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We’ve seen quite a few Tales of series remaster releases in the past few years, with some of them feeling valuable and others less so. The good news is, Tales of Eternia Remastered does feel like a much needed and well-handed remaster! It’s a game we haven’t seen since the PlayStation in North America and the PSP port in Australia, Europe, and Japan. There are some quality of life adjustments. We get graphics and sound effect options. There are a lot of things we can adjust! Pair that with the fact that this a genuinely solid
Reid and Farah are two young adults from the same small, rural town on the world of Infernia. While she’s visiting a tower the two of them used to visit as kids to check on the sky, which she says seemed odd the last few days, we see a strange ship crash down from the sky. Inside is Meredy, a young woman we see talk with an unknown figure and board the vessel to fly from Celestia down to the other planet below to prevent a Grand Fall calamity. So what starts as two young people who are reasonably skilled trying to help another individual who doesn’t speak their language, it quickly turns into the sort of “save the world” fare we came to expect from JRPGs in the 1990s and early 2000s.
While Tales of Eternia Remastered starts off with what seems like a possibly innocent sort of plot and there are silly moments between characters and during the series’ trademark skits, it gets dark! This is a story about a possible end of the world! Sure, there are a lot of minigames tossed in tied to river rafting, rolling balls, and cards, and it’s bright and colorful, but it goes some places. Meredy herself is honestly a highlight, especially when you learn more about her and begin to examine her character, and I forgot how much I appreciated the cast in this entry. Like the dynamic between childhood friends Reid, Farah and Keele is interesting as well, especially when you consider motivations. Even the story behind the villains and big bad are really compelling. I might even suggest it’s one of my favorite Tales of plots.
The combat system is also quite solid, since Tales of Eternia Remastered uses the classic kind of Linear Motion Battle System we saw in early entries such as Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Destiny. We view from the side and unleash combos via button presses and Arts with special inputs. We’re rewarded for good timing and chaining together combos, as well as keeping track of how things like characters’ slash, thrust, kick, and other type of specific damage types tied to the kind of weapon a character like Reid equips. Especially since the skills will increase that as well as standard attacks. There is a new Battle Fast Mode option that acts as an autopilot autobattle if you’re retreading certain areas and you can adjust the frequency of encounters in options (even eliminating them completely). But if you dig this series’ classic kind of combat system, going in full Manual, instead of Semi-Manual, can be a treat.
Now, aside from accessibility (it’s great being able to play again on modern platforms), some optional graphics and sound effect updates (it looks and sounds great with whichever option you choose), and the ability to go with Japanese or English voice acting, it feels like a lot of the remaster elements in Tales of Eternia Remastered are geared toward customizing the experience to tailor it to someone’s wants or needs. You could make it more difficult for yourself by setting earned XP to x0, Gald acquisition to x0, and battle difficulty to Extreme. Conversely, it could all become easier by turning off encounters, doubling item acquisition rates, doubling skill usage, and setting things like XP, Gald, attack proficiency, and cooking proficiency to x2 or x4.
The thing about this is that some of those Boost Function elements in Tales of Eternia Remastered can occasionally feel like getting the JRPG to parity with what someone might expect from a modern game with the remaster. Like the enemy encounter rate in some spots might feel a bit high, and you can choose a “Low” option. Removing the Wiped Out penalty if the party dies also feels like a means of taking away an unnecessary punishment. As modern JRPGs, including some Tales entries, do things like restoring TP at a camp sort of spot or allow you to carry up to 99 of some items, ticking both of those “Boost” options on in the option menu also feel like making things a little more ordinary by modern standards than “too easy.”
I will say that, while perhaps convenient, one of the new additions in Tales of Eternia Remastered feel like they hold a player’s hand a bit too much. The icons telling you where to go feel unnecessary. The only time I found them genuinely useful is when it came to the green icons that alerted a player to time-sensitive quests that could be missed. Otherwise, the yellow exclamation points guiding a person to their next objective or the red icons suggesting side quest locations are too obvious. Especially since this isn’t exactly a game that’s expansive or confusing. But since it is optional, it’s easy enough to turn ‘em off and be left to your own devices.
While those conveniences are great, there are some areas where Tales of Eternia Remastered shows its age and there’s no way the remaster can save it. The minigame controls are bad! The mandatory raft-controlling segment at the outset of the adventure is one example, as even if you’re on top of it you’ll likely still go careening into walls. The dungeon design means you might miss certain cues to reach certain areas due to design choices regardless of the graphics option you choose or it might require a degree of positioning to get things just so. (An early example is the possibility of pushing and pulling boulders into place so they’ll drop down to block holes where enemies emerge… but it’s easier to just run past the foes.)
Tales of Eternia Remastered is an JRPG in the series that truly did deserve a remaster. The story is deeper and more complex than it initially appears with some interesting character growth and backstories. The combat system is also so much fun and features quite a bit of depth too! The new Boost Function options are good for making it easier or more difficult, as well as adding some optional quality of life elements. There are a few awkward and uneven parts, but on the whole it is worth someone’s time.
Tales of Eternia Remastered will come to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on October 16, 2026. The game first appeared on the PS1 in Japan and North America, then the PSP in Australia, Europe, and Japan.
