Tales of Festival: Day 2 News

Sun, Jun 6th, 2010, 2:03 pm (EST) by Shawn

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Earlier today was the second day of Tales of Festival 2010, but unlike yesterday there doesn't seem to be that much news coming, except for the rest of the popularity poll results and some other minor Tales news.

As we reported on earlier, Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X will be receiving a pre-order bonus DVD. The name of the DVD will be Dramatic DVD Tales of Costume!?. There's also rumours that an Asbel costume for Dio will be made available, which would make sense considering he appears on the DVD.

Continue reading on for the rest of the results of the popularity poll.

Tales of Festival: Day 1 News

Sat, Jun 5th, 2010, 2:06 pm (EST) by Shawn

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Earlier today was the first day of Tales of Festival 2010, which brought some new news along with it, along with partial results of the Tales of Popularity poll that was going on at Tales Channel earlier this year.

Namco Bandai has confirmed the rumors that Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X will be having demos. The first demo will hit in early July, which will focus on the improved battle system in the Tales of Phantasia part of the game. Later in the month, a second demo will hit which features the Narikiri Dungeon X portion of the game. The rumored August 5, 2010 release date was also confirmed at the event.

As for the rumored PS3 Tales game, known as Tales of Unitia, the game was a no-show at the Festival except for a mention that this Summer a "major" announcement would occur. It's unknown why they would push the unveiling that far, but they may be putting some extra polish on the game and didn't want to unveil it just yet.

More news as well as the results of the popularity polls can be found in the full story.

New Tales of VS. Trailer

25 June 2009 by Shawn

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The Tales of VS. trailer from the recent Tales of Festival in Japan has been released. The game will pit the various Tales of characters in a fighting free-for-all, using their well-known Artes, locations from the different games, and even items from the various games, as well as each character's unique Mystic Arte.

The trailer shows off all of the currently revealed characters, such as Yuri from Tales of Vesperia. It then cuts into footage of the game in action, showing off basic attacks, Artes, and the environmental traps revealed a while back, which are much like the ones found in games like the Super Smash Bros. series. Shots from the menus are also shown, including the area where you can give new skills and increase your character's stats. The trailer finishes off by showing some scenes from the game's opening video.

Tales of VS. is due to be released in Japan on August 6th. No North American release date has currently been announced, although Namco Bandai has filed trademarks for both this game and Tales of Graces (Graces also is trademarked in Europe).

The video can be found in the full story.

New Tales of Graces Trailer

22 June 2009 by Shawn

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The Tales of Graces trailer from the recent Tales of Festival in Japan has been released. This game is the first mothership (Namco Bandai's term for non-spin-off games in the Tales of series) game for the Wii. The previous Tales of game for the Wii, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, was classified as a spin-off sequel.

This trailer shows off Asbel running across the towns and dungeons in the game (all outside, however), then shifting to showing off the new Shift Style LMBS using Asbel and SoPhie, as well as the use of the new Around Step mechanic. The trailer finishes with some select story scenes from the game.

From our perspective, the game seems to take ideas from Team Destiny games such as the recent Tales of Destiny remake on the PlayStation 2, with Asbel being able to create 16-hit chains in only a few seconds. Aerial attacks are also included alongside the usual ground attacks. Tales of Graces is set to be released in Japan in Q4 2009. No North American release date has currently been announced.

The trailer can be found in the full story.

Tales of Symphonia Anime Season 2 Release Date Announced

14 June 2009 by Shawn

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Today was the 2nd annual Tales of Festival, a fan event for the Tales of fans in Japan. Among the news was the estimated release for the Tethe'alla arc of the Tales of Symphonia: The Animation anime.

The first anime covered the Sylvarant arc of Tales of Symphonia a few years ago, leaving fans wondering when the second half would be released. The anime version of Tales of the Abyss was recently finished earlier this year.

Not much information was released about the anime outside of the fact that they are planning to release it sometime next year. Hopefully as we get close to 2010, more information about it will come to light.

Tales of Graces Deviates From Past Games

14 June 2009 by Shawn

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Today was the 2nd annual Tales of Festival, a fan event for the Tales of fans in Japan. Among the news was a great deal of new information about Tales of Graces, which will deviate from the previous games in the series in some key areas.

The seamless overworld that had been talked about earlier isn't quite what we thought it might be. It is similar to past Tales of games in the fact that you still travel from town to town via an overworld, but this time the camera is panned behind the character instead of from a birds-eye view, and the character is proportionate to the elements in the towns and dungeons, making the game seem more realistic while not radically deviating from what fans expect from the series.

New Artes, as well as the official name for the 360 step system, entitled Around Step were also revealed during the event.

Tales of Vesperia Movie Release Date Announced

14 June 2009 by Shawn

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Today was the 2nd annual Tales of Festival, a fan event for the Tales of fans in Japan. Among the news was the release date for the upcoming Tales of Vesperia Movie, entitled The First Strike.

The movie will be a prequel to the game, focusing on Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo's past when they were in the Imperial Knights. Estelle, Raven, and Rita Mordio have been confirmed to have roles in the movie, as well as a unknown red-haired woman who seems to be another Imperial Knight.

The movie will be out in Japan on October 3rd in Ikeburo Sunshine Cinema and Shinjuku Cinema Kadokawa.