 = Tales of Destiny 2 = 
 
 Tales of Destiny 2 ( Japanese : <unk> <unk> <unk> 2 , Hepburn : <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> ) is a Japanese role @-@ playing video game , co @-@ developed by Wolfteam and <unk> Japan , and published by Namco . It is the fourth main entry in the Tales series of video games , and a direct sequel to 1997 's Tales of Destiny . It released on PlayStation 2 ( PS2 ) in November 2002 in Japan , March 2003 in South Korea and August 2003 in China . The overseas versions were published by Sony Computer Entertainment . An updated port for the PlayStation Portable ( PSP ) , developed by Alfa System , was released in February 2007 , and March of the same year in South Korea . This version was published by Namco Bandai Games . Neither version has received a western release . 
 The story , set eighteen years after Destiny , follows Kyle Dunamis , the son of the previous game 's protagonists Stahn <unk> and Rutee <unk> . Shortly after meeting a mysterious girl named Reala while trying to save Rutee 's orphanage from bankruptcy , Kyle is drawn into conflict with Barbatos , a cruel warrior responsible for killing Stahn , and the machinations of <unk> , a religious leader seeking to bring peace to mankind . The gameplay uses two @-@ dimensional character sprites and backgrounds , and the battle system is a revamped version of the series ' trademark Linear Motion Battle System . 
 Development began after the release of Tales of Eternia in 2000 , taking approximately two years to complete , and was the last Tales game to be developed by the original Wolfteam before it became Namco Tales Studio . The scenario was handled by Japanese writing company <unk> , the characters were designed by <unk> Inomata , and the music was composed by <unk> Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura . The PSP port was made after a similar port of Eternia met with commercial success . It was a highly anticipated game , and Namco promoted it heavily in the months prior to release . The game sold over 700 @,@ 000 units by January 2003 , and received critical acclaim from both Japanese and western critics . 
 
 = = Gameplay = = 
 
 Tales of Destiny 2 is a role @-@ playing video game featuring two @-@ dimensional ( 2D ) sprite characters navigating both 2D environments such as <unk> and towns , and a three @-@ dimensional overworld . The overworld features environmental effect such as fog . In towns found across the world , non @-@ playable characters provide both information relevant to the story and world , and provide items and equipment through shops ; merchants accept the Tales series currency , <unk> , which can be obtained from battle or treasure chests on the dungeon and town maps . 
 Throughout the game , visiting certain individuals in towns will activate optional events and side @-@ quests . <unk> , sewers , forests and story @-@ centric locations serve as dungeon <unk> ; these areas are scattered with treasure chests containing rare items , some of which cannot be purchased in stores . <unk> frequently contain puzzles and <unk> , such as boxes that must be <unk> to form a bridge , which must be cleared to advance ; the " <unk> 's Ring " , a relic that shoots tiny plumes of fire , often plays a central role in puzzle resolution , along with the " <unk> 's <unk> " , a tool that reveals hidden objects . Aspects of characters such as their current experience level , equipment and money levels , party organization , and assigned abilities . <unk> , a recurring series mechanic , is present : characters learn and cook various recipes using a selection of six ingredients which grant <unk> upon them such as restoring health . <unk> voiced conversations between characters called <unk> can be activated when they appear in random locations or after story events . Mini @-@ games within the world include acting as a <unk> in a restaurant , and battle arenas where players fight against random enemies . 
 The game 's battle system is the series ' trademark Linear Motion Battle System ( <unk> ) , which places up to four playable characters on a 2D plain against enemies in real @-@ time combat similar to a beat ' em up . The version used in Destiny 2 is called the " Trust and Tactical <unk> " . When entering battle , the camera follows characters , <unk> in and out depending on their distance from an enemy . During battle , one character is controlled at any one time , with the others being governed by the game 's artificial intelligence ( AI ) : the AI can be customized to behave in various ways , such as adjusting their aggression level , and balancing magical and physical attacks . In addition to real @-@ time commands given in battle , the player can issue commands to all characters by pulling up the battle menu and issuing commands . A character 's performance in battle is governed by their current level of Spirit Points ( <unk> ) : the more <unk> a character has , the higher their defensive and offensive abilities . A character 's health is represented by Health Points ( HP ) . Three types of attack are available and activated progressively depending on the number of hits an enemy has taken : a standard attack , named attacks called <unk> , and special high @-@ damage attacks called Mystic <unk> . At the end of each battle , its performance is assessed an given a Grade , which can sometimes trigger a bonus such as learning new skills . Some bonuses are also carried over into the next playthrough . In addition to the single @-@ player functions , a local multiplayer option is available , supporting up to four players : when additional controllers with players are connected to the system , AI functions for selected characters are disabled , switching to manual control . An auto @-@ battle option , which has the game 's AI controlling all characters during a fight , is also available . 
 
