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LTTP: Tales of the Abyss

Fou-Lu

Member
I have played TotA before, but never got even close to completion. I started playing it again on Friday and have been enjoying myself immensely. It has a solid core gameplay, is as beautiful as any Tales game, has great music, has this fake science bullshit that I absolutely love, and some damn good character development in the form of Luke's character arc. I love a redemption arc and a character actually growing up (see Hope in FFXIII, the character everyone else loves to hate, but was my favourite of the bunch). Oh and Jade is fucking hilarious. I was also kind of impressed how many plot twists they managed to jam into like ten minuntes. Luke being a replica, Van being evil, the destruction of Akzeriuth, and the Outer Lands thing. I hope there will still be some more surprises left. I have just reached the point where I am returning to Zao Ruins to attempt to control the Sephiroths and save Engeve from falling. One thing I do find disappointing is the combat playstyles of the characters, they really just aren't that interesting compared to most other Tales games. Despite that I can easily see this ending up as my favourite of the Tales games I have played (Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, Graces f, Xillia, Xillia 2, Berseria. Though some of those were quite a long time ago and so I may have to replay to get a better picture of).

Oh, I almost forget. Karma is a fucking amazing opening/theme song.
 

Fiendcode

Member
IIRC the 3DS port is pretty much the exact same game except you don't have 10 second load times anymore.
Also only 30fps battles (PS2 was 60fps) but the overworld maintains a higher frame rate (both 30fps but PS2 chugs much worse). It’s a solid port.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Luke pre-change >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Luke post-change.

At least Luke pre-change is something different than your typical JRPG protagonist. Luke post-change is cringey to the max who can't seem to function for 5 seconds if he does not self-hate or being emo for whatever reason.

I think this is the only JRPG I can remember where I actively dislike almost all, if not the entire main cast.

Edge of Decision is such an exceptional battle music though. Too bad it's played during certain segments only.
 

Cess007

Member
My favorite tales. Luke's arc of redemption is incredible and make it one my favorite MC of any RPG.

And yes, Karma is amazing. I was obsessed with it for months and introduced me to Bump of Chicken
 
I wish I could feel the same way about the game. It definitely has some merit (Jade and Guy, the improved combat), but I hated most of it. Played it when it came out and thought the graphics looked like ass. Couldn't stand most of the cast and ESPECIALLY couldn't stomach the game's relentless use of FON FON FON FON FONON FON -

The backtracking and awful loading times didn't help. Traded the game in as soon as I was done with it. It just didn't do anything for me.
 

Shepard

Member
Such an awful RPG. Most of the dialogue is bad and characters are one dimensional, even for a tales game. That plus thr awful loading times of the ps2 version made me give up after 20 or so hours. Also, mew should die in a fire
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Such an awful RPG. Most of the dialogue is bad and characters are one dimensional, even for a tales game. That plus thr awful loading times of the ps2 version made me give up after 20 or so hours. Also, mew should die in a fire

Yep, hahaha. Can't believe the game basically handwave the fact that he's basically the reason why the party must genocide that tiger-thingie animals in the beginning. It's entirely his fault.
 

Rainy

Banned
Karma is still the best Tales OP song to me.

Also the game is pretty good, one of my favorite Tales games. I remember being so hyped for it back in 2006, great memories.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
I fucking hated the cast, and the story was so goddamn boring. Like it's not the epitome of up-its-own-ass like Final Fantasy became, but it's sure as hell obnoxious to hear these fuckers talk about phon-stones or whatever the hell it was this time around. Having to stick with Luke as an obnoxious ponce for a dozen hours only for him to gain even a modicum of self-awareness does not a good story make. And christ, whatever that shitty mascot plushie thing was (Mew or whatever it was) almost had me setting fire to the 3DS cart.

God I miss Vesperia...
 
I see the opinions are already pretty divisive in here.

Yeah. Out of all of the Tales games, I think Abyss is probably the most love it/hate it one in the series.

