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Which "Tales" game should I play next GAF?

I can agree on backtracking complaint. But Vesperia is just boring when compared with Abyss, who actually remember Vesperia's story? I never see it mentioned, Vesperia has an exceptional main character, I agree with this, but it's not even in the same league as Abyss, for me that is.

It's okay to disagree. I preferred Vesperia to Abyss in nearly every way (although Fields of Fonons added a bit to the co-op, seeting up fields for each other) and it's definitely more memorable for me but it's okay if you thought otherwise.
 
I'd agree that Abyss has the best story (from what I've played), but Vesperia's cast does a better job of driving their narrative

The game is still in English though? The voice acting cutoff was unfortunate though. The localization team mistakenly thought the second half was a giant sidequest, so they didn't voice it.

Also let us take a moment to praise Legendia's OST. Best video game soundtrack I've ever heard.

Is that the reason they gave? How on earth does something like that come about?
 
I do.

In fact, I played Vesperia to death (around 300 hours) and played through Abyss once.

If your argument centers entirely around fervor, I am not sure it is going to go much further.

I've played thousand hours of Civ2, ToA is still the best Tales game all around (><)
lol sorry, couldn't resist

I played ToA one time and ToV one time, and any Tales game one time, I do plan to get back to ToG though, because of the great gameplay, and ToA still is better than ToG all things considered. You see what I mean?
 
Abyss, Symphonia, Vesperia, Eternia, etc. . . avoid Graces, game is poo. Which was the last one played?
 
All of this abyss hate makes me sad. I completely and utterly adore that game and its cast...But I was also in high school when I played it, which was during my emo stage.

But yeah, Abyss has the best villains in the English Tales. My major problem with Vesperia was its inability to have a "big bad." But Vesperia was fantastic too.
 
The game is still in English though? The voice acting cutoff was unfortunate though. The localization team mistakenly thought the second half was a giant sidequest, so they didn't voice it.

Also let us take a moment to praise Legendia's OST. Best video game soundtrack I've ever heard.

Kangaroo q:

Yea it's still in English, but a lot of the emotional impact is lost when you have 5 minute scenes of silent talking IMO also it doesn't forgive the first half of the games story for being garbage.

And yeah kangaroo was bad, but it's still better then fucking like a tiger :|
 
Is that the reason they gave? How on earth does something like that come about?

It's been a while, but basically it can be said that the main story ends halfway through the game. The second part are basically 'Character Quests' where each character gets their own quests that are mostly independent of each other. They add up to about half the playtime, but I guess they figured it was okay to leave it without voices.
 
It's been a while, but basically it can be said that the main story ends halfway through the game. The second part are basically 'Character Quests' where each character gets their own quests that are mostly independent of each other. They add up to about half the playtime, but I guess they figured it was okay to leave it without voices.

I guess I'd have to give it a shot to really understand. Legendia is pretty much the only Tales game released in the West (post-PS1) I haven't played for some reason.
 
Yea it's still in English, but a lot of the emotional impact is lost when you have 5 minute scenes of silent talking IMO also it doesn't forgive the first half of the games story for being garbage.

And yeah kangaroo was bad, but it's still better then fucking like a tiger :|

The lack of voice acting is definitely a travesty, but I think the immaculate OST helped convey emotion in stead of voicing. Voicing would without a doubt have been preferable ... But I still enjoyed it. (Also I enjoyed the first half of the story, but I guess that's just a difference of opinion.)

I haven't played the DeJap translation of Phantasia, but it sounds humorous! Is it unenjoyable?
 
New main protagonists are quite annoying. Has monster party members for the majority of the game, although ToS cameos are available at times (but a bit restricted).

The villain is my series favorite, however.

If I am only interested in the story and characters, is ToS2 worth playing?
 
He must play tales of symphonia (NOT tales of symphonia 2) again, again and again... and after that, he can think about playing another tales of game.
 
One more vote for Abyss. I like Luke's dickery and the voice acting is top notch.

Then again, voice acting isn't a problem in the Tales series.
 
You can play Abyss, but you'd have to go in to it being aware that every character is an asshole and the writers got betray-happy in the game.

If you're looking for the next experience closest to Symphonia but more evolved, go with Vesperia. If you want the best battle system in the series (or in most JRPGs period), go with Graces F.

I'd say, between those two, it depends on whether you want better characters or better battles.

