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Tales of Hearts

January 31, 2023

Tales of Hearts (Japanese: テイルズオブハーツ, Hepburn: Teiruzu Obu Hātsu) is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo DS in Japan and the PlayStation Vita worldwide. It is the eleventh main entry in the Tales series, developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Bandai Namco Games. The Japan-exclusive DS version received two editions: the "Anime Edition," featuring cutscenes by Production I.G, and the "CG Movie Edition," featuring CGI cutscenes created by Shirogumi. A remake of the game, Tales of Hearts R (テイルズオブハーツ アール, Teiruzu Obu Hātsu Āru), was released on the Vita in March 2013 and later released in western regions in November 2014. Hearts R was also ported to iOS and released in Japan in October 2013 although it was pulled from the App Store on March 31, 2016, and therefore no longer available for download.[5] Hearts R was developed by 7th Chord and includes staff from Bandai Namco Studios.

Tales of Hearts
North American cover to the PlayStation Vita remake, Tales of Hearts R
Developer(s)Namco Tales Studio (DS)
7th Chord, Bandai Namco Studios (PSV)
Publisher(s)Bandai Namco Games
Director(s)Naoto Miyadera (DS)
Kazuhisa Oomi (DS)
Hironori Naoi (PSV)
Producer(s)Hideo Baba (DS)
Takashi Yota, Mika Murakita (PSV)
Artist(s)Mutsumi Inomata
Writer(s)Naoki Yamamoto[4]
Keishi Maeda (Hearts R)
Composer(s)Motoi Sakuraba
Hiroshi Tamura
Shinji Tamura
Kazuhiro Nakamura (Hearts R)
SeriesTales
Platform(s)Nintendo DS, PlayStation Vita, iOS
ReleaseNintendo DS
  • JP: December 18, 2008
PlayStation Vita
  • JP: March 7, 2013
  • NA: November 11, 2014[1]
  • EU: November 14, 2014[2]
iOS
Genre(s)Action role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player

The game follows main protagonist Kor Meteor after he discovers a woman named Kohaku Hearts and her brother Hisui near his home town. When Kohaku is attacked by a mysterious antagonist named Incarose and infected by a monster called a xerom, Kor attempts to cure her using his Soma, an ancient weapon designed to fight xerom. In the process, he ends up shattering Kohaku's Spiria, the essence of her heart and emotions, and scattering the pieces across the world. Together with Hisui, Kor sets off with Kohaku on a quest to restore her Spiria. Its characteristic genre name, a concept used extensively in the Tales series, is Kokoro to deau RPG (心と出会うRPG, lit. "A Meeting Between Hearts RPG"). It represents the game's central theme of people's hearts uniting to overcome strife. For Hearts R, extra story scenes were created and the genre name was altered to Aratana kokoro to deau RPG (新たな心と出会うRPG, lit. "A New Meeting Between Hearts RPG").

Hearts began production in the winter of 2006, during the final development stages of the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny. It was produced by Hideo Baba, the former brand manager for the series. Though the third title on the DS, it was the first portable title to be developed by Namco Tales Studio. The remake was mostly handled by different development staff, but the writer and character designer both returned to add new content. Both versions of the game have received strong sales and highly positive reviews in Japan, with the DS version selling 260,000 units by 2009. Reviews of the DS version have been positive overall, while western reviews of Hearts R have been mixed to positive.

Gameplay

 
The battle gameplay from the Nintendo DS version, showing the battle on the top screen and selections on the bottom screen

Like previous entries in the Tales series, Tales of Hearts is an action role-playing game. The game is split into two main areas: the field map and battlefield arenas triggered upon encountering an enemy. The battle arenas are fully rendered and played out in 2D.[6] Characters are rendered outside pre-rendered cutscenes as 2D character sprites against 3D backgrounds.[7][8] For the original Nintendo DS version, the top screen shows the main visuals, while the bottom screen shows the navigation map and other functions. Battles are triggered by running into enemy sprites rather than appearing as random encounters. As with previous titles, Skits, extra conversations between characters, are available for the player to trigger.[9][10]

The battle system is a variant on the Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS) from multiple Tales titles: an action-based combat system similar to a fighting game: button commands instantly trigger various attacks and actions, and different attacks string together to form combos.[6][11] The system used in Hearts is called the "Combination Aerial LMBS". Up to three characters participate in battle, with one controlled by the player and the other two controlled via artificial intelligence. The two AI characters be assigned to perform different actions such as healing or attacking.[6][11] The "Combination" element refers to a special gauge that fills up and can be used to perform special attacks with party members not assigned in battle. A second "Emotion" gauge determines how many moves a character can perform: the gauge fills while the character is blocking, and is depleted by performing actions. The lower the gauge is, the lower a character's defenses are.[6][10] Characters can employ special attacks called "Combination Blasters," Hearts' take on the series' staple Mystic Artes ("Hi-Ougis" in the Japanese version).[12] Defeated enemies drop items and materials that can be used to level up character abilities, with certain combinations of items yielding certain abilities and skills. Once enough skills have been learned, a character's weapon can be upgraded via three separate skill trees, with the abilities and power of the character changing according to the choice of skills beforehand.[11]

 
A battle from the Vita version

For the PlayStation Vita remake, the gameplay takes place in 3D environments with fully rendered character models.[7] Along with including a fourth AI-controlled character in battle, Hearts R uses a redesigned battle system titled the Aerial Chase Linear Motion Battle System (called "Arc Chase" in the Japanese version). The "chase link" mechanic enables a character to follow an enemy after knocking it into the air and continue a combo attack. By selecting an ally at the right moment, the player character can perform a Chase Cross attack, while holding down the attack button activates a finishing move.[13][14][15][16] Multiple items found in chests scattered across the land can be used in battle (such as curative items) and for obstacles and objects in the field areas. Multiple elements from the series, including cooking healing recipes, are included. Random encounters with enemies on the field are also present.[17] Characters level up using Soma Build Points (SBP), with the "soma" being a character's signature weapon and points causing the Soma to evolve, granting new abilities. SBPs are assigned to character stat values called Spir Parameters, which strengthen different character stats. Mystic Artes from the original game are carried over, along with new ones.[12] Also added are Union Artes, special attacks unique to a particular character pairing.[18] Characters can be assigned special accessories called "Combo Commands": activated by a specific set of button presses, the accessory grants a character full access to all their Artes for a limited time.[19]

Story

Setting

Tales of Hearts is set on the worlds of Organica[Note 1] and Minera[Note 2] (known to Organicans as the "white moon"), with the events of the story mostly taking place on Organica. Two millennia before the present day, Minera was in a state of war with itself, and Organica's inhabitants were used by the Minerans as a food source for organic weapons called xeroms. The xeroms were designed to attack Spirias, the crystalline essence of a person's emotions,[20] and either destroyed them or infected them with an ailment known as despir. Some Minerans who sympathized with the Organicans' plight and wishes for peace provided them with weapons to fight off the xerom, called Soma.[Game 1] In the present day, after Minera was destroyed, the xerom continue to threaten the people of Minera and the people who bear Somas and fight the creatures are called Somatics. Other remnants of the Mineran civilization left on the planet include the airship fortress Mysticete, mostly known to the Organicans as the "Forest of Thorns", and mechanoids, machines with synthetic Spirias who acted as guardians to important Minerans. During the events of Hearts, Organica is under the united rule of the Maximus Empire, which waged a war against the world's other factions eighteen years before in a conflict called the "Unification War".

Characters

Kor Meteor
A boy with a strong curiosity for the world, Kor lives on an isolated island with his grandfather Sydan. Encountering Kohaku and Hisui and venturing beyond his town for the first time, his grandfather is killed by Incarose. His attempt to save Kohaku from an attack of despir unwittingly causes her Spiria to shatter, prompting Kor to join Hisui and Kohaku in an effort to restore her. By the end of the game he has developed romantic feelings for Kohaku.[21] His name is Shing Meteoryte (シング・メテオライト, Shingu Meteoraito) in the original Japanese. His first name was based on the Japanese words "shin" (心) and "gu" (具), which was intended to mean that he "is armed with a heart."[4] His surname was taken from the English word "meteorite".[22] Kor is voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara.[23]
Kohaku Hearts (コハク・ハーツ, Kohaku Hātsu, Kohak Hearts in Japanese)
A girl who travels the world with her brother searching for a Soma, guided on her quest by Lithia. Attacked by Incarose and infected by a xerom, Kor's attempt to save her ends up shattering her Spiria, rendering her virtually emotionless.[21] During the course of the game, she develops romantic feelings for Kor. Kohaku's first name is the Japanese word for "amber".[22] Her name is alternately translated as "Amber Hearts".[24] Kohaku is voiced by Marina Inoue.[23]
Hisui Hearts (ヒスイ・ハーツ, Hisui Hātsu)
Kohaku's older brother. Because of the circumstances of their mother's death, he is overprotective of his sister. He is initially distant and cold towards Kor because of the latter's actions with Kohaku, but gradually comes around.[21] Hisui's first name is the Japanese word for "jade".[22] His name is alternately translated as "Jadeite Hearts".[24] Hisui is voiced by Masaya Matsukaze.[23]
Ines Lorenzen (イネス・ローレンツ, Inesu Rōrentsu, Innes Lorenz in Japanese)
A woman who is the manager and sole employee of the transport shop "Wanderlust". Possessed of superhuman strength, she initially accompanies the group to help sell her wares.[21] Her surname is based on the mineral lorenzenite.[22] Ines is voiced by Shizuka Itō.[23]
Beryl Benito (ベリル・ベニト, Beriru Benito)
A girl who ran away from her village to become a court painter, she is easily conned due to her inexperience of the world and prone to be nihilistic.[21] Her name is directly drawn from both the eponymous gemstone and the mineral benitoite.[22] Beryl is voiced by Saeko Chiba.[23]
Kunzite (クンツァイト, Kuntsaito)
A guardian knight hidden from the public by those currently using him, he is an ancient machine constructed with functions that mimic and understand human emotions, giving him the equivalent of a heart.[21] He was created as Richea's guardian. His name is one of the names for spodumene.[22] Kunzite is voiced by Hozumi Gōda.[23]
Chalcedony Akerman (カルセドニー・アーカム, Karusedonii Aakamu, Calcedny Arcome in Japanese)
The leader of the Crystal Knights, Chalcedony has been a skilled swordsman from childhood, and is initially antagonistic towards the protagonists. Originally a non-player character (NPC) in Hearts, he is included as a playable character in Hearts R.[7] Chalcedony is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya.[23]
Gall Gruner (ガラド・グリナス, Garado Gurinasu, Galando Grinus in Japanese)
A veteran Somatic who joins Kor's group in the hope of destroying the Xerom. He became a master after his wife and daughter were killed by Xerom, and becomes attached to Kohaku as she reminds him of his daughter.[21][25] Initially cold and distant, he begins to show a lighter side while traveling with the group.[26] Gall is voiced by Hideo Ishikawa.[23][26]

Plot

Note: Aside from the addition of Gall and Chalcedony's presence in the late section of the game, the plots of Hearts and Hearts R are the same.

