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"

For Bandai Namco, making Tales of remasters comes with a similar problem Square Enix faced with the recently released Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles: missing source code.

The Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro admitted over the summer that the main hurdle facing the remaster was the fact that "the master data and source code from the original game no longer existed," and now Bandai Namco is dealing with essentially the same issue remastering the classic Tales of JRPG series, which dates all the way back to 1995.

"We have to start by finding out where the source code is and who's managing it," said series producer Yusuke Tomizawa during a Tokyo Game Show panel (translation via Automaton). "It's a bit embarrassing, but since there were multiple different development studios working on the series over the years, we have to find the original data first. And when we do find it, it can be full of gaps, which takes months of analysis to deal with." 

Bandai announced the 'Tales Remaster Project' as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations late last year, kicking off with Tales of Graces f Remastered in January. Next up is Tales of Xillia Remastered, releasing on October 31. Bandai isn't necessarily remastering old Tales games chronologically, and that's in service of efficiency. It's simply remastering the ones that'll be easiest to remaster, first.

"Honestly, I know some fans out there may be thinking 'What's with the release order?,'" Tomizawa said, adding that the non-linear production is geared solely at the speed and quantity of releases.

In the meantime, here are the best JRPGs you can play right now.