Tales of Destiny II

The game plays similar to other Tales games, following the precedent set by previous role-playing video games in general as well. An overworld map is used to navigate from one location to another in the game's fictional world. Cities and towns, which are populated with NPCs , are valuable sources of information, for either triggering events that move the plot forward, or extra information that fleshes out the game's story and setting. Additionally, city merchants will exchange Gald, the in-game currency, for items or equipment that can be vital to completing the game.

Progress can be saved at any time - a first for the series, and the player can also learn recipes throughout the game, using them to cook status-enhancing or healing food out of combat. Battles with enemies are done through the Linear Motion Battle System , a hybrid fighting system that combines fighting game and traditional role-playing game elements. Movements and attacks are done in real-time, with the fighting being compared to the Street Fighter series. Much like its predecessors, Tales of Eternia gives the player a large degree of control over computer-controlled allies and the techniques they use.

Since the player only directly controls one character at a time, all other characters are governed by the general rules of AI behavior set by the player before and during battle. During battle, the player can switch which character he or she is controlling, while issuing specific orders to other allies to execute certain techniques on command. The action can be paused to use different menus for things such as item. The game's menu screens can be used to organize and uses items, creates new magic spells, develops battle strategies, changes character equipment, and views character statistics.

Selected features from the menu screen, such as item use and AI settings, are available in battle, while other aspects are relegated to outside of battle.