Video Game / Tales of the World

A Massive Multiplayer Crossover subseries of Namco's Tales of series. Two of them, actually, under different subtitles.

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Narikiri Dungeon

The first subseries is the Narikiri Dungeon series, which itself is a spinoff from a sequel to Tales of Phantasia. The series' key feature is the ability of the Original Generation main characters to "dress up" as various character classes (Fighter, Thief, Mage, etc.) and gain new powers depending on which role they are portraying. Their wardrobe includes the outfits of various Tales Series heroes and villains, and even cameos from various Namco Bandai games.

Narikiri Dungeon 2 (2002) and Narikiri Dungeon 3 (2005), both developed by Alfa System, revolve around a pair of youngsters named Calo Olange and Frio Sven, who must wander the Tales pseudo-timeline and prevent it from being mucked up. Narikiri Dungeon 3 incorporated tactical elements, allowing you to recruit all the Tales heroes, arrange them into four teams of up to three each, and move them around the map to solve puzzles and administer a collective beatdown to the boss.

Narikiri Dungeon 2 includes characters from Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, and Tales of Eternia. Narikiri Dungeon 3 includes all those, plus Tales of Destiny 2 and Tales of Symphonia.

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Narikiri Dungeon provides examples of:

• Bonus Dungeon: Narikiri Dungeon 3 has one like The Tower of Druaga but shorter.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: Parodied when Frio and Calo try to come up with one.
  Frio: Narikiri Change! Narikiri Illusion! Narikiri Henshin!
  Calo: Narikiri Cutey Flash! Kawaru wa yo~n!

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Radiant Mythology

The second subseries is called Radiant Mythology and was created for the PSP. The series contains three games, and were developed by Alfa System.

Each game takes place in its own world.
When the World Tree senses a threat to its world, it creates a Descender as its defense mechanism. The Descender is a warrior with the mission to save the world and keep the World Tree safe, and is the role the player takes on. The Descender joins up with the Tales Series characters to battle whatever is threatening the future of the world.

Each game has the Descender meet an original character named Kanonno, appearing with her own incarnation for each game. P. Kanonno in Radiant Mythology (2006), Kanonno Earheart in Radiant Mythology 2 (2009), and Kanonno Grassvalley in Radiant Mythology 3 (2011).

Gameplay revolves around joining and accepting quests from Ad Libitum, a guild run by a multitude of Tales Series characters. The games allow the Descender to take on a variety of classes, along with the chance to unlock advanced classes. Mostly, though, the games are all run on the idea of having fun by fighting alongside characters from the various Tales of games and seeing them interact with each other in skits.

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Radiant Mythology provides examples of:

• All There in the Manual: Radiant Mythology 3 came along with a prequel manga, showing the formation of the Ad Libitum guild. It also discusses the conflicts within the world, Kanonno's wonders about her drawings, and other characters' background stories.
• Alternate Universe:
  • The Tales of characters' backgrounds are mildly changed to being all from the game's current world, or from a similar, parallel universe version of it, which allows them to be intergrated into the larger scenario, without changing their personalities.
  • Certain characters did get different backgrounds, to justify how things work. Kyle and Reala are mentioned to have travelled through time, explaining how a 15 year old Kyle interacts with his 19 year old father, or how Suzu joins the guild alongside her ancestor Sheena. And Luke and Asch are altered into being brothers, keeping both alive and retaining their vitriolic relationship.
• Amnesiac Hero: The Descender is treated as one, especially in Radiant Mythology 3. Though the Descender was just born, so there is no past for them to remember. Averted in the epilogue of the second and third game, where the Descender returns with their memories of the adventure intact.
• An Adventurer Is You: The Descender, by nature of changing their class.
• Ancestral Weapon: The Radiant Set belonged to a hero from a long time ago.
• Anime Theme Song:
  • Hikari to Kage by Kana Uemura for Radiant Mythology.
  • Flyaway by Back-On for Radiant Mythology 2.
  • With You by Back-On feat. Me for Radiant Mythology 3.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise here.
• Assimilation Plot: Radiant Mythology's Widdershin plans to absorb every world into Gilgulim, creating an eternal, but solitary world.
• Badass Army: Ad Libitum in the second and third game borders on this, given the large cast of Tales of characters as its members.
• Badass Crew: The Ad Libitum in the first game was more this, with a much smaller crew of Tales of characters, and some of them not being given active fighting roles.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: The Descender can be one because of the large amount of equipment. Especially in Radiant Mythology 3, which has plenty of costumes for the Descender, ranging from swimsuits to full suits.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Radiant Mythology has the Descender and Mormo able to save everyone from Gansley before they get sacrificed to the Devourer, and manage to liberate the town from his oppressive thumb. They also manage to save not only Terresia, but all the worlds previously consumed by the Devourer.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 has the Descender, Mint, Shing, and Veigue save Estelle from Saleh.
• Bonus Dungeon:
  • Radiant Mythology 2 has the World Tree, available in the epilogue.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 has its dungeon located within the Brownie Mines, available in the epilogue.
• Bookends: Each game begins with the Descender being born from the World Tree. The story ends when they return to sleep within the World Tree.
• Breakout Character: Kanonno Earheart, who has become one of the franchise's most popular characters.
• But Now I Must Go: The ultimate fate of the Descender, after completing their task of keeping the world safe is to be re-assimilated into the World Tree... not counting the epilogue.
• The Cameo:
  • Obviously, every Tales of character in the games.
  • In Tales of Link's final part of the Wedding Story's Bridal event, the three Kanonnos go on stage, while Sara and the Savior wait for their turn. Sara takes a peek at the crowd and says something, hinting that the three games' Descenders are among the audience.
    Sara: I peek out at the crowd through a gap in the curtain. Our friends are flashing subtle waves to someone in the audience. Hee hee... I bet I know who's here!
• Can't Catch Up:
  • Tales of characters in the first and second game became available at set levels, but only gained experience when used as partymembers. Particularly bad in Radiant Mythology 2, when later Tales of characters ended up joining at Level 10, and were already outranked by most of the cast.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 automatically levels up Tales of characters until they reach Level 70. After that, they do not gain anymore automatic levels and must be used as partymembers to increase their level.
• Can't Live Without You: The World Tree produces mana, which is used to also give birth to the Descender. But mana is also what sustains life and the power of the Descender. A lack of mana in the world can affect the Descender, leading to them passing out. And Descenders are directly linked to the World Tree, and any condition affecting the World Tree will also affect the Descender's health.
• Character Customization: The Descender can be customized by the player, starting with playing as a male or female Descender. The extent of customization was somewhat limited in the first game, but the second and third game vastly improved on each other.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: The Descender, though that's part of their mission.
• The Chosen One: The Descender, who is created by the World Tree when it needs to be protected. And each world has their own Descender, too.
