A few weeks ago, Namco producer Hideo Baba announced the Tales of Symphonia HD Collection for PS3. Then he un-announced it, saying that his original announcement was a mistranslation. Apparently Baba was lying that second time, because Namco Bandai just officially announced Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, and they the video to prove that it actually exists this time.
As reported earlier, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles will bundle the original Tales of Symphonia along with its previously Wii exclusive sequel, Dawn of the New World, together on one blu-ray disc. The HD versions of each game will feature redrawn character cut-ins for the game’s Arte attacks, and will also feature bonus costumes based on the characters from Tales of the Abyss.
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles comes out this October in Japan. In addition to the regular edition, a special edition will also be available that comes with a novel set in the game’s world (or worlds, depending on what part of the timeline it takes place in,) five mini figurines, and a special box with art produced by Ufotable, the animation studio responsible for Tales of Symphonia’s anime adaptation.
Suprisingly, Namco Bandai has already confirmed that the collection will be released Stateside sometime in 2014. Namco usually waits awhile before announcing that a Tales game is getting localized — for instance, the upcoming Tales of Xillia (out this August,) was actually released in Japan in 2011 and wasn’t confirmed for a US release until July, 2012 — but it’s great news that Namco is now announcing Western releases alongside the Japanese ones. There’s still no word of an English release for Tales of Xillia 2 (released in Japan last year,) but regardless, fans of the Tales Of series seem like they have a lot to look forward to in the coming months.
