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{{quote|''If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of man.''|Edward D. Morrison {{spoiler|quoting Dhaos}}}}
''Tales of Phantasia'' was the first game in Namco's [[Tales (series)]], debuting on the Super Famicom in 1995.
The story begins when best friends Cress Albane and Chester Burklight return from a hunting trip to find that [[Doomed Hometown|their entire village has been destroyed]], and their families slaughtered. [[You Killed My Father|Swearing of revenge is imminent]].
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''Phantasia'' played many RPG tropes straight, but on the technical side, it was nothing short of a marvel. Programmer Hatsuya Hiroshiba found a way to fit full voice acting for all the moves and spells ''and'' a full opening song into the plucky Super Nintendo cartridge, with room to spare for brilliant arrangements of Motoi Sakuraba's gorgeous themes. The early version of the Linear Motion Battle System was a bit rough around the edges, but when the game was remade for the [[PlayStation]] in 1998, the control scheme was redone to fit ''Tales of Destiny'''s revamped "command" style, and all sorts of little extras were dropped in, from an extra character to little graphical coolnesses.
''Phantasia'' also invented many of the series' set pieces. A huge number of the moves that later ''[[Tales (series)]]'' swordsmen would use come straight from Cress' playbook. ''Phantasia'' also introduced the basic spell list, most notably the high-level magic "Indignation" (which comes with its own incantation too).
There was a remake for the GBA, which was the only version to get an official English release. While there are a few incredibly awful spots in the localization, such as the "Kangaroo War" for Ragnarok and the poor quality of the voice casting and acting, most of the fanbase's issues with it are a result of Nintendo ''not'' taking... liberties... with the script that the best-known [[Fan Translation]] did. (If they ''had'' done so, the game almost certainly wouldn't have got by with anything less than an "M" rating.)
There are English patches for the SFC and PSX versions available online. There are also two versions for [[PSP]], one being the "Full Voice Edition" and the other being paired with an [[Updated Rerelease]] of the [[Game Boy Color]] sequel, Narikiri Dungeon. [[No Export for You|Namco's recent activity in regards to the Tales series]] is making a Western release for either look bleak, but time will tell. Recommended in general, but especially for people who liked ''Symphonia'', just to play "spot the continuities."
Due to [[Executive Meddling]] (most likely brought on by a desire to make the game better compete with the then newly-released ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'',) the original development team schismed and mostly broke away from Namco after the game released, going on to reform into [[Tri
A PSX translation is available [https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075644/http://www.absolutezerotranslations.com/phantasia/ here]. An alternative translation will be available [https://web.archive.org/web/20130915000137/http://tales-cless.org/ here]
A four-episode [[OVA]] based on the game was created in 2004, and licensed and dubbed by [[Geneon]] three years later.
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[[File:NarikiriDungeonX_1769.jpg|frame]]
A psuedo-sequel called ''Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon'' was released for the [[Game Boy Color]] in 2000. It would later get an [[Updated Rerelease]] on the [[
The story is set one hundred and seven years after the conclusion of ''Phantasia'', and focuses on two twins named [[Original Generation|Dio and Mell]]. One day, the two twins are met by a mysterious woman who prophesies a "doomed future" for them both unless they complete the Ordeal of Spirits, a trial where they must seek out and test themselves against the twelve Summon Spirits of Aselia. While doing so, the twins explore the aftermath of ''Tales of Phantasia'',
The key feature of the game was the ability of Dio and Mell to "[[Cosplay|dress up]]" as various character classes (Fighter, Thief, Mage, etc.), gaining new powers depending on which role they were portraying. Their wardrobe included the outfits of various Tales Series heroes and villains, and even [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|cameos]] from various [[Namco Bandai]] games. The concept proved so popular that it formed the basis for two more ''Narikiri Dungeon'' games, though they would be released under the ''[[Tales of the World]]'' banner.
----
{{tropelist}}
* [[Acrophobic Bird]]: Averted. One puzzle requires leaving Arche behind to stand on a switch so that she can fly out of a hole later, and in a scene after defeating Volt she's asked to go fetch treasure chests that are normally inaccessible.
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: Cress Albane's parents are Miguel and Maria. Clearly, someone decided not to pass down the Hispanic heritage.
* [[After the End]]: A meteor impact thrust society back into the dark ages, from which it is only just emerging.
* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]]: In ''Narikiri Dungeon'', {{spoiler|Dio and Mell discover that their past selves are Dios and Meltia, the two people responsible for destroying the World Tree of Derris-Kharlan, turning it into a wasteland and kicking off the events that led to ''
* [[And Man Grew Proud]]: The war between Fenrir and Odin is what left mankind vulnerable to a meteor strike in the first place
* [[Anime Theme Song]]: Yume Wa Owaranai/The Dream Will Never Die. Fully voiced on the
* [[Anti-Frustration Features]]: If you fail the button pressing minigame with Arche in Dhaos' castle enough time, Claus gets impatient and he and Mint do it for you.
** Also, Chester will likely rejoin your party at a third of the experience levels of everyone else. From the PSX version onwards, sleeping at Inns will show a couple scenes in which he [[Level Grinding|level grinds]] himself at night while the others are sleeping. Afterword, he gains massive amounts of Experience, catching him up fairly quickly.
* [[Anti-Villain]]: Although a major jerk, Dhaos, as it turns out, is only trying to {{spoiler|save his ''own'' homeworld from destruction}}. A noble and <s>some</s>''everybody'' would say heroic motivation. It's only too bad he considers it so far above ''this'' one that he regularly [[Beam Spam
** No, he has regard for the consequences - that being the extinction of humanity. It's his explicit goal, since he believes that's the only way to protect Yggdrasil and the Mana Seed.
** To be fair, he did warn the people at Midgards that their research is going to destroy the Mana tree, and attacked them only to make them stop the research. He just generally got pissed at humanity after {{spoiler|not only failing to save his homeland, but also being stuck in the stone for a hundred years.}}
*** At least one translation states that he gave them an ultimatum to stop Magitech research. An ultimatum generally implies threat of force if the demands are not met, and with Dhaos' general [[Beam Spam|M]][[Kill'Em All|O]], he most likely put it simply: "Stop researching Magitech or I'll burn Midgard to the ground." The people of Midgard reacted accordingly.
** Dhaos {{spoiler|orders the total and absolute elimination of any communities he deems has any remote connection whatsoever to
** {{spoiler|Even worse, it's revealed in the Gameboy sequel ''Narikiri Dungeon'' that the reason he needs the Mana Seed in the first place is because the people of Derris Kharlan did more or less the same thing the humans did, and ended up nearly eradicating themselves with a huge war.}}
*** {{spoiler|However, it should be noted that the same game shows that Dhaos was a benevolent king until he came to Aseria, whereupon he was horrified to realize that he had somehow gained evil thoughts for the first time. And apparently then proceeded to embrace said thoughts with a fierceness typically associated with a guy who just got out of prison embracing his wife.}}
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* [[Big Bad]] [[Badass]]: Dhaos of course. The OVA manages to make him even more awesome in certain scenes.
* [[Bonus Dungeon]]: Lower floors of Moria, overlaps with [[Marathon Level]] for longevity, and to some degree [[Drought Level of Doom]]
* [[Call Back]]: If you cast Indignation on Dhaos during your fight with him midway through the game, he shouts "[[This Cannot Be!|Sonna... Sonna bakana!]]", just like he does when it's cast on him in the prelude fight in the intro {{spoiler|(of course, due to [[Time Travel]]
* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: As usual for the series, but notable for having it on the SNES.
* [[City of Canals]]: Venezia▼
* [[Chaste Hero]]: Cress. It happens when Arche is explaining why she left Mint alone in the White Forest to meet the Unicorn.
{{quote|'''Arche''': Because... well... once, there was this guy, and...
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'''Arche''': ...and... you know! So I thought the Unicorn wouldn't see me! }}
** And much earlier into the game, Cress seems to struggle with understanding the implications of Mint and he sharing the same bed.
▲* [[City of Canals]]: Venezia.
* [[Competence Zone]]: Total aversion of the "Too Old" type. Claus is pushing thirty while the rest of the group average age 16, Suzu pushing it down, being age 11, but he's the brains of the operation from the moment he joined and does most of the talking to other people.
* [[Compressed Adaptation]]: The first half of the game is crammed into the first half of episode 1 of [[The Anime of the Game]].
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* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]]: Arche puts her hair up in a ponytail {{spoiler|after Rhea leaves her body.}} This is actually how she normally has her hair, but {{spoiler|Rhea}} wore it down.
