A new improvement patch has just been released for the NTSC-U version of Namco's PlayStation RPG Tales of Destiny, fixing localization errors, squashing bugs, and restoring a bunch of content that was originally cut from the US release.
The patch was released yesterday, on March 24th, and came to our attention thanks to Life Bottle Productions on Twitter/X.
It is the work of mziab (hacking and tools, localization research, testing, font) and FlamePurge (testing, suggestions, graphic edits), and was reportedly inspired by a defunct project from the developer Cless of the fan translation group Phantasian Productions.
Tales of Destiny, in case you're unaware, is the second mainline entry in Namco's "Tales" series and the sequel to 1995's Tales of Phantasia. It was developed by Wolf Team and was originally released in Japan for the PS1 in December 1997, before receiving a localized version one year later for the North American market. This version of the game, however, made several changes to the sprites, overworld graphics, and items, and included some localized dialogue that was clearly a product of the era in which it was produced.
The goal with this new patch is, therefore, to improve the presentation of the game, correcting "translation flubs" and "technical bugs", as well as "reverting all instances of censorship and [...] arbitrary localization changes." Importantly, as the team states, this is not a full-blown retranslation but instead uses the original localization by Michiyo Pattillo to make some adjustments to the title.
Elsewhere, they have also tried to stick to modern Tales naming conventions to bring the game more in line with other entries.
Here is the list of changes:
- A wide swath of translation and context errors have been corrected.
- New 8x8 font allowing for fully expanded item, special skill, spell, and enemy names.
- Meticulously readjusted menus to efficiently utilize space and improve their layouts.
- Fixed a bug where using Spectacles or the Inspect skill resulted in the incorrect enemy weakness displaying.
- Modern terms used for item, skill, spell, and enemy names where applicable. (Includes changing the "New Skill!" graphic to "New Arte!")
- Letters in the name entry screen are now properly aligned.
- Reverted censorship and localization changes in the graphics (sprites, overworld graphics, and items).
- Stahn starts equipped with a Technical Ring.
- Philia's name variable is used for her Philia Bomb skill, as well as other menu descriptions which reference her name.
- Leon's enemy name now consistently uses his name variable in all contexts.
- Corrected Lilith's default name.
- Lilith's name variable is used for her arte Lillith Slash.
- Lilith's proper avatar in the status screen is now shown at all times, not just at high Luck. (Please note that Lilith remains dummied out! The above changes were made for people who wish to cheat her into their party.)
- Cress/Arche use their modern Tales of Phantasia field map sprites.
- Restored the original opening FMV.
- Battle debug menu labels tweaked for clarity.
If you want to check out the patch, it is available to download now from GitHub, which is also where you'll be able to find more information on how to apply it to your game.
According to Life Bottle Productions, the cut overworld "skits" from the Japanese original have yet to be restored, but the team is currently looking into options for restoring them.