Tales of Hearts R Review
I think it’s fair to say at this point that the Tales series is rivalling the likes of Final Fantasy for the title of ‘Best JRPG Franchise’. Whilst the latest titles of Square Enix‘s juggernaut are either moving away from the single player roots or are quite controversial in their reception, Tales keeps taking strides directly into the hearts of fans; Tales of Hearts R is finally available in the West, and just might be the Vita title you need for Christmas.
Tales games have a habit of introducing terminology that is seemingly as complex as it is unnecessary, and this time instead of Exspheres, Blastia, Fonons or Spyrix we’re dealing with Somas and Somatics. A Soma is a piece of equipment that your main character, Kor Meteor, can use to summon forth weaponry. Being educated on the matter by his grandfather, a legendary Somatic, Kor is determined to master his ability and help those in need, as is the duty of all good Somatics. It isn’t long before Kor meets Kohaku Hearts and her brother Hisui, and after an unfortunate accident, Kohaku loses all of her emotions and Kor’s grandfather is felled defending his grandson from attack.
It’s a fairly typical JRPG yarn, with the peaceful village life for teenagers taking a turn for the worst; the protagonist is acting in the interests of both his friends and revenge for his loved ones. It may not be all that imaginative, but it’s most definitely effective. After Kohaku loses her emotions they get shot to all corners of the world, commencing a grand adventure typical for the franchise.
Tales of Hearts was originally a DS title that was never released outside of Japan. Comparing gameplay videos it’s clear that there have been major graphical and audio improvements over the original DS title, with graphics being entirely overhauled for the Vita and audio being noticeably clearer.
Of course, storyline is hardly the main reason most people play the Tales games – it’s the battle system. The Linear Motion Battle System has had many iterations (all with equally complex names), but they all result in a fantastic real-time battle system with a strong JRPG flair. The battle system here seems to take cues from Tales of Graces F by limiting the amount of Artes you can use in a single combo and recharging them by defending; it feels familiar, but in a good way. Admittedly, at first the Arte limit and lack of abilities made combat feel slow and unrewarding, but it wasn’t long until the Artes I’d unlocked could be put into full use after increasing the number of them I can use in a single combo, making the combat feel like the exciting Tales LMBS I’m used to.
The storyline of Tales of Hearts R takes many twists, including the Valentin Church and Empire being at odds with one another with your group getting stuck between the conflict, though there are many other surprises along the way. The characters feel full of personality, though there is no English voice cast - depending on where you lie on the otaku spectrum, you may see this as either a plus or a negative. The party members are all endearing in a particular way and you can learn to love them more by reading the optional skit scenes that you are prompted to look at while exploring towns, dungeons and the field – a Tales staple, I reckon.
One of the very best parts of the experience is character progression. You can divide up points earned through levelling up into Fight, Sincerity, Endurance, Mettle and Belief sections of your Soma. Each point will enhance your stats and milestones will earn you something nice - a weapon, a skill or an arte. Of course weapons offer the obvious difference in battle, but skills and artes can offer something truly unique as well. All of these enhancements really make you enjoy battling more, and this is really a better reason to progress in the game than the story itself is. This system leaves progression of all characters completely in your hands, truly helping you shape the party.
The field exploration reminds me more of Tales of Symphonia or Tales of the Abyss as opposed to the more recent iterations in the series, which attempted the feel of a more “open world”. Having said that, the comparison to the older way is not a negative as I actually prefer it, since it gives the world a wide sense of scale that got lost in Tales of Graces F. The story slowly guides you across the field and points you in the direction of towns and dungeons, all of which can hide chests, items and sidequests. A nice addition is that sidequests are easier to find thanks to relevant NPCs having icons above their heads to represent what their dialogue may lead to.
When all is said and done, this is a handheld Tales experience. It feels watered down somewhat when compared to Tales of Xillia, and doesn’t match the spectacle of the newer entries in the series. Still, what we have here is a fantastic JRPG experience that kept me invested as the minutes and hours ticked by, and you can play it pretty much anywhere with your PS Vita. I can safely say I hugely enjoyed Tales of Hearts R and have high hopes for the future of the series on handhelds.