tales-of-phantasia
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Bandai Namco pulling Tales of Phantasia, soon to be 'unusable'
After mere months on the App Store, Tales of Phantasia iOS will soon stop being available or even playable in any way. As Touch Arcade discovered, Bandai Namco quietly posted an update on the app's iTunes page, noting it will remove the game from the store on August 28. Not only will Tales of Phantasia iOS not be available after that, but Bandai Namco says "the app and all associated services will become unusable." That's likely because of server shutdown, since the game requires players be online to save. In the update, Bandai Namco apologized for the inconvenience, but it didn't explain why it's removing the game. We've reached out to the publisher to learn more, but we suspect the move has something to do with the mixed reception the iOS version received.
Free-to-play JRPG Tales of Phantasia launches for iOS
Namco Bandai has resurrected its 1995 Super Famicom RPG Tales of Phantasia as a free-to-play IOS app supported by in-game microtransactions. The iOS version of Tales of Phantasia retains the classic JRPG's storyline and unique side-scrolling battle system, but ramps up its difficulty to encourage players to purchase optional status boosts and items that revive characters after death. Touch Arcade reports that the game's microtransaction system requires a constant online connection. Tales of Phantasia has seen numerous ports over the last two decades, including enhanced remakes for the PSOne and PSP. The majority of these ports were exclusive to Japan, however. Previously, the only existing English-language version of Tales of Phantasia was a Game Boy Advance port published by Nintendo in North America in 2006. Phantasia is the first of several Tales of... series games debuting stateside in 2014. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles will launch in February, followed by the release of Tales of Xillia 2 later this year. The latest series entry, Tales of Zestiria, was recently announced for the PlayStation 3 in Japan.
Tales of Phantasia coming to iOS, Jupiter developing Tales of Bibliotheca
Namco Bandai's classic RPG Tales of Phantasia is coming to iOS platforms in Japan this fall, Siliconera reports. Tales of Phantasia has seen several ports since its debut for the 16-bit Super Famicom in 1995. The upcoming mobile port is based on 2006's PSP version Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition and features a new touch-based control scheme, along with microtransactions that give players access to health-boosting items. Namco Bandai additionally revealed that The World Ends with You developer Jupiter is developing Tales of Bibliotheca, an upcoming anthology release for iOS. Bibliotheca condenses the storylines of previous Tales games as a series of interactive narrative sequences and boss battles. The first chapter of Bibliotheca, which focuses on Tales of Vesperia, will be available later this month as a free download in the iTunes App Store in Japan. Eleven additional chapters will be released as paid DLC in the months after the app's initial launch.
Tales of Phantasia X remixes two RPGs for PSP
Tales of Phantasia may become one of the few titles to be re-released twice on a single platform. In 2006, Namco Bandai launched an updated version of the classic SNES RPG for PSP (although it never found a Stateside release), and now it looks to be releasing that same game one more time. Thankfully, Tales of Phantasia X won't just be the original game in a shinier box. In addition to a remake of Tales of Phantasia, the pack will include the Narikiri Dungeon sequel. Phantasia X is planned for release later this year, roughly fifteen years after the original's debut. [Via Andriasang]
Tales of Phantasia 2 for DS?
Rumor alert! NamcoBandai is allegedly planning a load of new, and new-ish, games in their Tales series for Nintendo consoles. The rumor gives titles for three new (potential) games, one of which is headed for the DS. If internet rumormongering is to be believed, Namco is working on a 2D sequel to the oft-ported Tales of Phantasia. We can't comment on the veracity of the rumor's specifics, but it seems likely that more Tales games are headed, in abundance, to every platform that Japanese gamers like. Not only has the series already made its dual-screened debut, RPG-spamming has been their modus operandi since before the DS was popular. Now that the most popular console in Japan by far is also the cheapest to develop for (being a handheld), continuing the trend seems like a Tale of the Obvious.
Tales of Phantasia wins in Japan
Chris loves reporting the Japanese sales numbers, especially when not a single PSP title appears on the list. I, on the other hand, love to report the sales numbers when we win. The PSP hasn't had too many first place victories. In fact, it's only had one so far: SD Gundam (which I reported to you guys). This week, Sony's handheld manages to secure another first place victory amongst a plethora of DS games. Check out the sales data: 1. (PSP, Bandai Namco) Tales of Phantasia Full Voice Edition - 66,263 2. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Bros. - 53,011 / 3,027,038 3. (DS, Square Enix) Final Fantasy III - 49,475 / 598,476 4. (DS, Nintendo) Mogitate Tingle no Bara Iro Rupee Land - 32,792 5. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 32,054 / 3,151,912 6. (DS, Nintendo) Shaberu! DS Cuisine Navi - 25,458 / 445,191 7. (GBA, Nintendo) Rhythm Tengoku - 24,676 / 148,108 8. (DS, Nintendo) Animal Crossing Wild World - 24,027 / 3,205,762 9. (PS2, Sega) Phantasy Star Universe - 20,431 / 140,633 10. (DS, Nintendo) Mario Basket 3 on 3 - 20,372 / 288,136I'm surprised that a port of a port of an old NES game did so well, but the Japanese sure do love their Tales games. IGN wasn't too fond of the game, saying there aren't enough improvements in the game to make it a worthwhile port. And when you consider that the amazing-looking Tales of the World is heading to the PSP soon, I'm surprised by the strong sales of this game. Well, at least it beat the new Tingle RPG which I may or may not have imported. Check after the cut to see some videos from Tales of Phantasia in action.[Via NeoGAF; Thanks ldd!]