* [[Fantastic Racism]]
* [[Fantastic Science]]: Sorcery is treated this way (even more so in the prequels). Your party visits three separate "magical research labs" over the course of the story, and Claus considers himself a scientist.▼
* [[Fighting a Shadow]]: The remnant of Dhaos in ''Narikiri Dungeon'', comprised of his anger towards {{spoiler|Dios and Meltia}}.
* [[Final Boss Preview]]: At the end of the Present time period, the party encounters Dhaos, who wastes no time in showing the awesome power of his [[Wave Motion Gun|Dhaos Laser]].
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** [[The Chick]]: Mint.
** [[The Sixth Ranger]]: Suzu.
▲* [[Fantastic Science]]: Sorcery is treated this way (even more so in the prequels). Your party visits three separate "magical research labs" over the course of the story, and Claus considers himself a scientist.
* [[Frothy Mugs of Water]]: A [[Duel Boss]] in the second part of the game is forced by all the characters other than Cress having hangovers after a night of party on the sea. The official translation changes this to "ate too much."
** Mint didn't get drunk. She was just very seasick.
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* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: One of the major goals in the early part of the game is to find people who have magical powers in order to defeat Dhaos, because humans cannot use magic. Nope. Not even a little bit. Shoot plasma bolts and lightning? Turn into a giant flaming bird? ''Teleport?!'' No problem! But they can't use magic.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: Unlike later ''Tales'' games, the Sorceror's Ring is an equipable item not central to the plot. Because of how little it's used, leaps of logic like "Shoot it at that jumble of mechanical parts over there" or "Use that tiny little spark to thaw out a switch" are easy to miss.
* [[Harder Than Hard]]: Besides Hard mode (unlocked in SFC release by pressing XYBA at the same time on title screen when starting a game, made a selectable option in PSX release), once you finish the PSX version you may unlock Mania difficulty. All enemies have 3x HP (compare with 2x HP in Hard mode), do 50% more damage (compare to 25% in Hard) and worst of all, you do not
* [[Healing Hands]]
* [[Health Damage Asymmetry]]: Partially averted. Enemies use spells that hit just about as hard as yours. The real difference is that you have heals, and they simply have a lot of health.
* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: There's the standard one in Ymir forest, and then ''another'' hidden village of Ninjas behind it, hidden from the Elves that are living in the first [[Hidden Elf Village]].
* [[Hot Springs Episode]]
* [[Humans Are
** The clearest example is the Mana Cannon, a highly destructive, very environment-unfriendly weapon. In the game, it was built to have a chance against Dhaos forces, which were attacking precisely because humans were developing that kind of technology. Part of the vicious cycle is that if Dhaos were ''not'' attacking, the weapon would not have had a reason to be ever built or used. In the anime, humans built the weapon even ''before'' Dhaos showed up for... no bloody reason.
* [[Infinity-1 Sword]]: In the PSX version, Gungnir is a likely example.
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* [[Meat Shield]]: For quite a large number of boss fights (Past Dhaos and Fen Wolf, I'm looking at you), Arche and Claus deal most of the damage while Cress is just a glorified [[Meat Shield]] for the rest of the party, as Mint faithfully spams her strongest heals on Cress. Granted that for an overwhelming portion of the game that your party will be the [[White Mage]], the [[Cute Witch]], the [[Summoner]], and Cress the [[Meat Shield]], Cress dying in a battle pretty much means that shit will hit the fan.
** He's also good for interrupting casters. That's about it, but it's the player's job in most of the series anyway.
*** It's actually kind of nice to have a protagonist who isn't [[Chrono Trigger|tank, healer, and caster]] [[MOTHER 1|all]] [[
* [[Medieval Stasis]]: part usage and part aversion. Not much happens between the "past" era and the "present" era, but the "future" era is beginning to rediscover [[Magitech]] lost in the meteor impact
* [[Merged Reality]]
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** [[Takeshi Kusao]] - Cress (also Chester in the SNES version)
** [[Kaneto Shiozawa]] and [[Toshiyuki Morikawa]] - Dhaos (Morikawa being [[The Other Darrin]] after Shiozawa's death)
** For the English OVA
** [[Johnny Yong Bosch]] - Cress
** [[Karen Strassmen]] - Mint
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** [[Jamieson Price]] - Morrison
** [[Patrick Seitz]] - Dhaos
*** All characters to return in following Tales Games have roles
* [[Nature Versus Nurture]]: A major point in ''Narikiri Dungeon'', as {{spoiler|Norn wished to see if Dios and Meltia were inherently evil beings, or good people whose morality had been heavily skewed by circumstance}}.
