Tales of Rebirth
Encyclopedia
is the sixth mothership title in Namco's
Tales RPG series. It was released on December 16, 2004 in Japan for the Sony
PlayStation 2
. Tales of Rebirth's characteristic genre name is . Tales of Rebirth has an anime
introductory video accompanied by the song Good Night by Every Little Thing. Notably, Rebirth has a much more serious atmosphere than the other Tales games. The character artwork and anime scenes use fewer bright colors, and taller and thinner characters. The game has also been ported to the Sony PlayStation Portable
in Japan.
that the player can interact with in order to gather information, trade items, provide additional character development, or advance the plot. Safe zones that are free of conflict with the enemy, cities provide valuable merchant and inn services where the player can obtain new equipment or heal all available characters. Dungeon screens are enemy territory subject to random battles, and usually these areas must be traversed in order to reach the next boss encounter as dictated by the game's script. When the player enters combat, Rebirth transitions abruptly to the battle screen(system); groups of hostile units must be annihilated in order to receive valuable items and experience, but escape without reward is also a tactical option. Since bosses are of fixed difficulty and must be cleared, holding the difficulty setting constant, story progression becomes increasingly difficult as escape is used more frequently.
"Skits" can be triggered by the player under certain story-based conditions in the town and dungeon screens. A skit involves animated images of the main characters accompanied by voice acting as they discuss issues pertinent to recent plot development. This feature has become a defining characteristic of the Tales series, with each game presenting hundreds of skits; listening to skits is almost always optional, however.
Cooking has become another subsystem endemic to the Tales methodology, and the system has presented itself in some fashion in every main series game; Tales of Rebirth is no exception. As the player learns new recipes from city inhabitants, an increasingly varied selection of dishes can be prepared once after every battle. Preparing a particular dish can heal the party or temporarily improve characters, for example. As such, cooking is one of the primary methods of healing, along with item use and in-game skills.
Rebirth breaks slightly from the series with a new take on the Linear Motion Battle System, the so-called "Three-Line Linear Motion" system. The player's characters and enemies are placed on three different planes and the player has the ability to switch between these planes during battle. This system makes pre-battle positioning of party members on the three different planes critical to success. Two possible options are to place party members on different lines or to stack all characters on the same line, which makes battles more closely resemble those of previous Tales games that in effect only had one line or plane. Commands are executed in real-time, and attacks usually only affect opponents in the same plane as the attacker. Physical skills are instantly performed, but magic spells are delayed due to the required casting time. The player is rewarded "grade" upon completion of each combat based on battle performance and efficiency, where total acquired grade can be used to purchase special enhancements in the "grade shop" after the game is completed. The system also includes unique "Secret Justice" moves, analogous to the hi-ougi concept of previous Tales entries, which are extremely powerful attacks triggered by an attacking character and a supporting character. Due to the power of these techniques, they can only be infrequently performed under very specific conditions.
A new "Force Gauge" replaces the Technical Points, or TP, of the previous Tales games; skill usage previously consumed TP, but Rebirth uses the Force Gauge to limit use. Tales of Rebirth lets the player assign four skills to the four directions of the directional pad. In battle, skills have a recovery time that is directly related to the strength of the skill. The Force Gauge is a set of four diamond-shaped marks near the character's portrait in battle, where each diamond corresponds to the recovery time remaining on each of the skills assigned to the four-way directional pad. The "Rush Gauge", which measures a character's emotional levels during battle, is located in the lower left corner of the screen during combat. As the gauge fills up during battle, a character's offensive power will increase at the cost of decreased defense; healing spells become less effective as well.
Another feature added to Rebirth to improve the Linear Motion Battle System is styled "Enhance". After victory in battle, the player will receive "Enhance Points" (EP) that can be used to improve weapons and armor. EP can be used to improve basic parameters of equipment, such as attack and defense, and unlock latent added effects; some of these added effects include double damage and protection against status effects. Finally, enhanced features from one piece of equipment can be transferred to another.
