History VideoGame / TalesOfPhantasia

* CallBack: If you cast Indignation on Dhaos during your fight with him midway through the game, he shouts "[[ThisCannotBe Sonna... Sonna bakana!]]", just like he does when it's cast on him in the prelude fight in the intro [[spoiler:(of course, due to TimeTravel shennanigans, it's technically the same fight with different people involved, so it makes sense for him to say the exact same things.)]] As a ShoutOut to this, every BonusBoss version of Dhaos in later games in the series has responded the exact same way when Indignation is cast on him.

* LimitBreak: In the [=PlayStation=] version, Cress, and only Cress, received the first Mystic Arte in the series, the "Meikū Zanshouken/Dark Blade". Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, it worked more like a DesperationAttack, as Cress needed to be at full health and THEN lose enough of it to be on critical levels to use it. He also needs a special title in the [=GBA=]. He can also obtain "Satsugeki Bukouken/Fatal Fury" by beating [[BonusBoss Lilith]], since it counted as a normal Arte at the time.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: no cooking, no Dark Wings, no skits, and in the SNES version, no Mystic Artes/Hi-Ougi. The battle system of ''Phantasia'' also comes as a little odd for modern ''Tales'' players — Chibisized sprites, a slightly slower-paced battle system, a lack of primary attack combos, and a few other things. The art style is musty, muted and more realistic than the pastel style that would later define the series' aesthetic. Later console versions implemented cooking and skits among other things, bringing Phantasia more in line with the rest of the series.

* SceneryPorn: It would be remiss to discuss ''Tales of Phantasia'' without mentioning that it ranks among the most graphically beautiful games released for Super Famicom, and probably the most graphically advanced RPG of the 16-bit era. Effects now taken for granted like reflective water and mirrors, rippling water effects, realistic weather, etc were revolutionary at the time this game was released. Also, contained far more voice acting than most 16-bit console [=RPG=]s, and the music is considered among the best of any SFC game. This level of detail required a 48MB cartridge; compare with VideoGame/ChronoTrigger at 32MB, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' and Videogame/EarthBound at 24MB. ''VideoGame/StarOcean1'' is the only other game for Super Famicom/SNES to require such a large cart.

* FrothyMugsOfWater: A DuelBoss in the second part of the game is forced by all the characters other than Cress having hangovers after a night of party on the sea. The official translation changes this to "ate too much."
** Mint didn't get drunk. She was just very seasick.
* GagDub: The famous/infamous fan mistranslations of the SNES version has Claus asking Cress which girl he would rather sleep with, and Arche dreaming about having sex with Cress after getting drunk.
** It is indisputable that Arche was having that sort of dream, even the official translation made it clear. The dialogue just was not as explicit as the SNES fan translation suggested.
** Not to mention a far more explicit version of the series' traditional hot springs scene.

* CityOfCanals: Venezia

* EvilIsNotAToy

* FantasticRacism: A core plot element.

* HealingHands

* HotSpringsEpisode

* InfinityMinusOneSword: In the PSX version, Gungnir is a likely example.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Excalibur, acquired at the end of the Moria Mines BonusDungeon.

* LethalChef: Arche, in the PSX and GBA versions
* LethalLavaLand: Twice.
* LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: Except with prisms.

* MagicalGuide: Norn in ''Narikiri Dungeon''.

* MarathonLevel:
** The Valhalla War sequence.
** [[spoiler:Lower Morlia and the Dwarven Ruins, which double as both BonusDungeon and DroughtLevelOfDoom]].

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mars' name in the DeJap FanTranslation is Malice. Mars isn't anything to sneeze at either, since it's the Roman name for the god of war.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero

* OffModel: A particularly famous example in the SNES version, as the field and battle sprites for our heroes were consistent in-game... but did ''not'' match Fujishima's concept and promotional art at all. Their seldom-seen portraits in-game matched the art, but the sprites? Well...
** Cress was a reasonable enough facsimile of his concept art (although the color of his armor wasn't right). Chester was also relatively on-point, save for having more earth tones in his clothing than his art and having ''EyesAlwaysShut'', for some reason, instead of the smaller-but-still-there eyes of his art.
** The other three went all over the place: Mint wore a ''blue and pink'' dress and shawl and had a hat which resembled a flapless [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushanka ushanka]] more than her art's little nurse cap. Arche wore a green vest over a heavy blue dress with a matching blue shawl... which is ''nothing'' like her loose-shirt-and-puffy-pants ensemble in the art. Claus, however, is the most radical of all: he wears a reddish scholar's gown with a very long, almost dress-like dark green tunic beneath that, dark greenish-grey boots, a ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_academic_cap mortarboard cap]] complete with tassel'' which matches said boots, also has greyish hair tied back in a ponytail and a fair complexion similar to his fellow castmates, and while all of the SNES sprites looked a little squat and chibi, especially in battle, Claus looked ''pointedly'' and purposefully overweight. Needless to say, [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/aselia/images/e/e4/KlarthArtwork.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080208173910 none of this matches his concept art even remotely]], even if the sprite itself was a good match for the character (and some fans even prefer the SNES interpretation).
** The differences were dramatic enough that one of the selling points of the Playstation version a few years later was that the sprites were far more true to the original art, and every game since has labored to make sure the promo and in-game art matches.
** A funny little exception to note here is that ''Dhaos'', of all people, does not have this problem; perhaps due to his larger sprite, the artists were able to make sure that even on the SNES he matches Fujishima's art dead-on, down to the smallest detail that the SNES will allow.
** Part of this may well have been the developers trying to work around ''memory limitations'' on the SNES to give the enemies and backgrounds that slight bit of extra space - while Cress seems to have a unique color palette, eagle-eyed observers will note that Chester and Claus share a palette (compare their outfits), as do Arche and Mint (they were a bit more clever about this one, but compare Arche's dress to Mint's hat, Mint's dress to Arche's hair, and the trim of Arche's vest to Mint's hair). The outfits were thus reworked to reduce the party's memory footprint. Which is also why Dhaos is fine - being a huge boss who can hog all the memory allocated to the "enemy side", the artists could get him right without worry. And the PSX and beyond, of course, didn't need to worry about memory as much.

* PortTown: Venezia

* SnowMeansLove

* SpiceUpTheSubtitles: In the DeJap fan translation, the dialogue when Arche tries to convince a boat captain to take the party to Alvanista, the conversation between Cress and Claus on the boat, and the dialogue when Arche falls into a drunken sleep and dreams of Cress are either suggestive or just downright raunchy and would never pass the censors.
* StupidSacrifice: [[spoiler:Edward Morrison,]] a war hero and powerful sorcerer, sacrifices his life to save some random kid an EnemyOfTheWeek had taken hostage.

* ThereIsOnlyOneBed

* {{Throw The Book At Them}}: Claus. He is a [[SummonMagic Summoner]], not a physical attacker, but he WILL whack enemies with his book if they get too close.

** TimeParadox: Dio and Mell cause one in ''Narikiri Dungeon'' when they [[spoiler:kill their evil past selves. To resolve the paradox, the twins become one with their past selves]].

* {{Tsundere}}: Arche. She's not very fond of Chester when they first meet each other.
** Chester feels the exact same way about Arche.

There are English patches for the SFC and PSX versions available online. There are also two versions for [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PSP]], one being the "Full Voice Edition" and the other being paired with an UpdatedRerelease of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor sequel, Narikiri Dungeon. Recommended in general, but especially for people who liked ''Symphonia'', just to play "spot the continuities." [[NoExportForYou Unfortunately, neither version was released outside of Japan]].

-->--'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDDAYg-8iSM Edward D. Morrison]]'''

* [[SwordAndSorcerer Sword And Three Sorcerers]]: It's not until you've gotten through half the game that you're allowed any party combination but this. You start off with Fighter And Healer, after which the [[GlassCannon Glass Cannons]] show up.

** It also has to be noted that Mint is a ''real'' sore thumb when it comes to the "magic" thing. Apparently her healing arts don't count as "magic", but then the game never, ever explains what the hell the source of her power ''is''. It's sort of vaguely "divine", apparently... and it doesn't count as "magic" for the purposes of Yggdrasil being dead and defeating Dhaos.

