Tales of Destiny 2


 * This article is about the PlayStation 2 game that was marketed exclusively in Japan.
 * For the game released in USA as Tales of Destiny II, see Tales of Eternia.

Tales of Destiny 2 (テイルズ オブ デスティニー ２, Teiruzu obu Desutinī 2?) is the fourth main game in Namco's popular Tales RPG series, a true sequel to Tales of Destiny that takes place in the same world. Tales of Destiny 2 is easily confused with the name of the North American release of Tales of Eternia, Tales of Destiny II, which was renamed since the name "Eternia" is trademarked by Mattel (for the He-Man toys) in North America. Released in late 2002 in Japan, Tales of Destiny 2 will probably never be released in North America due to a lack of sales for the North American releases of Tales of Destiny and Tales of Eternia. In carrying on the traditions of the Tales series, Tales of Destiny 2 relies on such mainstays as the Linear Motion Battle System and sprite-based characters. Like most games in the series, Tales of Destiny 2 includes an introduction and insert-scenes animated by Production I.G., and a J-pop theme song - in this case, Key to My Heart by Mai Kuraki.

History
Over 1000 years prior to either Tales of Destiny title, a comet collided with the planet on which the game occurs, ushering in a long winter. The surviving people, desperate for the light of the sun, harnessed 'Lens', an energy source they found in the remains of the comet, to create Dycroft, a flying city (an aeropolis in English version of Tales of Destiny). Eventually the residents of the flying cities came to dominate those who remained on the surface using a powerful weapon called Belcrant, and the War of Heaven and Earth (天地戦争 Tenchi Sensō, known as the Aeth'er Wars in the English Tales of Destiny) began as a result.

The team of scientists who created Belcrant defected to the side of the surface-dwellers, and developed powerful lens weapons called Swordians - sentient swords - on their behalf. The Swordian Masters who wielded them felled all of the flying cities and sunk Dycroft into the ocean, ending the War of Heaven and Earth.

The Swordians lay dormant for centuries until a conflict broke out for possession of an enormous lens known as the God's Eye (English: Eye of Atamoni), ultimately orchestrated by the defeated, but never truly killed ruler of Dycroft. Stahn Aileron, a young man on a journey for fame and fortune, happened to find the Swordian Dymlos, setting him on a course to save the world from impending disaster. Joined by fellow Swordian Masters, Rutee, Philia, Woodrow (English: Garr) and Leon, Stahn prevented the resurrection of Dycroft and restored peace to the world.

Plot
Tales of Destiny 2 begins 18 years after Tales of Destiny. While the exploits of Stahn and the Swordian Masters is known far and wide, it has begun to fade from the hearts of the people. Now everyone is preoccupied with the Holy Woman Elraine, who promises immediate happiness for all.

In this setting, a boy named Kyle takes his first steps in pursuit of adventure. As the son of the world-renowned heroes Stahn and Rutee, Kyle is certain that it's his destiny, even his duty, to become a hero as well. While exploring the ruins of an ancient city near his home, Kyle encounters a mysterious girl named Reala who emerges from a huge lens. She announces that she is in search of a hero. In his attempts to become the hero Reala seeks, Kyle's destiny is set in motion. In a journey encompassing past, present and future, Kyle learns the true meaning of heroism from the heroes of old.

Characters
Kyle Dunamis (カイル・デュナミス, Kyle Dunamis?) (real name is Kyle Aileron) Age: 15 Height: 160 cm Weight: 55 kg Voice: Jun Fukuyama The main character of the game, Kyle is very much like his father, Stahn. Kyle's straightforward, simple personality (and difficulty getting out of bed in the morning) is just like Stahn. However, Kyle remembers very little of him, because the famous hero left on a journey when Kyle was very young (or at least that is what Kyle kept telling himself. In actuality, Stahn was killed by Barbatos while Kyle was a child). Kyle's mother Rutee runs the Dunamis Orphanage, so the other children there are like brothers and sisters to him. He is especially close to Loni, who treats Kyle like a little brother. He has perfect faith that he will become a hero someday. In battle, Kyle uses swords.

Reala (リアラ, Reala?) A girl who suddenly appeared from within a gigantic lens - she has an ethereal quality about her, and is surrounded by mystery. Her presence is the catalyst for Kyle's adventure. Reala's personality is generally cheerful and inquisitive, but she also displays an overdeveloped sense of responsibility at times, and tends to strike out on her own, trying take matters into her own hands. Reala is physically weak, but wields powerful magic. She equips rods.
 * Age: 16
 * Height: 155 cm
 * Weight: 41 kg
 * Voice: Ryoka Yuzuki

Loni Dunamis (ロニ・デュナミス, Loni Dunamis?) Loni was raised in the Dunamis Orphanange, but left to join the Order of Atamoni. He is like an older brother to Kyle. Thanks to his rather frivolous manner he gives the impression of being irresponsible, but in fact Loni is resourceful and has a strong sense of justice. He acts as a voice of reason to Kyle, keeping the boy's overeagerness in check. Loni is tough and can deal a lot of damage, but is relatively slow. He prefers to fight with polearms.
 * Age: 23
 * Height: 180 cm
 * Weight: 75 kg
 * Voice: Toshihiko Seki

