The Tales emblem as seen in Tales of the Abyss. Each entry in the series uses its own font and styling.(2012 – present)(formerly Wolf Team) (1995–2011)Creator(s)Daigo OkumuraMinoru IwamotoPlatform(s),First release15 December 1995Latest release18 August 2016The Tales series, known in Japan as the Tales of series (: 「テイルズ オブ」シリーズ,: 'Teiruzu Obu' Shirīzu), is a of fantasy published by (formerly ), and developed by its subsidiary, until 2011 and presently.

First begun in 1995 with the development and release of for the, the series currently spans sixteen main titles, multiple spin-off games and supplementary media in the form of series, series, and.While entries in the series generally stand independent of each other with different characters and stories, they are commonly linked by their gameplay, themes and high fantasy settings. The series is characterized by its art style, which draws from Japanese manga and anime, and its action-based fighting system called the 'Linear Motion Battle System'. Multiple people have become linked with the series, including character designers and, producers and Makoto Yoshizumi, and composer.

Tales of Phantasia may become one of the few titles to be re-released twice on a single platform. In 2006, Namco Bandai launched an updated version of the classic SNES RPG for PSP (although it never found a Stateside release), and now it looks to be releasing that same game one more time.

The series was created by.Most of the main Tales games have been for North America and Europe, although almost none of the spinoff titles have been released abroad. While generally seen as a series in English speaking regions, Tales is considered a high-profile property in Japan. 's Jeremy Parish, speaking in 2006, referred to the franchise as the third biggest RPG series in Japan behind. The series has been gaining popularity in the West since the release of, which is still considered one of its most popular titles. As of May 2019, the series has shipped 20 million units worldwide. Main article: Games Since the first installment was released in 1995, the Tales series has grown to include the main entries and multiple spin-offs that derive multiple gameplay and narrative elements from the main entries.

Except when indicated by naming, the main Tales entries are separate from each other apart from gameplay mechanics and themes. While Tales titles are often ported to new consoles after their original release, these remakes are rarely localized. The 2006 game was originally seen as a main entry in the series, but in 2007 was classified as a spin-off, possibly due to poor reception of that particular title. Main series Release timeline 2020The series debuted on the with in 1995, and introduced multiple elements that would become staples of the Tales series. It was released in the west on the in 2006.

It was also ported to the,. The PlayStation received two original Tales games: in 1997, which was the first title to be released in North America, and in 2000, which was released in North America as Tales of Destiny 2 in 2001.Five titles have been released on the PlayStation 2.

The true direct sequel to Destiny, was released on the in 2001 across Asian territories, and ported to the PlayStation Portable in Japan in 2007; both versions have yet to receive a western release. Was released in Japan on the PS2. The GameCube version was also released North America and Europe. It was the first entry to feature for its characters and environments and the first to be released in Europe. Was released in 2004, ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2008, and has yet to receive a western localization.

And were both released in Japan in 2005, with both being released in North America the following year. Legendia was the first and only Tales game developed by Namco internal development team 'Project Melfes', while Abyss was developed by the same team that developed Symphonia, and used its same graphics engine.

Abyss was later ported to the and released in Japan, North America and Europe.was released in Japan on the Nintendo DS in 2007. A remake of the game, Innocence R was released on the in 2012. Overlord 2 download. Neither version has been released in the west.

The first release on seventh-generation consoles, for, was released in Japan and North America in 2008 and in Europe in 2009. A Japan-exclusive PlayStation 3 port was released in 2009 as well. Was released on the Nintendo DS in 2008. A remake, Hearts R, was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and Europe.The twelfth entry, released on the in Japan in 2009.

A PlayStation 3 port, Graces f, was released in 2010 in Japan, and in 2012 in North America and Europe., the series' 15th anniversary title, was released in Japan for PlayStation 3 in 2011, and in North America and Europe in 2013. Xillia 's direct sequel and the fourteenth main title, was released in 2012 in Japan and 2014 in North America and Europe. The fifteenth main title, was released in January 2015 in Japan and it was released in North America on 20 October 2015. The sixteenth main title, was released in Japan for PS3 and in August 2016., designed as a departure from series conventions, is set for a 2020 release for modern consoles and PC.

