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[demidar]

I am echoing this. I too was really iffy about it at first, too. But eventually I realized that it was super hard to go back to playing Tales the "normal" way with TP.

You will soon learn how to get back CC more efficiently in the middle of a battle, such as by dodging attacks.

I agree. A Artes are way superior to basic attacks, because in the latter half of a Tales game normal attacks are damn useless except to generate TP (which is also not a problem due to using CC). At least with A Artes it's more flashier and has extra properties.

 

[Datschge]

Wasn't Vesperia the last pure "Team Symphonia" game? I thought after that they consolidated the Symphonia and Destiny teams, and they've further consoldated Tales Studio into Bandai Namco Studio since then?

I think consolidated is the wrong word. "Team Destiny" simply doesn't exist anymore as most people left, Tales Studio doesn't exist anymore as it was dissolved with only a part joining Bandai Namco Studios, "Team Symphonia" split up and some of it have worked on the recent Smash Bros.

 

[Shiraitsuki]

I think consolidated is the wrong word. "Team Destiny" simply doesn't exist anymore as most people left, Tales Studio doesn't exist anymore as it was dissolved with only a part joining Bandai Namco Studios, "Team Symphonia" split up and some of it have worked on the recent Smash Bros.

Do you think Higuchi will come back to Tales?

 

[Datschge]

Do you think Higuchi will come back to Tales?

I think the only thing safe to say is that he'll keep being involved in fighter style games.

 

[Bladenic]

I wonder when we'll get another Vesperia level Tales. Vesperia was just so good.

Never probably. I don't see Zestiria doing it but who knows?

 

[RalchAC]

Xillia 2 is the best

Spoiler

localized

PS3 Tales game and my second favorite behind Vesperia.

I'd say go Xillia, Graces and Xillia 2 the latest.

Graces story is shit, like at fanfiction levels. Characters are mostly bad but gameplay is absolutely awesome, a total blast, game is worth for the battles alone.

Xillia has decent-to-good characters, decent story and a battle system that doesn't hold a candle to Graces. And environments are boring.

Xillia 2 has really good characters, a really good story, a quite good battle system (what Xillia should have been) but suffers from the same shitty environments Xillia had. Have I already said that it's really well written?

 

[MrSaturn99]

Both are painfully average with some flashes of brilliance.

I'm still waiting for something as quality as Symphonia/Abyss. Vesperia was the closest but the story pissed me off way more than it should have.

 

[khaaan]

How is Graces in terms of towns and overworld? One thing I really didn't like About Xillia is that progression from point A to B was slightly less linear than something like Final Fantasy XII. I would have probably ripped my hair out it it wasn't for fast travel and actual reasons to head back to old towns and stuff.

 

[mrjohill]

Graces f for the battle system. It really is the best battle system in the series

 

[old]

Xillia had a better battle system, but overall the game felt rushed and incomplete.

Graces F had an unusual battle system that I didn't care for. But it was a fully fleshed out Tales game complete with an ocean of content and mountains of optional side content.

A big part of what makes Tales games "Tales" games is that they're packed with 40+ hours of story content plus 40+ hours of extra content. These are supposed to be big epic games with big epic worlds, big epic stories, and big epic quests. Xillia didn't feel very epic. They hit the 20 hour mark, threw in some half-assed token extra content and called it a day.

 

[Thanatos451]

I played Xillia and absolutely loved it. I am currently working my way towards the end of Graces, and I am just not enjoying it as much as Xillia. Graces is still a great game worth playing!

I'm looking forward to seeing Xillia 2 on a PSN sale eventually.

 

[Rising_Hei]

I couldn't dig Graces F no matter how hard i tried, the battle system was just button smashing to me, the story? the worst i've played ever, main character? even Vaan is better, dungeons? all of them pretty generic and bland, etc :/

 

[dead souls]

Xillia by a mile. Tales of Graces F is just horrible.

 

[ohlawd]

Xillia for eveything

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

How are repetitive corridors not bad? They make the dungeons look like a maze. Same flaw in Innocence, Legendia and to a lesser extent, Destiny Remake.

Exaclty! But my question remains.

I couldn't dig Graces F no matter how hard i tried, the battle system was just button smashing to me, the story? the worst i've played ever, main character? even Vaan is better, dungeons? all of them pretty generic and bland, etc :/

What site do you review for?

 

[rocketskates]

1 has cheria
1 has ivar

no winner

Cheria FTW tho

 

[hongcha]

Both games are really good, but I'd go with Xillia first. It is the better of the two, and takes less time to complete compared to Graces F.

 

[t26]

Cheria FTW tho

Cheri's is much better than Natalia or other female childhood friend

 

[Rainy]

Graces F had a pretty fun battle system and the level up system with the titles was pretty unique. I absolutely hated a lot of the main cast and story though, at one point I just wanted to beat the game to beat the game.

Xillia has a better story, but Tales stories aren't that amazing so that's not saying much. The characters were better though imo. The battle system was pretty fun, the orb system was alright. The overworld in Xillia is terrible, I hate the open world places you walk around, they look quite bad.

Play both, they have their pros and cons.

I still liked Xillia more, have yet to play Xillia 2, waiting for that price drop.

Overall Symphonia/Abyss are my favorites, but i've yet to play vesperia because I don't have a 360.

 

[kewlmyc]

Graces: Best gameplay in the series from what I've played. The overworld is better than Xillia, but that's not saying much. Music is so bland, I don't remember any of it at all. Story is actually pretty awful, even by Tales standards. Nearly every character is either completely awful or just another anime trope. Asbel is easily the worst protagonist of a Tales games I've played (note I haven't played Dawn of the New World). Actually one one of the worst protags I've ever played as in any game. The gameplay while fantastic, just can't make up for the rest of the game.

Xillia: Decent enough gameplay, though the Dual Arts kills multiplayer (if you're into that). The characters are interesting, but I can see them being unlikable to a lot of people (especially Jude and Alvin). The overworld sucks ass, just one way paths from town to town. Music is pretty good and the plot is decent. Sets up for the superior sequel Xillia 2. Not much to do end game.

If I had to pick one, I would go for Xillia. If you like it, you should definitely get Xillia 2.

 

[Dark_castle]

Cheria FTW tho

Her attitude towards Asbel after the time skip always made me want to drop the game for good.

 

[RalchAC]

Cheri's is much better than Natalia or other female childhood friend

Leía (especially in X2) is a good character and she is Jude's childhood friend. Farah (Eternia) was too and I don't remember hating her (though the lack of full VA may have helped).

All of this IMO, but I really liked Leia in Xillia 2.

 

[demidar]

Leía (especially in X2) is a good character and she is Jude's childhood friend. Farah (Eternia) was too and I don't remember hating her (though the lack of full VA may have helped).

All of this IMO, but I really liked Leia in Xillia 2.

Leia is also pretty much superfluous to the story in X1.

 

[bigmac996]

I definitely enjoyed Graces far more. It was my first Tales game since Symphonia on the Gamecube so that could have definitely influenced my decision. Not to mention the superior battle system. Never got tired of the battles. I wish they reincorporated elements into Xilla's.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

For gameplay? Mostly Graces f.
For story? Xillia.
For everything? Vesperia, Abyss, and Symphonia.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Cheria FTW tho

Leia is so much better

 

[HolyBaikal]

Tales of Xillia was really nice, but I actually think I liked Tales of Graces a lot more.

It was just so beautiful. And I thought it was really underrated. And I really like Sophie and Pascal and Richard.