Tales of Phantasia (GBA)

When young swordsman Cress Albane returns home to find his village torn asunder and his parents killed, he is forced to set out on a quest through time and space to uncover the villains behind the tragedy.

Tales of Phantasia GBA combines traditional role-playing elements with an exciting battle system requiring both strategy and reaction speed. This battle system, featured in the Tales series since the game's original launch in 1995, allows players to strategically place and command a group of up to three characters, before taking direct control of the star of the game, Cress. Once the fight has started the player executes attacks and casts spells as they would in an action game, while the computer AI controls the rest of the group. The emphasis is placed on Cress, but a tactical choice and placement of allies can make the difference between success and failure.

As with most titles in the role-playing genre, Tales of Phantasia GBA allows players to enhance and improve their characters in order to prepare them for the game's tougher challenges. As the player defeats opponents and completes challenges they earn experience points and accumulating a certain number will cause the character to 'level up', gaining more hit points and new abilities. As well as gaining levels, players can purchase and find new weapons and equipment to increase their character's statistics.

In addition to the usual upgrades, Tales of Phantasia GBA contains a unique cooking system, a revolution in the role-playing genre when the game was first released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Players can collect rare and unusual ingredients from around the world and combine them to create food and potions to aid their characters in battle.