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Tales of Destiny 2 is the fourth mainline entry in the Tales Series, and a direct sequel to Tales of Destiny. The game was released on November 28th, 2002 in Japan on the PlayStation 2.

The game picks up eighteen years after the first game ended and tells the story of Kyle Dunamis, son of Stahn. Having grown up on tales of how his parents saved the world, he's absolutely convinced that it's his destiny to follow in their footsteps and become a hero. Thus, as soon as he's of age he goes on a grand journey around the world looking for adventure, and happens to stumble across a Mysterious Waif and an epic quest involving Time Travel and Setting Right What Once Went Wrong. During his travels, he picks up his own band of misfits:

  • Reala: The Mysterious Waif that Kyle finds. She emerges from a giant Lens and is looking for a hero to help her. She's Kyle's love interest, the resident White Magician Girl, and Purity Personified.
  • Loni Dunamis: Kyle's "adoptive brother" who goes with him to keep his hotheaded idiocy in check. A self-proclaimed ladies man who fights with a halberd.
  • Judas: A mysterious Dual Wielding fencer wearing a bone mask. The "wise guy" of the team. Despite his attitude, he seems obliged to protect Kyle.
  • Nanaly Fletch: An Action Girl with excellent archery skills. She comes from a Bad Future and joins the party when she is inadvertently sucked into a time portal with them. She runs an orphanage, and has a love-hate relationship with Loni.
  • Harold Berselius: The creator of the Swordians. A freaky but good hearted (though amoral) Mad Scientist who turns out to be female, having chosen the name "Harold" to play a childish prank on historians (who would assume she was male). A powerful spellcaster.

The game received an Updated Re Release on the PlayStation Portable, released February 15th, 2007 in Japan.

Not to be confused with Tales of Eternia, which was marketed in North America as Tales of Destiny II.


Tales of Destiny 2 provides examples of:

  • Action Girl: Nanaly and Harold, without a doubt.
  • After the End:
    • This game takes place 18 years after Tales of Destiny, which ended with the world in ruin after the crust created by Dycroft broke up and rained down on the world. While some major population centres recovered, many towns were wiped off the map entirely and never rebuilt. The Kingdom of Seinegald, once a world power, has been reduced to a shell of its former self, with the continent having all but abandoned the monarchy in favor of following the Church of Aigrette and later Fortuna. Aquaveil was also left devastated, with only a single town remaining.
    • The Bad Future world created by Elraine shows only four major cities remain in the entire world after the Aetherians won the Aether Wars.
  • Anti-Frustration Features: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise here.
  • Anti-Magic: Barbatos is just one big Anti-Everything That Could Help You. If you cast a spell, he counters with a spell of his own (and is invincible during his casting period). If you use an item, he counters with a Limit Break that is literally called, "Never use items!". In this game, using certain healing spells will also cause him to cast an invincible counterspell.
  • The Atoner: Several characters have guilt in their backstory.
    • It's not a spoiler to say that any hero who goes by the name Judas undoubtedly broke the trust of a friend. And the game is not really trying to hide from the player that, as Leon Magnus, Judas betrayed everyone and heaped pain on the people who wanted to help him most. And now he's trying to make up for it by being a true friend and ally to the successors of those he hurt.
    • It is not apparent from his usual behavior, but Loni blames himself for Stahn's death, and as a result puts Kyle's needs ahead of his own.
    • Nanaly is good at putting up a confident front about her defining tragedy, but behind it, she is overwhelmed with doubt and regret about not giving in to Elraine when it could have saved her brother's life.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: There are plenty of spells that can stun enemies with ease, while physical attacks tend to be hampered with other stats to stagger the enemy properly. Counter-intuitively, the spells tend to be fairly unspectacular while the flashy moves come from the physical skills. Some of the most memorable mystic artes are the ones used by the melees, especially Loni's 15-Kanji Hi-Ougi, Shinten Rekkuu Zankou Senpuu Messai Shinbatsu Kassatsugeki. (Which itself fits this trope due to its requirements and the fact that it can actually fail. So if you want to use this on a boss, you might as well use it as a finisher.)
