Welcome to Modojo, 
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology Review
Written by Cody Musser on Monday, July 30, 2007
Tales hero cameos all around; Great character customizatin and unique items; A brilliantly streamlined design.
Fetch quests and simple monster hunts make up for most of the gameplay experience; There is a cohesive story to all of this, but it's not very important.
The first thing that struck me about Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is that this game looked beautiful. The characters, be they classic Tales veterans returning for a cameo role, or the unique character created by the player, all look unique and they're surrounded by a world that's just as interesting. That's a pretty good first impression of a game to have... well, I'm lying. The absolute first thing I noticed about the game was that this was yet another game with a subtitle. Everywhere I look these days it's This: This, or That: That. What ever happened to just naming something simple and thoughtful? I'm being facetious, but at least it's not an A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.
Anyways, Tales of the Word: Radiant Mythology is an off-shoot of the standard Tales franchise, collecting the heroes and popular characters from other titles and placing them in a new quest-driven RPG. The main character is a unique and new character, spit out from the World Tree in an attempt to save the world from The Devourer, a beast that is eating entire worlds. That's pretty much the base story for the entire game, and it's most definitely not going to be the reason you should pick this up. The story is mostly a backdrop, and while it's not the most terrible thing I've ever played through, it surely doesn't leave an impact.
The neatest aspect of being born from the World Tree is that you're free to customize your character in any way you see fit before you start out on your adventure. The customization is fun, and there's a pretty large swath of anime flavored styles to take on, including changing aspects such as your face, hair, voice, gender, skin tone, and ultimately your character's class. Starting the game you can select the genre norms Warrior, Thief, Mage, or Priest (other classes are available later), and the game takes care to mention which classes are suitable for your level of RPG knowledge. Beginners should choose the warrior, advanced players may want to try the priest, etc. It's not much, but I found that awfully polite of them. The class you choose has some influence on the quests that are available to you as you progress in the game, and that's actually very important, as this game is solely, entirely about the questing.
It's become almost a given fact that every PSP roleplaying title I end up playing will not be a traditional RPG, but instead developers seem almost universally committed to creating these quest-driven games in which progress is determined by selecting quests relevant to the story. Monster Hunter Freedom and Valhalla Knights are both perfect examples of a similar structure, and Tales of the World works within that same general frame, although in some areas it succeeds more nobly, where in others it completely falls apart.
The gothic lolita outfit is obviously for a specific audience...
The game starts to wane in enjoyment when you notice that 5 out of 6 available quests have you fetching food items for townspeople, or venturing into a dungeon to kill a single, unimportant monster. It got to the point where I would often accept a quest to deliver items to a townsperson, but I'd been on so many similar and simple quests that I already had the items necessary, and I merely had to hand them over. This was easily the single worst element of Tales of the World, and I'd liken it to playing through the starting area of an MMO indefinitely. If that's your thing, then hop right in.
Tales of the World does nail many of the smaller features in a quest-driven RPG right away though. Instead of having to trek back to town after acquiring the items you need, the game always offers to send you back immediately, and that's a godsend. It shoots you not just right back to town, but directly to the general area of the person you need to see for your reward. Also, returning to town after a quest immediately heals your characters, and that too is a welcomed feature. It removes a lot of the hassle that comes from visiting the inn or your home after every single outing. More games should take a look at Tales of the World to see how pleasant a streamlined experience can be.
The two other large draws of Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology are undoubtedly the enjoyable combat and the chance to rekindle memories with Tales favorites from the years. Getting the chance to play with other famous characters depends of acquiring fame by finishing quests and progressing through the story. The combat is enjoyable, as it's the return of the fan-favorite, and long winded, Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System from Tales of the Abyss. This means combat is 3D, fast-paced and fun. You can move your character around and avoid enemy attacks or block and set enemies up for special moves. I almost never got tired of combat in Tales of the World, and in only a few cases did I find the system to be a little glitchy. Early on it's a little slow-going and enemies feel over-powered (I was playing as a thief, an intermediate level class), but after the first hour or so the system falls into place and you'll be circling enemies, avoiding their attacks, and countering with a powerful Artes special attack.
The last thing I'd like to mention is that I wasn't joking when I said this game was beautiful. It's just so damned colorful and visually appealing. It's wonderful to notice your character fighting alongside these famous faces from the Tales franchise and looking easily as interesting and appealing as the best of them. That's the one place where character customization usually fails but here it's a great success. There's even an interesting Exchange system in which you can trade points for awkward outfits like swimsuits, schoolgirl uniforms and the much loved (across the seas anyways) gothic lolita costume. I was obviously playing as a female hero (who wants to watch a dude walk around anyways?), but I'm sure the male outfits are just as hilarious.
posted 10 months ago