Tales of the Rays is a smartphone app that mixes the Tales Of characters, stories, and combat that you know and love into a new RPG experience.
It’s been loved by many since its initial release on February 28, 2017, and saw the curtains close on its seven-year history on July 23, 2024.
*Service for the English version ended May 29, 2018
We asked the Tales of the Rays development team to come together for this article to share some stories about the game, from its initial release to its end of service. Production Producer Shun Yanagisawa (Yanagisawa P) will head the discussions.
How did they feel as the game neared the end of its life?
To show our gratitude to everyone who supported the game, we bring you some words from the developers.
(Top row, from the left)
Production Producer: Shun Yanagisawa
Lead Game Designer: Tatsuro Udo
Art Director: Masahiko Musha
(Bottom row, from the left)
Director: Naoki Miyata
Project Manager: Yumi Yamada
An RPG On Your Smartphone: The Story Behind the Birth of Tales of the Rays
―Let’s start with the birth of Tales of the Rays. What led to the game being developed?
Yanagisawa: At the time we decided to make the game, we already had Tales of Link and Tales of Asteria as our smartphone Tales Of games.
So in our discussions about what kind of game we should make for the next smartphone Tales Of game, we thought about having gameplay that was closer to the console games, since Tales of Link was a puzzle game, Tales of Asteria was a card game, and smartphone technology had greatly advanced since those games initially released.
There was also the Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (TotW) series on the PSP as the “all-stars” game, featuring characters from the rest of the series. So the other developers and I proposed an all-stars game on the smartphone to my boss and Bandai Namco Entertainment’s Ikeno-san (Ikeno P), as it was sure to be a fun game, and they were on board with the idea.
That’s how Tales of the Rays came to be.
Ix and Mileena, New Characters to Follow in the Footsteps of Series Favorites
Yanagisawa: A staple of the Tales Of series is the attention paid to its story and characters, but one of the things about using existing characters is that they’re already fully developed in the games they came from.
So we thought that we needed to have original protagonists, since character growth was a keyword for the series.
With that in mind, we made Ix and Mileena, who develop as characters by following in the footsteps of other series protagonists.
It’s also reflected in the game’s name, as a “ray” can be interpreted as a straight beam of light, symbolizing the honest, virtuous growth of our characters.
A Series First! Changing Protagonists and Giving Ix a Makeover as Nobody Could Remember His Name
―I didn’t know that about the game’s name! Can you tell us more about Ix?
Yanagisawa: To tell you the truth, the existing characters had so much presence at the beginning of the game that none of our players could remember who Ix was (laughs).
People were making fun of him too, so we thought about ways to make him a cooler protagonist.
Yamada: That was the beginning of the Ix makeover project. We’d try to draw his hair differently for his swimwear version…
Musha: We tried to bring out some of his stronger traits with skins and events too.
Yanagisawa: We tried a bunch of different things, but we realized that a fundamental change was needed, which led to us benching Ix.
Changing protagonists was something we had never done (laughs).
At the same time, Mileena was very popular from the beginning, so we had her become the protagonist for part two, with the setup that we would have Ix show up again later.
The Thoughtful Design Behind New Characters Kocis and Woden
―I’m sure it must’ve been a hard time to run Tales of the Rays without its protagonist?
Udo: When Ix was taking the back seat, we had Kocis take the position of main character.
He has the same artes as Ix, so we could have Kocis’ artes sync with Ix’s when he returns, but we needed to have both characters work somehow.
You might think it’s just a matter of having them share the same data, but one of them is slightly taller than the other.
We focused on making subtle distinctions like that to highlight each character.
Musha: I remember the development team having a tough time working on these two (laughs).
Yamada: Speaking of struggles with character design, Woden, who is introduced in part four, also went through many revisions.
He started off with a short-haired, youthful design, but Yanagisawa-san immediately dismissed it by saying he didn’t look important enough for royalty, which was an eye-opener.
Woden initially inhabits Ix’s body and goes by the name Nazar. Because Nazar was a fan-favorite in terms of his appearance, we were told that his true form (Woden) needed to surpass Nazar.
Thanks to that feedback, we were able to transform Woden into a cool, regal, and sophisticated character.
User Feedback as a Guiding Light for Live Service Titles: The Ongoing Cycle of Taking Risks and Making Improvements
―It seems like there were many challenges behind the protagonist switch. How did users respond when Ix returned in part three?
Yamada: I think he successfully evolved into a protagonist that people were more willing to accept.
Yanagisawa: We received a lot of positive feedback.
Musha: The main changes we made involved shifting elements like his facial features and hairstyle, from a cute look to a cool one.
Being able to gradually upgrade his design, like his longer hair and more refined appearance once his seal was broken, was something we could only achieve with a live service title.
Yanagisawa: In that sense, this game didn’t find success right away.
We went with the typical live service approach, where we would take a risk and if it didn’t work out, we would keep tweaking things until the game improved.
We were always thinking about how we could make the characters come across as cool or cute to the players.
Miyata: Making adjustments as you go based on user feedback isn’t something you can do with a console game.
Yanagisawa: In the end, we were able to establish Tales of the Rays as the story of Ix and Mileena, and give everyone a satisfying conclusion.
It felt like we finally got things right. I don’t think it would have turned out this way had we followed our original plans for the game.
Musha: We were able to show real growth, and I think users noticed that too.
Struggles of Working with Series Favorites
―Tales of the Rays features characters from other Tales Of games. What did you find particularly challenging about managing a game with such a large cast?
Udo: We ultimately featured over 200 characters in the game, and needed to add new artes for each one while also integrating new features that would be unique to the Rays.
It was a challenge figuring out how to make each character feel distinct.
Yanagisawa: Every single arte needed to have its own worth, so I imagine the balancing process was quite tough.
