A remake of the inaugural Tales title, this entry still manages to stand out in its own right. The story here is actually a very truncated version of an intended novel, which may play into why it feels a bit better outlined than some later entries. The charming characters aren't overly complex, but they don't need to be. As the story moves forward, there is a natural growth between them, with Chester and Arche being a personal standout for me. The addition of the skits does give their personalities more time to shine, but the way this also happens in the main story is why this is still one of the most well rounded Tales titles. This remake also features improvements in its spritework, battle system, encounter rate, and music quality compared to the original SNES verson.

The tragic events that set off this adventure are done in a surprisingly strong way for a new series.The progression of the narrative is at times clunky, particularly as you get far into it, but it manages to hold together due to the plight of its core cast, how you move through its expanding norse-inspired world, and its villain. Dhaos is very effectively used and despite surprisingly limited screen time, his presence and effect on the world is almost constantly felt. The Tales series has not been very consistent with its music on the whole, but this one has a very strong OST, with the music imbuing each area with an added depth, as well as the fights.

The battle system is an ambitious alternative to the standard turn-based fare of the time, opting for a fast-paced realtime system with AI controlling most of your party. Like a number of novel attempts, it's possible to heavily sway most fights in your favor once you pick up a few skills and party members. One way is by stunlocking enemies with combos on the edge of the screen. Another is by assigning spells to the two shortcut options and overwhelming your foes. Unfortunately, this version still features the frustrating spell pause of older Tales and Star Ocean games. This makes bringing along mages a big momentum killer when their attacks make the action stop to play out the animation. The extra character added in this version is great because it gives you the option to make an all melee team to cut down on this. A later version for the PSP removed the spell pause, but as of this review it is without a translation patch.