Tales of VS.

Tales of VS. (pronounced as "Tales of Versus") is the latest escort title in the Tales series exclusively for the PlayStation Portable. The game will be the first of the new 2009 Tales games to be released in Summer, 2009. It is a fighting game which features various characters from past Tales games. Namco Bandai has already filed a trademark for Tales of VS in America, increasing its chances of a North American release, unlike its previous counterpart in the Tales Series, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2.

Tales of VS will feature brand new animation scenes from Production I.G. and illustrations for all characters and cut-in portraits

Setting
Tales of VS takes place in a world called Dailantia, the main source of energy is mana which is produced by the World Tree. The people of Dailantia continue to live a mana-rich world using mana for the advancement of their civilization. Eventually the people exhaust the World Tree to a stage where the tree is only able to bear fruit once every 3 years, called the Great Seed (大いなる実り).

Kingdoms began to fight over the Great Seed, causing war to become rampant throughout Dailantia. These kingdoms decided to come up with a diplomatic solution to end the war called the World Tree Agreement, this involved a tournament being held to decide the rightful owner of each Great Harvest without waging war. This tournament known as the Yggdrasill Battle, participants include independent individual who fight to gain control of the Great Seed for himself or herself, royalties who fight to prove themselves as warriors and Cigruses who are the strongest warriors of each kingdom. The winner of the Yggdrasill Battle gain the rightful control of the Great Seed.

Kingdoms

 * Heidr, the holy kingdom, the kingdom of Heidr is the oldest and most traditional kingdom in Dailantia. The kingdom treasures the World Tree the most, holding the World Tree in the highest respect. The people of Heidr are courteous and respectable, however they are somewhat emotionless.


 * Hraesvelgr, the kingdom of knights, the kingdom of Hraesvelgr is ruled by a knight who is a hero to their people. The kingdom has the most powerful and organized army which consists of two legions of mighty knights who are well trained and have a high level of morale. The kingdom has developed a secret weapon known as the Swordian, its capabilities are unknown. Scientists from Hraesvelgr have also been developing a new source of energy known as lens which they hope will be able to replace mana as the main energy source.


 * Niddhog, the new kingdom, the kingdom of Niddhog is the newest kingdom in Dailantia. The kingdom is well-known for its rapid progress in obtaining Imperial power. Due to a lack of mana in the kingdom, they utilize machines to substitute mana as the main source of energy. The kingdom has also fully developed a new technology known as Fomicry which would be able to replicate mana.


 * Dyne, the alliance of free cities, the kingdom of Dyne is a union consisting of independent cities in the frontier area. The kingdom is a mixture of different tribes and cultures, some of which are barbarian tribes while others are highly civilized. The kingdom is the most undeveloped, in terms of technology, of the four kingdoms. Its army consists of young warriors who are able to adapt easily and have a high level of morale making them a force to be dealt with.

Gameplay
Tales of VS would utilize a Linear Motion Battle System or LMBS which is used in previous games in the series. Characters will be able to carry out normal attacks and use new intricate actions such as jumping off of walls.

Characters are able to gain experience by collecting Grade Points from winning battles and use these Grade Points to upgrade the statistics of three character. Like previous games in the series characters are also able to customize their weapons. Battles can feature up to a total of 4 characters at a time.

Game Modes
Multiple gameplay modes will be present in Tales of VS as well as multiple mini-games. Tales of VS will also feature its own original story mode.
 * Yggdrasill Mode, this is the story mode of the game, it features an original story which differs from other Tales games. Each characters possess their own unique story which is different from their original games.
 * Multiplayer Mode, this allows players to battle up to 4 friends over Wi-Fi.
 * 2D Battle Mode, one of the mini-games, it utilizes 2D sprites instead of 3D Models.

Characters
The game will feature a total of 35 Characters from 13 different games. Most will be heroes, but others, will be villains. All Characters will be fully voiced, it is currently unknown if the original voice-actors for all characters will return in Tales of VS. Most of the characters will be from Mothership titles, but others like Richter Abend had appeared in Escort titles.

The list below consists of characters that are currently known to be in Tales of VS. as they have either been seen in scans, screen shots or trailers. The characters are grouped with which Tales game they originated in and the list is in order of which Tales games were first released chronologically, regardless of whether they are Mothership or Escort Titles.

Officially Announced

 * Cress Albane (Tales of Phantasia)
 * Arche Klein (Tales of Phantasia)
 * Stahn Aileron (Tales of Destiny)
 * Leon Magnus (Tales of Destiny)
 * Philia Felice (Tales of Destiny)
 * Bruiser Khang (Tales of Destiny)
 * Nanaly Fletch (Tales of Destiny 2)
 * Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia)
 * Colette Brunel (Tales of Symphonia)
 * Kratos Aurion (Tales of Symphonia)
 * Mao (Tales of Rebirth)
 * Luke fon Fabre (Tales of the Abyss)
 * Anise Tatlin (Tales of the Abyss)
 * Jade Curtiss (Tales of the Abyss)
 * Asch (Tales of the Abyss)
 * Ruca Milda (Tales of Innocence)
 * Richter Abend (Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World)
 * Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia)
 * Judith (Tales of Vesperia)
 * Shing Meteoryte (Tales of Hearts)

Possible Speculation

 * Suzu Fujibayashi (Tales of Phantasia)
 * Rutee Katrea (Tales of Destiny)
 * Garr Kelvin (Tales of Destiny)
 * Reid Hershel (Tales of Eternia)
 * Farah Oersted (Tales of Eternia)
 * Barbatos (Tales of Destiny 2)
 * Senel Coolidge (Tales of Legendia)
 * Tear Grants (Tales of the Abyss)
 * Repede (Tales of Vesperia)