HK Motendra Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I've looked into it via interviews and trailer videos, and it looks very promising, but having never played a Tales game, I'm unsure of it. Anyone care to fill me in on the series and possibly tell me if I should get into it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 (edited) Just like Awakening... it's an anniversary title... and makes it easy for newcomers to get into it. The shenanigans in the beginning make it a little... ehhh... for story quality... but it's definitely a good start to the series if you want to get into it. The tales series is a mix of an RPG... with a fighting game. When you get into battle, you get control of a character and have free movement of the model on a line. You can hold L2 to Free run and move on the 3D battlefield... but you generally target an enemy and input moves. Holding a direction and pressing the attack button makes the character attack differently, holding square (I think it still is on the English version) lets you guard attacks, though it CAN be broken, and holding a direction and pressing the "artes" button lets you use special moves on the character depending on what you set on the menu. You can also open a battle menu to change options, AI behavior of AI controlled characters, set your artes, request the AI controlled characters to use a specific arte/spell... etc. That's also where you use items, escape, and such. Edited August 12, 2013 by shadowofchaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HK Motendra Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 Very interesting. Fighting RPG's are more my style of gaming after all. I think I just might grab it when I get the chance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raven Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Pretty good game so far in gameplay. I like the leveling system even though it's eerie of FF13 + a spiderweb. Jude's kinda fun to use, he does remind me of Senel quite a lot (just in terms of gameplay). But the plot seems so boring to me as is all Tales plots and I just don't like the character development. Tales has gotten so formulaic that it's ridiculous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 At least you don't have to watch it auto if you choose auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I'm thinking of playing a tales game. Should I start with xillia, symphonia or abyss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Script Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 If you're assured of playing all, start with the earliest Symphonia then go Abyss and Xillia. The superior battle systems of the more recent games make it difficult to revert to the older styles. If you only want to test one, Xillia is the most recent and has the most refined system, though it suffers from a lack of difficultly. Symphonia's a darling for many people, but its battle system has shown its age in comparison to the others. Abyss is usually touted as the greatest of the Tales plot, but its main "innovation" of 3D running was not something the enemy AI can handle at all and fundamentally breaks it into ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shun Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I agree with playing symphonia, abyss, and then Xillia. Xillia will be easier to grasp as a whole the more Tales of games you play, I feel. However Xillia is quite lacking compared to other mothership titles. I think namco just tried to hard to improve an already great and innovative battle system, with the dual raid linear motion. Imo, it just didn't feel like a 15th anniversary type game. I still enjoyed it alot, and it has a good amount of content to keep you entertained. Also, pick up Graces F, when you get the chance. It's a favorite of mine despite not many people liking it due to difficulty, not to mention the plot was severly lacking, but personally it's the most fun I've had in a Tales game since the Destiny titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samias Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I will 3rd Symphonia first. Story quality wise all the Tales games do get pretty groan worthy, but the gameplay is fun. Symphonia has somewhat dated gameplay but has a lot of replay value since it has relationship values that will affect some events along the course of the game, and so I'd say it's my favourite story-wise. I think out of your options Abyss is the most "skippable", but that's just my opinion that the gameplay doesn't make up for that particular cast. Graces f is another weak story game but the gameplay is really, REALLY fun and it's one of the few Tales games I can think of where all the characters are easy to control. I haven't played too much of Xillia but so far I've been enjoying it. The characters are better than Graces f though I do miss the A and B-arte style gameplay of Graces f. Since the battle systems are fairly equivalent in their controls, it's up to you whether you'd want to play Graces f or Xillia first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I was more impressed with Abyss than Symphonia, TBH, but that's because of my musical background. In terms of character development, I think Graces is the worst offender of the recent titles so far (Phantasia takes the cake, but that game is ridiculously old). I'm still playing through Xillia - while the plot isn't epic, I think it holds up okay. Most of the characters don't stand out too much, but they're leagues better than Awakening. So far, my favorite feature is how shops are handled. Haven't played the game on anything beyond Normal, and the battles haven't been too bad so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momo Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Graces' strong point isn't character development, it's more about character interaction. Really wish they had focused on that more instead of FRIENDSHIP FRIENDSHIP FRIENDSHIP. Xillia seems preeeetty good so far, though honestly I feel like it's a step down from Graces' combat. The biggest offender is obviously TP, but I really hate that they went back to the old camera. I really thought having it behind your character made it much more satisfying, so seeing them from the side is a big letdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I was more impressed with Abyss than Symphonia, TBH, but that's because of my musical background. In terms of character development, I think Graces is the worst offender of the recent titles so far (Phantasia takes the cake, but that game is ridiculously old). I'm still playing through Xillia - while the plot isn't epic, I think it holds up okay. Most of the characters don't stand out too much, but they're leagues better than Awakening. So far, my favorite feature is how shops are handled. Haven't played the game on anything beyond Normal, and the battles haven't been too bad so far. Luke's development in Abyss is one of my favorite character arcs in gaming no joke. I will admit some Tales games yeah get a little cliche and such but they are still fun and the characters usually are a blast at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raven Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Really? I feel like Tales games normally have very flat characters and, while they aren't necessarily cliche with other jrpgs, they are cliche within the series. Granted, this is true of other series but Tales is the least subtle about it. Oh and OST. At times I can appreciate it but mostly it all blends together and annoys the hell outta me. The opening of the Jude's story battle theme is exactly like Eternal Sonata's battle them. No shocker, but it's almost exactly the same relative pitch. Luke's development made sense but it was jarring seeing Luke suddenly change like that. There wasn't meant to be much subtlety because of the circumstances, but the fact that it came across as more or less a complete 180 was mind boggling. I feel like the "old Luke" would've slipped through many times in the second half because, frankly, you don't go from acting that spoiled to that self-sacrificially altruistic that quickly. I guess I'm too much of a fan of FF13's storytelling, which put the details in the background and let the emotions and character development take over during the actual cutscenes (which allows for less time to get lost in the syntax; I find it can be very hard to follow games like Tales that dive pretty deeply into the details in each conversation). Having that said, I like Jude and Alvin so far although they still feel like anime stereotypes-with-a-twist like most Tales characters. Edited August 14, 2013 by Lord Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 So I just finished the game, and I am SO glad the maps are relatively small. Even with the (relatively) good mapping system, I still get lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raven Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 How long is this game? It's taken me 25-26 hours to get past the Royal Hunting Ground... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 (edited) I don't know how long my save file is, but I think a good estimate is 40-45 hours. If you're going for completionist stuff, it'll take longer. Clear data mechanics in spoilers: You can use your clear data as NG+ data, if you go NG+ on a new file. You can also open the clear data itself, and start at the final save point. I think it's absolutely genius, because it means that the "additional" stuff is available in your first clear file. EDIT: Seem to have pulled 36 hours in mine, probably due to relative lack of grinding. Edited August 18, 2013 by eclipse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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