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Tales of Phantasia SFC/PSX differences
v .7
Created by Cless (email at bottom)
http://starocean.zophar.net/
http://cless.romhacking.com/
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IF YOU WISH TO USE THIS ON YOUR WEBSITE, READ THE BOTTOM.
I have recently obtained a copy of Tales of Phantasia's remake for
the Sony PlayStation. It's really good and I _HIGHLY_ recommend it to
anyone who enjoyed the original Super Famicom version. I wrote up this
guide up to cover as many big differences as I can possibly find. I also
throw in a few comparisons to Tales of Destiny's general engine as well.
Since it's a true remake, it's bound to have all the essentials of
one. Enhanced graphics, sounds, music, etc. But that's not all. Not
only is it a remake, it's also a remix, there are new features, quests,
and a lot more.
If you've ever played Tales of Destiny (the sequel), the remake
of Tales of Phantasia has inherited many of the engine enhancements
from it. It seems to me that the remake may have actually been ported
to a modified version of the Tales of Destiny engine.
What's new?
01/21/01
I've never been one to come up with reliable release dates, and it's
been over 3 seasons since the last... but...
This FAQ's gone through some formatting changes, and undergone many
revisions and additions. Just read it all over again!
The next release will be focused on event differences, it shouldn't
take too long to release and I feel confident on that one. ^^;
NEWS NOT ENTIRELY RELATED TO THIS FAQ BUT THE GAME ITSELF:
Dejap Translations has released their translation patch for the 16-bit
SFC version. Go play it, absorb the story if you couldn't read Japanese.
Do not email me about Tales of Phantasia ROMs!
http://dejap.zsnes.com/
Phantasian Productions (my game translation site) is working on the
32-bit PSX remake. Don't expect it to be released for awhile though.
http://cless.romhacking.com/
04/08/00
Initial release. There are a number of differences that I don't think
I've gotten around to inputting here. Hopefully there will be an
update soon.
Table of Contents
-----------------
1) Character related stuff; abilities, magic, misc stuff
I. Cless Alvein
II. Chester Barklight
III. Mint Adnade
IV. Klarth F. Lester
V. Arche Klaine
VI. Suzu Fujibayashi
2) Items
I. Deleted (quick list)
II. Added
1. Quick list
2. New items that deserve to be explained
III. Changed effect
3) General gameplay
I. New cooking system
II. The "Job" system
III. Battle system
IV. Difficulty modes
V. The "New Game save"
4) Changes throughout the game
I. Story
II. Subquests
5) Misc changes and additions
================================================================================
1) CHARACTER RELATED STUFF
================================================================================
One general thing. In the SFC version, the in-game character sprites
hardly at all even resembled the original artwork. Cless wore this
blue dress type thing (not sure what it's called), Klarth looked much
more like a scholar and wore a different hat. This has been completely
changed. The sprites now very much reflect the artwork. Cless has his
cape, Klarth has his hat and body symbols, Mint looks much more like
a priestess, etc. And maybe it's just me, but the characters look a bit
older, too...
I. CLESS ALVEIN
------------
He now has two new 'secret' techiques. Both of these special techniques
are NOT performed the same way normal techs are performed! They are also
not gotten in the traditional fashion.
His first one is a desperation attack. When the word "Power" flashes by
his HP or TP, hit all 3 attack buttons, [], X and O at the same time!
The other one is Stahn Aileron's Ougi "Assassin" (US name...). You must
have a SPECIAL SWORD (it's kind of a spoiler, yet an optional one) and I
believe it requires the use a certain combination of buttons to execute.
I've still not gotten this yet-- I found out in a technique FAQ.
II. CHESTER BARKLIGHT
-----------------
As far as being a fighter goes, he's changed quite a bit. The biggest
and obvious change is that he has 9 TP-consuming skills at his disposal.
No longer is he only a brute force fighter. His later weapons have gone
through a bit of weakness, but in the end, his techs by far make up for
this change!
His new moves are:
Guren - Fire arrow attack
Touga - Ice arrow attack
Gouten - Lightning arrow attack
Shuuu - Attacks enemies with a bunch of airblades
Hayate - Shoot lots of arrows at an enemy
Shyouha - Shoots an arrow into the ground and hits enemies with earth.
