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ClaudeLv250 on 15 August 2008
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I posted almost exactly one year ago in a thread on this forum that was about Dawn of the New World (Knight of Ratatosk) vs. Innocence. An argument broke out because some people couldn't understand, and wouldn't accept the fact that DotNW is a gaiden. A side game. And I elaborated on why it was a gaiden and compared it to the first gaiden in the series, Narikiri Dungeon. I've touched up and elborated the post a bit because there's more info on the game (since it's out in Japan now) and thus there are more details supporting what I said.

FLASHBACK!

The Book of Claude: Tales Edition

Chapter 1: Why Final Fantasy DOESN'T equal Tales

Let us start by using the first five MAIN installments of Final Fantasy and Tales.

Final Fantasy I -> Final Fantasy II -> Final Fantasy III ->  Final Fantasy IV ->  Final Fantasy V

What do these games have in common with each other? Not much. Just recurring themes like Chocobos, Moogles, Cid, Airships, battle system, the development team, etc. Final Fantasy games aren't related. They don't even acknowledge each other. Until recently, there hadn't been a Final Fantasy that took place in the same universe.

Now, for Tales.

Tales of Phantasia -> Tales of Destiny -> Tales of Eternia -> Tales of Destiny 2 -> Tales of Symphonia 

Pay attention. The two in bold are important.

Tales, like many RPG series, creates new worlds, characters, and storylines between most main installments. Keyword: Most.

Tales of Destiny 2 is a DIRECT SEQUEL to Tales of Destiny and is the 4th installment in the main series. Tales of Symphonia is a PREQUEL to Phantasia and the 5th installment. So where does Dawn of the New World fit in? It doesn't because it's a gaiden, and I'll explain later on.

Final Fantasy X-2 may be a direct sequel to FFX, but notice that it isn't called Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy continues to create new universes and characters per main installment, while Tales has no qualms with revisiting certain universes in its main installments. Therefore, Final Fantasy =/= Tales.

End Chapter.

Chapter 2: Tales Gaidens and How they Work

For the purpose of the chapter and for better understanding, I'm going to narrow this selection down to one other gaiden besides Dawn of the New World - Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon. ToP:ND is the first Tales gaiden ever created and as such, was the first to establish the formula that Tales gaidens have followed to date.

First I'll list features found in Tales gaidens, then apply them to Narikiri Dungeon and then Dawn of the New World.

Tales Gaidens

  1. Takes place after a main game
  2. Introduces two new characters: One male, One female
  3. Features the return of the cast in side character roles
  4. Features new experimental concepts around the core Tales gameplay. These features generally never make it into the main series.
  5. Story-wise, explores aspects of the main game's plot that aren't mentioned or covered in detail
  6. Has no cameo battles

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon

  1. Takes place 104 years after Tales of Phantasia
  2. Dio (Male), Mel (Female)
  3. Phantasia cast (Cless, Chester, Mint, Klarth, Arche, Suzu) returns. They are not playable.
  4. Randomized dungeons and using clothing to class change (hence the title, Narikiri Dungeon)
  5. The game focuses on Mel and Dio's redemption of their past lives on Derris-Kharlan, which is relevant to Phantasia (and Symphonia, to an extent). 
  6. Check (no cameo battles)

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New WorldTakes place 2 years after Tales of Symphonia

  1. Takes place 2 years after Symphonia
  2. Emil (Male), Marta (female)
  3. Symphonia cast returns. They join your party sporadically and cannot be the map avatars.
  4. Monster breeding
  5. Involves the aftermath of the merging of the two worlds, leading to Emil and Marta's personal struggle to revive the spirit Ratatosk
  6. Check (no cameo battles)
  7. *** - It has a point and click map. Now, I don't consider this a deciding factor by any means, but I haven't played a Tales gaiden that DIDN'T have a point and click map, and the main games don't.

Not all Tales gaidens follow the guide perfectly. Some diverge ever so slightly, but for the most part, if you can apply these rules to a Tales game, then you know it's a gaiden...though that's usually made clear when the game is announced.

I hope I enlightened some people about what a Tales gaiden is. It's really not that important, since I'm picking the game up on Day One, but it simply isn't Symphonia 2...which means that an ACTUAL Symphonia 2 can and probably will be made in the near future.

End Chapter.



Tag - "No trolling on my watch!"