** The collectible statues are all modelled after other Namco characters: the Statue of Bravery and Love are Gilgamesh and Ki repectively from ''VideoGame/TowerOfDruaga'', The Statue of Friendship is the eponymous character from ''VideoGamer/{{Klonoa}}'' and the Statue of Justice is the main character from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfValkyrie'' who also appears as Odin's aide.

** Assuming the sparks from the sorcerer's ring are electrical, there's no real reason why they should light torches so easily. (Ever tried to light a fire with just sparks?) There's also the instance in Fenrir's cave where just one burst of these sparks defrost a lever in an ice wall. (Ever tried to defrost a lever in an ice wall with just sparks?) Not only that, the lever becomes so hot instantly that it burns Cless' fingers.

* TomeOfEldritchLore: Claus' WeaponOfChoice, which include the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Necronomicon, The King in Yellow, the Liver Ivonis, The Celaneo Fragments, G'harne Fragments, True Magick, Requiem for Shaggai, Cthäat Aquadingen, and the Seven Books of H'San]] (which many of the names were misspelled in the English GBA version). [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Ironic]], considering Claus is the OnlySaneMan.

No relation to Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.

%%* TheLostWoods

%%* MagiTek

%%* MightyGlacier: For quite a large number of boss fights (Past Dhaos and Fen Wolf, I'm looking at you), Arche and Claus deal most of the damage while Cress is just a glorified meat shield for the rest of the party, as Mint faithfully spams her strongest heals on Cress. Granted that for an overwhelming portion of the game that your party will be the WhiteMage, the CuteWitch, the [[SummonMagic Summoner]], and Cress the meat shield, Cress dying in a battle pretty much means that shit will hit the fan.
%%** He's also good for interrupting casters. That's about it, but it's the player's job in most of the series anyway.
%%*** It's actually kind of nice to have a protagonist who isn't [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger tank, healer, and caster]] [[VideoGame/MOTHER1 all]] [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} by]] [[VideoGame/{{Mother 3}} himself]].
%%* MonsterArena

** Reisen, the head of the magitek research, whose actions basically kickstarted the entire plot of the game by killing the Yggdrasil and antagonizing Dhaos to the point of making a peaceful solution impossible, never gets so much as fired from his job or even called out on everything he's responsible for.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: If you fail the button pressing minigame with Arche in Dhaos' castle enough time, Claus gets impatient and he and Mint do it for you.
** Also, Chester will likely rejoin your party at a third of the experience levels of everyone else. From the PSX version onwards, sleeping at Inns will show a couple scenes in which he [[LevelGrinding level grinds]] himself at night while the others are sleeping. Afterword, he gains massive amounts of Experience, catching him up fairly quickly.

* ArcWords: "If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of men." Cranked UpToEleven in the OVA.

''Tales of Phantasia'' is the first game in [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s VideoGame/TalesSeries, debuting on the Super Famicom in 1995.

* PointOfNoReturn: None for the endgame, you can save anywhere in the final dungeon and still leave, but once you reach the last room of the Underground Crypt, you're sealed off from [[spoiler:the Present]] and the same applies for [[spoiler:the Past]] when you set sail for Thor's nautical location. Fortunately, anything unique in those areas can still be obtained in [[spoiler:the Future]] right to the end of the game.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: Averted. Even after [[spoiler: you travel to the future]], you can still access all the old dungeons (except for the Mausoleum, and even then anything you find there you'll have gotten replacements for long ago), and you can still learn all the spells and skills that you missed.

* WitchSpecies: All elves have the ability to sense mana and use magic. Pure-blooded humans lack these abilities entirely. Half-elves and humans with more diluted elven ancestry share the elves' abilities.

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Cress.
** TheLancer: Chester.
** TheSmartGuy: Claus (comes up with most of the plans).
** TheBigGuy: Arche (A BlackMagicianGirl, but her spells eventually become incredibly damaging, and she learns the classic spell Indignation).
** TheChick: Mint.
** TheSixthRanger: Suzu.

* BaldOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Claus,]] according to Arche.
** She was just messing with him.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge