Best Tales Series Games

The Tales Series: Namco’s Action RPG Tradition

The Tales series (1995–present) by Namco is one of the longest-running JRPG franchises in gaming, distinguished by its linear motion battle system (LMBS) — real-time side-scrolling combat rather than turn-based menu selection. The series’ specific combat philosophy (chaining arte techniques in real-time) and its party-driven narratives focusing on friendship and personal growth established a tradition that distinguishes it from Square’s Final Fantasy and Enix’s Dragon Quest.

The retro era Tales games — Tales of Phantasia (SNES, 1995), Tales of Destiny (PS1, 1997), Tales of Eternia/Destiny II (PS1, 1999/2000) — were primarily Japanese releases that received limited Western localization. Phantasia, the series’ origin, wasn’t officially released in the West until the GBA port in 2006. Western players in the 1990s encountered the Tales series through Tales of Destiny’s 1998 PS1 localization, which introduced the LMBS to American audiences.

Tales of Phantasia — The Origin

Tales of Phantasia (1995 SNES) was the most technically impressive SNES RPG of its year: it included voice acting for all named characters (a first for the hardware), a full vocal soundtrack (“The Beginning” by Kai Masaki), and a battle system that presaged the real-time action RPG format the series would develop. The music, composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura, included the SNES’s first use of a vocal theme in an RPG.

The narrative — time travel connecting the game’s present (descendants of ancient heroes) to its past (the original heroes’ battle) — was more structurally sophisticated than contemporary SNES JRPGs. The characters’ relationships and the ethical questions about whether destiny can be changed produced a story that remained relevant to the series’ themes across subsequent Tales entries.

Tales of Destiny — The Western Introduction

Tales of Destiny (1997/1998) was the first Western-released Tales game and introduced Namco’s action RPG format to American audiences. The “swordian” weapon mechanic — weapons that could communicate, level up, and unlock abilities — gave the JRPG’s “powerful weapon” trope a character dimension. The party of six characters (each controlling different in the battle system) offered player customization that most PS1 RPGs’ fixed class systems didn’t provide.

The localization quality was variable (some translation choices were criticized), but the LMBS combat’s distinctiveness from Final Fantasy’s ATB system gave it an audience among players who wanted more active combat engagement. Tales of Destiny’s commercial success in the West led to subsequent localization decisions for the series.

Star Ocean: The Second Story — The Multi-Ending RPG

Star Ocean: The Second Story (1998/1999, PS1) shares Tales’ developer lineage (it was developed by tri-Ace, founded by former Tales developers) and similar action RPG combat philosophy. The 86 possible endings (based on relationship scores between the two playable protagonists and their companions) gave it replay value that most JRPGs lacked. The item creation system, which allowed crafting equipment and items from gathered materials, added an economic layer to the RPG mechanics.

Star Ocean II’s private action system — optional conversations with party members that developed relationships and contributed to ending variations — anticipated the social simulation elements that later JRPGs incorporated more formally. The game’s breadth (two protagonists with different story perspectives, 86 endings) made it more replayable than its 40-hour runtime suggested.