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The Tales of… series has a shockingly long history in Japan and a fair amount of presence here in the state. Fans of Japanese RPGs are likely already familiar with Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Symphonia, and the latest Tales of… hits the PSP in the form of Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. It’s a mix of old and new and only partially successful.

More Tales to Tell

The most immediate distinction between Radiant Mythology and previous Tales is the character creation system. Where you were once locked into a pre-set character who was a vital part of the storyline, Radiant Mythology allows you create your own archetype to explore the realm. Diehard Japanese role-players will likely scoff at this addition, though fans of western-RPGs will almost certainly applaud the move.

Regardless, your newly made warrior (or rogue, or priest, or mage) has been, as your weird cat-like sidekick tells us, born of the world tree and must save the realm of Terresia. To that end, the plot ties in characters from the previous games. You must meet up with the characters through the game, adventuring with them, and complete tasks for them and many other new characters.

Fame Fame Fame

The combat system is taken from Tales of the Abyss, giving the fights a smooth, fast-paced appeal. There’s plenty of humor in the game as well, with weird segments of fun dialogue, strange characters, and an endearing sense of self-mockery. As your character completes missions, your level of fame increases. This is important, because the only way to add high-level Tales characters like Luke, Tear, or Leon, among others, is to be really famous.

The problem with the gameplay is the focus on menial tasks instead of epic adventure. No matter what character class you choose, most of the game makes you feel like an errand boy. You’ll constantly be tasked with rather pointless errands like killing a specific number of enemies, object hunts, and (we kid you not) making sandwiches. Too much of the game simply feels like a pointless dungeon crawl. Some of the missions do move the plot forward, but most fall under the generic task label.

The 3D graphics are solid though, and it’s definitely a colorful game. There are around 300 missions to complete if you’re stubborn enough, and you can even trade items with other players.

Not So Radiant

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology has a good sense of humor, and it’s a decent role-playing game despite the flaws. Still, it’s a bit too easy to get bored thanks to an overload of boring tasks.

Article by: Jason D’Aprile