As a major "Tales" fan of the past, this game takes the good features of past games, but leaves behind the sto
Graphics - Upon seeing the graphics after the initial "spawning", I was excited, I must admit. They were similar to Tales games of the past, and the form of movement was similar as well. While they added nothing new, I concede that it is a first try on a portable system, making the graphics very good. 8/10
Gameplay - The quest system is bit peculiar, as you can only take one at a time. The quests themselves are very annoying, and very repetitive. There are about 6 different types, and each grows old fast. Of course the difficulty is varying, but the monotony still remains. Every once in a while, you will get unique quests, or chain of quests like the Bakers challenge quests. They are few and far between, unfortunately. Another feature I dislike about RM is the lack of free movement. Only in dungeons can you directly control your character, the outside map and in cities are navigated by a click of the directional pad, and "x". 5/10
Battle System - Unquestionably the best part of the game. The Real Time movement works perfectly. The critical block is intriguing, and the quick slip around for quicker characters is a valuable weapon. The use of "artes", formerly known as "techs", is quite a skill. You begin with the basics, and will eventually gain them all by using the ones you have around 30 times or so. Once you master them all, you get a Mystical art, an incredibly powerful destructive force, though as I found out with the thief, it is hard to pull off and ever harder to hit with. 8.5/10
Sound - The sound is pretty nondescript, there are a few moments of inspiration, but the game is not overflowing with brilliance. The music is solid throughout, 7/10
Difficulty - I found the difficulty in RM to be very strange. The final boss, Widdershin I have found can be soloed, something you never had the opportunity to do in any other Tales game. Being a quick character like the thief allows you to quickly dodge attacks, and even, as I did once, win difficult battles without taking any damage. Then it flips over to some of the quests where you must fight 2-3 characters on your own. I could not beat these for anything! The characters are ridiculously buffed, making it very difficult to kill even one. The game is pathetically easy in any one on one situation, but once you are placed on your own against multiple enemies, in most cases with 8x your hp, it can be very hard. 6/10
Characters - The game features four "Symphonia" characters, Lloyd, Kratos, Genis, and Raine. The main issue with this is that they don't level with you. They are very strong in the beginning, but as you progress, they steadily drop away. I can't fathom the amount of energy and determination it would take to drag them the whole way with you, popping back to the main place before every quest. The other thing that annoyed me in this respect is that the voices are different. No more of Lloyds voice in this one. The other characters are interesting, and create quite a few cut scenes worth checking out. 6/10
Story - This is where the game really lacks. You are thrown into the mix as a Descender, made to protect your world from the world-eating Gilgulim. Not a horrible preface, but the story is just...dull. You have to complete many of the redundant quests before you can proceed through the story, and by that time, you are sprinting to get to the next main quest segment, something that ruins a story for me. The main quest is short, and lacks the thrill of other RPG's. By the end of the story, I found I really didn't care whether the world was saved or not. Usually not a good sign. 5/10
Customization - An intriguing part of the game, it adds quite a bit of charm to an otherwise charm devoid game. Customizing weapons is pretty cool, there are so many different combinations of effects. The best in my opinion is the cooking. This feature is much improved over Symphonia. There are hundreds of recipes, and each has better and better effects. Becoming a master chef is addicting, something I charged after without looking back. 8/10
Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology is a good RPG, but the lack luster story pulls is down. It is a worthwhile RPG for hardcore fans, but in my eyes, it will always be a small failure, caught in the impressive shadow of Tales of Symphonia. Total Score: 6.5