Even though I hated the game, I'd still be willing to give it another chance if Namco Bandai ever decides to remake it in the future.
 

bobawesome

Member
The only thing I remember about the game is thinking the whole cast kind of sucked after the incident. And Rain. I liked Rain.
 

CEJames

Member
I believe it has some of the best character development of any Tales game. Much of the "emotional intensity" is backloaded as the game starts to conclude. The middle was a bit meh and could turn people off because it had a lot of backtracking with hardly any of it even being voice acted. However, I enjoyed my multiple playthroughs of it on both the PS2 & 3DS.
 
Luke pre-change >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Luke post-change.

At least Luke pre-change is something different than your typical JRPG protagonist...

Nope. Luke was a whiny brat before he realized how much of a shit he was. He was a little annoying during the transition, but after that I liked him.
 

Anura

Member
I really didnt like this one. My main issue is that most of the main characters are unlikable in some way. They’re either boring, annoying, an asshole or Guy. Guy being the only likable one. It also dragged in waaaay too long. Music was really good, though.
 

Reset

Member
Luke pre-change >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Luke post-change.

At least Luke pre-change is something different than your typical JRPG protagonist. Luke post-change is cringey to the max who can't seem to function for 5 seconds if he does not self-hate or being emo for whatever reason.

Yeah, I completely agree with you here. Once he cuts hair he becomes a generic boring jrpg protagonist. He had a unique personality and if you played the game it made sense the way he acted in the beginning. Maybe I wouldn't have mind the personality change so much if it wasn't so abrupt, eh.

And yeah the rest of the cast were assholes, they kept him in the dark the entire time and then kept shitting on him when he messed up. And the only person who listened to him was the main bad guy lol. You can't even blame him for killing off the town since the rest of the cast wouldn't tell him anything. Anise being the biggest offender, at least the blond haired guy was a bro. Still consider it the best Tales game though.
 

Syril

Member
This game has a lot of issues with pacing and various story elements being relegated to missable sidequests, but in the end I REALLY loved Luke's character arc and the places they were willing to take it. Looking back on it at one point recently helped me work through an issue I had been going through.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Nope. Luke was a whiny brat before he realized how much of a shit he was. He was a little annoying during the transition, but after that I liked him.

He's a whiny brat yes but it's not like he's a terrible person, especially considering his circumstances. I thought it's refreshing to have a JRPG lead that is not cut of the same cloth like the other 12321312312321312312312312312 JRPG protagonists out there. And he kicked that terrible excuse for a mascot, so that's a bonus :p

And then they just had to install generic.exe after his change............

Yeah, I completely agree with you here. Once he cuts hair he becomes a generic boring jrpg protagonist. He had a unique personality and if you played the game it made sense the way he acted in the beginning. Maybe I wouldn't have mind the personality change so much if it wasn't so abrupt, eh.

And yeah the rest of the cast were assholes, they kept him in the dark the entire time and then kept shitting on him when he messed up. And the only person who listened to him was the main bad guy lol. You can't even blame him for killing off the town since the rest of the cast wouldn't tell him anything. Anise being the biggest offender, at least the blond haired guy was a bro. Still consider it the best Tales game though.

Yeah, Anise is a bloody hypocrite.

The gameplay mechanics are solid, the music are nice (generally), it's just that the whole cast of characters really bring it down for me.

For me, Vesperia is still the best, bar none.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Before Berseria, this was the game I enjoyed a lot just because of how shitty some of your party members were in terms of shady shit they did in their past/ongoing revenge plots. Anise, Guy, and Jade all had neat stories.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Before Berseria, this was the game I enjoyed a lot just because of how shitty some of your party members were in terms of shady shit they did in their past/ongoing revenge plots. Anise, Guy, and Jade all had neat stories.

I kinda feel that they're trying too hard for Guy. His backstory seemed so extreme to the point that to me it felt like a parody.
 

SoulUnison

Banned
I dropped the 3DS version I think basically right before the final dungeon.

It's impressive how I can pretty honestly say I didn't really "like" any of the main cast.
The best I can say is that Guy and Jade are at least inoffensive.