    • Judas's Majin Rengokusatsu is also subject to this, considering it can also fail (Though you get a slightly different monologue if it does, and it still will do quite a bit of damage, so it's not completely wasted).
  • Badass Creed: Judas' Majin Rengokusatsu (Transcendent Sufferingnote ) monologue.
    "To a life that went unfulfilled, a momentary miracle which could not be given in the now. Time passes... Unite here and quicken unto the future! Righteous Holy Sword! I cut off the past... Scatter! Majin Rengokusatsu!"
    • Alternately, there's the Badass subtitle to the Badass Creed:
    "Blood rejects blood, heart breaks heart. Miracles will not come true, therefore, they don't exist. You resist?"
  • Badass in Distress: Happens to everyone save Reala in the Illusion World arc.
  • Bad Future: Nanaly hails from future Calvalese - still inhospitable, still polluted, but now the world's resources are heavily concentrated in Elraine's hands and distributed only to those who obey her.
  • Bag of Spilling: Only comes into play with Leon, and to be fair he's been dead for a while. Subverted in that he still has Chaltier, but using him would reveal his identity.
  • Better to Die than Be Killed: How Barbatos meets his end, claiming that he didn't lose to the party, but to himself.
  • Big Damn Heroes: There are quite a few of these moments in the game.
  • Bloodier and Gorier: The manga is noticeably bloodier and more graphic than the game, which adheres to Bloodless Carnage.
  • Blood Knight: Fighting is what Barbatos does, and he seems to have a good time while he does it.
  • Chainmail Bikini: Nanaly's character design looks more cabaret-appropriate than combat-appropriate. That parts that look armor-like offer only a little more coverage than a bikini top, and it's coupled with a hot pants / Showgirl Skirt combo.
  • Chewing the Scenery: Barbatos takes huge, Man-sized chunks out of every scene he's in.
  • Cool Big Sis: Nanaly is older than Kyle and Reala, who admire the way she is fierce to her foes, but nurturing to her friends. She is resourceful and steps into the Team Mom role by both hunting and cooking meals.
  • Cool Mask: Judas wears a mask made from a dragon skull, and lives up to the expectation of being awesome in terms of both narrative and gameplay favorability.
  • Corrupt Church: The Order of Atamoni is an honestly well-meaning religious organization, unlike most seen in the Tales Series. There was just no way they could resist the appeal of Elraine's actual, factual miracles enough to prevent her ideology from becoming their ideology.
  • Crapsack World: Downplayed, but the world of Destiny 2 is in a significantly worse state than the previous game; several towns were completely wiped off the map and the world as a whole is dealing with refugee crises that remain unresolved. Seinegald, once a world power, has collapsed into a weakly-governed theocracy. The Aquaveil islands seem to have been destroyed apart from the town of Sheeden, and Fitzgald is now covered by a dense fog that renders travel nearly impossible. Calvalese has not changed much - still hazardous and populated by suspicious, impoverished people. The only continent that seems relatively unaffected is Phandaria, and it still struggles to feed and clothe its refugees.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Judas is snarky and his delivery is usually deadpan, making him a sterling example. While Harold is anything but deadpan, she has her moments. After all, if Judas is Surrounded by Idiots, as a genius it goes double for her.
  • Demoted to Extra: Pierre de Chaltier is with the party the entire time, but has only a handful of speaking lines before he dies.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Elraine tries to force Judas into this by trapping him in a Psychological Torment Zone. It doesn't work.
  • Disproportionate Retribution:
    • Barbatos considers killing a four-year old for throwing a rock at him, only stopping because Loni gets in the way.
    • In a skit, Judas pulls his swords on the other party members for throwing snowballs with rocks in them at him. Don't throw rocks in this game.
  • The Dragon: Barbatos is all too happy to fill this role for Elraine, though he could hardly care less about her goals.
  • Dual Boss: Sabnock is accompanied in his boss fight by his leopard pet Ose.
  • Dual Wielding: Judas fights with a rapier and a parrying dagger. As a magic specialist Harold's primary weapons are staffs, but she also equips daggers which she uses as a Blade on a Rope.