Shinten - Arrow Rain attack.
Taiga - He pulls out a HUUUUUUUUGE arrow from his quiver and does big
damage. ^^
Toryuu - Powers up his bow and shoots a powerful beam
NOT BATTLE RELATED:
Chester has a new Seiyuu (voice actor). In the original, he had the same
one as Cless, but he didn't have many voice clips so it was alright.
III. MINT ADNADE
-----------
A "Deleted spell" is one that is not present in the remake.
DELETED SPELL: "Valkyrie". Was the attack up spell
DELETED SPELL: "Haste". It increased battle walking speed. I think.*
IMPROVED SPELLS: "Nurse" and "Ressurection". Now affect characters not in the
same screen as the one it was originally casted on.
NEW SPELL: "Charge". Recovers 5 TP to another member while consuming
10 of her own. Kinda useless.
NEW SPELL: "Time Stop". Works like an Hourglass item.
NEW SPELL: "Sharpness". Replaces Valkyrie, and has the same effect (attack
up). Wonder why the change... Valkyries are cooler. :/
On Haste: (you can ignore this, it might not make sense) I dumped a list
of all the tech/spell names from memory in the game, and found
out that the spell actually does exist. Mint just can't obtain
it. it is known as a "Dummy"; something placed in a game but
never used)
ANOTHER DUMMY: (ignore this too if you want). There is a spell in the list
called "Holy Wall". It cannot be obtained. It doesn't exist
in the SFC version and wasn't used in the PSX version. It is
unknown what it is supposed to do. I hope to have a Gameshark
code here one day to enable it...
NOT RELATED TO SPELLS:
Just like Chester, she has a new Seiyuu. Don't know why the original
didn't come back...
IV. KLARTH F. LESTER
----------------
DELETED SPELL: "Chameleon". Was an instant death summon.
CHANGED EFFECT: "Maxwell". No longer does 'random' damage. Each hit is about
the same. Overall, not as powerful as before.
CHANGED EFFECT: "Luna". Now multi-hit. Blasts several beams in random areas
of the immediate battlefield. If a beam makes contact with an
enemy, it does damage.
NEW SPELL: "Pluto". Replacement for Chameleon. Never gotten it, but from
reports, it's a weak summon that does many hits. Apparently
good for making ridiculous combos and getting good combo EXP.
V. ARCHE KLAINE
------------
All the lame death spells are gone, YAY!
DELETED SPELL: "Fire Wall". Was a fire element spell.
DELETED SPELL: "Ice Wall". Was an ice element spell.
DELETED SPELL: "Distortion". Was a weak death spell.
DELETED SPELL: "Extinction". Was the most effective death spell.
DELETED SPELL: "Death Cloud". Was the middle level death spell.
DELETED SPELL: "Flare Tornado". Was another Fire element spell.
CHANGED EFFECT: "Black Hole". No longer a death spell. Now it is a powerful
damage spell that is about as powerful as the SFC version's
Meteor Swarm.
CHANGED EFFECT: "Meteor Swarm". Multi hit. There are five large meteors that
come crashing down. Each one does 1500-2000 damage to an
enemy that comes into contact.
NEW SPELL: "Maelstrom". Forgot its effect...
NEW SPELL: "Cyclone". Multi-hit wind elemental.
NEW SPELL: "Tempest". More powerful wind elemental. Replaces Death Cloud.
NEW SPELL: "Rock Mountain". Strong Earth elemental. Drops a big boulder
on the enemy.
NEW SPELL: "Earthquake". Should be self-explanitory.
NEW SPELL: "Big Bang". The most powerful spell in the game. Replaces
Extinction.
VI. SUZU FUJIBAYASHI
----------------
She's just Phantasia's new character, and is also a Ninja. She is the
same Suzu found in the SFC version, only much more grown up (and looks
entirely different, but they ARE the same).
================================================================================
2) ITEMS
================================================================================
There are a lot of new items in the remake, a few deleted ones here and
there, and some that have had their effects changed.
Also new to ToP PSX are 'trade items'. They are usually found in treasure
boxes or on monsters. Their values varies between shops, a certain item
might be worth some pathetic amount at one shop, but be worth enough to
start a small fortune elsewhere.