.
is the heroine of the game; her family took Veigue in when he was a child. She rarely left her village of Sulz before the initial events of the game. Her focus on the positive traits of others, good heart, and optimism have earned her respect and admiration in the local community. Claire does not use Force. Voiced by Mio Yasuda.
is a boy without memory traveling with the imposing Gajuma warrior Eugene Gallardo, who Mao views as a father figure. He uses elemental techniques and two tonfa
s as his weapons. Mao uses the Force of Fire. Voiced by Akeno Watanabe
.
, a powerful spear-wielding Gajuma warrior, is an ex-commander of the Karegia Kingdom. Eugene uses the Force of Steel. Voiced by Unsho Ishizuka.
, a girl who hates Gajumas, uses a staff as her weapon to cast support magic. Annie uses the Force of Rain. Voiced by Akiko Yajima
.
is a worker in Petjanandka who cares deeply for his big sister and has grand ideals regarding racial equality. Hotblooded Tytree uses a hand crossbow and martial arts in combat. Tytree uses the Force of Wood. Voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi
.
is a beautiful but cold fortune teller. She is revealed to be a half Huma, half Gajuma. Hilda attacks with magic cards in battle and uses the Force of Lightning. Voiced by Sayaka Ohara
.
is the daughter of the late king Ladras Lindblum; she is heir to the throne of Karegia by blood. Voiced by Emi Shinohara
.
is a military leader and general of the Karegian kingdom, and a good friend of Eugene. Despite standing on the antagonistic side, Milhaust is usually amiable and rarely attacks the group on a whim, and at times lends his hand to help the team. Voiced by Shinichirou Miki.
, Shinji Tamura, Isao Kadowaki, and Shuji Ikegami; the soundtrack for Tales of Rebirth was released on four Compact Disc
s by Namco in Japan on January 26, 2005.
; the game has totaled over 600,000 in Japanese sales.
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
Tales RPG series. It was released on December 16, 2004 in Japan for the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. Tales of Rebirth's characteristic genre name is . Tales of Rebirth has an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
introductory video accompanied by the song Good Night by Every Little Thing. Notably, Rebirth has a much more serious atmosphere than the other Tales games. The character artwork and anime scenes use fewer bright colors, and taller and thinner characters. The game has also been ported to the Sony PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
in Japan.
Gameplay
Tales of Rebirth has four main modes of play: menu, town, dungeon, and battle screens. At the menu screen, the player changes various parameters concerning the characters in his or her party; maximum party size is six. Functions include changing equipment, assigning character skills, defining battle strategy, and using items. Additionally, the player can make use of the cooking system from the menu screen. A typical town screen consists of static NPCsNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
that the player can interact with in order to gather information, trade items, provide additional character development, or advance the plot. Safe zones that are free of conflict with the enemy, cities provide valuable merchant and inn services where the player can obtain new equipment or heal all available characters. Dungeon screens are enemy territory subject to random battles, and usually these areas must be traversed in order to reach the next boss encounter as dictated by the game's script. When the player enters combat, Rebirth transitions abruptly to the battle screen(system); groups of hostile units must be annihilated in order to receive valuable items and experience, but escape without reward is also a tactical option. Since bosses are of fixed difficulty and must be cleared, holding the difficulty setting constant, story progression becomes increasingly difficult as escape is used more frequently.
"Skits" can be triggered by the player under certain story-based conditions in the town and dungeon screens. A skit involves animated images of the main characters accompanied by voice acting as they discuss issues pertinent to recent plot development. This feature has become a defining characteristic of the Tales series, with each game presenting hundreds of skits; listening to skits is almost always optional, however.
Cooking has become another subsystem endemic to the Tales methodology, and the system has presented itself in some fashion in every main series game; Tales of Rebirth is no exception. As the player learns new recipes from city inhabitants, an increasingly varied selection of dishes can be prepared once after every battle. Preparing a particular dish can heal the party or temporarily improve characters, for example. As such, cooking is one of the primary methods of healing, along with item use and in-game skills.