• Cool Airship: The Van Eltia airship serves as the base for Ad Libitum in the second and third game. It became bigger, since it now houses amenities for over 80 characters.
• Crash-Into Hello: Radiant Mythology 2 has this be how the Descender first appears. By being flung out of a pillar of light from the World Tree and onto the deck of the Van Eltia, right next to Kanonno Earheart and Paneer.
• Crystal Landscape: Radiant Mythology 3 has several of these, with even some enemies being crystalized, all a courtesy of Lazaris. The final dungeon, Elan Vital, is the best example.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Most of the original cast in Radiant Mythology, not counting the Descender.
• Dark Messiah: Lazaris in Radiant Mythology 3 masquerades as the Descender of Luminasia. She is a Descender herself, albeit from the world of Jildia.
• Deconstruction: As part of the Tales Series, this is a given. The Radiant Mythology series deconstructs the Chosen One. Descenders are created to save their world, no matter what, and it's implied that they don't even have a free will of their own — they are bound to their mission of protecting their world. And the first game shows to what extent some Descenders are willing to go to save their world.
• Despair Event Horizon: Kanonno in Radiant Mythology fell into one after her world was consumed by war, and she ended up eradicating humanity, having failed miserably as Pasca's Descender.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Descenders easily go toe-to-toe against the legendary radiants.
• Discontinuity Nod: Subverted, Radiant Mythology 3 lists the main series Tales of games and includes Tales of the Tempest right behind Tales of the Abyss.
• Distracted by the Sexy: The Descender's first meeting with Zelos in Radiant Mythology 3 differs, depending on what gender the Descender is.
• Downloadable Content: Months after release, each game was provided with more content to download, mostly in the forms of quests and equipment.
• Dual Wielding: The Dual Swordsman class uses two swords, the Pirate class uses a gun and knife, and the Gunner class uses two guns.
• Duel Boss: Several Tales of characters will eventually offer a quest that is a duel against them.
• Easily Forgiven: Radiant Mythology reveals that Kanonno was originally working for the enemies, and has been committing genocide on other worlds, all to have them eaten by Gilgulim. None of that matters, though, since everyone's friends. Despite Kanonno having attempted to destroy the city just before her boss battle, too.
• Enemy Without: Radiant Mythology 3 has Chloe, Farah, and Anise end up spawning Negative versions of themselves as a result of their repressed depressions, and being affected by Negative energy. The Descender teams up with certain characters for each mission to take care of them.
• Energy Being: Descenders are composed of the mana from the World Tree. Their life depends on the well-being of said World Tree.
• Excalibur in the Rust: Radiant Mythology 3 has the second radiant set of the Descender's current class scattered inside chests of the Bonus Dungeon, if the first radiant set has already been obtained.
• Exposition Fairy:
  • Mormo in Radiant Mythology, and Niata Monad in the second and third game.
  • Paneer and Rocksprings from the second and third game play more minor roles, with their duty being more to give exposition about Kanonno Earheart and Grassvalley, respectively.
• The Faceless: The Radiants, nothing more than black bodies that wear the radiant set.
• Failure Hero: Mormo considers himself to be one, as he was incapable of saving his world.
• Famed In-Story: The legendary Radiant Equipment, belonging to a hero from a long time ago. All of the different classes show the various equipment said hero has used, and now they are waiting for the one to inherit it.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Radiant Mythology gave the player these classes to start their Descender on. The classes are Warrior, Thief, and the Mage was separated into Mage for offensive spells and Priest for healing and supportive spells.
• Fog of Doom: The Red Mist in Radiant Mythology 3. Inhaling it can lead to humans and monsters getting crystalized.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The Radiant Equipment is said to be only wearable by the Descender because being a Descender gives them the fighting capabilities that nobody else has. It's revealed that the equipment was made especially for the Descender.
• Genius Loci:
  • The worlds themselves border on this, since their World Tree is sentient enough to know when it's in danger and can actively conjure the Descender as a physical defense.
  • Radiant Mythology 3's Jildia plays it straighter, bordering on Eldritch Location.
• The Gift:
  • Descenders in Radiant Mythology 2 have the power to convert negative energy into mana. This is seen multiple times as the Descender purifies negative energy of several beings throughout the game. The manga version also had Descenders capable of sharing their powers with those that they acknowledged as their equal, making them a Descender, too.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 has its Descenders be capable of restoring a person's Document, the written record of their soul, to its original state. Kanonno Grassvalley also receives the Descender's abilities.