 = = Synopsis = = 
 
 
 = = = Setting = = = 
 
 Destiny 2 is set on an unnamed world that was struck by a comet 1000 years before , triggering a prolonged winter . Desperate for heat and energy , the people used a type of <unk> brought by the comet called Lens to create a floating city called Dycroft . The people of Dycroft eventually dominated the people below , which led to a conflict between the two realms known as the War of Heaven and Earth . Eventually , a team of <unk> Dycroft scientists developed sentient weapons called Swordians that turned the tide of war in the surface people 's favor . This conflict <unk> eighteen years prior during the events of Tales of Destiny . The Swordians found new masters to wield them against Dycroft 's vengeful ruler , including Stahn <unk> , Rutee <unk> and Leon Magnus . Stahn 's group succeeds in restoring peace , but the world was damaged by Dycroft 's weapons , and Leon was killed after he betrayed the group . Destiny 2 begins eighteen years after the events of Tales of Destiny . 
 
 = = = Characters = = = 
 
 Kyle Dunamis ( <unk> ・ <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) is the main protagonist of Destiny 2 . Kyle is very much like his father , Stahn , although Kyle remembers little of his father . His defining personality trait is an aversion towards <unk> and boredom , always seeking out new things to try . Kyle is voiced by Jun <unk> . 
 Reala ( <unk> , <unk> ) is the main female protagonist , appearing suddenly and holding an air of mystery . While she bears an overly @-@ strong sense of responsibility , she is also bright and highly <unk> . She is one of the two avatars of the goddess Fortuna ( <unk> , <unk> ) . Reala is voiced by <unk> <unk> . 
 Loni Dunamis ( <unk> ・ <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) is a young man raised alongside Kyle , being considered a brother by him . A member of the Atamoni <unk> , the military branch of the Order of Atamoni , he has a firm and steady personality that <unk> against Kyle 's <unk> . Loni is voiced by <unk> <unk> . 
 Judas ( <unk> , <unk> ) is a mysterious swordsman who appears before Kyle when the latter is in a pinch . A genius swordsman , he wears a beast skull as a mask to hide his face . His true identity is that of Leon Magnus . Judas is voiced by <unk> <unk> . 
 Nanaly Fletch ( <unk> ・ <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) is a master archer who opposes the Order of Atamoni . In direct contrast to the Order , she believes that happiness should be won by people rather than given to them . Nanaly is voiced by Tomoko <unk> . 
 Harold <unk> ( <unk> ・ <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) is a famous scientist , and the original creator of the Swordians . Something of a mad scientist , she shares Kyle 's love of adventure and has a passionate curiosity about the world . Harold is voiced by Akiko <unk> . 
 Elrane ( <unk> , <unk> ) is the main antagonist of Destiny 2 . Regarded as a living goddess due to her powers , she has an <unk> <unk> demeanor and <unk> bringing happiness to all mankind . She is one of the two avatars of the goddess Fortuna . Elrane is voiced by <unk> <unk> . 
 Barbatos <unk> ( <unk> ・ <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) is one of the primary antagonists of Destiny 2 . A veteran of the War of Heaven and Earth , he was forgotten by history and consequently holds a burning desire to be recognized . His chief traits are an intense desire to live and a <unk> disregard for others . Barbatos is voiced by <unk> <unk> . 
 
