Frequently cited as the third most popular RPG series in Japan -- after Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy -- the Tales series remains a sales champion in the east but something of an enigma in the west. Its sole breakout success was 2004's Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube.
Good news for the series: the team behind that game releases its first next-gen RPG, Tales of Vesperia, in North America this week -- following its record-breaking sales for an Xbox 360 game in Japan. And to be released in North America in November is Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, a sequel to the game that is most closely associated with the series in the minds of U.S. fans.
Here, Gamasutra talks with Namco Bandai's Hideo Baba, the Tales brand manager, and Tsutomu Gouda, the producer of both games, about the development process of the series and how the games are conceived and executed within the studio.
Toby @ FG: The Tales Of series is 25 this year, but are all the retrospectives building up to something?
I would love some collections of older titles. A PC/Console port of Tales of Innocence would also be very nice.
Unfortunately both those games already had official Namco remakes on Playstation 2. They were Japan exclusives. Your talking about a 2nd Remake of the Playstation 2 Remakes? Haha Lol
Tekken 8 please without any of the over the top crazy guest characters. Tekken doesn't need the Walking Dead tv show characters. And it doesn't need Robocop or Terminator lol
Nevada Dru from Bits & Pieces explores delayed gratification in JRPG's.
I really enjoyed this article, it was a good read. This quote gave me a chuckle, because it's true!:
"Pretty much every JRPG involves the player’s characters going from barely being able to lift a sword to killing God"
Final Fantasy 15 the ultimate delayed game with delayed story dlc shoveled in at the last second. Doesn’t ring the gratifying bell when I see that stupid car at all. Article+thumbnail is like describing a 5star meal while watching your cat clean its backside.
Replies(2)More specifically I would say JRPGs are progressive gratification. Basically like listening to prog music vs anything else which imo is the best. Even if a JRPG is all about the journey, generally speaking JRPGs keep getting better as opposed to other games which usually have their high points come in either too soon, or the best parts just aren't nearly as impactful.
Also don't forget the direct comparison that the old Square Enix president made. He said Western players like TWITCH games and eastern players love Cerebral games. Now it was taken as a racist slam. But he meant it as one of the reasons outside of development time and cost return on investment(ROI). But he had a true point people here are TRAINED to like instant stuff. And people there are trained to like delayed over the top stuff. It is not a intelligence slam. I'm glad I LOVE the later gratification! Because it is way better!
The Tales games may be less recognizable than the Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy games, but that doesn't mean that they aren't worth playing!
“Tales series is considered one of the top three Japanese RPG series next to RPG giants like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.”
How you gonna talk about the top three JRPG franchises and not mention Pokémon, the top selling series in the genre?
This is how the top JRPG series stack up
1. Pokémon - 340M
2. Final Fantasy - 144M
3. Dragon Quest - 78M
4. Monster Hunter - 52M
5. Kingdom Hearts - 30M
6. Souls - 25M
7. Tales of - 20M