Mew or Meiu or however it's spelled was so incredibly annoying. I'm absolutely sick of "cute" JRPG mascot characters. They're such a "tick the boxes" kind of cynical inclusion.

I actually kind of feel this way about the Tales series in general, though.
They're so incredibly generic, it's almost like they set out to be bland.

Mechanically the game is nothing special, either.
I remember people hyping up the battle system when the 3DS port was on the horizon, but it feels like the typical Tales system with a bunch of additions that don't really mesh bolted on.
I got through the entire game without ever really understanding how the "Field of Fonons" system worked, and I probably don't even have its name right.
 

Gin-Shiio

Member
Luke needed no redemption. The rest of the cast belittles and insults him constantly, and drive him to trust Vaan only, then blame him for not having figured out his motivations in advance, despite him having no way to. They're a bunch of assholes, and the fact that is never aknowledged will always irk me as an injustice.
My favorite Tales though.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
My post is going to contain some MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILERS. You've been warned. I'll use the spoiler tag anyway, but seriously. Don't click if you've not played the game. The short spoiler free version is I hate this game because I hate the characters.

Okay, so basically outside of maybe Tear, I pretty much hate the entire fucking playable cast. Like, I hate their mother-fucking guts. Each and every one of them are a bunch of hypocritical cunts. Each. And. Every. One. Except maybe Guy or Natalia. Though he's a cunt for a little bit, it's at least semi-understandable.

So the big story twist is that Luke isn't actually Luke, but rather a clone/recreation thing that replaced him 7 years prior. Which is why he has no memories before that. This is fine so far. Then, he's manipulated by the one man that he (and just about everyone else on the goddamn planet) trusts, Tear's brother(?), and forced to comply with an order against his will that ends up causing a huge fucking explosion that kills thousands of people. At first, he can't believe what happened, and naturally turns to his friends for help. They all give him the cold shoulder. Despite the fact that...

Tear: Knows her brother is up to something and is manipulating Luke. No right to be a hypocritical cunt.
Jade: Is the person who basically created the tech that led to "Luke's" creation, but still treats him like an ass after the event, knowing full and damn well he had been effectively taken over by Van. Fucking hypocritical cunt.
Anise: AN ACTUALLY GODDAMN FUCKING TRAITOR BITCH WHO TREATS LUKE LIKE SHIT FOR BEING A TRAITOR GODDAMN I HATE THIS GAME FOR NOT KILLING HER IN A HORRIFIC FASHION!!
Ashe: He's just kinda stupidly typically emo. I get it, but whatevs. I'll get back to him and
Natalia: She's got some baggage and isn't terrible, but is still a stupid bitch for reasons I'll get to a bit later (it's moreso an overall group reason)

Okay, so first I'll address the obvious elephant in the room. Luke is labeled a "traitor" for his actions for a bit and a HUGE part of the game sees the characters above treating him like a shitstain, despite him trying to do right. Here's my first problem. Later, we find out that Anise has been an actual, legitimate traitor all this time. Her actions lead to several deaths, like Luke's "betrayal". So, they do the same shit to her right? Treat her like the actual garbage she is, right? NOPE! She's a cute girl so fuck that, let's be sympathetic to her rather than be consistent. Fucking cunts!

Oh, but it gets worse. Here's the REAL reason I get pissed off at everyone for treating Luke the way they do in the game. It's not just the fact that he's manipulated (forcefully, I might add) into the horrible act that killed thousands. It's not just the fact that people like Jade and Tear should fucking know better about all of this.

It's that they're treating a child like this. That's right. A literal child.

See, the problem I have is that everyone in the game treats "Luke" like he's 17 years old when he isn't. He's 7 years old. He was created 7 years prior. He has no memories of events prior to 7 years past because he was quite literally "born" 7 years ago. Everyone knows this (Jade especially, fucking hypocritical cunt!) but because he was created to inhabit an older body, they constantly treat him like he should know better because of his "age". Um... excuse me? He's a child. Literally. I get that they would be initially angry, the same way that one would be angry at a child for doing a horrible thing, even if it was unintentional. But there is just no... fucking... way that ANY of these hypocrites can justify how long they go on and on just hating Luke's guts considering they ALL FUCKING KNOW he's only 7 years old. ESPECIALLY THAT MOTHER FUCKER JADE! HE, more than ANYONE, has no right to treat Luke the way he does. Especially when he then later basically softball's the shit out of Anise's actual game-long betrayal. I just.. can't. I hate nearly every character in this story because of the way they continue to treat "Luke" and hold him to such impossible standards for so long in this game despite them ALL KNOWING these facts. It's fucking infuriating. That's not even mentioning that many of these characters have their own fucking skeletons in their closets too. Hypocrites!

So yeah, the characters in this story can suck a big fat hairy dick and choke on it; they don't deserve Luke.
 

Giolon

Member
Great Tales game! This is my 3rd favorite after Berseria and Symphonia. The OP is possibly one of the greatest ever made gives me feels just hearing it. I feel like I connected with the cast of this Tales game more than most other JRPGs. Tear and Luke are one of my favorite character pairings, and she's one of my favorite Tales female leads. Natalia's one of my favorite of the spurned princess character trope.

I never felt so bad about a character feeling bad about their betrayal as
Anise
. Jade is an amazing trope breaker as the guy with the glasses who should be totally evil, but isn't. Luke's character growth is a lot of fun.

So much good about this game. The airship is great too!
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
My post is going to contain some MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILERS. You've been warned. I'll use the spoiler tag anyway, but seriously. Don't click if you've not played the game. The short spoiler free version is I hate this game because I hate the characters.

Okay, so basically outside of maybe Tear, I pretty much hate the entire fucking playable cast. Like, I hate their mother-fucking guts. Each and every one of them are a bunch of hypocritical cunts. Each. And. Every. One. Except maybe Guy or Natalia. Though he's a cunt for a little bit, it's at least semi-understandable.

So the big story twist is that Luke isn't actually Luke, but rather a clone/recreation thing that replaced him 7 years prior. Which is why he has no memories before that. This is fine so far. Then, he's manipulated by the one man that he (and just about everyone else on the goddamn planet) trusts, Tear's brother(?), and forced to comply with an order against his will that ends up causing a huge fucking explosion that kills thousands of people. At first, he can't believe what happened, and naturally turns to his friends for help. They all give him the cold shoulder. Despite the fact that...

Tear: Knows her brother is up to something and is manipulating Luke. No right to be a hypocritical cunt.
Jade: Is the person who basically created the tech that led to "Luke's" creation, but still treats him like an ass after the event, knowing full and damn well he had been effectively taken over by Van. Fucking hypocritical cunt.
Anise: AN ACTUALLY GODDAMN FUCKING TRAITOR BITCH WHO TREATS LUKE LIKE SHIT FOR BEING A TRAITOR GODDAMN I HATE THIS GAME FOR NOT KILLING HER IN A HORRIFIC FASHION!!
Ashe: He's just kinda stupidly typically emo. I get it, but whatevs. I'll get back to him and
Natalia: She's got some baggage and isn't terrible, but is still a stupid bitch for reasons I'll get to a bit later (it's moreso an overall group reason)

Okay, so first I'll address the obvious elephant in the room. Luke is labeled a "traitor" for his actions for a bit and a HUGE part of the game sees the characters above treating him like a shitstain, despite him trying to do right. Here's my first problem. Later, we find out that Anise has been an actual, legitimate traitor all this time. Her actions lead to several deaths, like Luke's "betrayal". So, they do the same shit to her right? Treat her like the actual garbage she is, right? NOPE! She's a cute girl so fuck that, let's be sympathetic to her rather than be consistent. Fucking cunts!

Oh, but it gets worse. Here's the REAL reason I get pissed off at everyone for treating Luke the way they do in the game. It's not just the fact that he's manipulated (forcefully, I might add) into the horrible act that killed thousands. It's not just the fact that people like Jade and Tear should fucking know better about all of this.

