Tales of Phantasia - Full Voice Edition - (JP) PSP Review

Tales of Phantasia - Full Voice Edition - 「テイルズオブファンタジア⁻フルボイスエディション⁻」 is a Japanese RPG released for the Sony PlayStation Portable by Namco Bandai in 2006. This version of the game that originally appeared on the Super Famicon, has added voice acting in addition to what the Sony PlayStation received, so is considered by some to be the go to for the ultimate Tales of Phantasia experience.
We play as Cless, the child of a famous swordsman of Euclid who formerly helped to seal away a powerful evil force that at one time had threatened the world. When misfortune finds Cless, taking his family from him, he begins a quest for revenge which won't stop until the being that influenced his parent's murderer is finally put to rest.
The journey takes part across multiple time periods, with a number of allies that join the adventure. You surely will be in for a great time. Should you play this game? Check out my review to find out!
* Please note that this is the Japanese version of the game. At the time of this review, there are no official translations for the Sony PlayStation Portable version of the game*
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[@ElricSowrd]

I first knew about the Franchise with Phantasia on ZSNES which was how I was able to play Super Famicom Exclusive games twenty one years back. Unfortunately Unsho Ishizuka who did Edward Morrison's voice passed away on August 13, 2018. 😔 He was also old Joseph Joestar from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and the original Dr. Yukinari Ohkido from Pokémon. (Professor Oak in Japanese)

[@Venoix]

I tried to play the game emulated when I was a teen, but I remember getting stuck - I think it was around the point where you had to get the summons before going to the bottom of the Moria Mines. Sad that Ishizuka-san passed away. We also lost the man who did the voice of Igor in the Persona series too. :(

[@onerunfun6908]

I had no idea this version of the game existed! It's so bizarre seeing what feels like a remake, and fully voiced as well. The voiceover for the scene at the end of your video is pretty powerful. There also seem to be animated cutscenes - were these played at key story moments, or As you mentioned, I owned this game on the GBA - I purchased it to explore more of the franchise after I fell in love with Tales of Symphonia. It doesn't look like this version ever came west as you said, which is a shame as it is much crisper and better presented than the GBA edition I remember. It was also plagued with slowdown in the battles which made it hard to play at times. The battle system in this game looks built on the same mechanics but is presented completely differently. It's more realistic vs. the extreme chibi style of the GBA release, and seems to flow a lot better. This version also has a lot more personality, presumably because they had the hardware to get closer to their original vision. Ignoring Chrono Trigger, the art style of this game always reminds me of a slightly less colourful Golden Sun, another series I personally love. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on that game!

[@Venoix]

Finally can access your comment. Had to approve it via the mobile app, because it wasn't showing on the desktop version of KZbin anyway. Strange. This version of the game is my favorite, though there is another PSP version that basically is the same but also takes out the freezing when a spell is cast, which makes things a little more hectic. It was tacked onto a sequel to the game, which I may look at in the future. Golden Sun is definitely a series I am interested into looking into. I did play a little bit of it back in the day, but never fully committed to it. I have such a huge backlog though, but it's something to consider for the future. Anyway, thanks for checking out my video!

[@dragonboyjohnny]

I’ve watched your videos back when you had star ocean 2 and saga frontier play through a like 10 years+ And this just popped up on my feed and was surprised to see you still actively posting!! Keep up the great content 😊

[@Venoix]

Haha. That's a lifetime ago now. My content switched to being reviews these last few years. I get much more enjoyment out of it. :) Glad to hear from you.

[@Reliken]

Ugh, this version looks so much better than the beautiful-but-well-worn SNES version and the, imo, too chibi-and-saturated GBA/PSX versions... Quite bummed there will never be an English release. I've heard that there was ANOTHER Japanese-only PSP version that came out a few years after this one, and that there are supposedly a significant number of substantive differences between the two PSP iterations. Any chance you know anything about that? It's surprisingly hard to find info on!

[@Venoix]

Yeah, it does look much better. I appreciated the voice acting a lot, too. You're right. There was another version that tied into a sequel game by adding an additional character. It also changed the battle system by making it so that spells did not pause the combat. The sequel game is called Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X, but as you said, it never received a western release. I'm not sure whether all the voice acting was carried over into it, though, as it was paired with the sequel game on a single UMD.

[@Antzmacadamia]

I was looking forward to your video this week! Great game and the battles look good. I'm currently studying N3 and the Japanese didnt look so bad. Great for learning at this level. Thanks for the video!

[@Venoix]

The Japanese wasn't all that difficult, so I think you should be fine at around N3 level. Of course, there is still some vocabulary to look up, but most of the grammar is covered. Glad you enjoyed the review. Thanks for watching!

[@itsean7490]

Interestingly the iOS port got a new translation in the west, rather than reusing the GBA version’s, if I recall right? Shame they didn’t invest that effort on this version instead. But all these years later I’m also approaching N3 level so maybe I should just give it a go. This review was well done, and made me smile 🙂

[@Venoix]

I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Thanks for taking the time to watch it!

[@mrtrophiczulu]

Great Review! Loved this game on the SNES!

[@Venoix]

Thanks! Yeah, it's a classic.

[@gambitgames4084]

For me phantasia was the best

[@Venoix]

Yeah, it's a great game! I also am a huge fan of Abyss.

[@gambitgames4084]

@@Venoix I kinda disliked the ending as it’s very similar to a final fantasy game

[@gambitgames4084]

And phantasia has a villain you can sympathize with

[@dru7151]

Didn't you know about the more improved game included with Tales of Phantasia X when making this video? The battles are waayyyy faster, cooler and more challenging without the big-skill-pauses. That is the current ultimate version of Phantasia and a group is about to do a fan translation (but it will take a while). Still hoping for an actual worldwide re-release of that version or a new remake.. as long as they keep it in 2D.

[@Venoix]

I did, but I wanted to play this version, because I wanted to experience the paused casting at that time, and wasn’t ready to experience the sequel. I’ll go back to that in the future, sometime.

[@dru7151]

@@Venoix Ah, I see! Afaik the sequel is nothing special but I might be mistaken. ToP is my favourite Tales and the improvements in regards to the battle system elevated it to a new level to me personally.

[@worldwanderingfisherman2166]

The ost is very good, I like the song, The Stream of Time, Mystic Forest, Arche, Raising a Curtain, The Second Act, Final Act, and the greatest of them all "Euclid", I played this game on snes and then later on the psx, this psp version looks good.

[@dezooielylat9134]

This game needs a 3D remake

[@gamerhoarder9291]

I'm here because of the video's title, but there is too much spoiler.

[@cellmaleymhp]

i need english or french translation :(

[@veghesther3204]

Too bad the ONLY English version was the GBA version which for that version still SUCKS if its NOT in Japanese.

[@gyrenrockz]

this version is better because during battle magic cast wont interrupted cless's actions.. unlike the ps1 version every time klarth, arche, and mint cast a magic cless cant move...

[@Venoix]

Actually, this version does pause the action when a spell is cast, which you can see at some points during this video. The version that doesn't pause the combat when a spell is cast is called Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X, which contains a sequel as well as the original game, bundled together for the PSP.

[@gyrenrockz]

@@Venoix oh i think im talking about Tales of Eternia.. hahah stupid me..