Kor Meteor, a young man living on a remote island with his grandfather Sydan and being trained as a Somatic, encounters Kohaku and Hisui Hearts outside his village: they are fleeing from the female mechanoid Incarose and are seeking a Soma. After finding one on the island, the island is attacked by Incarose and a group of xerom. During the conflict, Sydan is fatally injured by Incarose and Kohaku is infected with despir. Despite his inexperience, Kor enters Kohaku to destroy the infection. While there, he encounters a Mineran called Lithia Spodumene, who has been using Kohaku as a host. Sensing a hostile presence inside Kor during an angry outburst from him, Lithia causes Kohaku's Spiria to shatter: aside from one fragment, the pieces are scattered across the world.[Game 2][Game 3] Feeling responsible, Kor chooses to go with Hisui to restore Kohaku's Spiria.[Game 4] During their quest, they are joined by Somatic Gall, Ines, Beryl, Kunzite, and reluctantly Chalcedony: through their early encounters with him, they become involved in a conflict between the Maximus Empire's military and religious authorities. They are also opposed by Silver, the head of a rebel militant group who wants to use Mineran technology to topple the Empire and create a new world order.[Game 5] They eventually arrive at the fortress Mysticete, where they retrieve the final piece from Silver and are forced to kill him when he fuses with a xerom. It is then revealed that Kor holds the consciousness of Creed Graphite, a hostile Mineran and Incarose's master, within him. Creed and Lithia, within their respective hosts, briefly do battle, but the effort on Lithia's part breaks a seal containing their physical forms, allowing the two Minerans to return to them.

The group escape Mysticete with Lithia, who explains that in an effort to stop the warring on Minera, Creed, Lithia and her sister Fluora created Gardenia, a xerom capable of remotely absorbing Spirias. Though intended to quell violent thoughts in the population, Gardenia went berserk when activated and absorbed every Spiria on Minera, calcifying the planet.[Game 6] Fluora used herself to seal Gardenia away, and when Creed attempted to free Fluora, Lithia interfered, causing both to be separated from their physical forms: since then, they have been living in Organican hosts and battling each other for two millennia. Creed, who still believes the Minerans are alive within Gardenia, intends to undo Fluora's work and rebuilding Minera at the cost of Organica and its people.[Game 7] In the aftermath, Kohaku and Kor find out how Lithia and Creed ended up inside them: eighteen years before, Creed and Lithia were respectively in the bodies of Zirconia, then-ruler of the Maximus Empire, and Iola Hearts, Kohaku's mother. Iola faced Zirconia with a group of Somatics that included Sydan and Kor's mother Kardia, who was then carrying him. During their final battle, Iola's Spiria was shattered, forcing Lithia to transfer herself into the unborn Kohaku's Spiria, and Creed was forced to abandon his host, leaving Zirconia emotionally scarred. Creed attempted to possess Kardia's child, but with help from the unborn Kor, she succeeded in sealing Creed away with Kor's help at the cost of her Spiria.[Game 8] Though Kor is initially disheartened by these revelations, Kohaku helps bring him round.[Game 9]

With Creed controlling Mysticete and xerom attacking people across the planet, the group, along with Peridot and Pyrox, manage to unite the disputing factions of the Maximus Empire. With the world now united against the xerom, they set off to find the means of turning Chalcedony's wing-based Soma into an airship for their use. In gathering the final component inside an active volcano, Incarose attacks them and the group are forced to leave Peridot and Pyrox to die. After this, Lithia is shown to be dying, as her Spiria is in a severely weakened condition, but she resolves to live until her mission is complete.[Game 10] During their first assault on Mysticete, the group are repelled and end up on Minera. Finding their way to a transport tower that can take them to Gardenia, they have a final confrontation with Incarose, who is defeated and forced to provide the power for their journey at the cost of her life. Reaching Gardenia, the two are unable to prevent Creed from freeing Fluora and activating Gardenia. Gardenia instantly absorbs Fluora, and Creed fuses with it in an attempt to gain control over it. When he is defeated, Kor and Kohaku, together with his friends and the still-living Mineran Spirias, destroy Gardenia, then escape as Creed dies with Gardenia. After learning that the Minerans have a chance of being reborn, Kunzite saves the dying Lithia by sealing her inside his Spiria and entering a comatose state.[Game 11][Game 12] After this, the rest of the group return to Kor's home village, where Kor and Kohaku confirm their love for each other.

Development

Hearts began development in the winter of 2006, while debugging was being performed on the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny, though active development did not begin until spring the following year. The production was headed by Hideo Baba, producing his first original Tales game, and the development team was made up of members from both "Team Symphonia" (the team behind 3D entries in the series) and "Team Destiny" (responsible for 2D titles). Multiple development assets were borrowed from the Destiny remake for use in Hearts.[27] The earliest form of the game was as a DS remake of Destiny.[28] The game's characteristic genre name, a recurring feature of the series in Japan, was Kokoro to deau RPG (心と出会うRPG, lit. "A Meeting Between Hearts RPG"), which represented the core theme of people's hearts meeting and uniting to overcome difficulties in their lives.[29] The characters were designed by regular Tales series designer Mutsumi Inomata. Inomata worked on the designs while she was also working on character designs for Tales of Innocence, and found it hard working on both titles at once.[30] The characters' names were inspired by various ores and gemstones.[22] More conventional names were repeatedly suggested and rejected.[31]

Despite being the third Tales title on the Nintendo DS after Tales of the Tempest and Innocence, it was the first to be produced by Namco Tales Studio, and thus it was an unusual experience for the development team.[27] According to director Naoto Miyadera, one of the most difficult aspects was creating a suitable interface and fitting the game's content on the limited hardware, which required a trial-and-error programming process.[32] During the early phases, the team considered ways of using the DS touch screen during battles, but this was eventually scrapped and the final game made little to no use of the feature.[33] Production I.G created the anime cutscenes, while Shirogumi created CGI cutscenes for a separate edition of the game.[29] The CGI cutscenes were worked on by a three-person team, including company director Manabu Koike: the three worked closely with the development team to make sure the cutscenes fit properly into the game, and that they did justice to Inomata's character designs despite the different animation style. One issue they had was lip-synching dialog to the CGI character models.[34] The main reason behind the creation of CGI cutscenes was that the team wanted to try something new, attempting to sell two versions of the games.[35] Hearts was released as two separate game editions: the "Anime Edition", featuring the cutscenes by Production I.G, and "CG Movie Edition", using the Shirogumi cutscenes.[36] After release, it was determined that the CGI cutscenes were less popular with fans.[35] Speaking to Siliconera after the game's release, Baba said that it was the Tales game he most wanted western players to try out, due to its story and technical achievements.[37]

Hearts R

Hearts R was primarily developed by Japan-based developer 7th Chord, with staff from in-house development studio Bandai Namco Studios helping with development.[38][39] The game was a complete remake of Hearts, featuring full voice acting for the main scenario, new playable characters, 3D graphics and over ten new anime cutscenes created by Production I.G. in addition to the "Anime Edition" cutscenes already present.[40] Due to the poor reception of the "CG Edition" by the fanbase, it was decided not to use CGI cutscenes again.[35] It was given an altered genre name: Aratana kokoro to deau RPG (新たな心と出会うRPG, lit. "A New Meeting Between Hearts RPG").[40][41] The staff of the game also had differences: Hironori Naoi replaced Kazuhisa Oomi as director, while Takashi Yota (also known under the alias "Ryuji Odate") and Mika Murakita produced the game in place of Baba.[13][38] Inomata returned as character designer.[42]

The concept behind Hearts R was to leave the base story and theme intact while building on and improving it, using the development of Innocence R as a template. It was developed alongside Innocence R, and many staff overlapped on the projects.[38][43] Naoi joined the team in early 2012, after finishing work on Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave, and was the principal developer for the new combat system. In the middle of development, the "Chase Link" system was added based on a similar gameplay mechanic from Innocence R.[44] Naoki Yamanoto, the scenario writer for Hearts, returned to co-write the extra story content with Keishi Maeda. For the rebuilt battle system, the team were asked by Baba to create a sense of speed when compared with the original.[38] Along with the gameplay and story additions, two new playable characters were introduced: Chalcedony and new character Gall Gruner. Chalcedony, originally an antagonist in Hearts, was included in the playable cast to fully explore the character's relationship with Kor.[38] Gall was originally conceived as a woman, but at a suggestion from Murakita for a mature leader figure for the group, Gall was changed to a man. Inomota's design was based on a picture of Yota wearing sunglasses.[38] The narrative connection to Innocence R was initially unplanned, but positive fan reception prompted the team to add it in.[45]

Audio

Heart's soundtrack was composed by veteran Tales composer Motoi Sakuraba, Hiroshi Tamura and Shinji Tamura (as Hibiki Aoyama).[46] The official soundtrack album, Tales of Hearts Original Soundtrack, was published by BMG Japan on two compact discs on December 10, 2008.[47] In addition to the original soundtrack, a special disc of selected arranged tracks titled Tales of Hearts CG Movie Edition Visual & Original Soundtrack DVD was released alongside the "CG Movie Edition" of the game.[48] Reviews of the soundtrack have been mixed. RPGFan's Patrick Gann both called it the best soundtrack of the three Nintendo DS Tales games and a weaker soundtrack than the console-based Tales games.[46] Max Nevill of Game-OST was also mixed, feeling that the album was too much like previous Tales scores by Sakuraba. Some tracks did please him, but he noted that some might not find them to their taste.[47] The music featured in Hearts R was re-arranged and added to by Kazuhiro Nakamura and Sakuraba.[Game 13]

The game's theme song, "Eien no Ashita" (永遠の明日, "Eternal Tomorrow"), was written and performed by Japanese rock band Deen, who had previously performed the theme song for the original version of Destiny.[36] The single reached 6th place in the Oricon charts during its first week of release and remained in the charts for eight weeks.[49] Both Gann and Nevill praised the song and the multiple versions found in the soundtrack: Nevill called it "a charismatic and emotional rock ballad", while Gann referred to it as "a great opening single".[46][47] In the western release, it was replaced with an original track from the game, instead of an orchestrated instrumental version of the theme song used in some promotional DVDs.