It's that they're treating a child like this. That's right. A literal child.

See, the problem I have is that everyone in the game treats "Luke" like he's 17 years old when he isn't. He's 7 years old. He was created 7 years prior. He has no memories of events prior to 7 years past because he was quite literally "born" 7 years ago. Everyone knows this (Jade especially, fucking hypocritical cunt!) but because he was created to inhabit an older body, they constantly treat him like he should know better because of his "age". Um... excuse me? He's a child. Literally. I get that they would be initially angry, the same way that one would be angry at a child for doing a horrible thing, even if it was unintentional. But there is just no... fucking... way that ANY of these hypocrites can justify how long they go on and on just hating Luke's guts considering they ALL FUCKING KNOW he's only 7 years old. ESPECIALLY THAT MOTHER FUCKER JADE! HE, more than ANYONE, has no right to treat Luke the way he does. Especially when he then later basically softball's the shit out of Anise's actual game-long betrayal. I just.. can't. I hate nearly every character in this story because of the way they continue to treat "Luke" and hold him to such impossible standards for so long in this game despite them ALL KNOWING these facts. It's fucking infuriating. That's not even mentioning that many of these characters have their own fucking skeletons in their closets too. Hypocrites!

So yeah, the characters in this story can suck a big fat hairy dick and choke on it; they don't deserve Luke.

LOLLLL.

I pretty much agreed with everything that you said in here! XD

Might as well call Tales of the Abyss as Tales of the Cunts, hahaha.
 

Estellise

Member
Yes! This is my favorite Tales of game ever. It disappoints me to see so much hate on this game. It is literally my all time favorite game (I'm replaying it for the 50th time now) and a lot of people either stopped playing because of Luke's behavior in the beginning or because of the cast (which I absolutely love). So, because this game means A LOT to me, I can't help but write out my thoughts.

Firstly, Luke in the beginning is supposed to be disliked. The reason everyone becomes sour towards him is because he literally acts like the pompous aristocrat he is and is a self-centered brat. It somewhat surprises me when people say that everyone acted cold towards Luke for no reason. When playing through the game, you'll definitely realize how much of an asshole Luke was at first (he literally told Natalia at one point to keep away from the dying people in Akzeriuth because they're dirty and might catch something. So yeah... he was a complete dick). He could only confide in Van because that is the only one he trusted (because Van purposely gained his trust for his own goals and making Luke a pawn). But it wasn't until post-Akzeriuth that everyone's attitude towards Luke changed because Luke never informed anyone what Van's plan was and he literally killed thousands of people because of his own selfish actions.

I also want to point out because people seem to forget this: Luke's change is essential to the plot. He starts to lack confidence after his change (this is pointed out many times in the game) because of his existence and what he actually is (a replica). He feels as though he has no place in the world he's in because he essentially stole his orginal's (Asch's) home, family, ect. When Luke destroyed Akzeriuth (killing thousands of lives), he realized that he NEEDED a change because his original self was an ignorant asshole who only thought about himself (and Van). What I loved about this was how Guy decided to keep with him no matter what and Tear decided to watch over him and see him change. Yes, Jade, Anise, and maybe even Natalia weren't convinced at first, but when you consider how Luke originally acted, its not so surprising no one trusted him at first. So as the game progresses, Luke is able to find 'himself' and sees himself an individual (rather than just a replica of Asch).

But what I like about this game is how Luke overcomes a lot of obstacles and betters himself. It really has a unique plot that may not suit everyone, but I personally found this game very immersive. I love the dynamics with the villains/heroes too. You can see that every character has a past with each God General. Also the humor in this game was good and Jade's sarcastic humor really made a great addition to the cast. I can see why some see Anise as a bit whiny, but I justify it with her just being a kid.