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]
* [[One-Woman Wail]]: The first time Origin is summoned in the OVA.
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Claus is usually the voice of reason within the group.
** Considering the way Claus acts sometimes this would be fairly frightening if it weren't for the way NPC's keep pointing out how young the rest of the party is. In a role reversal, Arche plays [[Only Sane Man]] for a brief period in Midgard.
* [[Opening the Sandbox]]: Once you get the ability to fly in {{spoiler|the future}} the world becomes an open sandbox with access to areas limited primarily by your ability to handle the challenge.
* [[Outside the Box Tactic]]: It's a running gag that the final boss, {{spoiler|Dhaos, is susceptible to the ''Indignation'' spell. In cameo appearances in later games, he dies to one use of the spell.}}
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* [[Pettanko]]: Arche.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Rondoline's backstory in ''Narikiri Dungeon X'' is essentially a big [[Pet the Dog]] for Dhaos: she befriends him despite his quietly sinister exterior, to the point where she is stunned to find out he is considered a "Demon King" in the future.
* [[Point of No Return]]
* [[Prepare to Die]]: When you meet Demitel Cress says "[[You Killed My Father|You killed Rhea's parents.]] [[Prepare to Die]]". Though, he should've at least said [[Hello]] and [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|give his name]] first.▼
▲* [[Point of No Return]] - None for the endgame, you can save anywhere in the final dungeon and still leave, but once you reach the last room of the Underground Crypt, you're sealed off from {{spoiler|the Present}} and the same applies for {{spoiler|the Past}} when you set sail for Thor's nautical location.
* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Come ON, {{spoiler|Dhaos}}, an FYI would have been kinda useful! {{spoiler|In either timeline!}}
** They ''could'' have avoided all that, if only Dhaos had ''opened his damn mouth''.
** It wouldn't have hurt for the heroes to spend more than five seconds considering what Origin had to say either.
* [[Port Town]]: Venezia.
▲* [[Prepare to Die]]: When you meet Demitel Cress says "[[You Killed My Father|You killed Rhea's parents.]] [[Prepare to Die]]". Though, he should've at least said [[Hello]] and [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|give his name]] first.
* [[Randomly Drops]]: One of the quests in the game requires you to find five Basilisk's Scales, which drop from, as you would imagine, Basilisks. Unfortunately they're a somewhat uncommon encounter and the drop isn't guaranteed. Later in the game a pair of dungeons requires a special charm which randomly drops from enemies, though they are much more common.
** You can also get each charm by using a Rune Bottle on the version found in the dungeon that requires it - the Rune Bottle turns each charm into the other, and you need the fire charm to survive the ice dungeon (though not in the GBA version) and the water charm to survive the lava dungeon.
* [[Rescue Romance]]: Very early on in the game, Cress rescues Mint from Mars' mansion. Later on, the storyline hints at romantic feelings between Cress and Mint, particularly during the [[Snow Means Love]] moment.
* [[Scenery Porn]]: It would be remiss to discuss ''Tales of Phantasia'' without mentioning that it ranks among the most graphically beautiful games released for Super Famicom, and probably the most graphically advanced RPG of the 16-bit era. Effects now taken for granted like reflective water and mirrors, rippling water effects, realistic weather, etc were revolutionary at the time this game was released. Also, contained far more voice acting than most 16-bit console RPGs, and the music is considered among the best of any SFC game. This level of detail required a 48MB cartridge; compare with [[Chrono Trigger]] at 32MB, and [[Final Fantasy VI]] and [[
** Incidentally, [[Star Ocean]] was made by the ''Tales of Phantasia'' team after they left Namco in disgust.
* [[Slice-and-Dice Swordsmanship]]: Subverted through the magic of separate Slash and Thrust attack statistics. ''Phantasia'' has four weapon types for Cress - high Thrust spears, high Slash axes, and balanced swords and halberds... and a few exceptions like the super stabby sword Dragon's Fang.
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: Not so much sliding, but it certainly does have an underground ice cave, and in keeping with tradition of ice levels, it's also a rather difficult level. Bonus points for ending with [[That One Boss]].