Sequels and spin-offs The series has received a small number of sequels, and a large amount of spin-off titles and subseries. With the exception of Tempest, worked on by multiple staff from the main series and treated as a precursor to Innocence, they are derivative rather than original works. Three direct sequels have been produced: Destiny 2, Xillia 2. Eternia received an spin-off for titled. Multiple crossover games have been made for mobile platforms, including Tales of Link, the series, Tales of Card Evolve, Tales of Kizna and Tales of Asteria.

Two titles for the PlayStation Portable have been released in Japan: in 2009, and in 2012. The main spin-off subseries is Tales of the World, which has grown to include ten games beginning with, released in Japan on the Game Boy Color in 2000. Only has been released in the west. A second subseries, Tales of Fandom, includes two games released respectively for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 in 2002 and 2007.

Related media The Tales series has expanded into other media, including CD dramas, manga and anime. Multiple Tales games have been adapted into anime and TV series. The Symphonia OVA was released in three parts between 2007 and 2011, and released as a single collection in 2013. Abyss was adapted into a 26-episode TV series between October 2008 and March 2009.

Phantasia and Eternia have also received anime adaptations. The series' first theatrical film, a prequel to Vesperia called, was released in 2009 in Japan and 2012 in North America. A made-for-television anime based on the opening sections of Zestiria, was produced as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations related to the title. It was also released on the game disc. A full series based on Zestiria began airing in July 2016.Books and have also been made. Phantasia received multiple CD dramas, including four collected into anthologies in January and March 2000. And a stand-alone drama in December 2001.

Symphonia received seven audio dramas. Two CD dramas for Legendia were respectively released in August and September 2005. A manga of Phantasia was written and serialized in 2008 and 2009, while Abyss received three manga adaptations in the years after its release. Symphonia was adapted in both novelizations and a manga serial. Others to receive adaptations of these kinds are Destiny, Graces and Xillia. Common elements Gameplay The Tales series is classified as a series.

Multiple gameplay elements carry over from entry to entry. The main unifying element is the combat system, the Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS for short). Considered as one of the mainstays and building blocks for every main entry in the series, it undergoes multiple incremental changes and alterations from one installment to the next. Introduced in Phantasia, it is a real-time fighting system similar to a brawler, as opposed to the majority of RPGs at the time of Phantasia 's release, which primarily used turn-based battle systems.Some features introduced in certain games have proven popular enough to remain in future installments like 'Free Running' (the ability for a character to freely roam the battlefield).

Elements of turn-based combat are also present, though to a lesser degree: an example of this is Destiny 's 'Chain Capacity' feature (the number of skills a character can perform), which appears in later games in the series. The battle system for Legendia was deliberately designed to be similar to a brawler: the stated reason was that the team wished to combine brawler combat with the story and leveling mechanics of a Tales game. Characters generally use Artes, which are special attacks characters can perform in battle. Players can usually only control one character, though a multiplayer option was implemented for Destiny and has reappeared in later Tales games.The battle system's name for each installment is augmented with descriptive titles representative of features of that game's battle system: examples are the 'Style Shift' system from Graces (characters shifting between two types of Artes) and the 'Fusionic-Chain' system from Zestiria (a human character merging with a magical character for a brief period to deal greater damage).

Characters are awarded with 'Titles', nicknames that sometimes grant benefits to them in battle when assigned to them. In the majority of Tales games, when navigating the overworld or environment and encountering an enemy, combat took place on a separate battle screen. For Zestiria, combat took place in the same space as exploration.Most Tales games have skits, side conversations between different characters that can be both dramatic and comedic in nature.

They are commonly portrayed as character portraits or profiles, with text along the bottom of the screen. They were first introduced in Tales of Destiny, though the majority were cut from the English release. In the original English GameCube release of Symphonia, the voice track for the skits was removed, but for its HD re-release, the Japanese voice track, and consequently the skit voice tracks, were included. The first English release to include fully voiced skits was Vesperia: they had been planned for Abyss, but were cut due to space issues. Another recurring feature is the Cooking system, where characters learn and prepare dishes to restore health and forms of experience points. Themes, plots and characters The prominent narrative theme of the Tales series is the issue of coexistence between different races. A particular example of this is Tales of Rebirth, which extensively explores themes of racism.