Release

In order to compete against Square Enix's PlayStation Portable exclusive Dissidia Final Fantasy, which was releasing on the same day as Hearts, the company heavily promoted the game at several events and offered multiple pre-order bonuses for buyers.[50] The original version of Hearts has not been released in the west, and a fan translation for this version was released in 2009.[51] Hearts R came as both a standard edition and a special edition titled "Linked Edition", which included a Vita and accessories themed after the game.[52][53] First print copies of Hearts R gave access to a special downloadable game called Tales of Hearts R: Infinite Evolve. Rendered in the same graphic style as Hearts, it is a game separate from the main story with an exponentially increasing difficulty level.[54] At release, DLC outfits for the characters were created themed around "idol", "school", "maid" and "butler". Another set was based around protagonists from previous Tales games.[55] Hearts R was also ported to and released on iOS mobile devices in October 2013 exclusively in Japan.[3]

Vita version

Speculation about the existence of Hearts R started back in early 2012. The game was first teased during the credits of Innocence R, with both a post-credits message saying "To be continued to next Re-imagination", and artwork in certain dungeons featuring scenes and characters from both Hearts and Tempest.[56][57][58] This caused speculation as to whether the next remake was Tempest, Hearts or both.[57] Hearts R was officially announced in Weekly Shōnen Jump in October 2012.[41]

The localization of the title was originally unplanned, but during heavy promotion of the Tales series in Europe and North America alongside the domestic release of Innocence R and Hearts R, there were multiple requests from the western fanbase to bring the titles west: as Hearts R was the most recent title, it was chosen for localization.[59] The localization was officially announced in April 2014.[42] Unlike previous localizations, the game remained with Japanese voice acting, but with subtitles in multiple languages. This decision was influenced both by limited space on the Vita cartridge and fan requests for the original Japanese voice track.[60] The North American physical release was exclusive to video game retail line GameStop. It also received a digital release on PlayStation Store.[61] For its European release, a special day-one "Soma Linked Edition" was created: it featured three costumes from Tales of Vesperia. The edition also included a code to enter a competition for five autographed Japanese Collector's Editions of Hearts R, which would include a special congratulatory video from Baba and a personalized case featuring the winner's name. Pre-order downloadable content in the form of character costumes was also created.[62] The costume DLC was also made available in North America from selected stores. The stores also had a limited digital release of the game alongside the physical release.[63] Hearts R is compatible with the PlayStation TV.[63]

Media adaptations

Hearts R received a manga adaptation of the same name. The manga was eventually collected into a single volume and released under the title Tales of Hearts R Comic Anthology (テイルズ オブ ハーツ R コミックアンソロジー, Teiruzu Obu Hātsu R Komikku Ansorojī) on 25 June 2013.[64] An official strategy guide, Tales of Hearts R Official Complete Guide (テイルズ オブ ハーツR　公式コンプリートガイド, Teiruzu Obu Hātsu R Kōshiki Konpurīto Gaido), was released on 14 March 2013.[64] Five audio dramas based on Hearts were produced after the release of the official soundtrack, released under the general name of Tales of Hearts Drama CD (テイルズ オブ ハーツ　ドラマＣＤ, Teiruzu Obu Hātsu Dorama CD).[65]

Reception

Nintendo DS

Bandai Namco had high expectations for Hearts, preparing shipments of 400,000 units, based on previous high sales they had for Innocence.[50] During its week of release, Hearts reached fourth place in Famitsu's sales charts and fifth place in Dengeki's.[78][79] It sold 137,000 units in its week of release, more than Innocence in a similar period: the "Anime Edition" accounted for 122,000 units, while the "CG Movie" edition sold 15,000.[79] According to Famitsu, Hearts sold a slightly higher 140,000 units in its first week.[78] By the end of the year, both versions of the game together had sold 176,526 units, placing #72 in Famitsu's list of 2008's 100 best-selling titles.[80] As of 2009, the game has sold 260,000 units.[81]

Famitsu gave the game 33/40 points from four reviewers. They praised the battles as being "plain fun", there being "a ton of volume to the story" and both the anime and CG cutscenes. Their main criticism was that there was little difference between the two versions besides the cutscenes.[68] Japanese gaming site Game Watch Impress was greatly positive about most aspects, saying it would fully satisfy fans of the series despite some elements falling below expectations for the series.[11] Andrew Barker of RPGFan, reviewing an imported version of the "Anime Edition" of Hearts, was highly positive: he praised the story for straying from the normal course of a Tales narrative, called the graphics "outstanding", the music "excellent", and was generally positive about the battle system and graphic presentation. It was also awarded the site's "Editor's Choice" award.[74]

PlayStation Vita

Hearts R also did well commercially in Japan, selling 55,258 copies in its first week, outselling previous Vita Tales title Innocence R.[82] The title sold 75,049 units by June that year, ranking among Japan's fifty top-selling games of that year.[83] Famitsu ranked Hearts R a little higher than the original, giving it 34/40: they cited the battles as being "more exciting" than in Hearts, and generally praised the additions to the story. They also praised the graphical overhaul, calling it "a true Tales at the core."[69] Dengeki PlayStation also praised the game, with the four reviewers giving it scores of 80, 85, 90 and 93. Praise went to the fully voiced main scenario, the new playable characters and aspects of the battle system. The main criticisms were "flat" graphics and other elements of the battle system such as the lack of character support and companion AI.[84]

Western reviews of the title have been mixed to positive: review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic gave it scores of 76.77% and 77/100 based on 22 and 23 critic reviews respectively.[66][67] The gameplay was a general point of praise. RPGFan's John McCarroll said that its various elements "tie together to provide a cohesive battle experience that's quite enjoyable" despite him finding it inferior to Tales of Graces, and Destructoid's Kyle MacGregor said that the experience "can be quite fun".[72][75] Hardcore Gamer's Adam Beck said that the combat "works perfectly on the handheld system", while Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer said that the pace and various features "help keep [the battles] exciting."[70][73] Andrew Fitch of Electronic Gaming Monthly was more mixed about the gameplay, citing the combat as a less smooth experience compared to previous Tales titles and being annoyed at the reintroduction of random encounters, a feature not present in the original Hearts.[71]

The story received a generally mixed response. Beck found the characters to be a mixed assortment, being particularly unimpressed with Kohaku's condition through most of the game and stating that her awkward romance with Kor "almost feels forced".[73] Wallace referred to the storyline as "cheesy and campy", stating that it didn't impress her despite it not being taken very seriously.[70] McCarrol was unimpressed by the story or the cast, while MacGregor cited the story as "a slow-burn", though commenting that the cast succeeded in seeming like real people rather than character archetypes.[72][75] In contrast with the other reviewers, Fitch generally enjoyed the story, calling it one of the stronger casts and narratives of recent Tales titles.[71] The localization received some criticism over discrepancies between the English text and Japanese dialogue, with Fitch describing it as "written with an ultimately canceled English dub in mind", and McCarrol citing the renaming of some characters despite the presence of the original Japanese as a downside.[71][75] MacGregor, while not minding the setup, was concerned that the lack of an English option would cause controversy.[72] Todd Ciolek of Anime News Network listed the game as the second most overlooked title from 2014, stating that its release mediums and close proximity to the release of Tales of Xillia 2 hampered its notability.[61]

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ Celland in Hearts and the Japanese version of Hearts R
  2. ^ Quartzia in Hearts and the Japanese version of Hearts R
References
  1. ^ Romano, Sal (2 July 2014). "Tales of Hearts R, Sword Art Online, and One Piece PS Vita U.S. release dates set". Gematsu. from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
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Primary references

Bandai Namco Studios, 7th Chord (11 November 2014). Tales of Hearts R (PlayStation Vita). Bandai Namco Games.

