At first glance, Tales of Destiny is extremely unimpressive. The graphics look like a holdover from the 16-bit era, with simplistic tile-based levels and rudimentary sprite-based characters. The battle engine is almost humorously simplistic, as characters scurry across a two-dimensional line (a la Ys) to take out enemies one by one.

   The game shouldn't be dismissed just yet, however. The producer of the U.S. version has stated that, since the game itself was so ordinary, they have focused on providing an outstanding localization. The translation has been honed and focused as much as possible - Namco wants to do more than just provide readable English (SOME RPG companies which will remain nameless have had trouble with even that in the past). Your characters also speak with full voice when they converse on the world map. Namco has searched for excellent voice talent to fill these positions. If all the pieces come together, Namco may have turned an average game into an above-average experience. We'll find out when the game is released for the Playstation in June 1998.