Tales Of Hearts - Cg Movie Edition

Tales of Hearts: CG Movie Edition for Nintendo DS is a Japan-only action role-playing game from Namco Tales Studio and Bandai Namco Games, released on December 18, 2008. It is the eleventh main entry in the Tales series and one of two Nintendo DS editions issued at the same time. This CG Movie Edition tells the same adventure as the Anime Movie Edition, but replaces its event cinematics with computer-generated scenes created by Shirogumi. The main game uses 2D character sprites and 3D environments, while the DS screens divide the adventure’s primary view from its map and support functions.

The story begins with Kor Meteor, a young trainee Somatic living on a secluded island. His encounter with siblings Kohaku and Hisui Hearts draws him into a crisis involving xerom, monsters that attack a person’s Spiria—the crystallized essence of emotions. When an attempt to help Kohaku leaves her Spiria scattered, Kor and his companions set out to recover its fragments. Their journey moves through Organica, a world shaped by the Maximus Empire, ancient technology, and the threat left behind by the ruined moon Minera.

Exploration is structured around field areas, towns, dungeons, and visible enemies that initiate battles on contact rather than through random encounters. The group searches for story destinations and treasures while adding party members with distinct weapons and abilities. Optional skits let players call up short character conversations as they travel. The game is designed as a single-player RPG, with the player leading one combatant and computer-controlled allies supporting the active party.

Combat uses the Combination Aerial Linear Motion Battle System, a real-time, command-driven variation of the series’ established battle style. Attacks, guards, and Artes are performed directly and can be linked into combos, while up to three characters take the field at once. Players can set tactics for their allies, such as attacking or concentrating on healing. A Combination gauge enables cooperative attacks involving party members outside the current battle lineup, and the Emotion gauge links defensive and offensive decisions by building while guarding and being spent on actions.

Progression centers on the Soma weapons wielded by the cast. Materials collected from defeated enemies can be used to learn abilities and skills; advancing through those skills opens different paths for improving a character’s Soma. The party can also unleash powerful Combination Blasters, this game’s take on the Tales series’ signature high-level special attacks. These systems give the DS adventure a focus on both immediate action and longer-term party development.

Tales of Hearts is notable within the Nintendo DS library for presenting a full Tales adventure in two parallel editions distinguished by their movie presentation. The CG Movie Edition’s Shirogumi-produced sequences were an unusual experiment for the series, whereas Production I.G handled the alternate edition’s animated scenes. The original DS release remained exclusive to Japan; the later PlayStation Vita remake, Tales of Hearts R, rebuilt the game in 3D and added content, so it should not be confused with this 2008 CG Movie Edition.