Tales Remasters That Need to Happen
Tales of Destiny and Destiny 2
While Tales of Phantasia was the first game in the series, Tales of Destiny is really where it found its groove. Despite being such an early title, Destiny is still one of the most beloved games in the franchise, mostly because of fantastic characters like Stahl, Leon, and Rutee.
Sadly, the only way you can play Tales of Destiny in the west is by finding an original PS1 copy, something that isn’t easy or cheap.
Unfortunately, there was also a full PS2 remake of the game that never made its way west, with completely remade graphics, and enhanced combat system, new scenes and a skit system, and more.
To make matters even worse, the West has also never gotten Tales of Destiny 2, a sequel that stars Stahn and Rutee’s son Kyle Dunamis.
Consider Tales of Destiny was the very first Tales game that ever made its way west, it served as an introduction to the series for many people.
It’s a PS1 classic that’s faded into obscurity, and it really shouldn’t be that way. With the Tales series more popular than ever now, it’d be the perfect time for Bandai Namco to finally bring the Destiny remake and its sequel west in one bundle.
Tales Remasters That Need to Happen
Tales of Xillia and Xillia 2
Tales of Xillia, and its sequel Xillia 2, have arguably the best combat system in the entire series. The link system allows two party members to link up and support each other in battle, gaining the ability to use powerful Link Artes. Xillia’s combat just has a fantastic flow to it, almost feeling more like an action game than an RPG at many points.
This was expanded upon even more in the sequel, which gave its main character Ludger three different styles to switch between on the fly. The Xillia games brilliantly expand upon its main cast, giving everyone their time to shine across both entries.
Gauis is a strong villain in the first game, who’s character is then expanded upon in interesting ways by becoming a party member in the second game.
While the first Xillia is one of the shorter Tales games out there, it doesn’t suffer for it. The game’s story ends up feeling much more focused and refined, and it’s the title that also moved the franchise away from world maps to one continuous world, a la Final Fantasy X.
Xillia and Xillia 2 did a lot to move the Tales series forward, and they seem like the perfect candidates for an HD collection on PS4 and Xbox One, done in the style of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition.
Tales Remasters That Need to Happen
Tales of Graces F
If there’s any game that can make a case against Xillia for the best battle system, it’s Graces F. In fact, it’s that very battle system that keeps Graces interesting, consistently introducing new elements and mechanics the entire way through.
In traditional Tales fashion, each playable character is incredibly different, but even more so this time.
Graces uses something called the Style Shift Linear Motion Battle System, letting you change between multiple different combat styles for each character.
Your moves are governed by a Chain Capacity bar that refills, but each style has a different moveset and different artes. This allows for a ton of variation, with combat that feels exciting and fresh the entire way through.
Graces F definitely has one of the weaker stories of the series, with a “friendship” theme that feels a little too anime tropey, but its phenomenal combat and gorgeous watercolor art style help elevate it despite the flaws.
Tales of Graces originally released on the Nintendo Wii in Japan, with an updated and expanded port called Tales of Graces F making its way to PS3, and to the west.
Considering it was originally on a Nintendo platform, Graces F seems like the perfect candidate for a Nintendo Switch release, letting fans play another epic JRPG on the go.
Tales Remasters That Need to Happen
Tales of Hearts R
Tales of Hearts R is another entry in the series trapped in an unfortunate position, only playable on the PlayStation Vita.
The game is, luckily, available to download on PSN, but the fact that it’s only on Vita means that many people likely didn’t get a chance to experience it.
Tales of Hearts R doesn’t reach the heights that something like Vesperia or Xillia does, but as a handheld title it’s astonishing that Bandai Namco managed to cram in a totally uncompromised Tales experience, both in terms of story and battle system.
Heart’s battle system is fully in 3D, not semi-3D, and puts a big emphasis on juggling and air combos.
An Aerial Chase system lets your character follow enemies into the air after knocking them up, and the whole focus on aerials is a surprisingly nice bit of variation on the rest of the series.
The ensemble cast isn’t the best in Hearts, but there are a few interesting characters that help hold everything up, like the boneheaded man character Cor Meteor or the mechanical knight Kunzite.
More than anything, Tales of Hearts R is a game that could really benefit from an upgrade, something that a full remaster would easily be able to do.
It still feels like a handheld game to some degree, but it could easily hold up on modern consoles, especially if you look at porting it to the Switch.
Tales Remasters That Need to Happen
Tales of Innocence
There are a handful of mainline Tales games that never made it to the west, like Destiny 2, but one of the most interesting out of the bunch is Tales of Innocence, originally released on the Nintendo DS.
Innocence’s art style definitely sports some steampunk themes, and its’ story is quite a bit darker than usual, Tales of Berseria not included.
The world of Innocence is split into the godlike realm of Devaloka and the human realm of Naraka. Devaloka needs human souls to survive, and so the inhabitants of it try to fuse their realm with Naraka, but it leads to war and a failure to merge the two.
Most of the main cast are Devaloka reincarnated as humans, adding an interesting side to their character as they explore the also war-torn human world.
Innocence is pretty much the same as Tales of Hearts, considering it’s a fully-3D title that released on handhelds, first on the DS and then with Tales of Innocence R on the PS Vita.
Similarly, it’s a game that could hugely benefit from getting a graphical upgrade on modern consoles.
Tales of Innocence R is one of the glaring omissions from the series’ library in the west, and one that fans have been wanting for years and years.
What Tales games would you still like to see remastered? For even more on the franchise, check out our massive ranking of every game.