  • Dueling Messiahs: Reala and Elraine, both saints of Fortuna trying to find the best way to guide humanity into happiness.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Barbatos' reaction towards using items (or even spells) in this game is simply going invincible as the game puts up a subtitle of Barbatos mocking you for using items, while he casts a spell that won't be interrupted. When Barbatos reappears as a guest in future games, this particular anti-item trait is replaced by the Mystic Arte (or whatever you call it depending on the game) "NO ITEMS EVER!!".
  • Easily Forgiven: Justified for Judas - he already payed for his past crimes through his death, and the extenuating circumstances behind his participation in nearly destroying the world mitigates some of the blame. And besides, by the time his past is revealed the other heroes had already worked through any suspicion they had toward him, so their opinion of him does not shift much.
  • The Fellowship Has Ended: It ends immediately after Kyle destroys the lens that manifested Fortuna. The party members are pulled out of the collapsing timeline one by one, with Kyle the last one to go.
  • Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: Occurs in the Bad Future that Nanaly comes from. People the world over willingly trade in their aspirations to live under Elraine's thumb, because she gives them everything they need. In the Alternate Timeline Elraine pumps this up into a Terminally Dependent Society.
  • Great Escape: Kyle and Loni meet Judas when he jumps from the roof of their cell and offers them an escape through secret passages the guards don't know about.
  • Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: While everyone in the game is a Magic Knight to some degree or other, the male party members all use some form of melee bladed weapon, while the female party members have either staves or are archers.
  • Handsome Lech: Loni fancies himself one, but isn't actually skilled enough at flirting to pull it off. In reality he's more of a Chivalrous Pervert.
  • Hero Killer: Barbatos. And how! His title during his Tales of Vesperia cameo is even "Killer of Heroes".
  • Humans Are Flawed: As is common with the Tales Series, the upper rank antagonists pursue noble ends using harmful means. ToD2 acknowledges that they want to create happiness by compensating for humanity's flaws, and humanity is flawed. But their idea of happiness is inflexible, and the game's message is that everyone has to earn their happy ending by overcoming their flaws.
  • Idiot Hero: Kyle is clearly his father's son. Loni might be adopted, but he's not much better.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Judas usually has something sarcastic to say when the other characters are being silly, but he delves into straight up Brutal Honesty at times, usually when they are either asking questions about his past or when he wants to teach Kyle a lesson about heroism. Despite this, he is well-meaning most of the time.
  • Kiai:
    Barbatos: "BRRRRUUUUUAAAAA!!!!!"
  • Knuckle Cracking: Often Nanaly's warm-up move before putting Loni into a submission hold. Don't worry, he deserves it.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler:
    • Judas' existence quickly spoils that Leon betrayed the party and died in the first game.
    • Looking at the player manual immediately spoils that Harold Berselius, assumed to be a man in the first game, was a woman.
  • Limit Break: The characters have a bevy of Hi-Ougi techniques to use, all with several secret requirements to unlock and use.
    • A particularly hilarious example is Loni. He has one that's 15 kanji long and incredibly drawn out, but lives up to the awesome name by destroying nearly everything on screen. If you use his broom however, it'll fall off in the middle of the attack and end halfway, ending with a puny punch worth 1 damage.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: The Illusion World dreams. All are happy places except Judas's, which is designed to drive him past the Despair Event Horizon by making him relive his betrayal and death for eternity unless he agrees to serve Fortuna.
  • Mad Scientist: Harold's reputation for scientific ingenuity endures for centuries. One of the many things about her that did not make it into the historical record is how much of a kick she gets out of testing her experiments on her companions, whether they like it or not.
  • Mage Marksman: Nanaly is an archer, and like the rest of the playable characters she has access to an variety of magic attacks. Her Hi-Ougi involves charging a huge volley of arrows with magic.
  • Make Wrong What Once Went Right: The second half of the game revolves around trying to avert the Alternate Timeline Elraine creates by changing the outcome of the Aeth'er War.
