Dark Blade

Dark Blade as it appears in Tales of Phantasia (iOS).

Dark Blade (冥空斬翔剣, Meikuu Zanshouken^?, "Dark Sky Slashing Soaring Blade"), also localized as Final Justice, is Cress Albane's signature mystic arte, which he obtains in the remakes of Tales of Phantasia, as well as the first mystic arte of the series.

Arte Description and History

Described as the "ultimate secret of the Albane style", this arte involves two wide slashes along the ground, followed by a final upward slash, leaving a trail of temporal energy behind as the user lifts themself and the enemy high into the air. After being inducted into the Miguel School of Swordfighting, Cress dreams of his father, Miguel Albane, as he is training to perfect this arte, and then Cress inherits the Master of Secrets (おうぎでんしょう, Ougi Denshou^?) title, which enables him to use the arte in battle.

This attack is available for use only if Cress is in critical health after losing a certain amount of HP, and it can be used repeatedly in the same battle by healing and receiving damage as needed. This is also the first arte in the series that requires a specific button input to activate it, requiring the Attack, Artes, and Guard buttons to be pressed at the same time. In the iOS version, however, Cress's portrait must be double tapped if his HP is below 15%.

Final Justice as it appears in Tales of Eternia.

This arte first appears in the PlayStation version of Tales of Phantasia, and it continues as part of Cress's movelist throughout all of his other appearances in every game. In Tales of Eternia, Cress uses this attack in the Inferia coliseum after reaching a certain amount of HP, similar to its use in its playable form. In this game, it is preceded by the phrase "Albain Finality" (アルベイン流最終奥義, Arubein-ryuu Saishuu Ougi^?, "Alvein-Style Final Secret Skill") to acknowledge its status as the Albane family's strongest attack, localized as "Final Justice". This attack cannot defeat Reid Hershel, only bringing him down to 1 HP once it is used.

In Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, Cress gains a similar arte, Zanshouken, which replaces this attack due to limitations in arte name length and graphics. Zanshouken is considered to be only a reference to Meikuu Zanshouken due to the naming differences. In Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 and Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 only, a final slam to the ground after the upward slash is added.

In Tales of Xillia 2, Cress uses this arte, localized as "Final Justice", in the arena cameo ending, alongside his fellow cameo characters. Although this arte is Cress Albane's signature attack, it became the mystic arte of the Swordsman class in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology and its sequels.

In both language files of Tales of Symphonia, there are voice clips of this mystic arte used by Lloyd Irving. However, he doesn't have access to this arte in the final version of the game.

Appearances

Meikuu Zanshouken as it appears in Tales of VS.

Original Titles

• Tales of Phantasia (PSX / iOS) + Full Voice Edition + Cross Edition - Cress Albane (Dark Blade); Cutscene: Miguel Albane (Dark Blade)
• Tales of Phantasia (GBA) + Mobile - Cress Albane (Dark Blade); Cutscene: Miguel Albane (Dark Blade)
• Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X - Cress Albane
• Tales of Eternia - Cress Albain (Final Justice)
• Tales of Xillia 2 - Cutscene: Cress Albane (Final Justice)
  

Dark Blade as it appears in Tales of Crestoria.

Crossover Titles

• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Swordsman class (Dark Blade)
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 - Swordsman class, Cress Albane
• Tales of VS. - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 - Swordsman class, Cress Albane
• Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Tactics Union - Cress Albane
• Tales of the World: Reve Unitia - Cress Albane
• Tales of Link - Cress Albane (Dark Blade)
• Tales of Asteria - Cress Albane
• Tales of Crestoria - Cress Albane (Dark Blade)
  

Collaborations

• Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space - Cress Albane (Dark Blade)
  

Other

• Tales of Festival 2014 - Cress Albane
• Tales of Reading Live: Tales of Phantasia - Cress Albane

Fan-Translated Names

• Tales of Phantasia (PSX) (Absolute Zero): Blade of Ascension, Meiku Zanshoken
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Kajitani-Eizan): Defiant Blade
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 (Kajitani-Eizan): Defiant Blade

In-Game Descriptions and Battle Quotes

Tales of Phantasia (PSX / iOS) + Full Voice Edition

Japanese Quote: 負ける･･･ものかああぁぁぁッ！

Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3

Japanese Description: ピンチになった時のみ使える究極技
Romanized Description: Pinchi ni natte toki no mi tsukaeru kyuukyokugi
Translated Description (Kajitani-Eizan): "Ultimate desperation arte."

Tales of VS.

Japanese Quote: アルベイン流奥義！冥空！斬翔剣！

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X

Japanese Quote: 奥義！冥空！斬翔剣！
Romanized Quote: Ougi! Meikuu! Zanshouken!
Translated Quote: "Secret Arte! Meikuu! Zanshouken!"

Japanese Quote ( + + ): 奥義！負ける･･･ものかああぁぁぁッ！
Romanized Quote ( + + ): Ougi! Makeru... mono ka!
Translated Quote ( + + ): "Secret Arte! I'll never... lose!"

Tales of Crestoria

Japanese Quote: 負ける･･･ものかああぁぁぁッ！
Romanized Quote: Makeru... mono ka!
Translated Quote: "I'll never... lose!"
In-Game Localized Quote: "None shall best me!"
Trailer Localized Quote: "Can't... lose... nooow!!!"

Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space

Japanese Quote: アルベイン流奥義･･････ 冥空斬翔剣！！
Localized Quote: "Albane arcane arte... DARK BLADE!"