"Tales" General Info - Series Summary

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The "Tales of..." video game series is produced and released by "Namco", and more recently, "Namco/Bandai". The games in the series are primarily released in Japan and marketed to a Japanese audience. Sometimes, games in the series are "localized", a term usually used by English-speaking fans meaning games' being sent to other regions of the world (America, Australia, Europe); Namco puts out these games in those other regions, as well.
First, was released for the Super Famicom in 1994. The "Super Famicom" is the Super Nintendo of Japan. I believe it was the first video game to have voice acting in it (correct me on that if I'm wrong); the game also introduced the "Linear Motion Battle System", or as it is also popularly known as, "LMB". Further, this battle system has proven to be the main feature that sets the "Tales of..." series apart from all other games. Anyway, Tales of Phantasia for the Super Famicom game was a hit in Japan, but never came to America.
Second, was released on December 23rd, 1997 in Japan. It sold better in Japan than it sold here in America (September 30th, 1998). Destiny was not as well known as, say, the Final Fantasy series, but fans like myself take pride in this. Probably one of the main reasons it may not have been as popular as some other games was people's judging the outdated graphics, which were more SNES, 2-D and hand-drawn. Also, particularly at that time, Americans were all about "How good are the graphics are~" and "How 3-D" stuff was.

Namco came out with for the Playstation in Japan on December 23rd, 1998, which was the third "Tales of..." game. That stayed in Japan, along with its "mother", Tales of Phantasia for Super Famicom.

Nearly two years later, Namco came out with its fourth "Tales of..." game,
(Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon) on November 10th, 2000. This game was for the Gameboy Color, featuring a "Turn-based LMB" battle-style. It is a randomly-generated dungeon RPG, and features a quest system.

Fifth, on November 30th, 2000, Namco released for the Playstation. Most fans thought it would stay in Japan, but in September of 2001, it came out (for the
Playstation) in America, under the title . Despite its name, it is not a sequel to Tales of Destiny. This game features new characters, new storyline, new battles--it is a whole new game, and NOT a sequel to "Tales of Destiny". This was also the first "Tales of..." game in America to feature American voice acting, but unfortunately the voice-acting did not go over too well among "Tales of..." fans.

On January 31st, 2002, Namco released in Japan. It is the sixth "Tales of..." game, but the first in the series that's not an RPG. Instead, it is a Puzzle game, with different 2-D face-chat adventures. The game features a few characters from every "Tales of..." game released so far (Except for any Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon characters).

(Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2) came out on October 25th, 2002 in Japan for the GameBoy Advance as the seventh "Tales of..." game. It does not have the two main characters that were in Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon even though it does have the "2" in its name. It uses a battle style very similar to Tales of Eternia/Destiny II's, and has all of the "Tales" characters in it from the games released at that time (Except for the Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon characters). These "Tales of..." characters can fight with you in your party, and you can get their costumes and fight as them, if you wish.

The eighth game in the series is , which was released for the PS2 in Japan on November 28th, 2002, and it is a true sequel to Tales of Destiny. It stars Stan/Stahn Aileron (Main character of Tales of Destiny) and Rutee Cartret/Katrea's (Party member in Tales of Destiny) son Kyle Dunamis. Do not ask me why his last name is "Dunamis", I have no clue. It has a modernized LMB battle-system, with a new battle feature called "SP".

(Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage) was number nine in this series, and it came out in Japan for the GameBoy Advance on March 7th, 2003. It stars Klarth F Lester's (From Tales of Phantasia) descendant Fulein K Lester. This was the first "Tales of..." game with a battle system that did not feature the LMB battle-style. Rather, this game is a tactical/strategy RPG. However, do not let this divert you from playing it--it is very fun gameplay, nonetheless.

Ten, was released in Japan on August 1, 2003, yet again to another system--the GameBoy Advance. This version is a mix of the Playstation version, and the Super Famicom version of the game. For instance, it uses the same voices, skills, and battle sprites as the Playstation version; but it uses the World Map and intro from the Super Famicom version. It also has some new features of its own, as well.

was number eleven in the series, and it was released for the GameCube in Japan on August 29th, 2003. Also, America got this one too, on July 13th, 2004 under the same title. This game had many new features for a "Tales of..."game. For instance, the "Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System" (Or as it is also popularly known as, "ML-LMBS") which consisted of 3D/multiple planes rather than just one plane, cel-shading, Unison Attacks, Ex Skills, and a new camera angle for dialogue were some of the new features.

"Tales of..." game number twelve, , also came out on the PS2 in Japan on September 22nd, 2004. It was not a direct port, as it had some differences from the GameCube version.

Thirteenth, came out in Japan on December 16th, 2004 for the PS2. The battle-system in this game is sort of a mix between Tales of Destiny 2 and Tales of Symphonia, except rather than an unlimited number of different planes to fight on, there are three planes; and these planes are 2-Dimensional. It is called the "3-Line Linear Motion Battle System".

(Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3) is "Tales of..." game number fourteen, released for the GameBoy Advance on January 6th, 2005 in Japan. The battle-system in this game is a mix between Strategy (Placing units to do battle with other units) and LMB (Classic "Tales of..." Linear Motion Battle). The LMB battle-system in this game is the same engine from Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Which is very similar to Tales of Eternia/Destiny II). The player has "single" units to move on a map in order to accomplish certain goal(s)/objective(s), but this unit is a battle party, able to consist of upto three different characters. When they enter into battle with an enemy unit, the game switches to LMB battle mode. All of the "Tales of..." characters from all of the "Tales of..." games made at the point of this game's release are available party members and costumes to fight with (Except the characters from Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon. These two characters are in the game, but they run a shop in the game's town--they do not join you to fight).

Fifteenth, was released for the PSP on March 3rd, 2005, and it was more or less a direct port of the Tales of Eternia for Playstation.

Namco released its sixteenth "Tales of..." game, , in a much different format that all of the previous ones--this one was an MMORPG. It was released in Japan on July 27th, 2005 for Windows.

The seventeenth "Tales of..." game, , was released on August 25th, 2005 for the PS2 in Japan, and on February 7th, 2006 in America. It used to be known as "Project MelFes" when news was first surfacing about it. The battle-system is very similar to the series' original "LMB" battle-system, but it is called "Crossover Linear Motion Battle System" (Or as it is also popularly known as, "X-LMBS").

, number eighteen in the series, was released in Japan on December15th, 2005 for the PS2. It features a battle-system similar to Tales of Symphonia, but also exhibits a "Free run" option, which enables the characters to freely run around during battle. The battle-system in this game is called "Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System" (Or as it is popularly known as, "FR-LMBS"). Tales of the Abyss was also released in the United States on October 10th, 2006.

for Nintendo DS is "Tales of..." game number nineteen, and it was released in Japan on October 26th, 2006. Its battle-system is called "3 on 3 Linear Motion Battle System". This battle system is 3-Dimensional with 3 lines (whereas Tales of Rebirth was 2-Dimensional with 3 Lines).

has gotten yet another release, this time on the PSP, which is number twenty in the series. Its full name is Tales of Phantasia - Full Voice Edition, and it was released in Japan on September 7th, 2006.

"Tales of..." game number twenty-one was the much-anticipated remake of Tales of Destiny, called, well, . It was released on Playstation 2 in Japan on November 30th, 2006. Although this is "the same game", it is not a port of Tales of Destiny, because it has so many new features. For instance, a few storyline changes are apparent, and some new battle features exist. In battle, players use special abilities with a "CC" gauge rather than a "TP" gauge (TP meaning "Technical Points", which has been in all of the "Tales of..." games up to this point). Also, aerial combos and Hi-Ougis are new to this version of Tales of Destiny, as well.

Twenty-second, (Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology), was released on the PSP in Japan on December 21st, 2006, and in America on July 17, 2007. This game features the ability to create one's own character; features many characters from other "Tales of..." games, per the "of the World" part of the title; and it uses the "Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System" (Or as it is popularly known as, "FR-LMBS") like Tales of the Abyss.
The twenty-third game in the "Tales of..." series is a port of to the PSP, which was released in Japan on February 15th, 2007

Game number twenty-four in the series is (Tales of Fandom Vol. 2), released for the PS2 on June 28th, 2007, in Japan.

Twenty-fifth, Namco released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on December 6th, 2007.

Namco released another version of Tales of Destiny called ("Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut") in Japan on January 31st, 2008, as game number twenty-six in the series. This game is the storyline from Tales of Destiny from the point of view of a different character than the hero, Stan Aileron--this game is from Lion Magnus, another character's point of view.
Next, "Tales of..." game number twenty-seven, , was ported to the PSP, and released in Japan on March 19th, 2008.

Twenty-eighth, (Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk or Tales of Symphonia Ratatosk no Kishi or Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World) was released for the Nintendo Wii in Japan on June 26th, 2008. It is a sequel to Tales of Symphonia. (American release was on November 11th, 2008, under the title "Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World")
Twenty-ninth, was released in Japan on the XBOX 360 on August 7th, 2008, and in America on August 26th, 2008.
Thirtieth, was released for the DS on December 18th, 2008 in Japan.
Thirty-first, , Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2, was released in Japan on the PSP on January 29th, 2009.
The thirty-second "Tales of..." game, , was released in Japan on the PSP on August 6th, 2009
Thirty-third, NamcoBandai re-released on the PS3 in Japan on September 17th, 2009.
"Tales of..." game number thirty-four is , which was released in Japan for the Nintendo Wii on December 10th, 2009. This is also the first "Tales of..." game ever to get recalled due to bugs/glitches.
There's more "Tales of..." games that're coming out that aren't listed here? You're right! Click here to get to the "Upcoming Games" section to get the latest news on "Tales of..." games being released soon!
Namco has released various "Tales of..." games in the "Tales of Mobile" series. They are made for the "NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i" Japanese Cellphone Series, and are available in Japan only.