After all, there aren’t many games with over 200 characters (laughs).
―With so many characters in the series, how did you decide which ones to feature?
Yanagisawa: We mainly selected characters based on the events that were coming up.
For example, when we decided to do a summer event where the characters would go to the beach, we chose characters that fit the beach theme, or those that would create a fun dynamic together in that setting. We focused on the theme behind each event.
There were also times when we featured characters from games that were celebrating a special anniversary.
If we were to run Tales of the Rays again, I don’t think we would use the same characters in the same order.
Those characters were chosen because they were right for those specific moments, and we were sort of spontaneous when it came to releasing them.
Yamada: Of course, there were times where we added certain characters simply because we thought it would be fun to make them playable (laughs).
Who Is Your Favorite Tales Of Character?
―Out of curiosity, who are your favorite characters from the Tales Of series?
Yanagisawa: I like Stahn Aileron from Tales of Destiny.
He’s a classic protagonist who leads the way with optimism and energy, but occasionally shows a cynical side.
There are times when he says some hard-hitting things, and that contrast is what makes him so appealing.
Yamada: My favorite is Leon Magnus, another Tales of Destiny character.
While Destiny has both an original version and a remake, there’s a particular line from Leon only in the original version that left a deep impact on me… Coupling that with his backstory, I was completely won over by him.
Thanks to him, I’ve spent quite a bit on the game (laughs).
Udo: I wrote dialogue for battle scenes and voiced lines, and have a strong attachment to Tales of Graces.
Out of all the characters, Sophie is my favorite. She takes everything at face value no matter how absurd it is, which I think gives her a unique charm.
Musha: I’ve been involved with the development of the Tales Of games since Tales of Symphonia and primarily handled character models. The first model I ever created was Regal Bryant, so I have a lot of affection for him.
Miyata: I tend to get emotionally invested in battle scenes, and the first time I thought a character was really cool was when I saw Reid Hershel from Tales of Eternia at a friend’s house.
His artes are awesome. I played through the game multiple times, and it was so fun discovering all of the different ways to use his artes.
―It’s so interesting to hear how different everyone’s perspectives are! I can see that you all have a deep love for these characters.
The Frustration of Being Unable to Gauge User Reactions
―What was the most challenging aspect of managing Tales of the Rays during its service?
Yanagisawa: The first year after release was the most difficult period we went through.
Tales of the Rays was able to grow thanks to the support of its users, but we couldn’t communicate with them at first and received a lot of criticism.
Every day was a relentless pursuit of making improvements and addressing all kinds of feedback.
We needed to establish a process inherent to a live-service title, where we improve the game on an ongoing basis by repeatedly resolving issues, and we struggled quite a bit until that fell into place.
Yanagisawa: When we first launched, the story was primarily about the growth of Ix and his companions. But as we paid attention to user feedback, it became apparent that fans wanted more, as they were also eager to reconnect with characters from other series titles.
That said, there was a clear contrast in emotional attachment between new characters like Ix, and the ones from previous games that were already beloved by players. I realized it would take a long time to bridge that gap.
It was frustrating being unable to decipher what players wanted through user feedback and in-game events, which made it hard to close the gap between our vision and theirs.
Sentiments Behind Tales of the Rays’ Final Update
―Tales of the Rays has been adored by users for a remarkable seven years. What sentiments went behind its final update?
Miyata: Since we were releasing the offline version of the game alongside its end-of-service, our concept was to keep the players’ memories alive and make it possible to revisit them.
The final update was intentionally designed to not require players to advance through quests or use items to power up their characters. Instead, we prioritized preserving the game’s final state, and allowing players to revisit it anytime.
Even if there were things left undone, we wanted that to hold meaning as part of the player’s memories.
Miyata: With that in mind, we held a finale campaign leading up to service shutdown, encouraging players to clear quests and power up their characters. As a result, we were delighted to see a surge in players that surpassed numbers prior to our end-of-service announcement.
That said, we probably went a bit overboard with item distributions, and the excessive server traffic on our final day resulted in connection issues. We regret not being able to prevent these kinds of issues right up until the very end…
Still, we hope that even those mishaps will become part of the fond memories players have of Tales of the Rays.
Yamada: Speaking of the finale campaign, Miyata-san and I were planning it out together but once the campaign began, Yanagisawa-san kept throwing in sudden, unexpected requests (laughs).
He would ask for things like stamps, illustrations, and even skits.
Yanagisawa: Knowing that nothing could be added once service ended, I couldn’t resist wanting to cram in as much content as possible for users to enjoy.
Udo: To be honest, throwing in a lot of things at the last minute was something I used to do myself, so at the time I thought, “Ah, this takes me back.”
I actually enjoyed doing things like adding new characters even though we knew service was ending.
Yamada: With limited time and manpower, we worked together to figure out how to put everything in the game.
We understood Yanagisawa-san was making those requests because he wanted to make users happy, which motivated us to give it our best shot.
A Message from Yanagisawa P
― Yanagisawa P, could you please leave a message for players of Tales of the Rays?
Yanagisawa: Thank you so much for staying with us for nearly 7 years.
Although there are many things that we should reflect and improve upon, I’m glad that you were able to enjoy the adventures Ix and his companions embarked on.
I hope this game served as an opportunity to rekindle your memories with the Tales Of series and its characters, by bringing them back into the spotlight and being able to reconnect with them.
Although our service has ended, you can still spend time with the characters anytime in the offline version of our game.
I hope you continue to enjoy this game alongside the other series titles.
We sincerely hope you keep supporting the Tales Of series.
―Thank you for taking the time to share your valuable insights with us!
TALES OF THE RAYS™& ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. ©MUSTUMI INOMATA ©KOSUKE FUJISHIMA