  1. ^ Lithia: Eons ago, the Mineran race flourished, boasting a culture highly skilled in the use of Will artes. But such prosperity led to greed and decadence, and our weak Spirias soon turned against each other. During the course of the unending Will artes war, a weapon was born. / Ines: The xeroms! / Lithia: Yes. Xeroms were engineered to be living weapons that fed off Spirias in order to fuel their monstrous evolutions. Though primitive, you Organicans boasted powerful Spiria, which attracted the attention of we Minerans. / Hisui: So you decided to turn people from our world into xerom chow. / Lithia: We invaded your planet and enslaved your ancestors to power the xeroms' evolutions. [...] No words can express my profound regret. However, know that some among us were gentle souls who detested these actions. My elder sister Fluora was one such person, and she dedicated her life to ensuring peace between realms. She created the Somas and the fortress of Mysticete so that we might be able to bridge our Spiria.
  2. ^ Lithia: This power! It is exactly like- No. Such a thing should not be. It cannot be! Forgive me, Kohaku! I have no alternative!
  3. ^ Kor: That's a piece of Kohaku's Spiria Core. / Hisui: So it ain't all gone then? / Kor: Well, her core shattered, but it looks like the shard containing her kindness stayed behind.
  4. ^ Kor: That light must be pointing to a shard of Kohaku's Spiria Core. We should check it out. / Hisui: [hits Kor] Check it out? CHECK IT OUT? This ain't a freakin' field trip, kid! And you're certefiably insane if you think I'll let the likes of you hang around Kohaku! / Kor: Okay, fine. But I'm still going! Kohaku's problem is my fault, after all. I have to fix it. I have to make it right.
  5. ^ Silver: Let me tell you a little story. In the Age of Stones, the world was ruled by an alien race with bodies of crystal. The aliens, called the Minerans, invented many of the weapons of Will - including xeroms, Somas and your mechanical friend there. All of these are controlled by the Forest of Thorns, and the Mineran known as Lithia is the key. Of course, I'm not telling the mechanoid anything it doesn't already know. / Kunzite: What I know is that you are another petty human bent on exploiting Mineran technology for your own ambitions. / Silver: Not ambition, my friend. Ideals! I wish to mold this world into a utopia filled with noble and true Spirias. And such a cause requires great power.
  6. ^ Lithia: Creed, too, once desired peace, although the thing he created in that service was an abomination. [...] The queen of all xeroms. The "Savior System", capable of absorbing Spirias from afar. You know her as "Gardenia". The "black moon". [...] The white moon was not always white. Once it was a vibrant blue planet, and our home world of Minera. But 2000 years ago, Creed and I activated Gardenia, and in the process caused our own planet to calcify. We thought we were doing right. We only wanted to remove the seeds of war from our people's Spiria. But we made a horrible mistake. Our world was doomed the instant we set Gardenia in motion.
  7. ^ Lithia: Having expelled each other's Spirias from our physical bodies, Creed and I existed in Organican hosts for millennia. Changing hosts over countless generations, we waged a secret and endless war for control of Gardenia. [...] / Hisui: So what's Creed plan now he's got his little science project off and running again? / Lithia: Creed believes that the Spiria of all Minerans are alive within Gardenia. He also believes that Fluora is alive, despite her sacrificing herself to the beast so she might escape. He intends to reactivate Gardenia, and resurrect my sister, along with our entire planet.
  8. ^ Kardia: Stay away from my kid, bastard! You haven't SEEN dangerous until you've run into an angry mother! / Creed: Impressive. But without your friends, it will take more than a flimsy seal to contain me! Wh-What's this? Where is this new power coming from? H-how?! Why?! Yaaaaaaaargh! / Kardia: Aw, did you help Mommy? Good to know I have a kid who listens! Unlike me. Heh. That seal was just patchwork though. It won't be holding him forever. Sorry, kid. Mommy tried her best.
  9. ^ Kor: You remember Gramps' last words, right? "Do not hate. To not succumb to anger in the heat of battle." I screwed that up about as badly as a guy can. Now Creed's back to destroy the world, and it's my fault. The Xerom? The despir? Creed? It all comes back to me. Everyone would be better off if I died! / Kohaku: That's not true! Because you're alive, I was able to meet you. And meeting you has made me happy. [...] "Even the darkest place has a little bit of light." You taught me that!
  10. ^ Kunzite: This phenomenon is the preliminary stage of calcification! / Hisui: Your Spiria's that far gone, Lithia? I had no idea. / Lithia: I trust you two can keep it a secret? / Hisui: But! / Lithia: I will not perish so easily! Not before I've sealed Gardenia away once and for all.
  11. ^ Kunzite: Clinoseraph looped time within his Nexus, replaying the day of Minera's calcification over and over. Therefore, it is logical to assume that I can control time within my Nexus as well. If I can replay time, I can stop it. And if Master Lithia sleeps in such a state, she can live on.
  12. ^ Closing narration: There lies a princess fair and dear, who has slept for over a thousand years, amidst a bramble of thorny spires. The love of friends is a radiant beam, and to them she grants a sword of dreams. An ebony moon by the hero slew. An ivory moon to be born anew. The whale of legend still does fly, but now it is a star in the dark night sky, to soothe the sleep of you and I. The princess dreams in her forest of thorns. The prayers of people her heart warms. She is protected by her metal knight, as two stars shine out eternal light. And she is always dreaming. Dreaming her world will awaken.
  13. ^ Ending Credits

External links

  • 'Tales of Hearts' Official site (in Japanese)
  • (in Japanese)
  • 'Tales of Hearts R' Official site (in Japanese)
  • 'Tales of Hearts R' English portal