• God Is Good: The Original Kanonno is responsible for ensuring the balance in the universe.
• Gone Horribly Right: Should the world be on the brink of destruction, its World Tree will create a Descender with the single mission to save the world, no matter what. Unfortunately, given how 'saving the world' was interpreted by Widdershin, Pasca Kanonno, and Lazaris, this can have very dire consequences for the world and other worlds.
• Gratuitous Latin: Possibly spoofed with Ad Libitum.
• Great Offscreen War: Radiant Mythology 2 reveals that one happened before the events of the game, and that the Descender of that time was also the one to put an end to it.
• The Heartless: Radiant Mythology 2 has several primary enemies and bosses be the Negative version of them. All spawned by Goede.
• Heroic Mime: The Descender doesn't speak, merely picking dialogue options.
• Heroes "R" Us: Ad Libitum, the organization the Descender joins. Starting off as a very small thing in the first game, they expanded to larger elements of being an organization of heroes that are each a bona fide badass.
• Image Song: The infamously known Love Beat song, which is performed by the voice actress for each of the Kanonnos. Haruka Kudo, Kanae Itō, and Aya Hirano.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Each game features a Kanonno. They share physical similarities, are all designated as a Magic Knight class, and share the same Mystic Arte. However, they still have their own design, their own voice, and get noticeable fighting differences in Radiant Mythology 3, when all three become partymembers.
  • Radiant Mythology has Pasca Kanonno. Her theme is Spring, focusing on magical attacks.
  • Radiant Mythology 2 has Kanonno Earheart. Her theme is Summer, focusing more on physical attacks.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 has Kanonno Grassvalley. Her theme is Autumn, and she's balanced.
  • The third game explains the appearance of these Kanonnos by revealing the Original Kanonno, whose role it is to observe and balance the multiverse, manifesting herself into a Kanonno for that world, so she can meet the Descender and save the world alongside them.
• Infinity +1 Sword: Radiant Weapons are quite powerful.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 also has equipment with attached skills as rather common drops, but the player requires some amount of luck to get the attached skill they want. A few of them are actually really good when transferred into one equipment.
  • Also in Radiant Mythology 3, most Radiant Equipment will have a Weapon PAttack +%, and a Stagger DEF +% attachment, which will help with certain bosses. If the player is lucky enough to gather a few Stagger DEF pieces and transfer them onto a single armor, it will make them invincible against the final boss, bonus bosses, and duels against the characters.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Radiant Mythology 3 has Niata Monad appear for all of two minutes, before being sniped by Lazaris. However, a later quest requires the player to go back to that site, and Niata Monad joins Kanonno on the bridge of the Van Eltia.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Played with, as the game does assume that the players have likely played some, if not most, of the Tales of games, and is aware of certain revelations. But certain revelations are still not shown in these games, or are given some minor wink-and-nudge references.
• Legacy of the Chosen: The Descenders. Radiant Mythology 2 extends on this, since the legend of the world of Granide talks of how a Descender appeared and ended a war, explaining how Granide got that legend to begin with. This proves that there are other Descenders appearing beyond the one the player controls over the course of the world's history and future.
• Legendary Weapon: The Radiant Weapons.
• Limit Break:
  • Each Tales of character has one, from the second game onward.
  • The Descender has one, with what kind it is depending on the current class.
  • Each Kanonno has the Unchained Note one, albeit with visuals differing for each in the third game.
• Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: The second and third game ended up nerfing magic significantly... although Iria remains quite a powerhouse.
• Mascot RPG: Namco loves this genre to death, so it's unsurprising that it'd bring its Tales characters together in one of these.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The games invole characters from several Tales of games joining forces.
• The Medic: The Priest class works like this primarily, with the Bishop class using a balance of this alongside its offensive spells. There are also classes like the Magic Knight or Paladin that have a few healing spells, while focusing on physical attacks.
• Mythology Gag: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise here.
• O.C. Stand-in: The Openings show a generic, male Descender.
• Official Couple: Radiant Mythology 2 heavily implies this to be the case for Kanonno Earheart and the male Descender. The manga for the game does the same, with the Descender called Roa Nashion.
