12) Tales of Destiny II (Eternia)
Best Tales of Games
Tales of Destiny II was the second game to hit North America, but was actually called Tales of Eternia in Japan. There is in fact a Tales of Destiny II that follows up on the first game, but unfortunately the west never saw a release of it.
Eternia’s battle system feels like an expanded version of the previous games, with battles players controlling their character in real time.
There’s also a detailed system allowing characters to heavily influence how the AI teammates act in battle. Although it may feel a bit dated now, Eternia’s combat was a nice shift from traditional turn based gampeplay at the time it came out.
Eternia plays host to a hunter named Reid Herschell and his friends, as they discover a mysterious girl who speaks another language.
They find out she’s from another realm known as Celestia, which they cross a dimensional boundry to get to.
They become embroiled in a war between two worlds, and meet characters from both along the way.
The story is definitely emphasized less than its predecessor, Destiny, although in Tales fashion, the party still has interesting dynamics. Eternia also hit at a time when voice acting was still fairly new to video games, and it shows.
The voice acting isn’t necessarily terrible, but a sense of urgency is never conveyed by the actors even in dramatic life-or-death situations.
Pieces of Eternia may not hold up, but it still has a great battle system and some fun characters. It’s worth going back to and having look at if you happened to miss it before now.
