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Again in 2000, Bandai Namco revealed the third sport within the beloved Tales collection, Tales of Eternia. It was acquired very properly at launch, being praised for its high-octane motion fight, charming solid, and humorous script — although the Western variations on the unique PlayStation and PSP had been held again by their omission of skits (character-driven dialogue scenes) and barely subpar voice performing. However now, Tales of Eternia Remastered — developed by TOSE Co. — is right here, aiming to treatment these points and refine the sport for a contemporary viewers.
Overview information
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Swap 2
Accessible on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Sequence X and Sequence S, Nintendo Swap 2, Nintendo Swap
Launch date: October 16, 2026
I’ve spent simply north of 30 hours with Tales of Eternia Remastered, enjoying by way of the principle story, finishing aspect quests, and exploring the realms of Inferia and Celestia.
So, how successfully does this remaster deliver a JRPG traditional into the fashionable period? And is it actually value enjoying? Right here’s my verdict.
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Gimme a Increase!
I’ll converse in regards to the core Tales of Eternia expertise in good time, nevertheless it solely appears proper to debate the brand new stuff that this remaster brings to the desk first.
Arguably the principle factor is the inclusion of Increase Operate. This lets you tailor your expertise to your particular desires and wishes, with highlights together with a random encounter toggle, problem choices, an elevated merchandise capability setting, and an EXP acquire adjuster.
My private favourite characteristic was the choice to revive TP (which you eat when utilizing expertise) when tenting, which made grinding really feel much more fluid and simpler to handle.
The Increase Operate suite is stuffed to the brim, and actually helps to make the title extra approachable for newcomers. My solely actual criticism right here is that I might’ve beloved the choice to map a perform — corresponding to disabling enemy encounters — to one of many buttons on my Nintendo Switch 2. Having to open the principle menu, go into the Customise Part, after which the Increase Operate felt a contact clunky.
Finest bit
Defeating the Larger Craymel, Celsius, was by far one of the vital rewarding moments for me. She was giving me a number of hassle by evading my Artes and freezing my healers into submission, however after switching up my formation and technique, I used to be in a position to greatest her in a real battle for the ages.
There’s much more to uncover, although. As an example, you possibly can swap between remastered and authentic graphics and sound results, which is certain to fulfill newcomers and long-time followers.
The visible enhancements are comparatively mild total. This isn’t a transformative overhaul, and a few environments nonetheless look slightly tough across the edges. However nonetheless, the remaster does illuminate some beforehand obscured particulars. As you possibly can see within the pictures under, detailing on the statues is way extra intricate, and foliage seems to be sharper within the remastered graphics mode. And whereas some could desire the unique pixel sprites, I feel the remaster does job of cleansing them up a bit whereas protecting them trustworthy to the unique paintings.
(Picture credit score: Bandai Namco)
Whereas we’re on the subject of visuals, I sadly have a criticism to make: the cutscenes look fairly poor. They’ve been positioned into widescreen, and it seems to be as if a filter has been utilized; the outcomes are underwhelming — characters and backgrounds lack readability and definition, laying naked the constraints of the unique materials.
That’s a nitpick, after all, and most components of this remaster nonetheless hit the spot. For instance, the newly recorded English voice performing is nice, and every character’s persona shines by way of completely. Skits are lastly right here within the West, too, offering loads of humorous and emotional moments when tenting or resting.
Goal icons are additionally launched, which level you within the course of the principle story goal or aspect quests. I actually appreciated this, particularly as I didn’t need to miss out on aspect content material, however if you wish to determine every thing out for your self, you possibly can swiftly swap it off within the Customise menu.
An underrated traditional, reborn
So, whereas it’s not flawless, the remaster of this title is stable total and efficiently makes this traditional extra palatable for contemporary audiences. However simply how enjoyable is the core sport within the massive 2026?
I’ll lay my playing cards on the desk: I had a spectacular time with Tales of Eternia Remastered. This was really my first time enjoying the sport — in any case, I wasn’t even born when it was initially launched. Regardless of that, there was one thing so nostalgic about it, the nice and cozy, charming world and wonderful solid completely captured my consideration, and I discovered myself pouring numerous hours into the sport each single day.
One thing that stood out for me was the writing. Sure, the principle narrative is nothing particular — the world is at risk, and a bunch of younger heroes must defy the chances to save lots of everyone. But it surely’s the characters that make this expertise so particular.
For probably the most half, you will spend your time with 4 key heroes. Reid is a reluctant protagonist who appears to be dragged into the chaos at each flip, Farah is a contemplative, advanced younger lady studying herself because the story unfolds, Keele is a stuck-up tutorial kind who delivers some hilarious moments, and Meredy is a caring and curious overseas stranger who the crew slowly begins to know of their quest to stop catastrophe.
