A lot of people have complaints about modern gaming, with its push for live services, an all-digital future, and microtransactions, to name a few. However, one of the cooler things is seeing all of the re-releases and remakes being made for classic games from the past.
Bandai Namco's classic Tales of Eternia joins that list, as the game has been rereleased on modern platforms as Tales of Eternia Remastered. Check out our thoughts on this classic in our review below.
Visuals
The biggest upgrade in Tales of Eternia Remastered is that it looks great on all modern platforms. The PSOne original was released in 2000 and was only 240p with a 4:3 ratio aimed at smaller CRT televisions. Sure, the game looked good 26 years ago, but playing it now on a modern TV will make things look old and archaic.
Thankfully, Tales of Eternia Remastered has been reformatted for 16:9 displays, and the resolution has been bumped up to 4K! Not to mention, the expanded view allows you to see more of the enemies during combat.
The 2D sprites look razor-sharp, and the 3D world map includes higher-resolution textures. That said, you can still play the game in its original art style if you want to keep the pixelated look intact.
The last thing you will notice about the visuals is that the framerate is smoother. The original game only had 30fps, but this remaster has been bumped up to a much smoother 60fps. The cutscenes have also been upgraded to look more like 2026 standards.
New features
Another cool thing about Tales of Eternia is the number of quality-of-life changes made to the game to ensure your experience goes smoothly. One of the more annoying aspects of old-school RPGs was the rate of random battles. When you are exploring a dungeon or the world map, you will never know when you'll get interrupted by an annoying random battle.
Here in this remaster, you can now control the rate of random battles to fit your personal preference. You can increase them for levelling up, slow them down, or turn them off entirely if you just want to search an area and proceed to the next area.
In the 2000 original, there were no waypoints or markers to tell you where you needed to go next, which was super annoying. Tales of Remastered now adds waypoints and even markers to indicate both main story quests and side quests. You can choose to just concentrate on story quests, or take the scenic route and tackle every quest without getting lost.
One other modern addition is that this remaster has auto-saves. This essentially means that you don't have to backtrack to a certain save point if you die during a random battle in a dungeon. You can even instantly retry boss battles without losing any progress as well.
If you are normally bad at playing RPGS, Tales of Eternia Remastered boost modifiers to make the game easier than ever before. You are free to choose damage output, EXP earned, money earned, and more.
Gameplay and story
Tales of Eternia Remastered has an interesting story because you play a young boy named Reid who is out exploring with his friend Farah. Their trip gets interesting because they meet a mysterious girl called Meredy. The only problem with Meredy is that she speaks an alien language, and our heroes don't know what she is saying or why she is here. Therefore, the three venture out to see their friend Keele, and they hope he will have the answers they're seeking.
As for the gameplay, Tales of Eternia Remastered has active combat, meaning you can attack at any time and block incoming enemy attacks. This is unlike turn-based combat where you have to wait for your turn before you can make a move.
Reid is good with swords and axes, while Farah is a martial artist like Tifa is in Final Fantasy VII. You're free to play as any character you want during combat, and new characters join the party as you progress.
The only thing I did not like about the combat is that you still take damage even if you block enemy attacks successfully. For example, one enemy took 15 points of damage each time I blocked, which is annoying because this number increases the more times I block his attacks.
Tales of Eternia Remastered is also one of those games where you need to grind to level up in order to stay competitive. I remember roaming a dungeon thinking I was progressing, but my party suddenly got wiped out by random enemies because they did huge damage!
Aside from normal attacks, each character has skills and the ability to use items for healing. In order to stay competitive, it's best to visit every town to buy all of the new weapons and armour that is on offer.
Closing thoughts
Despite some annoying flaws regarding its combat, Tales of Eternia Remastered is still a fun game. If you hate turn-based combat RPGs, you'll love this game because the combat is more action-oriented. This remaster is also the best way to play the game because of the updated graphics and quality-of-life improvements.