If you asked someone what the great rpgs on PSP were, you would probably be met with an awkward silence. While it's true that there have been a handful of rpg titles on the Sony portable since launch, nothing of AAA quality had been in that group. Yet in Japan the rpg drought on the system was solved with Tales of Eternia, a great port of an already excellent 2d rpg. Though due to various circumstances the game was kept from making it to the US. But now, thanks to the region-free ability of the PSP, English speaking gamers worldwide will soon get to experience one of the best portable rpgs there is with the region-free European release on February 10th.

For those new to the world of Tales, Tales of Eternia (known as ToE from here on) was the final game in the Tales series for the 32-bit generation. Originally released in 2000 on the Playstation, the game built upon the roots of everything that made the series great while throwing in top of the line modern (for 2000) high quality 2d graphics and some nice looking 3d spell effects. Now six years later, the game has been revived on the PSP in a port almost identical to the original. While some may see that as a bad thing, sometimes good things are better left untouched.

The story behind ToE is that one day while on the outskirts of town, lead characters Reid and Farah witness a spaceship crash into a nearby forest. Investigating this event, the two characters encounter Meredy, a young girl whose come from the sky and speaks a language that of course neither understands. So searching for more information on just who this alien girl is, the three (along with Reid and Farah's old friend Keel) begin their journey that will eventually take them around several huge world maps full of interesting locales and challenging dungeons.

Frankly speaking, the story in ToE doesn't really hold up all too well. The writing, like many games in the Tales series, is filled with clichés, plot holes, and to top it off a rushed ending. Yet despite a somewhat weak tale, Eternia still remains a truly memorable adventure because of its great cast. Reid and Farah are extremely likeable leads and through the hundreds of fully voiced screen chats (kept intact with great sound quality on the PSP), the two (along with others) get lots of development, making them into some of the best characters ever written into an rpg.