Scenario writer Hiramatsu Masaki was inspired by the ethnic conflicts seen in. Another recurring feature is the plot and characters, which are often rooted in and revolve around themes such as justice or faith. The theme for each entry in the series is decided by the series producer based on current world events. The chosen theme helps dictate what the game will be called: once the theme is decided, the team search through various languages to find a suitable representative word. The narratives of each story were described by as 'very typical' during a 2008 interview with staff members, although it was not elaborated upon by the interviewer. The interviewers suggested that this point of view was based on the fact that western fans were not generally experienced in Japanese culture, and so would see the stories in each entry as similar.

The writers for each game are hired on a per-project basis, with both freelancers and in-house story writers being involved. Two of the recurring writers are Takumi Miyajima ( Symphonia and Abyss), and Naoki Yamamoto ( Hearts, Xillia, Zestiria). There are very few mainline games that share a setting: Symphonia takes place along the same 'time axis' as Phantasia, while Zestiria and Berseria take place on the same world at different time periods.The settings for the stories are primarily high fantasy worlds, with the producers opting not to use a dark or science fiction-based setting.

An exception is Xillia 2, which mostly took place in a modern setting, and explored darker themes than usual. This direction was confirmed as a one-off experiment for the series. The main characters play a key role in the Tales games, as it is partially through them that the main theme of each entry is depicted. For Abyss, it was decided to take a risk and create an unorthodox protagonist that would be initially unlikable. For Vesperia, the team opted to raise the age limit of the target audience, showing this in the game by making the main protagonist a more mature type.

A female main protagonist was included for the first time in Xillia in the form of alongside male protagonist Jude Mathis, although at the time it was stated that there were no solid plans to create a game with a single female protagonist. A sole main female character, called Velvet, was eventually included in Berseria.

The way the characters interact with each other during the narrative forms one of the core aspects of designing each game. Another main priority is for players to see a part of themselves in the characters. Terminology Unique terminology is used when referring to games within the series. In 2007, Yoshizumi announced two classes of Tales games, 'Mothership Titles' and 'Escort Titles'. 'Mothership' essentially means 'Main series', where as 'Escort' essentially means 'Spinoff'. One of the recurring differences between the two game types internally is that 'Escort' titles don't supply inspiration for main entries in the series, but draw the most popular elements from them. The games are also frequently given what is called a 'Characteristic Genre Name', which is essentially a short subtitle or phrase that outlines the game's overall theme.

The main reason for this, as stated by Yoshizumi, was that the series was not seen as a role-playing series by the development team, but rather 'Character Playing Game', with the player learning about the game's characters and watching them grow rather than using them as avatars: the genre names are meant to distinguish them from other role-playing games. The terms, however, are largely removed from the English localized versions. There are also terms that are used in remakes or ports of games: 'R' stands for 'remake' or 'Re-imagination' (as in Hearts R), while 'F' in Graces f stood for 'future', in reference to the game's extra story content. Development History The Tales series originated when Phantasia began production, based on an unpublished novel titled Tale Phantasia ( テイルファンタジア, Teiru Fantajia), written by the game's scenario writer and lead programmer.

During the story development process, several elements of the original novel were dropped or changed. The game was developed by Wolf Team, an independent game development studio founded in 1986. Due to bad experiences at, the previous employer of multiple Wolf Team members, the staff sought an independent publisher for the game. After an unsuccessful pitch to, they entered a publishing contract with Bandai Namco (then Namco).

Phantasia had a troubled development cycle for the original Super Famicom version, with many creative disagreements between Wolf Team and Namco. The disagreements led to most of the Wolf Team staff leaving after the game in order to start a new company, which would go on to make the series. Remaining members would continue to develop games in the Tales series.The studio remained independent until 2003, when it was acquired by Bandai Namco and renamed Namco Tales Studio.

The studio's shares were divided between Bandai Namco, Telenet Japan and series director. In 2006, Namco bought Telenet's shares, then later Kikuchi's, giving them full control over the studio. In mid 2011, a financial report indicated that Namco Tales was in serious financial trouble, having a debt of 21 million dollars and posting a loss for the previous financial year. The studio's absorption into its parent company was formally announced in November of that year. After the absorption of Namco Tales, former series brand manager was appointed as series producer. He had previously been the producer of the original version of Hearts. Alongside Baba, the chief series producer is Makoto Yoshizumi, who had produced multiple titles including Destiny and Innocence.

Art design.