Always choose characters. After picking up Graces f and putting it down after 20 hours, I can say that the combat was good but not nearly good enough to warrant putting up with the shitty characters and storyline.
 
I personally didn't like Vesperia's characters even though its the best Tales game so far. Just don't like pink haired characters. In fact, I loathe anime characters with non-natural hair color unless they're bad guys.

That's just me though. Blonde, brunette, black, brown, redheads, auburn,... thats ok...but why hot pink, neon green, or bright purple? Never liked that. Probably can guess which is why i never played Graces f!

I mean I won't avoid a game because of it but I don't prefer it.
 
Symphonia was great so he needs to go to Vesparia now. Symphonia 2 I guess would make more sense, but Vesparia is a must eventually.

I have Somphonia 2 but haven't played it yet. Without spoiling anything, why don't people like it?
 
Symphonia was great so he needs to go to Vesparia now. Symphonia 2 I guess would make more sense, but Vesparia is a must eventually.

I have Somphonia 2 but haven't played it yet. Without spoiling anything, why don't people like it?

Monster raising and party members

Emil and Marta are quite unlikeable for most the game, although they do improve a little by the end.

No world map (although it's certainly not the only Tales game without one)
 
This one:

439731-duck-tales-nes-screenshot-robot-on-the-moon-s.png

Gotta love this reply! :D I'm excited for the classic revamp take on this soon!

As for Tales OF series, I'm a huge fan of Phantasia. Go with the very first game that spawned this wonderful series. Highly recommend SNES version for the music.
 
I've only played Abyss and Vesperia.

As far as characters - I think Jade>Yuri>Luke. And ToA last boss> ToV last boss. And Vesperia's story is more black and white for me than Abyss, whose antagonists have a valid point.

But I definitely think you should play ToA, then ToV in that order.
 
I should add though that the ToV last boss mystic arte>>>> ToA last boss mystic arte. Well, the mystic artes in ToV>>> ToA in general.
 
I recommend Graces f. Battle system is pretty cool and I liked the quirky characters of the game and how you can play with most of the main cast as children in the beginning. It makes liking the character easier and you get closer with them and shit because of it. Vesperia is pretty good but other than it's graphics and Dahngrest's city theme I don't think the game holds up as well as Graces f gameplay wise or narratively. I'm not yet finished with Abyss and Symphonia to make a full judgement of those two yet.
 
I thought Graces ƒ's story was OK. It's not spectacular but it's not outright terrible. The characters are neither outright terrible too (although Asbel just looks down on himself too much and Hubert is an ass).

I'd recommend Graces ƒ and Abyss though. Although I really really hated some of Abyss' characters (like Luke).
 
I've only played Abyss and Vesperia.

As far as characters - I think Jade>Yuri>Luke. And ToA last boss> ToV last boss. And Vesperia's story is more black and white for me than Abyss, whose antagonists have a valid point.

But I definitely think you should play ToA, then ToV in that order.

The villains of Tales are for the most part terrible in my opinion.
 
I feel the safest recommending Tales of Vesperia.

Abyss might have the better plot on paper, but its pacing is among the worst in JRPG history, I would say (excessive backtracking and fetch-quests at times), and the writing is really sporadic (really good at some points, really infuriating at others).

Vesperia has the added benefit of having a good cast and the story itself is not really offensive (and gets somewhat exciting at certain points).

Graces f could satisfy from a pure gameplay standpoint, but most of the cast and the story goes nowhere very fast.
 
I feel the safest recommending Tales of Vesperia.

Abyss might have the better plot on paper, but its pacing is among the worst in JRPG history, I would say (excessive backtracking and fetch-quests at times), and the writing is really sporadic (really good at some points, really infuriating at others).

Vesperia has the added benefit of having a good cast and the story itself is not really offensive (and gets somewhat exciting at certain points).

Graces f could satisfy from a pure gameplay standpoint, but most of the cast and the story goes nowhere very fast.

i couldnt finish the game because of this, its fucking bad
 
I thought Graces &#402;'s story was OK. It's not spectacular but it's not outright terrible. The characters are neither outright terrible too (although Asbel just looks down on himself too much and Hubert is an ass).

I'd recommend Graces &#402; and Abyss though. Although I really really hated some of Abyss' characters (like Luke).

