With over 300 quests and level of customization you can do to you character, I wouldn't doubt if this game is one of the best RPG’s to hit the market this year.
You rarely find this style of RPG on PSP. Story is not good but overall gameplay is fun. There are lots of classes, but I don't find a good enough reason to change and level them up constantly, as the game will get tiring at later stages.
Radiant Mythology will likely disappoint anyone expecting the intense storylines, vast worlds and well-designed dungeons of a "real" Tales title. [July 2007, p.68]
For a PSP RPG, it's pretty good, but for a Tales game, it's below par. Tales fans will love the references to other characters in the series and the humor, but the non-Tales crowd may get flustered at all the in-jokes.
Unless you're a hardcore Tales fan, there's no reason to pick this game up; there will be plenty of great RPGs hitting in the next few months, so save that cash and trade it in soon for something a little more worthwhile.
Game: Tales of the World Radiant Mythology
Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Alfa System
Publisher: Namco Bandai
System: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Year of Release: 2007
Length of Playthrough: 20 Hours
Total Score: 72/100
Value Score: 7.2/10
• Story:6/10
• Characters: 8/10
• GamePlay: 7/10
• Graphics: 7/10
• Sound: 7/10
• Music: 8/10
• Length: 7/10
• Replay Value: 6/10
• Player Value: 6/10
Pros
+300 missions
+Customizable character with the ability to change classes
+Craft system from the Tales series has a lot of options and choices this time mixing up equipment alongside item creation
+Decent OST
+Guest characters can be a combination of main Tales characters or generic class characters
+New Game+
+Skit system and decent amount of voice acting
Cons
-Story is weak and bare bones
-Voice acting of non-main Tales characters is weak and poorly done
-Some of the missions are fetch quests and grind fests
-Some missions/battles can be unforgiven if not properly geared/leveled or have a decent party
First thing first, I'm no fan of the Tales of series, if not I'm actually a big hater of this series for many reasons, although I didn't play many of them due to the fact that this series hardly reaches Europe, with some exception. But even with that said, I actually enjoyed this game a lot while playing: it's a fun game to pass time with, with an ok combat system and...passable characters, and a story in it with is nothing special but it's decent, although ruined by the constant questing, making it turn into a simple dungeon crawler rpg. I can't really compare the game mechanics from other Tales Of games due to my lack of experience with others but I will judge the game by itself instead, without comparing that much. And with that said, I can only say one thing: the game is mediocre. I can say that the graphics are great for a portable console, almost similar to a ps2, but aside from that nothing really is very good: the combat is sloppy, slow, with a lot of skills that I really found them useless and extremely weak, and I can say this clearly after playing the game with almost all of the classes, like the Ranger, the Magic Knight, the Bishop the Fighter, the Ninja and many more. Also, the movement in battle is extremely slow, with a 3-chain hit that's extremely slow to hit (exceptions of course) and I refused to think that the "dodge" was...a small jump back, without mentioning that the unnecessary addition of having a perfect guard (not sure how to call it, but it basically reduces almost 90% of incoming damage), and a magic guard (by pressing square and down). Could have been one guard for everyone in my opinion, since that in most action- rpgs I have played, none of them were this unnecessary complex in just the guard. Another big flaw **** roster of characters. I know that this game is a sort of tribute to fans by having plenty of Tales Of characters in one universe: I like the idea and any fan will love it just for it (we recently had pokèmon and the sengoku era with Pokèmon Conquest, and that's pretty cool!). But still...they are extremely boring and totally unpleasant. I can't tell if that's how they actually behave in their respective games, but even with that they were just not fun to talk with! Maybe one of two were ok, but all of them were extremely bad to look at, and made me cringe everytime a skit was coming up, and none of them were really fun to watch, which usually meant into an instant skip. We also get some original characters like Kanonno and **** unless you're very bored, you'll hate these two from the first time you see them (Kanonno is so bland it's impressive, even if they try to portrait her as a very strong willed char and also hard working, while Mormo is basically your **** it's as bland as Kanonno, if not even worse). Unfortunely, the best character that I really **** the avatar, and that's because he/she never talks. That's how bad are the characters...I just hope it's because of this game, and not the others. Also the villains aren't that **** that's because you hardly see them in the game, since you'll be busy doing quests in order to get money and items...which aren't extremely bad and they are at least varied, but that's basically 80% of the game, which is disappointing, without mentioning that there aren't many dungeons and many places to visit at all (3 main cities and about 8-9 giant dungeons in total. No free exploration), and the game is extremely short (can be finished in about 25 hours, even less if you avoid questing). There's also the possibility to craft stuff by making food (which is NEEDED since of the silly limit of 15 items), doing forging, making attires and tools, which aren't extremely easy to work **** except for food, most of the others were mostly needed for quests. But all in all, I did enjoy this game, quite a lot that I played in order to unlock most of the other classes, but I wish that the rest was at least enjoyable to watch: perhaps fans of the series will enjoy the references and such, but I couldn't just enjoy the bad dialogues, the boring characters, and the slow combat system. It's not the best RPG on the psp, but it's definitely a decent game to play and to pass time with, and fans will enjoy even more due to the references. But for a normal gamer, it won't be anything special.
SummaryAlong with the fast-paced battles the Tales series is known for, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology also lets players create their own hero. Choose from a host of options, such as voice, hairstyle and class, to start a hero or heroine on their epic journey. Then through your adventures, find, customize, or create hundreds of items to ...