* [[The Slow Path]]: {{spoiler|In the ending, Arche and Claus return to the past. Arche, however, is a half-elf with the potential to live for centuries, and she anticipates meeting her friends again in the present (her future).}}▼
** [[Fridge Logic]]: {{spoiler|So... shouldn't the slow-path version of her have been there in the present all along?}}▼
* [[Smash Mook]]: Golems found throughout the game. Feature very high hit points, and typically use attacks that, sure enough, smash your party, often resulting in being flung backwards and/or stunned. Frequently found serving as meat shields for mage enemies and have a really nasty habit of surrounding your party, which can be problematic.
* [[Snow Means Love]]
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* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]
* [[Stupid Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Edward Morrison,}} a war hero and powerful sorcerer, sacrifices his life to save some random kid an [[Enemy Of The Week]] had taken hostage.
* [[Sword and Sorcerer|Sword And Three Sorcerers]]: It's not until you've gotten through half the game that you're allowed any party combination but this. You start off with Fighter And Healer, after which the [[Glass Cannon
▲* [[The Slow Path]]: {{spoiler|In the ending, Arche and Claus return to the past. Arche, however, is a half-elf with the potential to live for centuries, and she anticipates meeting her friends again in the present (her future).}}
▲** [[Fridge Logic]]: {{spoiler|So... shouldn't the slow-path version of her have been there in the present all along?}}
* [[There Is Only One Bed]]
* [[The Un-Reveal]]▼
* [[This Cannot Be!]]: Dhaos's reaction to Indignation. He keeps doing it every time he and that spell show up in other games, too.
{{quote|Sonna... sonna bakana!/It can't beeee!}}
* [[Throw the Book At Them]]: Claus. He is a [[Summoner]], not a physical attacker, but he WILL whack enemies with his book if they get too close.▼
* [[Time Travel]]: Thanks to dividing timelines, it turns out that {{spoiler|the final boss of the game is ''not'' the guy you've been trying to get revenge on all game long. Basically: the one you hate was defeated in the prologue and sealed away, and gets defeated about halfway through the game; the final boss is completely different, having split off from the original when your party replaced their own ancestors in reenacting the same prologue battle.}} Dammit, time travel!
** [[Time Paradox]]: Dio and Mell cause one in ''Narikiri Dungeon'' when they {{spoiler|kill their evil past selves. To resolve the paradox, the twins become one with their past selves}}.
* [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]: Claus' [[Weapon of Choice]], which include the [[Cthulhu Mythos|Necronomicon, The King in Yellow, the Liver Ivonis, The Celaneo Fragments, G'harne Fragments, True Magick, Requiem for Shaggai, Cthäat Aquadingen, and the Seven Books of H'San]] (which many of the names were misspelled in the English GBA version). [[Go Mad
▲* [[Throw the Book At Them]]: Claus. He is a [[Summoner]], not a physical attacker, but he WILL whack enemies with his book if they get too close.
* [[Tsundere]] :Arche. She's not very fond of Chester when they first meet each other.▼
** Chester feels the exact same way about Arche.▼
▲* [[The Un-Reveal]]
* [[The Unintelligible]]: Volt speaks either in Binary or in symbols, depending on your version. [[Hilarity Ensues|Most of the reason he fights you seems to be because he's pissed that you can't understand him.]]
▲* [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]: Claus' [[Weapon of Choice]], which include the [[Cthulhu Mythos|Necronomicon, The King in Yellow, the Liver Ivonis, The Celaneo Fragments, G'harne Fragments, True Magick, Requiem for Shaggai, Cthäat Aquadingen, and the Seven Books of H'San]] (which many of the names were misspelled in the English GBA version). [[Go Mad From the Revelation|Ironic]], considering Claus is the [[Only Sane Man]].
* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: Claus looks ''weird'' but no one seems to notice, even though he does all the talking for your party. No one seems to think it's at all strange that Arche follows you around on a floating broom either.
▲* [[Tsundere]] :Arche. She's not very fond of Chester when they first meet each other.
▲** Chester feels the exact same way about Arche.
* [[Waif Fu]]: Suzu. She's a little girl, both in terms of age and size, but easily the most deadly physical fighter.
* [[Wasted Song]]: The present's overworld music isn't used much due to how little of the game is spent in that time period.<ref>Despite this, this very song is the world map music throughout ''[[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World]]''.</ref> Averted with the town music in that time period, however, which is reused in the future.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Eastern RPG]]
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[[Category:Fantasy Video Games]]
[[Category:Geneon]]
[[Category:Tales of Phantasia]]▼
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Tales (series)]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 2000s]]
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