Abyss (anime) and me: And this is bizarro world, too!

[Cless Aileron]

Yeah, it's me again, talking about Tales of the Abyss again.  A topic that I'm not fond of.

In case you're the new ones to Phantasian Productions and don't know me that well, instead to finding that one topic (the topic title here was my idea of mocking the title of the topic I'm referring to), I'll give you the cliff note version of it to save time and the reason I'm bringing this up.

People talk about Tales of the Abyss as if it's the greatest Tales ever (and I still hear it talked about that way...especially because Tales of Vesperia's story sucked, apparently that they hope the PS3 version really rewrites it but whatever).  Not me, however.  While it started that I had less urges to start the game after getting it in the mail on October 12, 2006, then not touching it for a few days, I still try to play through it.  Later on, I also found ways to not play it (few bits on playing Ratchet: Deadlocked and Metal Gear Solid 3 online).  I managed to play through it anyway.  However, I kept my thoughts of it a secret because, heaven forbid, I talk bad about the greatest Tales ever and the apology for Tales of Legendia.

While I did give it another chance a year later, I still thought the game had mediocre graphics and music, awful quest structure, a story that was horribly told, even by Tales standards, and also contributing to it was broken gameplay that it managed to commit the one big sin for a Tales game...battles aren't any fun!  Pretty much, I find Tales of the Abyss to be the most overrated Tales game out there (That's right, Symphonia haters, I find Abyss is more overrated and I'm done hating on the FF7 equivalent of Tales).

Weirdly enough, they announced an Abyss anime adaptation last year and I was getting the idea that, while other things are set in stone for me, maybe the story might be saved in an adaptation.  Considering I have major problems with Abyss, I actually felt like I should just go in and watch this TV show for that reason.  Today, I just got done watching the entire series.

Guess what?  I actually found the anime adaptation decent!  *insert dramatic music here*

Yes, the dude who finds Abyss his least favorite installment...finds the anime decent.

The changes made actually made the story better paced.  I didn't feel like I was in a part that dragged on or felt the need to be deeper than it is with too much techno-babble.  It's like they trimmed the fat off that bundle of meat we weren't suppose to eat in the first place.

I also couldn't stand Luke Fon Fabre, no matter which hair length we're talking about.  If it wasn't Luke being an obnoxious butthead, he's getting constantly angsty any chance he gets and was highly unbelievable for me.  I know he was going through some tough stuff, but his portrayal felt more like wangst (Yeah, Luke bringing up how he's an inferior replica so much).  You know, the stuff that many would argue the reason fan girls drool over Leon Magnus for (not to mention, both Luke and Leon gets somewhere near the top of the list in Teichan's popularity polls, with Luke creeping up there in the last two polls.  They're both angsty characters).  However, the anime portrayed Luke as having a lot more reasonable amount of depression rather than becoming a wangst fest.  To me, anime Luke feels like a completely different character because of that portrayal.

It's established that I actually do like Jade Curtiss and Guy Cecil (and it has nothing to do with Guy Cecil being voiced by an actor from a TV show from my childhood.  You know the one I'm talking about.).  For other characters, my second playthrough did established a few characters that grew on me but I still wouldn't consider my favorites overall.  Tear and Anise were those two from the main cast.  Also, Legretta was one villain.  I would say I took a liking to Sync but that's not even for story background reasons, but more of his way of fighting (hard to explain for some reason).  However, there are characters I still can't give a damn about.  Asch is still...*insert the obvious joke here*, Natalia was still boring for me, the rest of the God Generals were still uncompelling, and Van Grants is still the lamest, most uninspiring villain for me, and he came before Duke from Tales of Vesperia.  They were villains I felt I couldn't like, nonetheless hate them for the right reasons (i.e. they were despicable like Kefka from Final Fantasy 6 was).  The story still takes a hit for me because of some character but the pacing of the anime brings the story up to a decent level for me.

Overall, while I still think Tales of the Abyss is the most overrated Tales installment there is, I enjoyed the anime adaptation and I enjoyed more than I did the actual game it was based around.  This isn't an anime I would have non-Tales fans watch, but for those that are fans, I think they can manage.  Hopefully, my hatred towards this Tales installment goes down and this decent adaptation helped.