 = = = Plot = = = 
 
 Kyle Dunamis , the adventurous son of Stahn and Rutee , lives at an orphanage run by Rutee . With the orphanage on the brink of bankruptcy , Kyle <unk> his mother to go on a quest to search for funds , together with his best friend Loni . Finding a giant Lens , a mysterious girl named Reala emerges from it , claiming to be in search of a hero . Believing that he should become a hero like his parents , he follows Reala so he can prove himself as such . Finding the Lens missing , officials from the Order of Atamoni arrest Kyle and <unk> for its theft . They escape with the help of the masked swordsman Judas . After this , Kyle becomes embroiled in the attempts by a man named Barbatos <unk> to kill those who accompanied his parents , eventually learning that Barbatos also killed Stahn when Kyle was five . During his quest , a series of Lens <unk> is orchestrated by Elrane , the Holy Woman of the Order of Atamoni who is capable of performing miracles using Lens and seeks to bring happiness to the world through uniting it under a single religion . 
 During a great theft of Lens , Elrane attacks the group directly , sending them ten years into the future . In this period , the world is beset by conflict between the Order of Atamoni and factions wanting independence from its control . During their travels there , they are joined by Nanaly Fletch . While in this time period , Reala becomes conflicted about who she is , and the group encounters a figure known as the Goddess Fortuna . During this encounter , it is revealed that Elrane and Reala are avatars of Fortuna , designed to save the world and bring happiness to humanity in different ways . Due to her unstable emotions , Reala accidentally transports Nanaly into their time . Feeling guilty because of this , Reala confronts Elrane alone and is captured . Traveling to the ship where the stolen Lens is stored , the group confront Barbatos and Elrane , successfully defeating them and saving Reala . During this confrontation , they learn that " Judas " is in fact the resurrected Leon , who was brought back to life by Elrane just as Barbatos was , but rebelled against her when he knew her full plan . 
 However , their efforts result in the destruction of the ship , and Reala uses the energy of the Lens to send them through time again . They appear in an alternate timeline where the War of Heaven and Earth was won by the underground dwellers , and Barbatos and Elrane are hailed as <unk> . Traveling back to the time of the War , when the initial interference was caused , they ally with Harold <unk> to return history to its proper state . While they are successful and Barbatos is <unk> , Elrane continues to <unk> history in her favor . <unk> her one last time , she is defeated , then they are confronted by Fortuna . <unk> her , the group realize that the only way to correct the distorted timeline is to destroy the Lens that forms Fortuna 's life source , which will mean Reala will be erased from history . When Reala comes to terms with this and gives her blessing , Kyle destroys Fortuna 's Lens , which <unk> all the changes wrought by her agents and returns the timeline to its original state , sending everyone back to their original times and conditions . In the corrected timeline , Kyle , now raised and trained by both Stahn and Rutee , goes on a journey to the temple where he first met Reala . While her Lens is missing , Kyle 's strong will succeeds in bringing Reala back into existence and restoring his memories of her . 
 