Aside from that, this game has some great plot twists that you really don't see in many other Tales of games nowadays such as:
many villains (the god generals were great), actual character deaths, so much character development, and very emotional scenes.
I personally really like the use of FOF too (it was cool being able to use different artes in certain FOFs). Berseria and Zestiria hands down had the worst gameplays for me. It felt like hack and slash (also Zestiria was just veerrrryy glitchy) but Abyss actually gave me a challenge a lot of the time (I also liked the separate bars for mystic artes). I still believe gameplay wise that Vesperia was the best though.

Anyway, nowadays the characters in the Tales of series are very flat (Zestiria, Berseria) but these games (Abyss, Symphonia, Vesperia) really gave the characters dimension. And aside from this game, Vesperia and Symphonia were my absolute favorites. It was Symphonia that got me into the series.
 

redcrayon

Member
I despised most of the cast, am not sure whether their rank hypocrisy or the fonic nonsense they bang on about is the worst part of the writing. Enjoyed the combat, the rest of it was awful.
 
Yes! This is my favorite Tales of game ever. It disappoints me to see so much hate on this game. It is literally my all time favorite game (I'm replaying it for the 50th time now) and a lot of people either stopped playing because of Luke's behavior in the beginning or because of the cast (which I absolutely love). So, because this game means A LOT to me, I can't help but write out my thoughts.

Can I ask over what period of time? Do you just start a new playthrough every other 3 months or something?

Do you do all sidequests every time? Do you change up your playthroughs in some way?

I dislike replaying games so someone replaying an decent length RPG 50 times is hard to fathom.
 
Post-change Luke >>>>>> Pre-change Luke.

In some respect, Luke became “worse” after his change and that is EXACTLY why he’s a better character.
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
I have a lot of fondness for this game. When it came out in 2006, I actually liked it even more than FFXII. I remember being quite emotional when Guy went back after Luke because even though Luke fucked up, he's still his good friend.
 
It's nice to see some Abyss love around these parts.

Post-change Luke >>>>>> Pre-change Luke.

In some respect, Luke became “worse” after his change and that is EXACTLY why he’s a better character.

Yeah, I never understand the notion that all MCs have to be likable. If the creator wanted him to be an a-hole, so be it.
 

jb1234

Member
I liked Abyss. I especially liked how many risks they took on the story and especially, the characters. Most of them are assholes and it's great.
 
I played it the first time through on 3ds, it’s a decent game but it’s also the game that made me realise that I don’t care for the mechanics, tone or art style of the Tales series.
 

theofficefan99

Junior Member
I enjoy casts consisting of characters that may not get along, or casts consisting of people who aren't saints and have done bad shit in the past. Makes things interesting.

Outside of the god awful world map, most of the 3rd Act being a tad unnecessary, and Guy and Natalia being bland, Tales of the Abyss was a great game. I'd love to replay it soon.

And IMO it shits all over Symphonia and is far more interesting than Vesperia.
 

ubercheez

Member
My favorite Tales game. I really liked the twist that fon circles added to the combat -- that, combined with free run, make this into the most ideal version of the Tales battle system. Later Tales still have free run, of course, but the arte changes that you could achieve with fon circles added a really fun extra layer to Abyss's combat that I don't feel any of the later games have managed to match.

I also really enjoyed Luke's character arc, and Tear is probably my favorite female lead in any RPG.

That post-credits scene is one of the most well-executed emotional payoffs I've ever experienced in a game. The Grand Fonic Hymn being sung over the flowers at night... man, it still gets me.

And I still feel that Finish the Promise is the most epic fight piece Tales has ever put forth. It draws on the Hymn as a leitmotif! So badass.
 

MrCinos

Member
I've played every Tales game available in English and TotA to this day is by far my favorite. It was perfect in every way to me: excellent cast of characters (Anise was maybe a 6/10, but everyone else was great), music, battle system, voice acting in bazillion skits (played it in japanese), side quests (only thanks to the walkthrough), co-op experience, etc. Easily the strongest storyline in the franchise as well.

I was REALLY surprised to learn afterwards that it's a very divise game in the series and a lot of people hate it and/or its characters.

P.S. Jade might be as well my favorite party member among all JRPG party members.
 
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