A volunteer fan group responsible for making various Tales games more accessible outside of Japan is wrapping work on another project, this time hitting 1.0 on PS2-era JRPG Tales of Rebirth after nearly four years of work.
The sixth entry in the long, long-running Tales series, this one was released back in 2004 for the PS2 in Japan. While it received another release in 2008 for the PlayStation Portable, complete with additional content such as extra story scenes and a battle arena, the exclusivity to Japan remained.
While that throws up an obstacle if you're keen to play it for yourself, a fan group has succeeded in knocking that obstacle down. As spotted by Time Extension, a group of fans known as Life Bottle Productions has reached update 1.0 in an ongoing effort to make the PS2 JRPG accessible to those who would like to play it in English.
The group initially revealed the project in December 2021, coinciding with the JRPG's 17th anniversary. While the project reached the 1.0 milestone this month, we got several work-in-progress versions to keep us going. In December 2024, for example, we received a 0.9 update that has since been polished into what we have now. Obviously, that includes an English translation, although you've also got various bug fixes to make the playing experience all the smoother.
As for Tales of Rebirth itself, the PS2 game is set in a world where humans and beasts co-exist in harmony. A lovely thought, albeit one that doesn't land as the narrative kicks into gear when the King mysteriously dies, without a successor named to succeed him. Thankfully, you and the gang are here to sort all of that out.
Why haven't we got an official port? Like Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, JRPG veteran says Tales of remasters are tricky because "we have to start by finding out where the source code is" which is "a bit embarrassing."
