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Tales of Phantasia, the start to the Namco's Tales series of RPGs, will have it's 2003 Game Boy Advance port hit Europe in the first quarter of 2006, according to Nintendo of Europe. There is no word on a possible future release in the US, but rumors are circulating that a 2006 release is probable, but details are fuzzy thus far.

ToP was first released on the SNES in 1995, then ported to the Playstation in 1998, and most recently ported to the GBA in 2003, all only in Japan. This new release is likely in large part thanks to the popularity of the most recent Tales game, the publicly and critically acclaimed Tales of Symphonia. The Tales series has enjoyed only a small cult following outside of Japan previous to Tales of Symphonia's success with the Playstation games Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny II (the latter is known as Tales of Eternia in Japan; this is extremely confusing because a direct sequel to Tales of Destiny was made for the PS2 in 2002, also called Tales of Destiny 2) and widespread emulation of Tales of Phantasia thanks to DeJap Translations' 2000 translation patch. Now the rest of the world (hopefully including the US at some point) can legally enjoy one of Namco and Wolf Team's masterpieces.

Sources: RPGamer.com (news source)
Wikipedia (Tales series background info)

The latest issue of Shonen Jump magazine shined a bit of light on some more details surrounding Konami's newest PlayStation 2 addition to their beloved RPG series, Suikoden V.

To kick things off, the traditional six member parties will make a triumphant return, having been downsized to four in Suikoden IV. The battle formations, although a little more free in structure than in previous titles, will also make a comeback. Among the different formations possible is a six-character arc and a setup of three rows consisting of one, two, and three party members.

As fans of the series are aware, Konami has always made a point to include characters from past Suikoden titles within the worlds of newer games. Following suit, it's been confirmed that Georg Prime (Suikoden II) will make an appearance in Suikoden V, leading to the conclusion that the game takes place within a timeframe similar to that of the first three installments.

Confirmations regarding new characters have popped up left and right as well. There's the Knight Captain Felid, who's married to the queen, Alshtat. Limsleia is his daughter; she's also the sister of the hero. Party members mentioned are Miakis, Galeon, Kyle, and Fuwala-fuwalu, yet no details on the latter four beyond their names have been provided. A highly gifted mage named Zerase will additionally become part of the entourage through the 108 Stars of Destiny, and the group's strategist, a woman known as Lucredia, will be assisted by Shius, a soldier, and Lelei, Shius' partner.

Japan is expected to receive Suikoden V in stores on February 23, 2006. Konami has announced a North American release for the game, but no date has been revealed.

Source: RPGamer

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of Marvelous Interactive's popular Harvest Moon series, prompting a celebratory announcement of three new installments.

First off, Shintarou Mashima, president of Arte Piazza and the development team behind Innocent Life - Shin Bokujou Monogatari for the PSP, stated that the game will feature concepts of both "big adventure" and "slow life of the future". In addition to the flagship series' normal role-playing and farming and life simulations, the controlled character will have to solve a number of riddles relating to a legend spoken within the town. Innocent Life is looking at a Spring, 2006 release date in Japan.

Meanwhile, Rune Factory - Shin Bokujou Monogatari, slated for release on the Nintendo DS, will attempt to steer the series in a slightly different direction: In previous Harvest Moon titles, players were able to tend to crops and livestock on farmland devoid of any notable dangers, save the occasional rainstorm or hurricane. Rune Factory, however, will add monsters into the mix, allowing players to either capture them or fight them off in an RPG battle fashion. The game will be available in Japan sometime next year.

Finally, Bokujou Monogatari Online (Harvest Moon Online) has yet to receive a concrete announcement regarding the platform for its release, although Marvelous Interactive has said that a PC version is possible. No launch date has currently been set.

Source: RPGFan

The developer of familiar hits including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Baldur's Gate series, BioWare, has announced a brand new action-RPG entitled Mass Effect for the upcoming Xbox 360.

Set centuries into the future, Mass Effect tells of an intergalactic society made up of advanced humans and alien races. Players will explore and battle their way across undiscovered alien worlds as they control an agent bent on halting a great evil threatening this coexistence.

No release date has been set, but a gameplay trailer can be viewed at BioWare's official website.

Source: RPGamer

RPG fans planning on purchasing an Xbox 360 or just even in the console's development might be slightly disappointed. Neither of former Square producer Hironobu Sakaguchi's Xbox 360 titles will be presented in a playable state at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show in September.

However, he says the games'--Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey--development is progressing smoothly. "The screen is starting to get developed, and we've been able to decide on the orientation of its graphics, and what kind of lighting and effects we want. We're currently in the process of making tons of [additional] graphics," commented Sakaguchi. "Lost Odyssey is progressing about the same. The characters are starting to move in the game screen little by little, and we're figuring out where we want to go with its graphics."

Much more information about the games will be released later in the year. Fans of character designs in Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest VIII (as well Dragonball fanboys) should be pleased to hear that Akira Toriyama is behind the character design for both games. Neither is planned to be a launch title, however. One will ship within a year of the 360's launch, while the other will be released within two years.

Source: GameSpot

Square Enix has announced Radiata Stories, an RPG by Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile developer tri-Ace, will hit American stores on September 6 for the Playstation 2.

Radiata Stories take place in a world in which humans and fairies live together in harmony. The game follows the lives of Jack and Ridley, two who have become knights for different reasons. And to quote a really lame line from RPGamer, "When war breaks out between humans and fairies, Jack and Ridley must become much more than just knights. They must become heroes."

Apparently, the game claims to feature of 175 NPCs. The environment in Radiata Stories is fully interactive (like any good game should be, really). Players can kick objects, structures, animals, and people to discover secrets. Time also has an effect on the game's environment. The game's battles are fought in real time with party formation being important to combat strategy.

Here is a screenshot of the battle system in action.

Source: Source: RPGamer

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I'm finding myself a bit tired of Japanese RPGs as of late. So far this just sounds like the same old stuff. How about some real innovation from over there?