  • Marathon Boss: The Final Boss. Seriously, look at all the videos on YouTube, they often have to be split into multiple parts.
  • Meaningful Name: Kyle naming the mysterious swordsman "Judas". He's Leon Magnus, Back from the Dead.
  • Multishot: Nanaly's Mystic Arte, Wild Geese, is a cross between this and Macross Missile Massacre.
  • Mysterious Waif: The game's plot begins in earnest when Reala appears and states that she is searching for a "hero who can change history." She is a girl on a mission. Kyle immediately identifies that mission as a Call to Adventure and resolves to convince Reala that he is the hero she's looking for.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Harold. When Loni asks her to make him more appealing to women, she suggests roboticization and removing his brain, as well as a vivisection.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Loni likes to tease Nanaly about her tomboyish nature as an immature, pulling-your-crush's-pigtails way of getting her attention. She pays him back for this by putting him in submission holds.
  • No Ontological Inertia: Defeating Fortuna causes her to cease to have ever existed, and this nullifies Reala, Elraine, and all the actions they took to motivate the protagonists to act. The epilogue shows that despite this, there appears to be some ontological inertia for the player characters, who still end up being pretty much the same people they were during the game.
  • Noodle People: Mutsumi Inomata's art style makes for rather lanky characters - particularly Reala, who looks like a walking, talking porcelain doll. The actual sprites used in game, however, have more normal proportions for the most part.
  • Official Couple: Kyle and Reala. While Tales games tend to have more subtle romances, Kyle and Reala are the exception, going on dates together more than once and sharing a kiss.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Judas' mask has become a Running Gag in the Tales Series due to how poorly it functions as a means of concealing your identity. It is actually Judas' discretion that keeps people from recognizing him rather than his very attention-grabbing sartorial choices. Everyone in-game that would recognize him is either dead or he intentionally avoids.
    The in-game justification is that Judas chose the mask not for its face-obscuring abilities, but because it's made of dragon bone, which offers excellent physical and magical protection.
  • Pity the Kidnapper: In a skit, Nanaly muses about being kidnapped, wondering if anyone would save her in such a circumstance. Loni promises he would, if only to stop her from inflicting a beating on the idiots who might think this was a good idea. Nanaly proceeds to turn the beating on him.
  • Plot Hole: A small one, but when Harold brings the Swordians out to use as a power source for Time Travel, Berselius is among them. The whole first game's plot hinges on that sword having been left in the ruins of Dycroft as a tribute to Karell Berselius. Seeing as the end of the game retcons the whole story, this might not be too much of a problem, but it's still a bit jarring to see after a scene telling people not to meddle with the past.
  • Point of Divergence: An alternate timeline is created when Belcrant fires a direct hit on Radisrol, killing all the Swordian masters and Harold Berselius before they could invade Dycroft. Phandaria is utterly devastated as result, and the Er'thers only survive because of Elraine's intervention... Resulting in three Brainwashed Terminally Dependent Societies being all that's left of humanity in general 1000 years later.
  • The Power of Love: This is what brings Reala Back from the Dead in the epilogue. It's also implied that Judas is saved from being Ret-Gone through the bonds of friendship made during the game.
  • Psychological Torment Zone: The illusion worlds are sweet dreams designed to pacify their inhabitants, but they all end up uncovering the characters' emotional trauma before they are able to escape.
    Judas' illusion world is different in that it is a straightforward representation of the trope intended to torture him by making him relive his past misdeeds. He manages to endure it long enough for Big Damn Heroes moment to save him.
  • Racing Minigame: The Noischat boy (or a descendant at least) and his street racing returns. And it is brutally hard.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: Interesting example, as the religion based on the goddess in question isn't a Corrupt Church: they just have a different idea of what the goddess is supposed to be (eg: a good one).
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The team is one, all people from different continents and timelines working together towards the common goal of killing a mad goddess.