• Old Save Bonus: Importing save-data from the first or second game, or Narikiri Dungeon X, into Radiant Mythology 3 will grant the player some titles, new equipment, and extra battles in the Arena.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted, since Radiant Mythology 3 has all three Kanonnos as joinable Ad Libitum members. However, they differentiate them by referring to them as Pasca, Earheart, and Grassvalley, respectively.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: The Radiant Equipment can only be donned by a Descender.
• Origins Episode: Radiant Mythology 3 reveals why each game had a Kanonno in it.
• Original Generation: The series gave birth to a pink-haired, green-eyed teenaged girl called Kanonno, and her alternate versions. Whatever species Mormo, Paneer and Rocksprings are. And the three antagonists Widdershin, Goede, and Lazaris.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: The Radiant Berserker armor has tiger skin worn like a showgirl skirt.
• Player Data Sharing: Other players' uploaded characters can show up as recruitable mercenaries. However, the English version only has preset custom characters with rather generic names.
• Playable Epilogue: The second and third game allow the player to continue their cleared save, resulting in an epilogue where the Descender returns from the World Tree and rejoins Ad Libitum.
• Prestige Class: The advanced classes the Descender can change into, although they have to be unlocked. Radiant Mythology required the player to defeat certain Tales of characters in a duel, while using a certain class, to get them. The second and third game altered this to getting the initial classes to certain levels.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: The Descender from Radiant Mythology, as the text has no alterations based on the player's chosen gender. Averted in the second and third game, where certain dialogue options or relationships are tweaked to reflect the player controlling a male or female Descender.
• The Reveal: The games are filled with these.
  • Pasca Kanonno is a Descender, who eradicated humanity from their world when pushed to the limit.
  • The Descender can return from the World Tree after saving the world, allowing them to live a normal life.
  • Kanonno Earheart is a reincarnation of Pasca Kanonno.
  • Whether a Descender retains the memories of their previous journey, when returning for a second time to their world, is entirely dependent on the Descender themselves.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 reveals that all of the Kanonnos originate from the Original Kanonno, who is a protector of the multiverse.
• Second Coming: The Descenders in general, though the player is only ever shown this happening to their own, created Descender in the second and third game's epilogue. Though Radiant Mythology 2 has legends passed down through history of the guardian of the World Tree, the 'Descender', who led a war to an end a long time ago, and it's been handed down that a warrior shall arise when in times of need. However, nobody at the guild in the second or third game know that they are talking to the prophesied Descender.
• Spin-Offspring: Radiant Mythology 2 reveals that Granide is the world born at the end of Radiant Mythology. Likely the one Pasca Kanonno held, citing that she can sense Pasca and a bit of Terresia inside of it.
• Trilogy: The series has three games.
• Time Skip: Radiant Mythology 2 states that its epilogue takes place a month after the final battle.
• The Time Traveler's Dilemma: Radiant Mythology 3 has Pasca Kanonno as an optional partymember, although this particular incarnation is from a time before she went insane and killed everyone in Pasca. Ultimately inverted, as Niata Monad is a refugee from that world and does his best to never let this fact be caught on.
• The Unseen: The second and third game never lets the player see The Empire. Radiant Mythology 3 also has several other villages and countries, but those are never seen.
• Villain Override: Radiant Mythology 3 has Lazaris suffer this fate during the second stage of the final boss battle. The Document of Jildia forcefully takes over her body in a last-ditch attempt to stop the party.
• Virtual Paper Doll: Equipment is visible when worn by the Descender and mercenaries.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • Radiant Mythology has Widdershin and Pasca Kanonno intend to create an eternal world by consuming other worlds. Aurora was also implied to have been one because of her past, but by the time the player meets her, she has become a full-fledged villain.
  • Radiant Mythology 3 has Lazaris, whose goal was to get her world, Jildia, to be born, although this would mean the destruction of Luminasia. She acknowledges that her wish is selfish, but justifies it as Luminasia essentially denied Jildia the opportunity to be born as a world.
• Wedding Episode: In the Wedding Story ~ The Blessed Future ~ event from Tales of Link, Kana and the three Kanonnos are excited to experience a wedding, although it's actually a Bridal Fair Contest, although the Descenders remain absent.

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