This section probably would not be possibly be complete without the help
from Chess Piece Face. Thanks again for the item list from the SFC ToP! :)
No thanks to Namco for their horrible, unorganized item order, though. :P
Secondly, I know there are some weapons/armors with attack power/defense
differences. Now that is probably humanly impossible, so I'm not going to
bother with that stuff, with the exception of major stuff.
Thirdly, I'm not including Food items into these lists.
I. DELETED ITEMS (quick list)
--------------------------
Rare items:
Food Sack S, Food Sack M, Food Sack L
Weapons:
Soul Steal (bow), Sukebehon (book)
Headgear:
Land Beret, Ribbon
Accessories:
Magical ruujyu, Silver Mattock, Sephira+1, Demon Symbol, Fly Symbol,
Iron Boots
II. ADDED ITEMS
-----------
1. QUICK LIST
----------
Rare items:
Mascot, Komonjo, Rozania's Dress
Weapons:
S*D (spoiler weapon...), Gungnir (level 2), Gungnir (level 3), Vanguard,
Pin up girl (book), Misa Requiem (book), misutosabonsun (book),
Nintoubotan (Suzu), Nintouayame (Suzu), Nintoukikyou (Suzu),
Nintoukuruyuri (Suzu), Nintouchizakura(Suzu)
Armor:
Silver Plate, Witch Dress, Kisaragi (Suzu), Yayoi (Suzu), Kagatsuki (Suzu),
Kannadzuki (Suzu)
Headgear:
Golden Helm, Round Beret, Zukin (Suzu), Fukumen (Suzu), Long Blue Ribbon
Handwear:
Kagitekou (Suzu), Kitchen Mitten, Hahanotebukuru, White Gloves
Accessories:
Manjinoshirushi, Heavy Boots, Mizugumo, Channel Ring, Dash Ring,
Technical Ring, Blue Sephira, Attack Symbol, Demon's Seal, Wall Breaker,
Magical Puch, Utsushimishippu.
Standard Items:
World Map, Monster Zukan, Collector Zukan, Ticket
2. NEW ITEMS THAT DESERVE TO BE EXPLAINED
--------------------------------------
Monster Zukan: Displays statics of all previously fought monsters. Using
spectacles will reveal more. All info is retained in a
"new game save" (see below) so you can try to fight all the
monsters in a series of playthroughs and get their data.
Collector Zukan: Displays any and every item you've ever found. Data is
retained in a new game save so you can try collecting
every item in a series of playthroughs.
World Map: Map of the world. You can also view the contents of shops
you've been to before.
Technical Ring: Imported from Tales of Destiny. Enables manual battle
control.
III. ITEMS WITH A CHANGED EFFECT*
Jet Boots: Originally allowed you to run while pressing B. But since
running in ToP PSX doesn't require such items, it raises combat
speed by 50%.
Berserk Arrow: Quite a bit weaker, and doesn't shoot two arrows anymore.
Chester's techs far more than make up for this, and this
isn't his best weapon anymore anyway...
*probably very incomplete
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3) GENERAL GAMEPLAY
================================================================================
I. The NEW food/cooking system
---------------------------
The Food Sack system is just a memory and Food has a couple of new
purposes:
To act as weak recovery items. I guess this is true successor 'feature' to
the loss of the food sack. Food items restore a very small amount of HP
and/or TP. The recovery amount is so small, that it might not be worth it
unless you are utterly desperate and don't have recovery items.
The new cooking system. The real use of the food items.
Around the world and in every time period, there are chefs in every town.
They will teach you how to cook new kinds of food. Logically speaking, the
food requires ingredients. Gather the required ingredients and cook 'em.
For some reason, you can only cook once, and to cook again, you have to
battle first. I don't understand the logic... it's like that in Tales of
Eternia as well.
II. The "Job" system
----------------
As you go up levels, or meet certain requirements, you get new "Job"
options for a character. No, it's not a job system like Final Fantasy
5, Tactics, Dragon Quest VI, etc where you go from a mage to a fighter,
but rather a titling system that ups your "rank" (like going from
Apprenctice Knight to Knight), or gives them or something special after
an event (Arche gains the title "Sex Kitten" after a "certain" event,
hehe).
You can switch between the titles at any time, but they don't appear to
do anything. They're just merely decorative and for completionists.
I do recall a guy in Euclid (Future) who seemed to make comments on
the character's titles. He says the same thing on generic level up
classes, but his comment seems to change on more "explicit" ones (see
above. ^^;)
III. Battle system
-------------
Tales of Phantasia basically imports the Enhanced Linear Motion Battle
used in Tales of Destiny. So it has a much smoother, nicer feel than
the SFC's original Linear Motion Battle system.
But since this FAQ isn't about ToD, Let's compare ToP SFC's LMB
with ToP PSX's version of the E-LMB.
1-MUCH easier handling and control of the character you're controlling.
In the original Tales of Phantasia, it was quite tricky. Sometimes it
seemed that the normal moves that Cless did were almost random. Not so
anymore. It's hard to explain, but your character is just SO much
easier to control.
2-Your character will go into a "Defense" state while pressing the []
button. Getting attacked with it on will reduce damage a bit.
3-Up to 4 human players can play the battles with a multitap. Requires
you to find the Channel Rings like in Tales of Destiny, though. Who
says RPGs can't be fun multiplayer games? Star Ocean needs this
feature! Only problem is that there are only 3 dedicated fighters and
the mages are genearally boring to control...
4-Say goodbye to ranged special attacks. You can use any special attack
at any range. For example, Majinken could only be placed in a long
ranged slot and could only be executed when your target was far away.
Now it's possible to use it on enemies that are only two pixels away.
This is all because ToP PSX has imported the skill assign menu from
Destiny (You assign the skills to d-pad pressings + special button)
5-New character control options. These are Auto, Semi-Auto and Manual.
Don't confuse them with the SFC version's targetting options! These
are entirely different. Here is how they work:
Auto: Character is controlled by the computer AI. Yes, you can even
set your player character to this and you will have no control
over the character whatsoever.
Semi-Auto: Same control mode SFC version ALWAYS runs in. If you're quite
familiar with the SFC version's LMB, then you'll be right at
home.
Manual: My favorite. You take complete control of the character.
Pressing up will make you jump (which is something Tales of
Destiny's manual mode didn't offer!). Pressing the attack
button will make you swing rather than have you run at the
selected target. Pressing a left or right directional twice
will make the character run in that dirction. You have to work
harder in this battle mode, but I think it is a lot more fun
that way. By the way, it requires a Technical Ring to access
this control mode.*
*Cool tip: The Combo Command accessory also gives access to Manual mode,
However you'll have to use d-pad inputs to do the specials.
BUT, this allows a cool twist in the battle system. Have you
realized it yet? You get the freedom of full movement, plus
specials performed with the d-pad, not to mention the ability
to block. Throw that in a blender and what do you get? An old
school 2D fighting game! Basically, anyway. (Do you believe it
now, Spinner? Remember, YOU'RE wrong :P)
IV. Difficulty modes
--------------
he original Tales of Phantasia actually had two difficulty modes. One was
normal, and the other was much harder. The harder mode was a secret
feature in the original. (to access it, hit ABXY at the same time while
"New Game" is highlighted on the title screen. If you hear "Yatta" being
said by everyone in the party, then you've got it. Monsters will attain a
lot more attack power, but their HP staylevels the same.)
Now, in the remake, there are THREE difficulty modes that I know of:
Normal: Normal difficulty. Fairly easy and very beatable.
Hard: Not quite as hard as the SFC version's "Hard Mode" from what I've
experimented with. Monsters obtain a significant increase in attack
power, and HP twice that of the Normal mode. Seems very beatable, but
you may run into a few rough spots.
Maniac: Pure insanity. Monsters get an even higher significant increase in
strength and receive THREE times as much HP as the Normal mode.
The difficulty of this seems virtually impossible. In the earlier
parts of the game, unless you run into G.Bees, you're in for one
hell of a brutal beating. Super expert players who know how to
maneuver themselves well through battles and can avoid getting hit
should be the only ones warranted to play this death wish! Oh, and
what's more? This mode very easily gets the title "Hardest hard
difficulty in ANY RPG." Yes, it even kills Star Ocean: The Second
story's Universe mode with EASE.
NOTE: This mode is not accessible until you beat the game, and use
the "New Game save" that you are given to make at the end of
the game.
One more thing worth saying is that these difficulty modes are adjustable
during the middle of out of battle play. So if you're playing in Normal,
and getting bored becase it's really easy, you could simply highlight
"Hard" or something.
V. The "New Game save"
-------------------
To some people, it might sound like something such as "New Game +" from
Chrono Trigger. But it's actually quite different. After the credits when
you finish the game, you'll be given the option to save. If choose to, you
can create a file with a green star at 0 Hours and 0 minutes (0:00). It
retains the special data that was in your last game, such as the Monster
Zukan and Collector Zukan data. It also enables the Maniac difficulty
level. Perhaps it does more than that, but I haven't noticed anything.
With the retained data, it adds more replay value.
================================================================================
4) CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE GAME
================================================================================
This part will be kind of like a walkthrough of changes in events during
the game. I haven't really devoted a real playthrough to write this part
yet in completion (I've just begun that playthrough, and I will record as
many differences that I can remember, in fact, I've put a couple more in
this version...)
There are remake SPOILERS in here, obviously! Even spoilers for you who've
played through the SFC version. There are new scenes and stuff that reveal
more. Not everything is major, but anything major is not specially marked,
so read at your own risk. So, if you're only an SFC vet, skidattle.
S
P
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I. STORY
Amy (Chester's sister) will have some dialogue with Cless if you go and
talk to her before going in the forest. She'll give you the rare item
called the "Mascot" which is a model of Cless.
When you return from the Spirit Forest, instead of being completely out
of it, Miguel will mutter a couple of sentences to you before dying.
To break the gate in the sewer, you need to use the Battle Axe found in
the treasure box. The Long Sword you pulled out of Meryl won't work
here. The Battle Axe breaks too, so you can't use it for the coming
battles. (too bad, hehe).
The Clay Demon boss in the sewer is joined with two additional flying
creatures. Originally, it's just him and the two slugs.
When Cless and Mint look at Torinics D. Morison's book after he shifts
them to the past, there will be a flashback that will show an extended
version of the post Dhaos battle intro.
II. SUBQUESTS
First one I remember involves the Forest of the Treant. To get to it, you
must have gotten Origin. Go back to Origin's place and "talk" to the slab.
Dialogue will engage and soon after a Yes/No option will come up. Select
yes and you'll be warped to some new forest in another dimension. You
search for a certain item here. This forest is a maze, because the map
wraps around. I never completed it...
S
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================================================================================
PART 5: MISC CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
================================================================================
The stuff in here is for singular things or things that aren't big enough
to be worth making a section for.
1) The ending credits song in the Super Famicom version is NOT present.
Rather, it uses the great Hoshi wo Sora Ni song on those old singles!
2) Can't confirm it myself, but from what I've read from a review, most of
the dialogue in the game has been completely rewritten, to match the
'quality' of a modern game script or something. Same meaning, just
better written or something.
3) The Indignation spell isn't anywhere NEAR as a effective on Dhaos in
the Past/Present! Remember how it did like 5000-6000 damage, and then
how he screams at you for using it? In the PSX version, it only does
about as much as a common enemy (about 2000 at the time) and he doesn't
get pissy at you.
4) Dhaos in the present is MUCH more difficult! You thought he was difficult
on SFC... wait till you fight him now! Remember how he was stronger than
Dhaos in the past, but had like 15000/45000 HP? Well, guess what now?
He's even strongerthan that, and has a FULL 45000/45000 HP! Skillful
waza use with Cless should pronounce you the victor, though.
5) A common complaint with the original game-- the RIDICULOUSLY high
encounter rate, has been toned down to unbelievably low levels. Believe
it or not, the NORMAL encounter rate in this game is even lower than
using Holy Bottle in the original. And now to think, the Holy Bottle still
exist in the remake. So what happens when you use one? Stress free
travel.
END
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Copyright 1/21/00 2001 by Chris Villalores, at 5:13 am PST