Can't Let Go? Well, It's Time To!

by Cless Aileron

"I don't get why Tales of Symphonia is coming and not Tales of Destiny 2!" "Why isn't Tales of Phantasia coming?" These two comments and many more are what I always have to hear whenever I go anywhere on the internet. It still irritates me every time I hear these kind of comments! I even roam the boards of GameFAQs with my signature quoting, with permission, from a site of a member of a message board I go to (He/She will remain anonymous to respect his/her privacy), that say the games are not coming, get over it!

Let's face it. Namco's Tales series is not really popular outside Japan. Tales of Destiny did not really do well here in the U.S., selling only about 60,000 units, while Tales of Eternia did worse only selling 5/6 of what Tales of Destiny did (About 50,000). Not to mention, the fanbase at least in North America is not really big. With these facts, Namco really has to think twice before deciding to translate another Tales game. Some people, however, really can't see why Namco isn't translating Tales of Destiny 2. When E3 2003 came around, this would either make or break what Tales game will come. Tales of Symphonia was announced to come with no Tales of Destiny 2 in sight. It pretty much screams, "Tales of Destiny 2 is not coming!" Yet I hear things like, "I won't believe it until the end of E3" and "I won't believe it's not coming until I hear Namco say it's not coming." Last time I check, companies do not announce, "[insert name of game here] is not coming!" They only say, "We're making [insert name of game here]." and "[insert name of game here] is going to have a U.S. (Or Europe) release." Yet, people still refuse to hear Tales of Destiny 2 is not coming. Those same kind of people goes and send tons of e-mails to Namco asking or annoy them about Tales of Destiny 2 and Tales of Phantasia and they get the same kind of response of they don't know or they won't speak of it. Another thing, you think Namco will throw money away on something risky like a localization of a Tales game just to silent the whiny brats? I don't think so.

My point is that you are just going to have to let go and face the facts that Tales of Phantasia GBA and Tales of Destiny 2 are not coming. Also, if you want to convince Namco that they have a winner with the Tales series, tell them in their language. Money! Dinero! Okane! And all those other foreign words for money I did not use! What I'm saying is, when Tales of Symphonia comes out in 2004, make sure to buy it, so they get the message that they can make a profit out of the series. Maybe then they'll get the message that we want more Tales game. If you don't have access to a Gamecube, you should consider getting a used one if you can't spring for a new one. Even go ahead and just get the game and hope you'll get access to a Gamecube (Hey, you're talking to someone who owns Jet Set Radio Future for the Xbox and yet, doesn't have an Xbox of his own to play it on). As for Tales of Phantasia, you're just going to have to live without it in English and import it...probably again. Tales of Destiny 2, just take up Japanese, find a way to play import PS2 games (Either get the JP region PS2 or take the more risky path of PS2 modding), and get the game itself. Even being the huge Tales fan that I am and that I do want to see both Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Destiny 2 officially translated in English, I am use to not seeing a localization of any Tales game. I will say it once again. The two games are not coming! Get over it! You will just have to get used to it like many other Tales fans, including me.