Bandai Namco has developed a ton of great games over the years and the beloved Tales series is no exception. However, the iconic JRPG has struggled to gain a real foothold in the West. So what must the developer do in order to finally capture American consumers' attention?
Tales Struggled Against Square RPGS
The Tales series began with the release of Tales of Phantasia in December of 1995, a game which would be released alongside Dragon Quest VI and only manage to sell 212,000 copies as a result. Despite this, Bandai would create a remake and release it in 1998 with much greater success as it would sell 769,000 copies within Japan. While the next installment, Tales of Destiny, would receive relatively favorable reviews, it would ultimately struggle to sell within Japan, however, things would change with the release of Tales of Eternia in 2000. The game became an instant hit upon its release, selling 550,000 units in Japan by the end of the year and by December of 2007 it had sold 873,000 copies worldwide. Its popularity was so great that it managed to receive an anime adaptation in 2001, followed up by MMO version of the game in early 2007. Things didn't slow down for Namco as Tales of Destiny 2 would sell 702,000 copies by January of 2003, ranking eighth among others in that same timeframe.
Despite the franchise's worldwide success, it wouldn't be until the release of Tales of Symphonia for the GameCube that the company started to see a deep interest from the west and the United States in particular. The game, like its predecessors, would receive relatively favorable reviews from critics and consumers in America would show their appreciation by purchasing 100,000 copies of the game in only two weeks after its release. By the end of its run, Tales of Symphonia had sold 1.6 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling title in the series. Through the years afterward, the Tales franchise would continue to grow and its popularity inside of Japan would spawn more anime adaptations and manga series, along with a host of music CDs related to the series. Though Americans continued to buy the games, the company couldn't capture their interest like it did with Tales of Symphonia until its latest release, Tales of Berseria, in January of 2017. Even though the game had a lot of competition from other AAA titles, it still managed to sell over one million copies worldwide. With the next installment in the series coming in 2020 with Tales of Arise, many are hoping that the company will once again breakthrough in the west.
Though the Tales series has struggled outside of Japan in recent years, Bandai Namco can take comfort in the knowledge that both Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest went through the same process before they finally became household names in America. For Dragon Quest, it wouldn't be until the release of Dragon Quest VIII that those in America really started to take notice of the franchise. It would go on to sell 4.9 million units worldwide, with 430,000 of those coming from North America. As for Shin Megami Tensei, it wouldn't be until the release of Shin Megami Tensei IV in July of 2013 that the franchise would garner interest from the American market, selling 90,000 within the United States alone by January of 2014. Given that the Tales series of games continue to receive favorable reviews within the United States, it's only a matter of time before the company has another success like it did with Tales of Symphonia.
What Does Tales Need To Go West?
So, what would it take for Bandai Namco to once again capture the attention of those in the west and the United States in particular? For starters, they need to focus heavily on localization like they did with Tales of Symphonia. This means studying the market in the west and selecting both music and voice actors that would appeal to a western audience. Additionally, the next release needs to have a real-time battle system and elements from Tales of Berseria that those in the west enjoyed. Given the rise in popularity of JRPGs in North America as of late and the success of games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, it appears that those in the west are ready to embrace games like those in the Tales series, provided they incorporate a heavily detailed storyline and dynamic characters. Given the success of other games in the franchise in the west, it's safe to say that the company has held itself back by not embracing consumers outside of Japan and altering its games to appeal to a wider audience.
Many games within the Tales franchise have become sought after, causing the cost of games like Tales of Density and Tales of Destiny 2 to skyrocket. Often, consumers don't realize how great certain games are because other triple AAA titles take the spotlight away from them. As time passes, consumers become interested in them and realize what they missed the first time around. This is good news for Namco as with each passing year its older titles have gained a greater amount of popularity around the world. The fact that the next installment will make use of Unreal Engine 4 is a good sign as it seems to indicate that the company listened to criticism from its western audience and made the changes necessary to improve graphical quality. If the company works hard with its marketing and localization for Tales of Arise it could finally capture the admiration of those in the west.