My only comment is that, while it isn't relevant right now, production teams, such as Team Symphonia or Team Destiny, and directors/producers, like Higuchi or Baba, will become _obtusely_ relevant later on. Just something to watch out for as the series progresses.
I think you forgot to mention that the remake of Narikiri Dungeon game is actually a bundle with Tales of Phantasia X-cross which introduce a new playable character and better gameplay and art and its very great, I played the japanese version normally and it was a great experience(I didnt finish ToPX because my psp broke but I finished Narikiri Dungeon).
nope, you said it!
But I played both versions... ut never finished cz my psp dies... sad... but it is worth it!
The itens have icon images that makes it simpler to those who knows the gme and want to try it anyway, also, the narikiri dungeon is also good to play, you wont understand anything but I manage to finish it!
Is a shame that you ended up using game footage from a variety youtube videos instead of recording your own footage. Only because of the names don't match with your narration
Will be recording my own from now on.
I actually have an unboxed version of the GBA version, it was going for rather cheap about 5 years ago, so i brought it
ive played NDX and yeah no story but the combat is totally batshit and saves the game, i turned the friendly ai off and just did crazy sick wall to wall flying combos the entire game, then i got to the end. So if you ever want to see what tales would be like if it were marvel vs capcom then check it out otherwise probably pick something else.
this was really good, please do branch out into other game series as well, like suikoden and grandia
My favorite tales in order are
Vesperia
Symphonia
Abyss
Berseria
Xillia 2
Grace
then the rest since i love then all since i LITERALLY played all of then even the crossover ones XD
He IS GAMES
I love Tales of Phantasia so much. It's such a stupidly charming experience and though I'm biased due it being one of my first Tales of games, it has an everlasting charm to it, even in the GBA version which honestly is awful but somewhat playable sometimes. ToP's anniversary was yesterday in Japan as of writing this comment. Random, but whatever. Nice video!
digi beating video games PogChamp
The video is great don't get me wrong but it would really help if you distinguished the ps1 footage from the snes footage. I can only speak for myself but it allow me to more clearly see the contrast between each version.
Man,those PSP ports are sick! Can,'t belive there is no translation project out there
You better finish this series !
3 years later, and he hasn't made another video on the Tales of franchise.
Hey Digi, a game you should think about looking at is Agarest: Generations of War. It's one of my first and favorite JRPGs. I'd love to see what you think about it!
I wish phantasia had gotten better released, at least till like tales of destiny dc. Phantasia was definitely the unsung hero of aselia series
Great video. Subbed.
I dig it bro
the Tales game is my favorite jrpg franchise and tales of phantasia needs a ps4 remake 😤
Here is an archived link to the defunct Phantasian Productions webpage with a functional download link to the translation patch, in case anybody sees this comment:
web.archive.org/web/20111227020210/tales-cless.org/
ignore that one, here's the most recent link.
web.archive.org/web/20171219174722/tales-cless.org/
Really exited for more of this. And for Digi to shit all over berseria 👌👌👌
yessssssss, this is great
This has been my shit since I was a little girl
Damn it Namco! But ps1 tales of Destiny II was superb
"Games" is a tad confusing of a choice of name to refer to the main character when, in this video, "game" or "games" is also used super often in the non-main character context.
so sad i didn't know about this game when it was released :)