Easy breezy!

A more classic Tales of game than usual is now available for modern consoles so let's see what Tales of Eternia Remastered is all about.

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Sometimes, chums just fall from the sky

I remember picking up a copy of Tales of Eternia for PSP when visiting home in England at an HMV many years ago. Unfortunately, I don't remember the game that well but when I booted up Tales of Eternia Remastered, I quickly recalled the main characters: Reid, Farah, and Meredy specifically. Reid and Farah live in a small village when Meredy crash-lands nearby in what can only be described as a spaceship. 🚀 v1d30chumz ztcyrryzxywwx

No one understands Meredy's strange language and the group go on a mission to translate. To add to the mystery, the sky has been looking strange lately and there are murmurs about something possibly catastrophic happening. This creates an enticing story right from the get-go with characters you'll mostly root for. However, Reid isn't a great lead to be honest as he can seem uninterested but he's balanced out by Farah's "Easy breezy!" attitude and Meredy's earnestness. 😸

The battles in Tales of Eternia Remastered feel a little different than in newer Tales of games with strictly 2D battle screens and an emphasis on fast-paced attacks and blocking. It also includes up to 7 slots to equip skills that are earned as you level-up and continuously use the skills you already have. Each character has a unique weapon and set of skills and Rein is able to equip a variety of options with different ranges. ⚔️

Anyone care for a seafood buffet?

Commands can be sent to the group in the middle of battle such as directing them to use TP (Technical Points) for skills or not. I actually found handling TP usage challenging and was constantly running out of it so I ended up using commands quite a lot in order to manage longer dungeons or gaps between save points. Strategies can also be set per character to help with this but I wish Tales of Eternia Remastered would simply balance this a little better so I didn't have to spend so much time managing a resource that feels like a nuisance. 😒

Tales of Eternia Remastered has a great variety of enemies; not only in their visuals but also in their attack patterns and difficulty. You might have to focus on magic attacks to get a grumpy turtle off its feet then cut through its shell or spam the jump button to land good hits on flying bees. All of this makes for an overall satisfying battle system that rewards quick reactions. 🏆

With that being said, whenever you're running low on TP and health and it's quite a trek to the dungeon exit, it can be frustrating when you randomly come across an enemy that brings a jump in difficulty along with it then inevitably lose the battle. 🏳️

It's chaos in the laboratory! AH!

Thankfully, Tales of Eternia Remastered has some quality of life enhancements such as the retry option that can make losing a little bit easier to cope with. There are also indicators on the map to the next location, the option to disable enemy encounters, and 2 new difficulty settings. I wish there was an easy difficulty setting while you're getting used to the gameplay, though, instead of just 2 more even harder settings! 😅

Tales of Eternia Remastered has received a visual upgrade and both the remastered graphics and sound effects can be flipped on and off in the menu, giving players the choice of playing either way. The visuals still sit squarely in the early 2000s era but they're less pixelated and add an extra layer of detail. Menus and character art are crystal clear, however; even on a very large screen! 🖼️

Sometimes, a menu-based overworld would be preferred

One of the hallmarks of older Tales of games was pretty bland overworlds and this one is no exception. You'll find yourself running from village to dungeon through open areas while fighting a few battles with no real reason to explore beyond your main destination. Exploration is more interesting when it comes to the actual dungeons with offshoots to investigate that often have chests containing very useful equipment. 🧭

If you've ever played an RPG from this era, you'll be familiar with the style of detailed 2D backgrounds with sometimes ambiguous interactive areas or exits and Tales of Eternia Remastered is full of these. Rein even unexpectedly got snagged on things far too often, sometimes making it frustrating to get around. I would have loved to see some elements to improve this such as a map or something else indicating where you can move. The option to save in the middle of a dungeon or just more save points would have made things more enjoyable, too. 💾

I like my triple blossom with extra foam

Tales of Eternia Remastered is a fun action RPG that sits squarely in the early 2000s era so it has a bit of baggage that comes along with it. However, the story, characters, and overall enjoyable battle system make it an experience worth picking up, especially if you're a Tales of fan.

Watch Mary play Tales of Eternia Remastered 12:40

You may also be interested in these: Tales of Berseria Remastered Review, Tales of Xillia Remastered Review, Tales of Graces f Remastered Review, Tales of Arise - Beyond the Dawn Review, Tales of Symphonia Remastered Review, Tales of Arise Review, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Review, Tales of Berseria Review, Tales of Zestiria Review, and PlayStation Classic vs. NES Classic Edition.

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Filed under: Reviews › PlayStation 5.