Tales of Innocence R
Tales of Innocence is the ninth entry in the series, originally releasing on DS and PSP. At least aesthetically, Innocence is quite different from the rest of the franchise, employing a sort of Western/Steampunk look. The story focuses on Luca, a merchant’s son who encounters a fugitive named Ilia and ends up rescuing her. Shortly he finds out that he’s inherited supernatural powers from a past life, something the other party members also find out,
Innocence uses an altered version of the Linear Motion Battle System, called Dimension Stride LMBS. This system gives you full range of movement instead of only being on a 2D plane, and there’s a large emphasis on combos and aerial combat. By stringing enough attacks together characters can enter an “awakened” state, significantly increasing their attack power. A remake of the game titled Innocence R was also released making some big changes to combat and world. Puzzles were reworked, a new story dungeon was added, and you can now use four characters instead of three in battle, among other things.
Tales of Innocence is easily one of the most unique and well-rounded titles in the series, with an engaging main story and characters, as well as a fast-paced battle system. With Tales of Hearts R finally releasing in North America a few years back, it seems baffling that we didn’t get something similar for Innocence. Hopefully, it’s still something fans will be able to get their hands on going forward.