 = = Development = = 
 
 Tales of Destiny 2 was co @-@ developed by Wolfteam and <unk> Japan . Development began after work had finished on Tales of Eternia , taking roughly two years to complete . During its early development , the staff consisted of thirty people : when in full development , a team of between sixty and a hundred worked on it . It was developed under the working title Tales of X. After Eternia was completed , the development team considered what to do next , whether a new standalone game or a sequel . As Destiny had a large amount of lore created for it and there were story possibilities for a next generation of characters , it was decided to make a sequel to Destiny . This would be the first direct sequel in the Tales series . Because of the state of the world as it would have evolved after the events of Destiny , it was decided to set the events eighteen years after them and focus on the son of Destiny 's protagonist . The key themes for the story were " fate " and " happiness " . For the story , the team wanted to effectively portray Kyle 's journey to becoming a hero . For this , they drew on themes of " learning from the teacher " as seen in films such as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark . To create the atmosphere , the team worked at balancing elements of reality and fantasy . The story and script was handled by Japanese scenario company <unk> . Two separate scripts were created for the main story and additional elements such as <unk> . Both scripts were quite large . 
 Character designs were created by <unk> Inomata . A key element of the designs was the variation of time periods many characters came from . To make the character sprites as close as possible to the original artwork , the team took Inomata 's artwork and turned them into 2D " dot @-@ by @-@ dot " sprite pictures . This gave the sprites roughly four times the detail of most environments . They then built the world around the sprites . The sprite details sometimes caused problems , as they would appear larger than the environments when the camera <unk> in . The animated cutscenes were created by anime company Production I.G. The game 's opening was the longest ever created for a Tales game up to that point . While many contemporary PS2 role @-@ playing games were being developed around three @-@ dimensional characters , Destiny 2 used two @-@ dimensional sprites for its characters . Part of the reason behind this was that the development team wanted to create the " ultimate 2D RPG " . As opposed to previous Tales games , where gameplay development was focused on the battle system , the development leads requested that the gameplay should be " waste @-@ free and strategic " . The Grade system and new skill <unk> elements , later staples of the series , were also developed . The game 's artificial intelligence was markedly improved , the combat system was made both more elaborate and more user @-@ friendly , and health and magic systems were adjusted . The PlayStation 2 hardware enabled the expansion of mini @-@ games , the improvement of the game 's graphics , and the incorporation of advanced interactive elements on the world map . 
 
 = = = Audio = = = 
 
 The music was composed by regular series composers <unk> Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura . Sakuraba primarily worked on the battle themes and arrangements of previous themes , while Tamura handled selected boss battle tracks and created Reala 's theme . They were able to create more tracks with greater detail to them due to the expanded storage capacities of the PS2 . As with previous games , a licensed theme song was created by a Japanese artist for the game 's opening . For Destiny 2 , the theme song was " Key to My Heart " from the album Fairy Tale , by Japanese singer @-@ songwriter Mai Kuraki . Its lyrics were designed to " express the world " of Destiny 2 . <unk> of " Key to My Heart " were featured in the soundtrack . Unlike previous Tales games , where voice work was recorded out of order , the voice work was recorded in order of the game 's events to add dramatic weight to the performances . This consequently created difficulties with scheduling and put an added strain on the actors . 
 
