Tales Of Destiny - Sony Playstation PS1 NTSC-J Japan NAMCO RPG 1997 Game

A great swordsman named Stahn Aileron takes a ride on a giant dragon ship. During the flight, the ship is attacked by pirates. Looking for a weapon to defend himself, Stahn discovers a sword. Very soon he finds out it is not just an ordinary sword, but the legendary talking sword Dymlos, who has been sleeping for many years and who can be awakened only if the world is in grave danger. But what exactly is the danger that awakened Dymlos now? With the help of a few friends, Stahn decides to explore the world and to find out what is wrong.

"Tales of Destiny" is a follower of the SNES RPG Tales of Phantasia. The combat in this game is action-based. You control the main hero in real time and make him perform various attacks. Other party members are controlled by the game's AI, but you can pause the battle at any time and assign new combat style to any one of them.

PLOT:

In the past, a comet crashed into the world, throwing dust clouds into the sky and shrouding the world in cold and darkness. At about the same time, the inhabitants, the Aethers, discovered a new form of energy from the meteorite's core, which they named Lens. Combining this with further research, the people were able to create cities in the sky and live in them. Unfortunately, only a select few were chosen, leaving the rest of the people to remain on the bleak surface of the planet. These people became known as the Erthers.

Over time, the sky's inhabitants became known as the Aetherians and their Aeropolis cities. They created a horrific weapon called the Belcrant that shot down any who dared oppose them. This caused full scale war to erupt between the two civilizations, now known as the Aeth'er Wars. However, regardless of their will and persistence, the Aetherians continued to have the power to dominate every engagement through the use of their superweapon.

In their disgust of their civilization's elitist behavior, a group of Aetherian scientists went to the surface. There, with aid from the people, they were able to create special swords, called Swordians, that were sentient. Unlike other weapons, these swords chose their masters and were able to call upon the elements of nature to do their will. Using these weapons, the people of the surface finally had an edge against the Aetherians.

Thanks in part to the Swordians and their masters, scores of Aeropolis were sunk to the depths of the ocean. In the end, the Erthers claimed victory over the Aetherians. Thousands of years later, this story has been mostly forgotten. In the meantime, the purposeless Swordians fell into a deep stasis sleep, only to awaken when grave threats rose once again.

The story of the game begins when country-boy-turned-adventurer Stahn Aileron, who seeks fame and adventure, sneaks aboard the flying ship Draconis as a stowaway. He is found out by the crew and forced to work as a deckhand, but when a large hostile force attacks the ship, the crew is overwhelmed and Stahn breaks free during the ensuing chaos. Looking for a usable weapon to fend off the attackers, he gains access to a storeroom and discovers a "junk" sword. However, the sword starts talking to him, calling itself Dymlos and claiming to be a sentient Swordian from the Aeth'er Wars. Armed with Dymlos, Stahn fights his way to an escape pod, which he uses to escape the rapidly descending ship before it crashes into the ground.

Dymlos becomes the key to the fame, fortune, and adventure Stahn seeks as the young man meets other Swordians, quickly becoming embroiled in a battle for a relic of the Aeth'er Wars: a huge, extremely powerful Lens called the Eye of Atamoni.

GAMEPLAY:

Tales of Destiny continues the trademark Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS) of the Tales series, with the E-LMBS (Enhanced Linear Motion Battle System), there are some graphical enhancements to the system as it was first implemented in Tales of Phantasia. Nevertheless, the combat is still very similar to the first game in the series, taking place on a 2-D plane where characters and enemies act in real time. Typical RPG conventions of HP, TP, experience, and leveling apply. Melee and ranged attacks are executed in real time, with spell casting requiring a chanting time that increases directly with the complexity of the spell being cast. When the chanting of a spell is complete, game-time temporarily stops as the spell animation is carried out and damage is assigned, so spells essentially act as interrupts. Special melee and ranged attacks do more damage or have more hits than normal attacks, but require technical points, or TP, to be consumed for use. Also, the battle system rewards the player with extra experience for stringing together multi-hit combos. The end result of this break from traditional turn-based RPG battle systems is a more fast-paced and reaction oriented system that behaves more like a fighting game and less like a typical Final Fantasy-esque title.

  Manufacturer's description:

Go On An Epic Journey As You Search For The Lost Secrets Of The Aetherians In This Fantastic RPG.

Stahn Aileron, a stowaway on a giant dragon ship, finds a mysterious sword and becomes involved with a chain of events that threatens to destroy the very existence of his planet. Join Stahn and his friends as they travel the world seeking fame and fortune, while uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization.

Soar through the skies to your next destination on a fantastic dragon ship.

Weapons so powerful they have developed their own intelligence and will.

Over 100 different spells to cast during real-time battles.

Gorgeous anime-style opening and ending set the mood of the adventure.