January 31, 2023
tales, hearts, japanese, テイルズオブハーツ, hepburn, teiruzu, hātsu, action, role, playing, game, released, nintendo, japan, playstation, vita, worldwide, eleventh, main, entry, tales, series, developed, namco, tales, studio, published, bandai, namco, games, japan, ex. Tales of Hearts Japanese テイルズオブハーツ Hepburn Teiruzu Obu Hatsu is an action role playing game released for the Nintendo DS in Japan and the PlayStation Vita worldwide It is the eleventh main entry in the Tales series developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Bandai Namco Games The Japan exclusive DS version received two editions the Anime Edition featuring cutscenes by Production I G and the CG Movie Edition featuring CGI cutscenes created by Shirogumi A remake of the game Tales of Hearts R テイルズオブハーツ アール Teiruzu Obu Hatsu Aru was released on the Vita in March 2013 and later released in western regions in November 2014 Hearts R was also ported to iOS and released in Japan in October 2013 although it was pulled from the App Store on March 31 2016 and therefore no longer available for download 5 Hearts R was developed by 7th Chord and includes staff from Bandai Namco Studios Tales of HeartsNorth American cover to the PlayStation Vita remake Tales of Hearts RDeveloper s Namco Tales Studio DS 7th Chord Bandai Namco Studios PSV Publisher s Bandai Namco GamesDirector s Naoto Miyadera DS Kazuhisa Oomi DS Hironori Naoi PSV Producer s Hideo Baba DS Takashi Yota Mika Murakita PSV Artist s Mutsumi InomataWriter s Naoki Yamamoto 4 Keishi Maeda Hearts R Composer s Motoi SakurabaHiroshi TamuraShinji TamuraKazuhiro Nakamura Hearts R SeriesTalesPlatform s Nintendo DS PlayStation Vita iOSReleaseNintendo DSJP December 18 2008PlayStation VitaJP March 7 2013NA November 11 2014 1 EU November 14 2014 2 iOSJP October 9 2013 3 Genre s Action role playing gameMode s Single playerThe game follows main protagonist Kor Meteor after he discovers a woman named Kohaku Hearts and her brother Hisui near his home town When Kohaku is attacked by a mysterious antagonist named Incarose and infected by a monster called a xerom Kor attempts to cure her using his Soma an ancient weapon designed to fight xerom In the process he ends up shattering Kohaku s Spiria the essence of her heart and emotions and scattering the pieces across the world Together with Hisui Kor sets off with Kohaku on a quest to restore her Spiria Its characteristic genre name a concept used extensively in the Tales series is Kokoro to deau RPG 心と出会うRPG lit A Meeting Between Hearts RPG It represents the game s central theme of people s hearts uniting to overcome strife For Hearts R extra story scenes were created and the genre name was altered to Aratana kokoro to deau RPG 新たな心と出会うRPG lit A New Meeting Between Hearts RPG Hearts began production in the winter of 2006 during the final development stages of the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny It was produced by Hideo Baba the former brand manager for the series Though the third title on the DS it was the first portable title to be developed by Namco Tales Studio The remake was mostly handled by different development staff but the writer and character designer both returned to add new content Both versions of the game have received strong sales and highly positive reviews in Japan with the DS version selling 260 000 units by 2009 Reviews of the DS version have been positive overall while western reviews of Hearts R have been mixed to positive Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Story 2 1 Setting 2 2 Characters 2 3 Plot 3 Development 3 1 Hearts R 3 2 Audio 4 Release 4 1 Vita version 4 2 Media adaptations 5 Reception 5 1 Nintendo DS 5 2 PlayStation Vita 6 Notes and references 7 External linksGameplay Edit The battle gameplay from the Nintendo DS version showing the battle on the top screen and selections on the bottom screen Like previous entries in the Tales series Tales of Hearts is an action role playing game The game is split into two main areas the field map and battlefield arenas triggered upon encountering an enemy The battle arenas are fully rendered and played out in 2D 6 Characters are rendered outside pre rendered cutscenes as 2D character sprites against 3D backgrounds 7 8 For the original Nintendo DS version the top screen shows the main visuals while the bottom screen shows the navigation map and other functions Battles are triggered by running into enemy sprites rather than appearing as random encounters As with previous titles Skits extra conversations between characters are available for the player to trigger 9 10 The battle system is a variant on the Linear Motion Battle System LMBS from multiple Tales titles an action based combat system similar to a fighting game button commands instantly trigger various attacks and actions and different attacks string together to form combos 6 11 The system used in Hearts is called the Combination Aerial LMBS Up to three characters participate in battle with one controlled by the player and the other two controlled via artificial intelligence The two AI characters be assigned to perform different actions such as healing or attacking 6 11 The Combination element refers to a special gauge that fills up and can be used to perform special attacks with party members not assigned in battle A second Emotion gauge determines how many moves a character can perform the gauge fills while the character is blocking and is depleted by performing actions The lower the gauge is the lower a character s defenses are 6 10 Characters can employ special attacks called Combination Blasters Hearts take on the series staple Mystic Artes Hi Ougis in the Japanese version 12 Defeated enemies drop items and materials that can be used to level up character abilities with certain combinations of items yielding certain abilities and skills Once enough skills have been learned a character s weapon can be upgraded via three separate skill trees with the abilities and power of the character changing according to the choice of skills beforehand 11 A battle from the Vita version For the PlayStation Vita remake the gameplay takes place in 3D environments with fully rendered character models 7 Along with including a fourth AI controlled character in battle Hearts R uses a redesigned battle system titled the Aerial Chase Linear Motion Battle System called Arc Chase in the Japanese version The chase link mechanic enables a character to follow an enemy after knocking it into the air and continue a combo attack By selecting an ally at the right moment the player character can perform a Chase Cross attack while holding down the attack button activates a finishing move 13 14 15 16 Multiple items found in chests scattered across the land can be used in battle such as curative items and for obstacles and objects in the field areas Multiple elements from the series including cooking healing recipes are included Random encounters with enemies on the field are also present 17 Characters level up using Soma Build Points SBP with the soma being a character s signature weapon and points causing the Soma to evolve granting new abilities SBPs are assigned to character stat values called Spir Parameters which strengthen different character stats Mystic Artes from the original game are carried over along with new ones 12 Also added are Union Artes special attacks unique to a particular character pairing 18 Characters can be assigned special accessories called Combo Commands activated by a specific set of button presses the accessory grants a character full access to all their Artes for a limited time 19 Story EditSetting Edit Tales of Hearts is set on the worlds of Organica Note 1 and Minera Note 2 known to Organicans as the white moon with the events of the story mostly taking place on Organica Two millennia before the present day Minera was in a state of war with itself and Organica s inhabitants were used by the Minerans as a food source for organic weapons called xeroms The xeroms were designed to attack Spirias the crystalline essence of a person s emotions 20 and either destroyed them or infected them with an ailment known as despir Some Minerans who sympathized with the Organicans plight and wishes for peace provided them with weapons to fight off the xerom called Soma Game 1 In the present day after Minera was destroyed the xerom continue to threaten the people of Minera and the people who bear Somas and fight the creatures are called Somatics Other remnants of the Mineran civilization left on the planet include the airship fortress Mysticete mostly known to the Organicans as the Forest of Thorns and mechanoids machines with synthetic Spirias who acted as guardians to important Minerans During the events of Hearts Organica is under the united rule of the Maximus Empire which waged a war against the world s other factions eighteen years before in a conflict called the Unification War Characters Edit Kor Meteor A boy with a strong curiosity for the world Kor lives on an isolated island with his grandfather Sydan Encountering Kohaku and Hisui and venturing beyond his town for the first time his grandfather is killed by Incarose His attempt to save Kohaku from an attack of despir unwittingly causes her Spiria to shatter prompting Kor to join Hisui and Kohaku in an effort to restore her By the end of the game he has developed romantic feelings for Kohaku 21 His name is Shing Meteoryte シング メテオライト Shingu Meteoraito in the original Japanese His first name was based on the Japanese words shin 心 and gu 具 which was intended to mean that he is armed with a heart 4 His surname was taken from the English word meteorite 22 Kor is voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara 23 Kohaku Hearts コハク ハーツ Kohaku Hatsu Kohak Hearts in Japanese A girl who travels the world with her brother searching for a Soma guided on her quest by Lithia Attacked by Incarose and infected by a xerom Kor s attempt to save her ends up shattering her Spiria rendering her virtually emotionless 21 During the course of the game she develops romantic feelings for Kor Kohaku s first name is the Japanese word for amber 22 Her name is alternately translated as Amber Hearts 24 Kohaku is voiced by Marina Inoue 23 Hisui Hearts ヒスイ ハーツ Hisui Hatsu Kohaku s older brother Because of the circumstances of their mother s death he is overprotective of his sister He is initially distant and cold towards Kor because of the latter s actions with Kohaku but gradually comes around 21 Hisui s first name is the Japanese word for jade 22 His name is alternately translated as Jadeite Hearts 24 Hisui is voiced by Masaya Matsukaze 23 Ines Lorenzen イネス ローレンツ Inesu Rōrentsu Innes Lorenz in Japanese A woman who is the manager and sole employee of the transport shop Wanderlust Possessed of superhuman strength she initially accompanies the group to help sell her wares 21 Her surname is based on the mineral lorenzenite 22 Ines is voiced by Shizuka Itō 23 Beryl Benito ベリル ベニト Beriru Benito A girl who ran away from her village to become a court painter she is easily conned due to her inexperience of the world and prone to be nihilistic 21 Her name is directly drawn from both the eponymous gemstone and the mineral benitoite 22 Beryl is voiced by Saeko Chiba 23 Kunzite クンツァイト Kuntsaito A guardian knight hidden from the public by those currently using him he is an ancient machine constructed with functions that mimic and understand human emotions giving him the equivalent of a heart 21 He was created as Richea s guardian His name is one of the names for spodumene 22 Kunzite is voiced by Hozumi Gōda 23 Chalcedony Akerman カルセドニー アーカム Karusedonii Aakamu Calcedny Arcome in Japanese The leader of the Crystal Knights Chalcedony has been a skilled swordsman from childhood and is initially antagonistic towards the protagonists Originally a non player character NPC in Hearts he is included as a playable character in Hearts R 7 Chalcedony is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya 23 Gall Gruner ガラド グリナス Garado Gurinasu Galando Grinus in Japanese A veteran Somatic who joins Kor s group in the hope of destroying the Xerom He became a master after his wife and daughter were killed by Xerom and becomes attached to Kohaku as she reminds him of his daughter 21 25 Initially cold and distant he begins to show a lighter side while traveling with the group 26 Gall is voiced by Hideo Ishikawa 23 26 Plot Edit Note Aside from the addition of Gall and Chalcedony s presence in the late section of the game the plots ofHeartsandHearts Rare the same Kor Meteor a young man living on a remote island with his grandfather Sydan and being trained as a Somatic encounters Kohaku and Hisui Hearts outside his village they are fleeing from the female mechanoid Incarose and are seeking a Soma After finding one on the island the island is attacked by Incarose and a group of xerom During the conflict Sydan is fatally injured by Incarose and Kohaku is infected with despir Despite his inexperience Kor enters Kohaku to destroy the infection