Battle system
Rebirth breaks slightly from the series with a new take on the Linear Motion Battle System, the so-called "Three-Line Linear Motion" system. The player's characters and enemies are placed on three different planes and the player has the ability to switch between these planes during battle. This system makes pre-battle positioning of party members on the three different planes critical to success. Two possible options are to place party members on different lines or to stack all characters on the same line, which makes battles more closely resemble those of previous Tales games that in effect only had one line or plane. Commands are executed in real-time, and attacks usually only affect opponents in the same plane as the attacker. Physical skills are instantly performed, but magic spells are delayed due to the required casting time. The player is rewarded "grade" upon completion of each combat based on battle performance and efficiency, where total acquired grade can be used to purchase special enhancements in the "grade shop" after the game is completed. The system also includes unique "Secret Justice" moves, analogous to the hi-ougi concept of previous Tales entries, which are extremely powerful attacks triggered by an attacking character and a supporting character. Due to the power of these techniques, they can only be infrequently performed under very specific conditions.
A new "Force Gauge" replaces the Technical Points, or TP, of the previous Tales games; skill usage previously consumed TP, but Rebirth uses the Force Gauge to limit use. Tales of Rebirth lets the player assign four skills to the four directions of the directional pad. In battle, skills have a recovery time that is directly related to the strength of the skill. The Force Gauge is a set of four diamond-shaped marks near the character's portrait in battle, where each diamond corresponds to the recovery time remaining on each of the skills assigned to the four-way directional pad. The "Rush Gauge", which measures a character's emotional levels during battle, is located in the lower left corner of the screen during combat. As the gauge fills up during battle, a character's offensive power will increase at the cost of decreased defense; healing spells become less effective as well.
Another feature added to Rebirth to improve the Linear Motion Battle System is styled "Enhance". After victory in battle, the player will receive "Enhance Points" (EP) that can be used to improve weapons and armor. EP can be used to improve basic parameters of equipment, such as attack and defense, and unlock latent added effects; some of these added effects include double damage and protection against status effects. Finally, enhanced features from one piece of equipment can be transferred to another.
Story
Veigue Lungberg lives in a small village, Sulz, located in the cold, yet beautiful northern region. While he has never stepped foot outside of the village, he feels he has no choice to leave after his familiar surroundings and family, including Veigue himself, come under attack from a mysterious outside military force.Setting
Tales of Rebirth is set in a world where humans (called Humas) and Gajumas (beast people) coexist in relative peace. In ancient times, both races joined forces to found the kingdom of Karegia. At the age of 60, the Gajuma king , who has wisely governed the kingdom for years, gradually weakens and dies a mysterious death. On the day of his death chaos breaks out in the kingdom, and since then people refer to this day as "The Day of Ladras' Fall". His daughter , the only remaining blood relative and heir to the throne, takes over as queen. She is advised by . The latter is often referred to as the princess, due to her close ties to the imperial family.Characters
is the protagonist of Tales of Rebirth. An orphan whose parents died when he was young, Veigue has been raised by the family of Claire Bennett. Veigue is cold, unsociable, and withdrawn, but when he is with Claire he softens. Veigue wields a sword and uses the Force of Ice. Voiced by Nobuyuki HiyamaNobuyuki Hiyama
is a Japanese voice actor currently affiliated with Arts Vision.-Profile:* Sometimes credited as: Shuji Hiyama , Osamuyuki Hiyama * Year Enrolled into the Voice-Acting Industry: 1987...
.
is the heroine of the game; her family took Veigue in when he was a child. She rarely left her village of Sulz before the initial events of the game. Her focus on the positive traits of others, good heart, and optimism have earned her respect and admiration in the local community. Claire does not use Force. Voiced by Mio Yasuda.
is a boy without memory traveling with the imposing Gajuma warrior Eugene Gallardo, who Mao views as a father figure. He uses elemental techniques and two tonfa
Tonfa
The tonfa , also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs...
s as his weapons. Mao uses the Force of Fire. Voiced by Akeno Watanabe
Akeno Watanabe
is a Japanese voice actor born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. She works at Osawa Office and her nickname is Akenon. She currently stars in Pokémon Best Wishes as Ash's newest rival, Shooti and from Episode 17 onwards has begun voicing Ash's Scraggy.-Anime:...