Judas (ジューダス, Judas?) (real name is Emilio Katrea/Kartret) A masked swordsman who helps Kyle out of sticky situations, Judas is slight in stature but has a commanding presence. Though his attitude is often jaded and nihilistic, he has an essentially practical personality. This often makes him seem impatient and demanding, but he almost seems to enjoy acting put-upon. Because he always wears a mask his true identity is unknown. (He is actually Lion/Leon Magnus who was killed during the events of the first game, and because he was essentially a traitor [hence the name is a reference to the bibilical traitor Judas Iscariot], he wore a mask to hide his identity. He was also brought back to life by Elraine for an unknown reason.) His reasons for helping Kyle are a mystery. A quick, light swordsman, Judas uses rapiers.
 * Age: 34 (can be considered 16)
 * Height: 159 cm
 * Weight: 48 kg
 * Voice: Hikaru Midorikawa

Nanaly Fletch (ナナリー・フレッチ, Nanaly Fletch?) This beautiful warrioress takes pride in her skill with bows, which puts most men to shame. She is also competent with magic. Outwardly stout-hearted and self-assured, Nanaly often seems tomboyish, but she is also deeply empathetic and, in fact, very refined. Her hobbies are cooking and sewing, and she cares for orphaned children.
 * Age: 19
 * Height: 162 cm
 * Weight: 49 kg
 * Voice: Tomoko Kawakami

Harold Belserius (ハロルド・ベルセリオス, Harold Belserius?) (English: Harold Berselius) Harold is the creator of the Swordians, and because of her name and accomplishments she is often believed to be a man, but this does not bother her in the least. The classic eccentric genius, Harold thinks of everything in terms of her research, and is all but helpless in non-academic affairs. While she often seems childish and unpredictable as a result, she is also very perceptive. She is an offense-oriented magic user who equips rods.
 * Age: 23
 * Height: 143 cm
 * Weight: 35 kg
 * Voice: Akiko Hiramatsu

Elraine (エルレイン, Elraine?) The Holy Woman of the Order of Atamoni, Elraine is worshiped as a living god. She takes joy in granting happiness to people, and she is able to create miracles at will by drawing power out of lens. For that reason, people flock to her with offerings of lens in order to receive her blessing. She wishes to create a world that worships only one god and where everyone is "happy".
 * Age: 27(?)
 * Height: 160 cm
 * Weight: 43 kg
 * Voice: Yoshiko Sakakibara

Barbatos Goetia (バルバトス・ゲーティア, Barbatos Goetia?) Barbatos is a warrior who fought in the War of Heaven and Earth who was killed by Dymlos. His power was equal to the Swordian Dymlos, but due to his own selfish behavior, he was written out of history. Now, he fights in order to validate his existence. He has been resurrected by Elraine to kill Stahn and the other heroes, to ensure that no one will get in her way.
 * Age: 32
 * Height: 187 cm
 * Weight: 82 kg
 * Voice: Norio Wakamoto

Game systems
Tales of Destiny 2 employs the Tales of Series' characteristic style of combat, the LMBS (Linear Motion Battle System), in which the player controls the characters in real-time (as opposed to turn-based), and the characters perform actions on a two dimensional field. This iteration of the battle system is known as Trust and Tactical LMBS (TT-LMBS), and is designed to encourage the player to think more about coordinating the characters to make combat more efficient. One of the ways this is achieved is by the introduction of the Spirits System. Characters have a spirits bar which depletes as they take actions and refills when they defend, or are not executing any commands. When a character has very low spirits they cannot perform even basic attacks, requiring the player to let some characters fall back and allow other characters to take the offensive. Tales of Destiny 2 also employs an auto-zoom feature in combat, which becomes standard in future Tales Series games. When there is a great distance between the characters, the camera zooms out, making it easier for the player to monitor the whole party, and when the characters are grouped together, or there is particularly intense action, the camera zooms in.

Like many Tales Series games following it, Tales of Destiny 2 retains the cooking system that was introduced in the PS1 version of Tales of Phantasia. Basic ingredient foods, such as vegetables, meat and bread are common throughout the game, and the characters learn recipes for making those ingredients into dishes, which restore HP and TP. This system is offered as an alternative to using ordinary healing items outside of battle.

An interesting twist on Tales characters occurs in that all six party members can use magic (rather than select characters using only magic to fight, like Keel from Tales of Eternia). Of course, the females are predominantly mages while the males are fighters, but the player can choose to do either with the party members.

Cameos
Many characters from this game make appearances in other Namco games that covers the Tales series: Loni appears as an NPC in the Tales of Destiny remake for PS2 as an orphan in Cresta. In the same game, Barbatos will appear as a random encounter to punish players for leaving all their characters on Auto and running around the world map with the controller in a fixed position so they can level without having to actually control the fight. In Tales of the Abyss, Reala and Harold make minor cameos as two of Anise's dolls. Nanaly is also one of the four characters the player faces in the cameo battle (joining Reid Hershel, Philia Philis, and Mint Adenade). Finally, Loni's spear is awarded to the player if he/she beats single arena battle with Jade; the weapon goes under the name Dunamis. Judas is featured in the crossover game Namco X Capcom (which also featured Stahn and Rutee from the first Tales of Destiny), starting as an enemy and later joining the team as the last member.

PlayStation Portable Port
On June 19, 2006, scans indicated that a port of Tales of Destiny 2 would appear on the PlayStation Portable. It was released in Japan on February 15, 2007. More information can be found on the Official Tales of Destiny 2 (PSP) site.

Reception
Famitsu magazine ranked the game at 79 in Famitsu´s 100 all-time favorite games.