[Craymel]

I actually haven't finished the ToA anime yet but I also found it a pretty decent adaptation. Not the best anime I've seen that's for sure. I also didn't get much into the game much either. I beat it but I wasn't motivated to play it over and over again like I did with ToS (beat seven times).

[Joseph]

Tales of the Abyss was great, but that was one game that suffered from its technical blemishes. If it weren't for the terrible load times, I probably would have played it more.

[pedrocasilva]

Ok, I'll take a new approach to your thread and... write what comes to mind while I'm reading it... without quoting it.

1, 2, 3... now:

He talks and creates topics for stuff he doesn't like? *gasp* sound like as is I was running into a gay bar... on purpose :p (no offense meant for homosexual people)

New ones to PP? who? *get's pie*

I never thought of Abyss as the best tales ever... neither have I thought of any Tales game like that. Bluntly put I think all Tales games have REAL shortcomings and are games that, if I wanted to diss I could diss them all afternoon... but I still like them, a lot.

Abyss... crappy main, too much whining, crappy skillset, Guy was so much better in battle (Lloyd skillset), whining, story gets lost along the way, characters lack depth/realism (I mean... Natalia's father? wtf), pretty bad graphics and... horribly optimized world map. Dungeons were kinda crappy too like "get in here, go to all rooms and you're done" but I didn't complain about that. No relationship system which made it seem like a step down from ToS in that front.

but I had fun (battles were fun!), and I consider it one of the better Tales games, although sure, praising it for being the best...

Good things though... erm... hmmm... it has Tear who is the best main girl in a Tales ever, and possibly in RPG's in general (shame they wasted her on Luke and stuff, but in principle), Jade also rocks. what else... hmmm... best opening and some epic moments, probably.


I like Tales of Legendia, it's music totally rocks my pants.

Are there Tales of Symphonia haters? wtf.


insert dramatic music? here, anything else? sauce?


Less favorite? I want your series breakdown NOW.

Changes and better paced? I have zero curiosity for the anime, but I'd sure like to see improvements in the storytelling of the original.

I also couldn't stand Luke, I liked his character design and all, but DAMN. the whole first part of the game with him was really crappy to have to put up with him and as "better" as he gets the whole "repenting" crap makes him like... like... Emil, in the first hour of DotNW, multiplied by 1000000.

Reason girls drool for Leon? *has flashbacks of cless dressed in a Leon outfit*

Now I know what you were attempting


Yeah, the whole replica thing was nauseating.

Guy is cool, jade too, anise is not half bad, natalia... I'm mixed. Asch was cool, although he suffered from the same thing luke did... unrealistic unchanging portrait, and the whole dovey dovey with natalia was -_- bad.

Van Grants, the goaty, is lame, but he is the villain he's not supposed to be cool, still sad though that the final boss was so obvious for so long, I hoped they thrown a twist... other than apparently killing him but the game not ending there *gasp*

... You really have hatred for Abyss? I don't even have hatred for... Dawn of the New World!

[pedrocasilva]

Tales of the Abyss was great, but that was one game that suffered from its technical blemishes. If it weren't for the terrible load times, I probably would have played it more.

that thankfully has a solution... PS2 with a HDD, I can't praise it more.

remember those loadings that happened in the worldmap, after a battle and took 10 seconds with a black screen? the black screen doesn't even appear with HDD.

[Craymel]

that thankfully has a solution... PS2 with a HDD, I can't praise it more.

remember those loadings that happened in the worldmap, after a battle and took 10 seconds with a black screen? the black screen doesn't even appear with HDD.

While it is a solution, the developers did not make the game with this solution in mind so it doesn't make up for it. Plus I don't have a modded hdd ps2 either...

[pedrocasilva]

While it is a solution, the developers did not make the game with this solution in mind so it doesn't make up for it. Plus I don't have a modded hdd ps2 either...

well it does it works.

I know you guys don't have one, but that's really something I felt was worth it for Tales of the Abyss alone, I can't recommend it more.

I actually started Abyss from the original DVD, so I experienced the original loadings and unoptimization just the same, I hate lenghty loadings so much that I don't even know if I would have ever finished the game as it was, so that was really something, for me at least.

[Craymel]

I meant it doesn't make up for the fact that the problems are in the game in the first place. Of course after last remnant tales of the abyss' load times and lag during world maps seems like nothing.