While there he encounters a Mineran called Lithia Spodumene who has been using Kohaku as a host Sensing a hostile presence inside Kor during an angry outburst from him Lithia causes Kohaku s Spiria to shatter aside from one fragment the pieces are scattered across the world Game 2 Game 3 Feeling responsible Kor chooses to go with Hisui to restore Kohaku s Spiria Game 4 During their quest they are joined by Somatic Gall Ines Beryl Kunzite and reluctantly Chalcedony through their early encounters with him they become involved in a conflict between the Maximus Empire s military and religious authorities They are also opposed by Silver the head of a rebel militant group who wants to use Mineran technology to topple the Empire and create a new world order Game 5 They eventually arrive at the fortress Mysticete where they retrieve the final piece from Silver and are forced to kill him when he fuses with a xerom It is then revealed that Kor holds the consciousness of Creed Graphite a hostile Mineran and Incarose s master within him Creed and Lithia within their respective hosts briefly do battle but the effort on Lithia s part breaks a seal containing their physical forms allowing the two Minerans to return to them The group escape Mysticete with Lithia who explains that in an effort to stop the warring on Minera Creed Lithia and her sister Fluora created Gardenia a xerom capable of remotely absorbing Spirias Though intended to quell violent thoughts in the population Gardenia went berserk when activated and absorbed every Spiria on Minera calcifying the planet Game 6 Fluora used herself to seal Gardenia away and when Creed attempted to free Fluora Lithia interfered causing both to be separated from their physical forms since then they have been living in Organican hosts and battling each other for two millennia Creed who still believes the Minerans are alive within Gardenia intends to undo Fluora s work and rebuilding Minera at the cost of Organica and its people Game 7 In the aftermath Kohaku and Kor find out how Lithia and Creed ended up inside them eighteen years before Creed and Lithia were respectively in the bodies of Zirconia then ruler of the Maximus Empire and Iola Hearts Kohaku s mother Iola faced Zirconia with a group of Somatics that included Sydan and Kor s mother Kardia who was then carrying him During their final battle Iola s Spiria was shattered forcing Lithia to transfer herself into the unborn Kohaku s Spiria and Creed was forced to abandon his host leaving Zirconia emotionally scarred Creed attempted to possess Kardia s child but with help from the unborn Kor she succeeded in sealing Creed away with Kor s help at the cost of her Spiria Game 8 Though Kor is initially disheartened by these revelations Kohaku helps bring him round Game 9 With Creed controlling Mysticete and xerom attacking people across the planet the group along with Peridot and Pyrox manage to unite the disputing factions of the Maximus Empire With the world now united against the xerom they set off to find the means of turning Chalcedony s wing based Soma into an airship for their use In gathering the final component inside an active volcano Incarose attacks them and the group are forced to leave Peridot and Pyrox to die After this Lithia is shown to be dying as her Spiria is in a severely weakened condition but she resolves to live until her mission is complete Game 10 During their first assault on Mysticete the group are repelled and end up on Minera Finding their way to a transport tower that can take them to Gardenia they have a final confrontation with Incarose who is defeated and forced to provide the power for their journey at the cost of her life Reaching Gardenia the two are unable to prevent Creed from freeing Fluora and activating Gardenia Gardenia instantly absorbs Fluora and Creed fuses with it in an attempt to gain control over it When he is defeated Kor and Kohaku together with his friends and the still living Mineran Spirias destroy Gardenia then escape as Creed dies with Gardenia After learning that the Minerans have a chance of being reborn Kunzite saves the dying Lithia by sealing her inside his Spiria and entering a comatose state Game 11 Game 12 After this the rest of the group return to Kor s home village where Kor and Kohaku confirm their love for each other Development EditHearts began development in the winter of 2006 while debugging was being performed on the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny though active development did not begin until spring the following year The production was headed by Hideo Baba producing his first original Tales game and the development team was made up of members from both Team Symphonia the team behind 3D entries in the series and Team Destiny responsible for 2D titles Multiple development assets were borrowed from the Destiny remake for use in Hearts 27 The earliest form of the game was as a DS remake of Destiny 28 The game s characteristic genre name a recurring feature of the series in Japan was Kokoro to deau RPG 心と出会うRPG lit A Meeting Between Hearts RPG which represented the core theme of people s hearts meeting and uniting to overcome difficulties in their lives 29 The characters were designed by regular Tales series designer Mutsumi Inomata Inomata worked on the designs while she was also working on character designs for Tales of Innocence and found it hard working on both titles at once 30 The characters names were inspired by various ores and gemstones 22 More conventional names were repeatedly suggested and rejected 31 Despite being the third Tales title on the Nintendo DS after Tales of the Tempest and Innocence it was the first to be produced by Namco Tales Studio and thus it was an unusual experience for the development team 27 According to director Naoto Miyadera one of the most difficult aspects was creating a suitable interface and fitting the game s content on the limited hardware which required a trial and error programming process 32 During the early phases the team considered ways of using the DS touch screen during battles but this was eventually scrapped and the final game made little to no use of the feature 33 Production I G created the anime cutscenes while Shirogumi created CGI cutscenes for a separate edition of the game 29 The CGI cutscenes were worked on by a three person team including company director Manabu Koike the three worked closely with the development team to make sure the cutscenes fit properly into the game and that they did justice to Inomata s character designs despite the different animation style One issue they had was lip synching dialog to the CGI character models 34 The main reason behind the creation of CGI cutscenes was that the team wanted to try something new attempting to sell two versions of the games 35 Hearts was released as two separate game editions the Anime Edition featuring the cutscenes by Production I G and CG Movie Edition using the Shirogumi cutscenes 36 After release it was determined that the CGI cutscenes were less popular with fans 35 Speaking to Siliconera after the game s release Baba said that it was the Tales game he most wanted western players to try out due to its story and technical achievements 37 Hearts R Edit Hearts R was primarily developed by Japan based developer 7th Chord with staff from in house development studio Bandai Namco Studios helping with development 38 39 The game was a complete remake of Hearts featuring full voice acting for the main scenario new playable characters 3D graphics and over ten new anime cutscenes created by Production I G in addition to the Anime Edition cutscenes already present 40 Due to the poor reception of the CG Edition by the fanbase it was decided not to use CGI cutscenes again 35 It was given an altered genre name Aratana kokoro to deau RPG 新たな心と出会うRPG lit A New Meeting Between Hearts RPG 40 41 The staff of the game also had differences Hironori Naoi replaced Kazuhisa Oomi as director while Takashi Yota also known under the alias Ryuji Odate and Mika Murakita produced the game in place of Baba 13 38 Inomata returned as character designer 42 The concept behind Hearts R was to leave the base story and theme intact while building on and improving it using the development of Innocence R as a template It was developed alongside Innocence R and many staff overlapped on the projects 38 43 Naoi joined the team in early 2012 after finishing work on Tales of the Heroes Twin Brave and was the principal developer for the new combat system In the middle of development the Chase Link system was added based on a similar gameplay mechanic from Innocence R 44 Naoki Yamanoto the scenario writer for Hearts returned to co write the extra story content with Keishi Maeda For the rebuilt battle system the team were asked by Baba to create a sense of speed when compared with the original 38 Along with the gameplay and story additions two new playable characters were introduced Chalcedony and new character Gall Gruner Chalcedony originally an antagonist in Hearts was included in the playable cast to fully explore the character s relationship with Kor 38 Gall was originally conceived as a woman but at a suggestion from Murakita for a mature leader figure for the group Gall was changed to a man Inomota s design was based on a picture of Yota wearing sunglasses 38 The narrative connection to Innocence R was initially unplanned but positive fan reception prompted the team to add it in 45 Audio Edit Heart s soundtrack was composed by veteran Tales composer Motoi Sakuraba Hiroshi Tamura and Shinji Tamura as Hibiki Aoyama 46 The official soundtrack album Tales of Hearts Original Soundtrack was published by BMG Japan on two compact discs on December 10 2008 47 In addition to the original soundtrack a special disc of selected arranged tracks titled Tales of Hearts CG Movie Edition Visual amp Original Soundtrack DVD was released alongside the CG Movie Edition of the game 48 Reviews of the soundtrack have been mixed RPGFan s Patrick Gann both called it the best soundtrack of the three Nintendo DS Tales games and a weaker soundtrack than the console based Tales games 46 Max Nevill of Game OST was also mixed feeling that the album was too much like previous Tales scores by Sakuraba Some tracks did please him but he noted that some might not find them to their taste 47 The music featured in Hearts R was re arranged and added to by Kazuhiro Nakamura and Sakuraba Game 13 The game s theme song Eien no Ashita 永遠の明日 Eternal Tomorrow was written and performed by Japanese rock band Deen who had previously performed the theme song for the original version of Destiny 36 The single reached 6th place in the Oricon charts during its first week of release and remained in the charts for eight weeks 49 Both Gann and Nevill praised the song and the multiple versions found in the soundtrack Nevill called it a charismatic and emotional rock ballad while Gann referred to it as a great opening single 46 47 In the western release it was replaced with an original track from the game instead of an orchestrated instrumental version of the theme song used in some promotional DVDs Release EditIn order to compete against Square Enix s PlayStation Portable exclusive Dissidia Final Fantasy which was releasing on the same day as Hearts the company heavily promoted the game at several events and offered multiple pre order bonuses for buyers 50 The original version of Hearts has not been released in the west and a fan translation for this version was released in 2009 51 Hearts R came as both a standard edition and a special edition titled Linked Edition which included a Vita and accessories themed after the game 52 53 First print copies of Hearts R gave access to a special downloadable game called Tales of Hearts R Infinite Evolve Rendered in the same graphic style as Hearts it is a game separate from the main story with an exponentially increasing difficulty level 54 At release DLC outfits for the characters were created themed around idol school maid and butler Another set was based around protagonists from previous Tales games 55 Hearts R was also ported to and released on iOS mobile devices in October 2013 exclusively in Japan 3 Vita version Edit Speculation about the existence of Hearts R started back in early 2012 The game was first teased during the credits of Innocence R with both a post credits message saying To be continued to next Re imagination and artwork in certain dungeons featuring scenes and characters from both Hearts and Tempest 56 57 58 This caused speculation as to whether the next remake was Tempest Hearts or both 57 Hearts R was officially announced in Weekly Shōnen Jump in October 2012 41 The localization of the title was originally unplanned but during heavy promotion of the Tales series in Europe and North America alongside the domestic release of Innocence R and Hearts R there were multiple requests from the western fanbase to bring the titles west as Hearts R was the most recent title it was chosen for localization 59 The localization