  • Reset Button: All of the events of the game are wiped from history in the end, and while this is bittersweet, it also undoes the characters' tragic backstories. Stahn isn't killed, so Kyle grows up with his dad around and Loni isn't saddled with guilt. Nanaly is spared responsibility for the fate of her brother Rue, and the epilogue gives the player the opportunity to cure his illness. Plus, the characters have partial Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory. Just as Kyle insisted to his friends before they all part ways, the ties that bind them to each other did not disappear. Reala is reborn and has a happy reunion with Kyle. And even Judas, who presumably snaps back to being dead, is not completely forgotten at the very least.
  • Retcon: The whole point of Elraine changing the past, to make herself appear even more like The Messiah and remove resistance to Fortuna's will.
  • Ret-Gone:
    • After Barbatos was defeated in the original timeline, it was judged that his crimes were so great that he was to be completely written out of history. The reason he fights as Elraine's Dragon is to prove to the world he actually does exist and is worthy of being a hero.
    • The last big plot twist is that killing Fortuna will erase her from the timeline, nullifying every action she has taken - including the creation of Elraine and Reala. Since Elraine resurrected Judas, his existence is forfeit too. It's very nearly enough to make Kyle give up on his dream of being a hero.
  • Sadistic Choice:
  • Say My Name:
    Kyle: REAAAALAAAAAAA!
  • Screw Destiny: Implied by the game's tagline; "To release Destiny". Eventually, it is done by Reala and possibly Judas, who come back despite this supposedly being impossible.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: A sidequest available during the epilogue allows the player to save Nanaly's brother from death by getting him the medicine he needs to live.
  • A Shared Suffering: Loni and Nanaly bond over having experienced similar sorts of guilt - they both blame themselves for the death of a loved one.
  • Ship Tease: Loni and Nanaly, to the point of just being shy of an Official Couple. Judas and Harold also get shipping moments, as do Leon and Philia. Kyle and Reala are an Official Couple by the end.
  • Socialization Bonus: According to Word of God, this is the reason for the disparity in power levels in melee and magic, as the battle system was designed for "co-operative play". Presumably, one person would control a fighter to keep the enemies occupied while another player spammed magic.
  • Stable Time Loop: The party completes one after saving Stahn and co from Barbatos. It's revealed that the Swordians lacked the numbers to stabilize the Eye of Atamoni and it was going to explode. Judas then reveals he still carries Chaltier and plunges him into the Eye, reuniting him with his friends and allowing them to contain the explosion. Because Stahn survives, he and Rutee have Kyle, starting off the plot of Tales of Destiny 2 and allowing the aforementioned loop to happen.
  • Temporal Abortion: Barbatos Goetia develops a deep, seething hatred towards Kyle that leads to him eventually plotting to go back in time and kill his parents before he's concieved.
  • Theme Naming: Barbatos and a handful of minor named antagonists are named after demons catalogued in the in the Ars Goetia.
  • Time Travel: A major element of the plot. A number of time travel sub-tropes are represented, including Set Right What Once Went Wrong, Make Wrong What Once Went Right, Alternate Timeline, and Stable Time Loop. But not You Can't Fight Fate, because you absolutely can, and indeed must, fight fate. This is the "RPG to Release Destiny", after all.
  • Timed Mission: There's a few throughout the main quest, usually with a 10:00 time limit.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: As Kyle undergoes Character Development, he runs into this problem, as well as The Needs of the Many, especially when both of these make Dymlos into a Broken Pedestal in his eyes.
  • Tomboyish Name: Harold calls herself Harold in order to deceive the history books into believing that the famed genius and creator of the Swordians was a man. At least, according to her that was "one of twenty-one reasons" why she did it.
  • Troubled Backstory Flashback: All the Illusion Worlds serve to show this.
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Kyle seemingly forgot the memory of when Barbatos killed Stahn, and it takes a Mind Screw about halfway through the game for him to remember the event.
  • Tsundere: Nanaly is generally sweet. She is nice around everyone except Loni, who tends to hit her Berserk Button a lot.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Kyle and Loni, and later Loni and Nanaly.
  • White Magician Girl: Reala learns the most complete suite of healing magic in the game. While she is not limited to just healing magic, she is still best utilized casting spells at a distance.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb: Both Judas and Harold can cast darkness-element and light-element spells.

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