[pesmerga00]

Suikoden 5 too 

[Kogahazan]

Stupid opinions I want to state that aren't rly trying to respond to anything.

Sync was a little bitch and deserved to die. No one liked him plus he was annoying to fight.

Leon can't die enough. Someone should have punched his mother's ovaries as soon as he was conceived. Why does someone like him have such an awesome theme song? Also, Luke should not be put in the same category as Leon. Luke does get all emo and crap, but Leon is a trainwreck of a person and needs to die a million times over.

Edit: Luke should not be put in the same category as Emil either, much less a lower category. Emil is a horrible pansy.

[throughhim413]

Also, Luke should not be put in the same category as Leon. Luke does get all emo and crap, but Leon is a trainwreck of a person and needs to die a million times over.

I agree. I mean, Leon's character growth made sense, so Luke definitely doesn't deserve to be in the same category. Plus, even if Leon is a trainwreck of a person, at least he's a person. replicareplicareplica /dreck

I jest. Well, mostly anyway. I liked Luke all right. His character development could've definitely used a bit more time in the pot though. Insta-change is bad times. If I don't fully buy his growth as a player, what am I supposed to do with party members who pretty much take it in stride after a few snide remarks?

[Kogahazan]

I guess I'm the type that doesn't let that many annoying things get to him. I think it might have been because Banjo-Kazooie was my first game with "voice acting." I remember playing the XBLA demo of it with a friend in the room and he was laughing and annoyed at the same time by the constant gibberish. I think BK may have desensitized me to annoying things.

I personally didn't mind Luke, or rather, I never really formed an opinion about him at all. I was like, "okay, whatever" and I went on with the game. My other friends that played Abyss didn't like him, but somehow he never got on my nerves. Leon and Emil do. They need to die in a fire.

[Cless Aileron]

I'll admit this...I'm now getting a bad feeling from this topic now ever since reply #3.  Maybe I really shouldn't have talked about Abyss again and kept my mouth shut.  I don't feel like I'll close my own topic, though.

Guess it's because I'm feeling like I'm not suppose to hate Luke or anything (hearing the recent replies), even if I also decide to throw the equation, "(Leon+Emil) + Using the Lancer from Gears of War against them" (yeah, I'm sounding pretty violent here with the Leon and Emil hating, aren't I?).  I still feel like every thought I come up with is going against the grain when I'm not suppose to.

I guess I'll ask, "Is it something I said?"  (Luke + Wangst or something).

[Kogahazan]

I think everyone here couldn't care less if you didn't like Abyss or not. Like I said, I didn't really make an opinion of Luke, and my friends hate him so I can't care less if someone else does too. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't care if you didn't like Abyss.

[pedrocasilva]

I'll admit this...I'm now getting a bad feeling from this topic now ever since reply #3.  Maybe I really shouldn't have talked about Abyss again and kept my mouth shut.  I don't feel like I'll close my own topic, though.

*checks his post number*

Sorry. (I wanted to post something light hearted)

Guess it's because I'm feeling like I'm not suppose to hate Luke or anything (hearing the recent replies), even if I also decide to throw the equation, "(Leon+Emil) + Using the Lancer from Gears of War against them" (yeah, I'm sounding pretty violent here with the Leon and Emil hating, aren't I?).  I still feel like every thought I come up with is going against the grain when I'm not suppose to.

Truth to be told I don't know if you're supposed to like Luke, I think you're supposed to tolerate him, just that. Which makes his a lousy main character just the same. Emil is lousy too, but at least it has a alternate persona of sorts kicking in at times, while luke has... emo'ness kicking in.

And I like Leon.

I guess I'll ask, "Is it something I said?"  (Luke + Wangst or something).

I don't think so (I do think you're making a great deal out of this though, everyone in here is quite ok with your opinion so far)

[Cless Aileron]

I think everyone here couldn't care less if you didn't like Abyss or not. Like I said, I didn't really make an opinion of Luke, and my friends hate him so I can't care less if someone else does too. I can't speak for everyone, but I don't care if you didn't like Abyss.

Alright, it's okay.  I just didn't understand what you were trying to say.

As for the thing with the third reply to the topic, it came off more weird rather than funny.  Just saying it right now.