was officially announced in April 2014 42 Unlike previous localizations the game remained with Japanese voice acting but with subtitles in multiple languages This decision was influenced both by limited space on the Vita cartridge and fan requests for the original Japanese voice track 60 The North American physical release was exclusive to video game retail line GameStop It also received a digital release on PlayStation Store 61 For its European release a special day one Soma Linked Edition was created it featured three costumes from Tales of Vesperia The edition also included a code to enter a competition for five autographed Japanese Collector s Editions of Hearts R which would include a special congratulatory video from Baba and a personalized case featuring the winner s name Pre order downloadable content in the form of character costumes was also created 62 The costume DLC was also made available in North America from selected stores The stores also had a limited digital release of the game alongside the physical release 63 Hearts R is compatible with the PlayStation TV 63 Media adaptations Edit Hearts R received a manga adaptation of the same name The manga was eventually collected into a single volume and released under the title Tales of Hearts R Comic Anthology テイルズ オブ ハーツ R コミックアンソロジー Teiruzu Obu Hatsu R Komikku Ansoroji on 25 June 2013 64 An official strategy guide Tales of Hearts R Official Complete Guide テイルズ オブ ハーツR 公式コンプリートガイド Teiruzu Obu Hatsu R Kōshiki Konpurito Gaido was released on 14 March 2013 64 Five audio dramas based on Hearts were produced after the release of the official soundtrack released under the general name of Tales of Hearts Drama CD テイルズ オブ ハーツ ドラマＣＤ Teiruzu Obu Hatsu Dorama CD 65 Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoresAggregatorScoreGameRankings76 65 Vita 66 Metacritic78 100 Vita 67 Review scoresPublicationScoreDestructoid7 10 Vita 72 Electronic Gaming Monthly8 10 Vita 71 Famitsu33 40 DS 68 34 40 Vita 69 Game Informer7 10 Vita 70 Hardcore Gamer3 5 5 Vita 73 RPGFan93 DS 74 75 Vita 75 RPGamer4 5 DS 76 3 5 5 Vita 77 Nintendo DS Edit Bandai Namco had high expectations for Hearts preparing shipments of 400 000 units based on previous high sales they had for Innocence 50 During its week of release Hearts reached fourth place in Famitsu s sales charts and fifth place in Dengeki s 78 79 It sold 137 000 units in its week of release more than Innocence in a similar period the Anime Edition accounted for 122 000 units while the CG Movie edition sold 15 000 79 According to Famitsu Hearts sold a slightly higher 140 000 units in its first week 78 By the end of the year both versions of the game together had sold 176 526 units placing 72 in Famitsu s list of 2008 s 100 best selling titles 80 As of 2009 the game has sold 260 000 units 81 Famitsu gave the game 33 40 points from four reviewers They praised the battles as being plain fun there being a ton of volume to the story and both the anime and CG cutscenes Their main criticism was that there was little difference between the two versions besides the cutscenes 68 Japanese gaming site Game Watch Impress was greatly positive about most aspects saying it would fully satisfy fans of the series despite some elements falling below expectations for the series 11 Andrew Barker of RPGFan reviewing an imported version of the Anime Edition of Hearts was highly positive he praised the story for straying from the normal course of a Tales narrative called the graphics outstanding the music excellent and was generally positive about the battle system and graphic presentation It was also awarded the site s Editor s Choice award 74 PlayStation Vita Edit Hearts R also did well commercially in Japan selling 55 258 copies in its first week outselling previous Vita Tales title Innocence R 82 The title sold 75 049 units by June that year ranking among Japan s fifty top selling games of that year 83 Famitsu ranked Hearts R a little higher than the original giving it 34 40 they cited the battles as being more exciting than in Hearts and generally praised the additions to the story They also praised the graphical overhaul calling it a true Tales at the core 69 Dengeki PlayStation also praised the game with the four reviewers giving it scores of 80 85 90 and 93 Praise went to the fully voiced main scenario the new playable characters and aspects of the battle system The main criticisms were flat graphics and other elements of the battle system such as the lack of character support and companion AI 84 Western reviews of the title have been mixed to positive review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic gave it scores of 76 77 and 77 100 based on 22 and 23 critic reviews respectively 66 67 The gameplay was a general point of praise RPGFan s John McCarroll said that its various elements tie together to provide a cohesive battle experience that s quite enjoyable despite him finding it inferior to Tales of Graces and Destructoid s Kyle MacGregor said that the experience can be quite fun 72 75 Hardcore Gamer s Adam Beck said that the combat works perfectly on the handheld system while Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer said that the pace and various features help keep the battles exciting 70 73 Andrew Fitch of Electronic Gaming Monthly was more mixed about the gameplay citing the combat as a less smooth experience compared to previous Tales titles and being annoyed at the reintroduction of random encounters a feature not present in the original Hearts 71 The story received a generally mixed response Beck found the characters to be a mixed assortment being particularly unimpressed with Kohaku s condition through most of the game and stating that her awkward romance with Kor almost feels forced 73 Wallace referred to the storyline as cheesy and campy stating that it didn t impress her despite it not being taken very seriously 70 McCarrol was unimpressed by the story or the cast while MacGregor cited the story as a slow burn though commenting that the cast succeeded in seeming like real people rather than character archetypes 72 75 In contrast with the other reviewers Fitch generally enjoyed the story calling it one of the stronger casts and narratives of recent Tales titles 71 The localization received some criticism over discrepancies between the English text and Japanese dialogue with Fitch describing it as written with an ultimately canceled English dub in mind and McCarrol citing the renaming of some characters despite the presence of the original Japanese as a downside 71 75 MacGregor while not minding the setup was concerned that the lack of an English option would cause controversy 72 Todd Ciolek of Anime News Network listed the game as the second most overlooked title from 2014 stating that its release mediums and close proximity to the release of Tales of Xillia 2 hampered its notability 61 Notes and references EditNotes Celland in Hearts and the Japanese version of Hearts R Quartzia in Hearts and the Japanese version of Hearts R References Romano Sal 2 July 2014 Tales of Hearts R Sword Art Online and One Piece PS Vita U S release dates set Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 Romano Sal 2 July 2014 Tales of Hearts R European release date set Gematsu Archived from the original on 5 August 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 a b Sahdev Ishaan 9 October 2013 Tales of Hearts R Arrives On iOS Devices In Japan Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 a b Yamamoto Naoki 16 December 2008 CGムービー制作秘話 in Japanese Tales of Hearts Developer s Blog Archived from the original on 26 April 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 悲報 iOS版 テイルズオブハーツR がサービス終了へ 3月31日以降は動作保証なし はちま起稿 a b c d VanOrd Kevin 10 October 2008 TGS 2008 Tales of Hearts Hands On GameSpot Archived from the original on 4 September 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 a b c Yip Spencer 8 November 2012 What s New In Tales Of Hearts R It s Not Just 3D Graphics Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 Hicks Chris 7 July 2008 First Tales of Hearts amp World screens Computer and Video Games Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 14 August 2014 Geddes Ryan 10 October 2008 TGS 2008 Tales of Hearts Hands on IGN Archived from the original on 27 December 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 a b Tanaka John 26 August 2014 Tales of Hearts Updates IGN Archived from the original on 27 December 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 a b c d DSゲームレビュー テイルズ オブ ハーツ アニメ CGムービーエディション Game Watch Impress 26 December 2008 Archived from the original on 9 April 2014 Retrieved 12 November 2015 a b Romano Sal 19 December 2012 Tales of Hearts R Soma Build system detailed Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 a b Yip Spencer 20 November 2012 Tales Of Hearts R s Chase System Explained Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Cabral Matt 29 April 2014 2 New Tales RPGs for PlayStation IGN Archived from the original on 27 December 2014 Retrieved 24 August 2014 Yip Spencer 29 November 2012 Tales of Hearts R Videos Show Garad Grinas And The ARC LBMS Battle System Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Vitale Adam 11 November 2014 Tales of Hearts R Review RPG Site Archived from the original on 24 January 2015 Retrieved 24 January 2015 Moriarty Colin 3 July 2014 Tales of Hearts R Vita s Big JRPG IGN Archived from the original on 27 December 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 Yip Spencer 17 January 2013 Tales Of Hearts R s Team Attacks And Cat Ear Attachments Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Romano Sal 7 January 2013 Combo Command returns in Tales of Hearts R Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2014 テイルズオブハーツ公式コンプリートガイド Tales of Hearts Official Complete Guide in Japanese Bandai Namco Games 1 January 2009 p 504 ISBN 9784757536197 a b c d e f g 生まれ変わった 新たな心と出会うRPG テイルズ オブ ハーツ R が2013年春に発売 A Meeting Between New Hearts RPG reborn Tales of Hearts R will be released in 2013 Dengeki Online in Japanese ASCII Media Works 8 November 2011 Archived from the original on 3 September 2014 Retrieved 28 August 2014 a b c d e f g テイルズオブハーツ Tales of Magazine in Japanese Kadokawa Shoten 3 22 26 1 December 2008 a b c d e f g h Behind the Voice Actors Tales of Hearts Behind the Voice Acttors Archived from the original on 25 August 2014 Retrieved 25 August 2014 a b Romano Sal 25 January 2013 Tales of Festival 2013 set for early June Gematsu Archived from the original on 11 October 2013 Retrieved 26 November 2014 テイルズ オブ ハーツ R 新たに加わる仲間とシステムに注目 Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 22 November 2013 Archived from the original on 26 August 2014 Retrieved 25 August 2014 a b テイルズ オブ ハーツ R いのまたむつみ氏新規描き下ろし公式キャラクターイラストとともに新キャラクター ガラド の魅力を紹介 Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 21 February 2013 Archived from the original on 10 June 2013 Retrieved 25 August 2014 a b テイルズ オブハーツ プロデューサー馬場氏と白組 小池氏にインタビュー Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 18 July 2008 Archived from the original on 9 April 2014 Retrieved 29 September 2008 Miyadera Naoto 28 November 2008 テイルズ オブ ハーツ プロジェクトスタート秘話 in Japanese Tales of Hearts Developer s Blog Archived from the original on 9 April 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b 人の心が通じ合う出会いの旅に出よう テイルズ オブ ハーツ Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 14 July 2008 Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 テイルズオブハーツ公式コンプリートガイド Tales of Hearts Official Complete Guide in Japanese Bandai Namco Games 1 January 2009 p 486 ISBN 9784757536197 Miyadera Naoto 9 December 2008 名称秘話 in Japanese Tales of Hearts Developer s Blog Archived from the original on 26 November 2009 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Gifford Kevin 1 April 2009 Japan s Newbie Game Directors Speak Up 1UP com Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 Retrieved 12 November 2015 Tanaka Yoshimasa 8 December 2008 戦闘よもやま話１ in Japanese Tales of Hearts Developer s Blog Archived from the original on 22 October 2013 Retrieved 26 November 2014 Koike Manabu 14 November 2008 CGムービー制作秘話 in Japanese Tales of Hearts Developer s Blog Archived from the original on 22 October 2013 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b c Tony 26 May 2013 Our interview with Tales of Producer Hideo Baba JPGames net Archived from the original on 8 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b DEENのライブにファンも総立ち テイルズ オブ フェスティバル 2008 が開催 Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 23 September 2008 Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Yip Spencer 12 September 2012 Tales Producer Says You Should Play Tales Of Hearts Siliconera Archived from the original on 16 April 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 a b c d e f テイルズ オブ ハーツ R 開発陣が語る 再構築 へのコダワリ 開発者インタビュー Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 30 November 2012 Archived from the original on 10 April 2014 Retrieved 25 August 2014 Eugene 15 September 2013 Kamen Rider 3DS Game