The solid isn’t weighed down by the drained tropes and lazy writing that a number of JRPGs confronted on the time, and every celebration member is extremely memorable.
However how in regards to the precise gameplay? Effectively, the fight is fairly distinctive. It manifests within the type of a fighter-RPG hybrid, with a big concentrate on reactive action-based instructions. Whereas the fight actually takes some getting used to and the motion can really feel slightly janky at instances, battling your foes feels extremely addictive. Chaining Artes collectively to ship devastating combos and tinkering with formations or expertise to get previous powerful boss battles is extremely rewarding, and even random encounters gave me big satisfaction.
The sport is undoubtedly difficult, however delivering a ending blow makes your battle really feel value it. And should you do fall to your foes, a retry battle choice is at hand to dive proper again into the motion.
There’s not an excessive amount of grinding required, both. I saved random encounters on for the overwhelming majority of my playthrough, and that gave me loads of expertise for large boss fights. If you happen to do need to seize some additional expertise, although, you possibly can swap Auto mode on and have your group combat for you, serving to you keep away from same-y skirmishes.
Outdoors of battle, issues are first rate too. You’ll be able to discover the world for gadgets and treasure to bolster your stats, enterprise into retailers to seize stronger gear, and even tackle a number of minigames. Exploration is extremely gratifying as properly, and also you’ll typically discover weapons that come in useful for particular areas or recipes that restore your HP or TP while you’re working low.
A small criticism I’ve, although, is that motion feels clunky within the overworld. It is advisable to be very exact if you wish to transfer diagonally, and dragging gadgets like statues might really feel a bit awkward at instances. That is nonetheless a comparatively minor problem total, however in tighter areas, the old-school motion did trigger me some minor frustration.
I additionally must say that the minigames, basically, are fairly unhealthy. They usually management high-quality, however don’t really feel very enjoyable to play in any respect. Fortunately, you possibly can skip these should you’d desire, which I typically did. It was cool to see mouse mode integration for minigames on Nintendo Swap 2, although, which labored a deal with in my expertise.
Talking of my expertise on Swap 2, let’s take a second to speak about efficiency. Tales of Eternia Remastered runs in 4K when enjoying docked and 1080p in handheld, with easy 60fps throughout each modes — maybe to be anticipated for a much less demanding title like this. I didn’t discover any technical hiccups or body drops throughout my complete playthrough, so Swap 2 is actually a top-tier vacation spot for this remaster.
So let’s handle these questions I posed within the intro. Is Tales of Eternia Remastered a worthy trendy tackle this traditional entry? For me, the reply is sure.
Some issues might’ve been higher: the visible enhancements are comparatively mild, cutscenes look a bit underwhelming, and I might’ve favored a shortcut button for disabling enemy encounters. However the Increase Operate gives a lot flexibility, the brand new English dub is nice, and the flexibility to retry battles instantly retains the sport’s tempo feeling quick and fluid.
And at a core stage, it is a nice sport with rather a lot to supply, in spite of some dated components. The fight, whereas very a lot of its time, stays enjoyable and surprisingly strategic; the solid is extremely memorable, with skits including some welcome depth, and exploration is rewarding too.
All in all, I had a blast with Tales of Eternia Remastered, and JRPG fanatics are positive to seek out rather a lot to like right here.
Must you play Tales of Eternia Remastered?
Play it if…
Do not play it if…
Accessibility options
There are a selection of the way to customise your expertise in Tales of Eternia Remastered. You’ll be able to flip subtitles on or off, select to auto-advance textual content, remap buttons to fit your preferences, and alter problem. Whereas there’s no colorblind mode, in-game components that beforehand required color-based identification have been redesigned round visible components unrelated to paint.
How I reviewed Tales of Eternia Remastered
I spent simply over 30 hours with Tales of Eternia Remastered, throughout which era I performed by way of the principle story, accomplished a handful of aspect quests, and tried out all the numerous Increase Operate options.
For probably the most half, I performed the sport in docked mode, with my Nintendo Swap 2 hooked as much as the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. Nevertheless, I did dip into handheld mode infrequently, and used the Sennheiser CX 80U wired earbuds to get pleasure from in-game audio.
Extra usually, I’ve lined an enormous array of video games right here at TechRadar, the place I function a Senior Opinions Author. I’ve reviewed a variety of JRPGs, together with Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter and Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, in addition to Swap 2 exclusives corresponding to Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort.
First reviewed October 2026