Once upon a time, the Huma (human-like race) and Gajuma* (beast-like race), two races of "people," lived in the land of Calgia. The Huma possessed intellectual power while the Gajuma were physically strong. There was once a war where the Huma tried to rule over the Gajuma, and the seven Great Holy Beasts intervened to try to keep peace. Geolgias, king of the Holy Beasts, saw this as a threat to the world and tried to persuade the Huma.
But the arrogant Huma turned on Geolgias and increased their offensive on the Gajuma to a level of cruelty. Geolgias was infuriated by the Huma's opposition and great heroic war to destroy the Huma was unfolded with the other Holy Beasts at his side.
At the end of the war, the other six Holy Beasts defeated Geolgias and sealed him on the Moon of Goldova. This was is known as the Holy War as the story is passed down from generation to generations.
After the Holy War, the Huma and the Gajuma began to coexisit peacefully and they created a country. This is the history of the Kingdom of Calgia.
But once again, darkness is forming over Calgia. From a place no one knows....
* also called Gajema
Force
Force is a general term for the special ability to bring out the power of one's life and spirit. There are six attribute factors which can create various effects when combined. The manifested power depends on the potential capacities of the person with the ability. One person cannot use more than one Force. A strong person can handle strong Forces, but there's always the danger of ruining the Force if their great spirit becomes disordered.(This is both plot-related and gameplay-related, it seems.)
Originally, the only people with Force ability were Gajuma, and the number was still very small, but it has expanded and become a troublesome element in the kingdom.
Battle System
The traditional LMBattle is upgraded yet again. Tales of Rebirth has a "Three-Line Linear Motion Battle System" in order to add more depth to the 2D battles. Enemies and allies are all arranged on three horizontal lines. How you arrange your characters on the three lines is a big factor battle strategy. "Tales of" has always had general classifications of "strong advancing character" and "support character," but Rebirth will have a greater amount of freedom. You can spread the characters out or put multiple characters on one line. Good arrangement is the key to victory.
Instead of the TP system, Tales of Rebirth has the Force Guage system. Spells and skills (which you set to the D-Pad) are stronger when the guage is full. The guage is indicated with the four squares at the bottom of the screen, and it fills with the passage of time.
(FYI, I found this information kind of hard to understand, so it isn't translated very well.)
(new)There is a Rush Gauge which reflect the characters' emotions when battling. It is indicated on the left side of the gauges. As it rises, the character becomes more offensively powerful,
Other Info
Outside of towns and dungeons is a 3D field map. A pretty one at that.
"Rebirth," the latest in the series, is a story of resurrection in which the Huma and the Gajuma, two formerly warring races, join together.
This has a splendid story, character designs by Inomata Mutsumi, a group of wonderful voice actors, magnificent animation, warm graphics, and an exciting combat system, all drawn in delicate detail.
The warm hand-drawn graphics Tales if known for. Of course, Rebirth has its own unique graphics. While the townmaps have been in top-down view before, they are now at a side view, and the characters grow and enlarge as they move.
