Tales series publisher Bandai Namco has revealed that it plans to release remastered versions of games in the series on a regular basis, and that a special development initiative has been set up to this end.
Speaking as part of a new 30th-anniversary broadcast (thanks, Gematsu), Tales series producer Yusuke Tomizawa says that remastered Tales titles will be released "fairly consistently", and that the studio "intends to continue" remastering Tales games "as much as possible".
He then goes on to say that what he calls the "Remastered Project" now has a dedicated development initiative devoted to it, and that the team is hard at work on that project, although he didn't say which Tales game is up for a remaster next.
Tomizawa's words come around a month before the newest Tales game, Tales of Graces f Remastered, is set to launch. It's a remastered version of Tales of Graces f, which is itself a port of the 2009 Wii game Tales of Graces, with the Wii version only ever being released in Japan.
Contrary to what you might believe, the Tales series does not include the likes of Tales of the Shire or Tales of Kenzera: Zau. It's confusing, I know, but Bandai Namco's Tales games carry a specific action RPG formula that marries real-time combat with fairly typical JRPG dungeon and overworld exploration.
The most recent mainline Tales game, and the series' 17th main entry overall, is 2021's Tales of Arise, which managed to rack up three million sales for itself before being added to Microsoft and Sony's subscription services earlier this year.
Tomizawa has described Arise as a Tales game for first-timers, but he has also acknowledged the importance of making the RPG, which has a slightly more realistic visual sensibility than many of its predecessors, appeal to "everyone".
As for which Tales game is next to get the remastering treatment, it's far too early to say.
Tomizawa and Bandai Namco are staying tight-lipped, and since Tales of Graces f Remastered still hasn't come out yet, it's likely that launch will take up a lot of the publisher's attention for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned for more.