 = = Release = = 
 
 Destiny 2 was announced in February 2002 at a special conference about future developments and games for the platform . It was the first Tales title to receive a numbered designation in Japan . As with previous Tales games , it featured a characteristic genre name : " RPG to Release Destiny " ( <unk> , <unk> <unk> <unk> RPG ) . To promote the game , Namco created a themed PlayStation 2 memory card . In addition , a special competition was organized where the top @-@ tier prizes were copies of the script books for Destiny 2 autographed by the main characters ' voice actors . As a pre @-@ order bonus , a special limited edition DVD featuring interviews with the voice cast was created . In addition , a downloadable ring tone based on the theme song and screen displays featuring the main characters was created for mobile phones of the time and released in 2003 . The game was released on November 28 , 2002 in Japan . It was celebrated with an official launch event , featuring interviews with the production staff and cast . Destiny 2 would be the last Tales game developed by Wolfteam prior to its acquisition by Namco in 2003 and <unk> as Namco Tales Studio . 
 Destiny 2 was later ported to the PSP . Development began in 2005 , after the commercial success of Eternia 's PSP port . The port was developed by Alfa System , a frequent collaborator with the Tales team on spin @-@ off titles . The project was directed by <unk> <unk> , who had worked on Destiny 2 and became the director of the <unk> port of Tales of <unk> . While the earlier port of Destiny made significant changes , the Destiny 2 port was meant to preserve and add onto the content of the original . Some of the adjustments included minor tweaks to gameplay , adjustments to fit the PSP 's control layout , and adjusting the graphics from 4 : 3 to 16 : 9 screen ratio . A new dungeon featuring added story elements was also created . It was released on February 15 , 2007 . 
 Outside Japan , Destiny 2 was released in China and South Korea by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2003 : the Korean version was released on March 27 , and the Chinese version was released on August 14 . The game was going to be part of a world tour by Sony Computer Entertainment to promote the next generation of role @-@ playing games , but the tensions between America and Iraq at the time and the consequent risks of a terrorist attack caused them to cancel the trip . Asked at the launch event whether an overseas version of the game was being developed , producer Makoto <unk> said he was " not certain " . The PSP port was released in South Korea by Namco Bandai Games 's local branch on March 5 , 2007 . Neither the original nor the port has been released in the west , making it one of three mainline Tales titles to remain exclusive to Japan . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 Namco had high expectations for Destiny 2 , anticipating sales of 600 @,@ 000 units . During its debut week , Destiny 2 reached the top of Japanese gaming sales charts : according to different sources , it sold between just over <unk> @,@ 000 ( Famitsu ) and under <unk> @,@ 000 ( Dengeki ) units . For the next three weeks , it remained in second place on the charts behind <unk> Ruby and <unk> , accumulating sales of over 603 @,@ 000 . By January 2003 , the game had sold over 702 @,@ 000 units , becoming the eighth best @-@ selling game within that period . The PlayStation 2 version of Tales of Destiny 2 has shipped 977 @,@ 000 copies worldwide as of December 2007 , being the second most successful title in the series at the time . The PSP version sold 73 @,@ 000 copies in its first week , ranking second in weekly video games sales . By the following week , it had dropped to # 25 . By the end of 2007 , the game had sold just under 115 @,@ 000 units , reached <unk> place in the five hundred top @-@ selling games of the year . In South Korea , the game reached # 10 in the country 's gaming sales charts . Worldwide shipments of the port as recorded by Namco have reached 129 @,@ 000 units . 
 Famitsu Weekly found the story enjoyable , though noted that those who had played Destiny would get more enjoyment out of it , and praised the voice acting . They also found the gameplay and pacing enjoyable , positively noting the option to auto @-@ battle . The game ranked as the <unk> all @-@ time favorite game in a 2006 Famitsu readers poll . Japanese website Game <unk> Watch found the story impressive , citing its use of time travel and the continued use of Destiny 's world and lore . The gameplay , mini @-@ games and <unk> options was also generally praised , with the reviewer recommending the title to players of the series . <unk> 's <unk> Lee was also positive , praising the gameplay despite the very high encounter rate , and was pleased that an auto @-@ battle option was included . One point that received a more mixed response was the game 's music , with the exception of the opening song . In a preview for IGN , David Smith was generally positive about the game . While he disliked the art style and its low @-@ tech look compared to its hardware , he found the gameplay enjoyable and the opening parts of the story fairly relatable . He ended by hoping that Namco would put the effort into <unk> the title . 
 
 = = = Additional media = = = 
 
 Multiple print adaptations have been made of Destiny 2 : these include one three @-@ volume comic anthology , a serialized comic adaptation originally released through Square Enix 's <unk> Comics and later collected into five volumes , and an eight @-@ volume <unk> comic , and a second single @-@ edition <unk> . Novel adaptations include a novel focusing on Nanaly called Tales of Destiny 2 : The Amber Wind , and <unk> light novels that told segments of the story from the point of view of different characters , particularly Judas . An illustration book featuring Inomata 's artwork for the game was released in March 2005 . A five @-@ part CD Drama adaptation was also developed , following the events of the game . The five volumes were released between April and August 2003 , under the umbrella titled Tales of Destiny 2 Drama CD . 
 
 