Borrows Elements From Tales Battle System Siliconera Archived from the original on 14 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b テイルズ オブ ハーツ R 新規制作のアニメカットを公開 Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 20 December 2012 Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b Loo Egan 25 October 2012 Tales of Hearts RPG Gets PS Vita Remake Anime News Network Archived from the original on 13 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b Martin Liam Fahmy Albaraa 22 April 2014 Tales of Hearts R confirmed for Western release on PlayStation Vita Digital Spy Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Viva Tales of Magazine in Japanese ASCII Media Works September 2013 150 27 September 2013 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help Viva Tales of Magazine in Japanese ASCII Media Works October 2013 28 August 2013 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help Tales of Magazine in Japanese ASCII Media Works February 2013 9 27 December 2012 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help a b c Gann Patrick Tales of Hearts OST RPGFan Archived from the original on 2 August 2014 Retrieved 13 November 2014 a b c Tales of Hearts Original Soundtrack Game OST Archived from the original on 28 July 2014 Retrieved 13 November 2014 Tales of Hearts CG Movie Edition Visual amp Original Soundtrack DVD Game OST Archived from the original on 28 July 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 Eien no Ashita DEEN in Japanese Oricon Archived from the original on 26 April 2013 Retrieved 15 September 2014 a b Riley Adam 8 December 2008 New Tales of Hearts Nintendo DS amp Wii Tidbits Cubed3 Archived from the original on 28 December 2014 Retrieved 28 December 2014 Sahdev Ishaan 30 August 2009 Tales Of Fan Translations Siliconera Archived from the original on 19 July 2013 Retrieved 26 November 2014 Nelkin Sarah 8 March 2013 Tales of Hearts R s Idol Swimsuit Costumes Previewed in Video Anime News Network Archived from the original on 15 September 2014 Retrieved 15 September 2014 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link TALES OF HEARTS R Link Edition プレイステーション オフィシャルサイト in Japanese PlayStation Japan Archived from the original on 30 May 2013 Retrieved 24 January 2015 Romano Sal 23 December 2012 Tales of Hearts R Infinite Evolve s difficulty infinitely evolves Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 October 2013 Retrieved 15 September 2014 Romano Sal 28 February 2013 Tales of Hearts R has Tales idol and other costume DLC Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 October 2013 Retrieved 15 September 2014 Romano Sal 25 January 2012 Tales of Innocence R credits tease another Tales remake Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b Romano Sal 27 January 2012 Is the next Tales remake of Hearts or Tempest Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Romano Sal 28 January 2012 More Tales of Hearts Tempest artwork discovered in Tales of Innocence R Gematsu Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 Tony 3 August 2014 AnimagiC 2014 Our interview with Hideo Baba JPGames de Archived from the original on 4 August 2014 Retrieved 4 August 2014 Wallace Kimberley 11 June 2014 Tales Of Hearts R Will Only Have Japanese Voice Overs Game Informer GameStop Archived from the original on 19 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b Ciolek Todd 31 December 2014 The X Button Curses and Courses Anime News Network Archived from the original on 31 December 2014 Retrieved 31 December 2014 Romano Sal 25 September 2014 Tales of Hearts R European Day One Edition and pre order bonus announced Gematsu Archived from the original on 25 September 2014 Retrieved 25 September 2014 a b Romano Sal 10 October 2014 Tales of Hearts R pre order bonus and digital limited edition announced Gematsu Archived from the original on 10 October 2014 Retrieved 10 October 2014 a b Tales of Hearts print releases in Japanese Bandai Namco Games Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 12 August 2014 Tales of Hearts CD releases in Japanese Bandai Namco Games Archived from the original on 17 March 2013 Retrieved 12 August 2014 a b Tales of Hearts R for PlayStation Vita GameRankings Archived from the original on 8 December 2014 Retrieved 4 September 2014 a b Tales of Hearts R for PlayStation Vita Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 8 December 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b Gifford Kevin 10 December 2008 Japan Review Check Xmas Armageddon 1UP com Archived from the original on 24 July 2015 Retrieved 10 August 2014 a b Gifford Kevin 27 February 2013 Japan Review Check Soul Sacrifice Tales of Hearts R Polygon Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b c Wallace Kimberley 10 November 2014 Tales of Hearts R Missing Heart And Soul Game Informer GameSpot Archived from the original on 11 November 2014 Retrieved 14 November 2014 a b c d Fitch Andrew 10 November 2014 EGM Review Tales of Hearts R Electronic Gaming Monthly EGM Media LLC Archived from the original on 14 November 2014 Retrieved 14 November 2014 a b c d MacGregor Kyle 12 November 2014 Tales of Hearts R Review This old flame still burns Destructoid Archived from the original on 12 November 2014 Retrieved 14 November 2014 a b c Beck Adam 10 November 2014 Review Tales of Hearts R Hardcore Gamer Archived from the original on 8 December 2014 Retrieved 14 November 2014 a b Barker Andrew RPGFan reviews Tales of Hearts Anime Edition RPGFan Archived from the original on 12 August 2014 Retrieved 11 August 2014 a b c d McCarroll John 11 November 2014 RPGFan reviews Tales of Hearts R RPGFan Archived from the original on 12 November 2014 Retrieved 14 November 2014 Baker Michael 27 April 2017 Tales of Hearts Import Review RPGamer Archived from the original on 27 April 2017 Retrieved 27 April 2017 Ouden Adriaan den November 2014 Tales of Hearts R Review RPGamer Archived from the original on 10 June 2016 Retrieved 27 April 2017 a b ゲームソフト販売本数ランキング TOP30 集計期間 2008年12月15日 12月21日 Famitsu in Japanese Enterbrain Inc 9 January 2009 Archived from the original on 19 August 2014 Retrieved 9 November 2012 a b 3分ランキング PSP ディシディア FF が約50万本を販売してトップに Dengeki Online in Japanese ASCII Media Works 26 December 2008 Archived from the original on 3 July 2014 Retrieved 28 December 2014 Japan s Top 100 Sellers Revealed Edge 17 February 2009 Archived from the original on 19 August 2014 Retrieved 28 December 2014 Famitsu Game White Paper 2009 Enterbrain 2009 p 395 ISBN 978 4 7577 4879 8 Sahdev Ishaan 13 March 2013 This Week In Sales Soul Sacrifice Takes One For The Team Siliconera Archived from the original on 12 November 2013 Retrieved 11 August 2014 週間ソフト販売ランキング TOP50 トモダチコレクション 新生活 が6度目の首位を獲得 Xbox 360版 Minecraft は5 400本を販売 Dengeki Online in Japanese ASCII Media Works 14 June 2013 Archived from the original on 30 June 2014 Retrieved 26 December 2014 Dengeki Review テイルズオブハーツ アール Vita Dengeki PlayStation in Japanese ASCII Media Works 537 235 28 February 2013 Primary referencesBandai Namco Studios 7th Chord 11 November 2014 Tales of Hearts R PlayStation Vita Bandai Namco Games Lithia Eons ago the Mineran race flourished boasting a culture highly skilled in the use of Will artes But such prosperity led to greed and decadence and our weak Spirias soon turned against each other During the course of the unending Will artes war a weapon was born Ines The xeroms Lithia Yes Xeroms were engineered to be living weapons that fed off Spirias in order to fuel their monstrous evolutions Though primitive you Organicans boasted powerful Spiria which attracted the attention of we Minerans Hisui So you decided to turn people from our world into xerom chow Lithia We invaded your planet and enslaved your ancestors to power the xeroms evolutions No words can express my profound regret However know that some among us were gentle souls who detested these actions My elder sister Fluora was one such person and she dedicated her life to ensuring peace between realms She created the Somas and the fortress of Mysticete so that we might be able to bridge our Spiria Lithia This power It is exactly like No Such a thing should not be It cannot be Forgive me Kohaku I have no alternative Kor That s a piece of Kohaku s Spiria Core Hisui So it ain t all gone then Kor Well her core shattered but it looks like the shard containing her kindness stayed behind Kor That light must be pointing to a shard of Kohaku s Spiria Core We should check it out Hisui hits Kor Check it out CHECK IT OUT This ain t a freakin field trip kid And you re certefiably insane if you think I ll let the likes of you hang around Kohaku Kor Okay fine But I m still going Kohaku s problem is my fault after all I have to fix it I have to make it right Silver Let me tell you a little story In the Age of Stones the world was ruled by an alien race with bodies of crystal The aliens called the Minerans invented many of the weapons of Will including xeroms Somas and your mechanical friend there All of these are controlled by the Forest of Thorns and the Mineran known as Lithia is the key Of course I m not telling the mechanoid anything it doesn t already know Kunzite What I know is that you are another petty human bent on exploiting Mineran technology for your own ambitions Silver Not ambition my friend Ideals I wish to mold this world into a utopia filled with noble and true Spirias And such a cause requires great power Lithia Creed too once desired peace although the thing he created in that service was an abomination The queen of all xeroms The Savior System capable of absorbing Spirias from afar You know her as Gardenia The black moon The white moon was not always white Once it was a vibrant blue planet and our home world of Minera But 2000 years ago Creed and I activated Gardenia and in the process caused our own planet to calcify We thought we were doing right We only wanted to remove the seeds of war from our people s Spiria But we made a horrible mistake Our world was doomed the instant we set Gardenia in motion Lithia Having expelled each other s Spirias from our physical bodies Creed and I existed in Organican hosts for millennia Changing hosts over countless generations we waged a secret and endless war for control of Gardenia Hisui So what s Creed plan now he s got his little science project off and running again Lithia Creed believes that the Spiria of all Minerans are alive within Gardenia He also believes that Fluora is alive despite her sacrificing herself to the beast so she might escape He intends to reactivate Gardenia and resurrect my sister along with our entire planet Kardia Stay away from my kid bastard You haven t SEEN dangerous until you ve run into an angry mother Creed Impressive But without your friends it will take more than a flimsy seal to contain me Wh What s this Where is this new power coming from H how Why Yaaaaaaaargh Kardia Aw did you help Mommy Good to know I have a kid who listens Unlike me Heh That seal was just patchwork though It won t be holding him forever Sorry kid Mommy tried her best Kor You remember Gramps last words right Do not hate To not succumb to anger in the heat of battle I screwed that up about as badly as a guy can Now Creed s back to destroy the world and it s my fault The Xerom The despir Creed It all comes back to me Everyone would be better off if I died Kohaku That s not true Because you re alive I was able to meet you And meeting you has made me happy Even the darkest place has a little bit of light You taught me that Kunzite This phenomenon is the preliminary stage of calcification Hisui Your Spiria s that far gone Lithia I had no idea Lithia I trust you two can keep it a secret Hisui But Lithia I will not perish so easily Not before I ve sealed Gardenia away once and for all Kunzite Clinoseraph looped time within his Nexus replaying the day of Minera s calcification over and over Therefore it is logical to assume that I can control time within my Nexus as well If I can replay time I can stop it And if Master Lithia sleeps in such a state she can live on Closing narration There lies a princess fair and dear who has slept for over a thousand years amidst a bramble of thorny spires The love of friends is a radiant beam and to them she grants a sword of dreams An ebony moon by the hero slew An ivory moon to be born anew The whale of legend still does fly but now it is a star in the dark night sky to soothe the sleep of you and I The princess dreams in her forest of thorns The prayers of people her heart warms She is protected by her metal knight as two stars shine out eternal light And she is always dreaming Dreaming her world will awaken Ending CreditsExternal links Edit Tales of Hearts Official site in Japanese Official Developer s Blog in Japanese Tales of Hearts R Official site in Japanese Tales of Hearts R English portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tales of Hearts amp oldid 1134700210 Tales of Hearts R, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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