
Namco Bandai Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Pros
- Graphics are great, crossover characters, great cooking and forging systems
Cons
- Nothing revolutionary, and if you're not into questing RPGs, you'll definitely want to look elsewhere
Bottom Line
Honestly, Radiant Mythology does absolutely nothing new--especially if you've played Tales games before--but we found ourselves having a lot of fun hacking and slashing away through beautiful dungeons. Also, the story is more than serviceable, thanks to the new characters and the fun of crossover characters. RPG fans who have been looking for something to take on the road should definitely try out Radiant Mythology.
-
Price
$ 69.95 (AUD)
It just goes to show that even game developers are fans of their own work. Evidence: Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, better known as crossover fan fiction.
RPG fans surely know the Tales franchise, but few Australian fans know the Tales of the World spinoff franchise that pulls characters from numerous Tales games, mixes them together with new characters and a new save-the-world-plot.
Known worldwide
Why don't we know it? Because Namco Bandai said gamers would not recognise many of the characters that appear in the Tales of the World franchise since only a handful of Tales games have been released in Australia. However, that doesn't seem to matter anymore as Radiant Mythology has landed in the land of Oz, and get this, it's actually a good RPG for the PSP.
After you create your character from a few preset options, you'll be thrown into the new world of Terresia that's inhabited by monsters and familiar Tales characters such as Lloyd and Genis from Tales of Symphony and Tales of the Abyss' Luke and Tear. Though the game tries only half-heartedly to explain why all of the characters have gathered in this world, just go with it and enjoy the fun and don't think too hard. The dialogue is presented with the staple "Tales head shots", which works, but it's a shame that the excellent in-game engine wasn't used for a few scenes.
The graphics and animation are great for a handheld game, and there's none of the lag I've experienced in a few other handheld RPGs. Each dungeon is uniquely detailed, and varied monsters found throughout make for excellent battles. Radiant Mythology borrows Tales of the Abyss' battle system, which translates surprisingly well to the PSP. Attacks and special attacks are executed with directional and face buttons, but how well the analogue nub works to control free-running is the real surprise.
To do list
The game is centred around a questing system that fits pick-up-and-playability perfectly. Though technically the game follows a typical flow of "choose quest, find poster, enter dungeon and fight", the missions still feel varied between the different requests for enemy elimination, item location, or material collection. Also, the robust forging and cooking system gives you another thing to think about during your battles and dungeon runs. Radiant Mythology has also eliminated the excessive and monotonous running-through-towns that plagues many questing-styled RPGs by letting you jump directly back to the main map and choose locations from a list in towns.
Brand Post

Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Asus TUF Gaming VG28UQL1A review: This 4K monitor plays nice with consoles
- 2 Firewalla Gold review: Powerful home network security in a tiny box
- 3 Alienware AW3423DW review: Quantum dot OLED renders rival monitors obsolete
- 4 Acer Aspire 5 review: An affordable laptop that’s enjoyable to use
- 5 Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 review: This gaming laptop oozes luxurious power
Latest News Articles
- This real-life “aimbot” uses a physical mouse to cheat at shooting games
- Bethesda’s classic Elder Scrolls games arrive on Steam—for free
- We tested 22 different RPGs on the Steam Deck
- Steam Deck’s first major update adds a lock screen, Windows 11 support
- Sony is getting serious about bringing more PlayStation games to the PC
Resources
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers

Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world

Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles

PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Best Unlimited Internet Deals in 2022
- Microsoft’s universal ‘One Outlook’ client just leaked out
- Liquid Retina vs. Liquid Retina XDR: Which display is better?
- Which flagship TV is best? Sony 4K HDR Bravia 2016 versus LG 4K HDR OLED 2016
- 10 Blu-ray movies / Best looking Blu-ray movies