Tales of Eternia
In August 1998, one month before the release of the series' second main title, "Tales of Destiny", Namco announced that it would also release a PlayStation version of "Tales of Phantasia", which was made available in Japan the following December. The remake contains new features including an animated opening sequence produced by Japanese studio Production I.G., re-drawn character sprites and backgrounds, a 3D-rendered world map, and re-recorded character audio to better accommodate the compact disc format. Elements used in "Destiny", such as the inclusion of animated Skits and a modified version of the battle system resembling that used in "Destiny", were added. For the battle system, the team wanted to increase the overall battle speed and combo potential. Suzu Fubayashi, a non-playable supporting character in the original release, was also made playable as an optional party member. Namco Hometek translation producer Aki Kozu explained that the company eventually passed on an English release due to "Timing and market demand", as well as the development team being too busy with "Tales of Eternia" to properly support a localization effort. The team also felt that "["Eternia"] was going to be a much better game than ["Phantasia"] and had a better chance of succeeding in the US market".