.
, a powerful spear-wielding Gajuma warrior, is an ex-commander of the Karegia Kingdom. Eugene uses the Force of Steel. Voiced by Unsho Ishizuka.
, a girl who hates Gajumas, uses a staff as her weapon to cast support magic. Annie uses the Force of Rain. Voiced by Akiko Yajima
Akiko Yajima
, born May 4, 1967, is a Japanese voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture.-Anime:*Battle Athletes Victory *Berserk *The Big O *Blood+...
.
is a worker in Petjanandka who cares deeply for his big sister and has grand ideals regarding racial equality. Hotblooded Tytree uses a hand crossbow and martial arts in combat. Tytree uses the Force of Wood. Voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi
Kappei Yamaguchi
, better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Fukuoka, affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.He is best known for the roles of Ranma Saotome , Jackson Neil , Tombo , Yattaro , InuYasha , Ryuichi Sakuma , L , Usopp...
.
is a beautiful but cold fortune teller. She is revealed to be a half Huma, half Gajuma. Hilda attacks with magic cards in battle and uses the Force of Lightning. Voiced by Sayaka Ohara
Sayaka Ohara
is a Japanese voice actress. She is currently affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society. She is a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University's Department of Literature. Her nickname is...
.
is the daughter of the late king Ladras Lindblum; she is heir to the throne of Karegia by blood. Voiced by Emi Shinohara
Emi Shinohara
is a Japanese voice actress employed by 81 Produce. She was born in Fukushima Prefecture and raised in Nagano. She is married to tokusatsu actor Hiroshi Watari...
.
is a military leader and general of the Karegian kingdom, and a good friend of Eugene. Despite standing on the antagonistic side, Milhaust is usually amiable and rarely attacks the group on a whim, and at times lends his hand to help the team. Voiced by Shinichirou Miki.
Audio
The music for Tales of Rebirth was co-operatively composed by Motoi SakurabaMotoi Sakuraba
is a Japanese composer of video games, anime series, and television dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums.-Biography:Motoi Sakuraba was born in Akita Prefecture, Japan...
, Shinji Tamura, Isao Kadowaki, and Shuji Ikegami; the soundtrack for Tales of Rebirth was released on four Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s by Namco in Japan on January 26, 2005.
| Track listing | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length |
| Disc 1 (65:38) | ||
| 1 | Tales of Rebirth B | 1:19 |
| 2 | Prologue A | 2:47 |
| 3 | Prologue B | 0:57 |
| 4 | The scratch on ice | 2:41 |
| 5 | Desperate battle | 4:20 |
| 6 | Relief | 2:09 |
| 7 | A certain day... | 1:27 |
| 8 | Strained air | 2:04 |
| 9 | Scutum - cruel | 2:37 |
| 10 | Dark seed | 1:58 |
| 11 | Sulz: Sulze Village | 3:54 |