You'd recommend Graces and Abyss but not Vesperia (unless you haven't played it)?

And imo Graces' plot really is that terrible. And the characters outside of Malik and Pascal are pretty bad, but Assbel really takes the cake for awfulness. Worst Tales protag from the games I've played.
 

Yes.

There's nothing wrong with the story.

OT: Abyss is good. Very good. It starts slow though, but it picks up. It's a long story and gets really good when you start approaching the endgame. It's too bad lots of people hate it because of one dickish character (Luke) and some technobabble. If you're somewhat tolerant, you'll like it.

Vesperia is as also a choice, and Graces F for the combat.
 
You'd recommend Graces and Abyss but not Vesperia (unless you haven't played it)?

And imo Graces' plot really is that terrible. And the characters outside of Malik and Pascal are pretty bad, but Assbel really takes the cake for awfulness. Worst Tales protag from the games I've played.

I don't have a 360 nor do I fully understand Japanese.

Graces' story is not that bad to like what people say. It's not Star Ocean 4 for sure. The plot of Graces &#402; is not special and predictable, but it's not cringe worthy.

Oh and Graces &#402; still has a good amount of content, but the inn requests can be a chore.
 
Don't play unless you're die hard (in English)

Tales of destiny psx
Tales of the world radiant mythology psp
Destiny PSX is the best Tales games. I prefer the Phantasia/Destiny PSX versions to the remakes.

Also, why recommend Radiant Mythology 2/3 and not the first one? They are practically the same games, but the first one has the advantage of being in English and going for like $10 on Amazon.
 
Loved Symphonia, haven't played any Tales game since. This thread is useful to me. I'll probably pick up Abyss when I buy a 3DS.
 
Yes.

There's nothing wrong with the story.

OT: Abyss is good. Very good. It starts slow though, but it picks up. It's a long story and gets really good when you start approaching the endgame. It's too bad lots of people hate it because of one dickish character (Luke) and some technobabble. If you're somewhat tolerant, you'll like it.

Vesperia is as also a choice, and Graces F for the combat.

Um, he asked if ToS2 was worth it considering the story and characters alone. It is not. But then none of the Tales games really are, except possibly Vesperia.
 
Vesperia. It's well rounded, a good battle system, good characters, decent to good story.

Graces battle system is largely considered to be the best, but the story and characters take a nosedive.

Abyss has mostly unlikable characters and requires a lot of annoying backtracking. All the Tales games have some of this, but Abyss takes it to another level.

Listen to this man. He speaks nothing but truth.

But if you want to, you could wait for Xillia. It's only got a couple of months until it comes out.
 
ToS2 takes characters you like and writes them as if they were different characters.
What if I decided to play 2 before 1? (Context: the only Tales I have ever played are TOD, TOE and TOP (love them all - don't really care about story, just gameplay), but I own pretty much all of the others (save TOV and TOGf, but I'll get there).)

Also, how is the controls with the Wiimote + nunchuk combo? Wouldn't it be awkward to control a Tales game that way or are controls the least of my concerns regarding that game (lol)?
 
I'd just go Abyss->Vesperia->Graces F.

And really, in terms of plot, I thought that all three had problems.

Abyss is probably the most ambitious in terms of themes and has some of the best character development in the series but suffers from poor pacing, loads of techno-babble, and the characters can be damn near infuriating at times. Vesperia's theme of justice and its vigilante main character are interesting at first but the writers never really capitalize on their potential due to the poor, 2-dimensional villains, a rather aimless story, and a 3rd act that just feels completely tacked on and pointless. While the characters in Graces F can be rather amusing(if not especially deep) the story plays it a bit too generic and safe for the most part compared to the other two but it also doesn't suffer from Abyss's poor pacing nor a 3rd act as terrible as Vesperia's
 
Legendia. Gets a lot of hate. But dat music, I think its my favorite soundtrack from the Tales of games. The only thing that I didn't like was the 2nd half of the game you get 0 voice acting. Other than that, its great.
 
Graces is a actually really great if you are willing to invest some time in it and allow the story and characters to progress. No, Asbel won't ever be as cool as Yuri from ToV but some of the supporting cast in ToG makes up for Asbel and the battle system is certainly sublime.

And really, the story in Graces is not a bad one. It's far less convoluted than Abyss and dare I say has a more satisfying conclusion than Vesperia. Graces is worth your time.
 
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