| 12 | Icy edge:World map | 4:48 |
| 13 | Battle organization | 3:37 |
| 14 | Victory A | 0:42 |
| 15 | Ginnar troupe | 1:34 |
| 16 | Heart rest | 3:48 |
| 17 | Suspicion | 1:56 |
| 18 | Scutum - unflappable | 3:02 |
| 19 | Alvan Mountains | 2:39 |
| 20 | Annie in the Mist | 0:32 |
| 21 | Eugene | 2:34 |
| 22 | Minal | 3:31 |
| 23 | True drop | 5:19 |
| 24 | Forest Labryinth | 3:00 |
| 25 | Here and there | 1:19 |
| 26 | Game over | 1:04 |
| Disc 2 (69:24) | ||
| 1 | Tales of Rebirth A | 1:18 |
| 2 | Petnadjanka - silence | 3:43 |
| 3 | Iron manufacture - jungle | 3:16 |
| 4 | Reckless Tytree | 0:29 |
| 5 | Optimist | 1:22 |
| 6 | Spring sunlight | 2:16 |
| 7 | Rafter | 3:33 |
| 8 | Danger! | 1:27 |
| 9 | Sannytown | 2:50 |
| 10 | Hilda's true identity:FMV-Hilda revealed to be a halfling | 0:33 |
| 11 | The world without a window | 1:08 |
| 12 | Karez | 2:48 |
| 13 | Anikamal - distrust | 2:31 |
| 14 | Oasis | 3:31 |
| 15 | Anikamal | 2:28 |
| 16 | Climbers' Cavern | 2:18 |
| 17 | Babilograd | 3:32 |
| 18 | Scutum - fang | 4:46 |
| 19 | A comfortable wave | 4:20 |
| 20 | Harbor | 3:43 |
| 21 | Balka | 4:04 |
| 22 | The subway in Balka | 2:43 |
| 23 | Like a glint | 3:33 |
| 24 | Geyorkias: Boss- Geyorkias | 7:12 |
| Disc 3 (70:19) | ||
| 1 | Proposition | 4:42 |
| 2 | Petnadjanka | 3:29 |
| 3 | Holy Beast Eephon | 0:21 |
| 4 | Mesechina Cavern | 3:00 |
| 5 | Dogfight | 3:31 |
| 6 | Victory B | 0:48 |
| 7 | Razilda | 3:29 |
| 8 | Ruins | 3:04 |
| 9 | Ancient spirit | 3:02 |
| 10 | The trial | 4:10 |
| 11 | Pipista | 3:25 |
| 12 | Holy Beast Fenia | 0:26 |
| 13 | Kyogen | 2:53 |
| 14 | Auction | 1:11 |
| 15 | Nolzen | 4:01 |
| 16 | Tower of Nereg | 2:52 |
| 17 | Weigh anchor! | 4:29 |
| 18 | Belsas | 3:10 |
| 19 | Belsas - another side | 3:59 |
| 20 | Speech A | 1:15 |
| 21 | Speech B | 0:31 |
| 22 | Speech C | 0:33 |
| 23 | Soaring Shaorune | 0:23 |
| 24 | With Shaorune | 4:23 |
| 25 | Mocrado Village | 2:43 |
| 26 | Holy Beast Gilione | 0:24 |
| 27 | World purification | 0:30 |
| 28 | Natural disaster | 0:20 |
| 29 | Dream game | 3:15 |
| Disc 4 (69:06) | ||
| 1 | Lenpao Sky Garden | 2:41 |
| 2 | Amusement park | 2:43 |
| 3 | Scutum - intertwine | 3:03 |
| 4 | Scutum - decisive battle | 5:47 |
| 5 | Mount Sovereign | 4:32 |
| 6 | Milhaust | 3:09 |
| 7 | The edge of an oath: Boss-Milhaust | 3:12 |
| 8 | Zilva | 3:32 |
| 9 | Filled insanity: Boss-Zilva | 5:10 |
| 10 | Ruined ones | 0:45 |
| 11 | Yuris' Realm | 0:19 |
| 12 | Destruction | 3:17 |
| 13 | The die is cast | 3:46 |
| 14 | Victory C | 0:46 |
| 15 | Will | 6:11 |
| 16 | Final episode: Boss-Yuris | 7:52 |
| 17 | Guidance of the moon | 3:54 |
| 18 | Sealed | 0:21 |
| 19 | The answer | 4:25 |
| 20 | Epilogue A | 1:51 |
| 21 | Epilogue B | 1:50 |
Reception and legacy
Tales of Rebirth received a 33 (9 / 8 / 8 / 8) from FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
; the game has totaled over 600,000 in Japanese sales.