Hello, newb with a couple of questions.

[mariko]

Hi! I've been a Tales fan for a while, and I just sort of stumbled upon this site while searching. I'm playing through Destiny over again, and I can't get the song that plays in Terazzi Castle (before you beat the boss) out of my head. Does anyone know the name of it? I've found soundtracks, but none of the songs I've downloaded have been it...

Also, I've only played Phantasia, Symphony, and Destiny, and I've been thinking of getting a PS2 or a PSP just for the oppertunity of playing a new Tales game. I didn't realize there were three Tales games for PS2... how do they compare to the others? They don't seem to be as popular...

[Cyllya]

Hmm... I don't think the three PS2 Tales are less popular unless you're talking about ToS, ToF2, and ToL, but it might depend which population of fans you're talking about. (There are seven PS2 Tales. If you mean out-of-Japan releases, I think there's only two. Maybe I'm forgetting one? But ToA is pretty popular.) Phantasia and Destiny aren't terribly popular over here.

Anyway...
ToD2 - My least favorite Tales (yes, I've played TotT and ToEO), but others love it.

ToS - Great, but I don't believe it has any worth to anyone who's played the GC version, except in regards to added plot content, which apparently few people care about (never mind being able to read it).

ToR - It's good.

ToD - Great. Play it if you can, even if you already played the PS1 version.

ToL - It's okay, and I'd say it's definately the funniest of all Tales games, but I think the criticism it gets is well-earned. Most of its fans like it for the plot, but a large portion of it is pretty much Tales of Symphonia's plot with sentient water and a dumbed-down sexier version ToE's villain.

ToA - Terribly unpolished, but play it anyway.

ToF2 - I haven't played it. It's a "face" adventure game, with what I believe is a collection of mini-games. (But people said ToF1 was a collection of mini games and... it's not... so maybe ToF2 isn't either.) I don't think the plot is considered as canon or even works as canon.

[Kajitani-Eizan]

if you can play ToA with a PS2 hard drive setup, or maybe on emulator (eventually, or perhaps even now if you have an amazing computer), it'll be much better. painful, horrible load times is one of its many flaws. still not a bad game overall, with a fairly interesting (if sometimes slow moving) plot, pseudo-scientific stuff (if you're into that sort of thing), enjoyable characters (mostly, anyway), and some fairly epic moments.

[FSLink]

if you can play ToA with a PS2 hard drive setup, or maybe on emulator (eventually, or perhaps even now if you have an amazing computer), it'll be much better. painful, horrible load times is one of its many flaws. still not a bad game overall, with a fairly interesting (if sometimes slow moving) plot, pseudo-scientific stuff (if you're into that sort of thing), enjoyable characters (mostly, anyway), and some fairly epic moments.

Seconding the Hard Drive setup. I just got it working with my copy of Abyss, and it really helps fix that annoying loading time problem it has. >_>

And definitely play Tales of Destiny's remake since you have already played the original.

[ForceCube]

ToL - (...)but a large portion of it is pretty much Tales of Symphonia's plot

I'd say it looks a lot more like ToR's. Besides the conflicts between two races, there's the whole "OMG they kidnapped my sister / friend / whatevershe'sgonnabemygirlfriendbytheendofthegameanyway !! I've got to rescue her!" stuff going on.

As for PS2 Tales, here's a quick overview of my opinion on each one.

ToD2: great
ToS: absolutely worthless piece of crap
ToR: OH MY GOD, THIS GAME IS AWESOME
ToL: story is nice and the characters are the best in the series IMO (except for Shirley anyway), but the rest of it is... erm... meh.
ToA: great
ToD Remake: the original is my favorite Tales, so there was no way in hell I wouldn't have liked it. AWESOME.
ToF2: never played it

[Kogahazan]

ToF2 isn't worth playing unless you know your moonspeak and/or like the few minigames that are there (or are a compulsive gambler and want to blow everything on the casino). As the title suggests, it really is for the fans.

[Kevassa]

I will review the games of tales seres, this I have all played in PS2, you can play the PSX ones via backwards compatibility, now, expect some big review block of text, YAY!

ToP Psx= Best music in tales series , best  cast and  best story, lacks gameplay and graphics from later games but it was the first to put the difficulty idea in PSX, hi ougis and MUCH more stuff that made it classic for other tales, in PSX ver it BROKE the slow impression ToD and ToP SFX had over players (though spell freeze is still there, crap) 9.5/10

ToD PSX= Sorta good.. The story is not too good... but the characters make up for it, though only 4 of them are plot related in the end so.. :S It lacks polishment, the battle system is REALLY boring, with easy bosses, horrid AI, and much worse, cheap moves.
The music is REALLY good, though I love many tracks here, and the graphics are good..
All in all a decent yet needs a LOT of development, it lacks a lot that the ToP PSX had (only released a year later), but it deserves it s ranking 6/10

ToE= A letdown in music department, but VERY VERY good in gameplay FIXES ALL THE STUFF THAT WAS MISSING IN TOP PSX  No spell freeze, awesome AI, more hi ougis, more battle freedoom, a karate fighter with new link system, cameos, awesome magic and summon system, and the best of it all = YOU CAN CHANGE PARTY MEMBERS IN BATTLE AND YOU DONT NEED ITEMS TO GO MANUAL/MULTIPLAYER :D:D::DD
That made it an AWESOME game, one of the better battle systems IMO, though it was tweaked during the years...
The graphics are STUNNING and the incorporate a new way to see the battle, the characters arent chibi.
Story wise, though it is even weaker than Destiny... it lacked an interesting plot (at least ToD's plot was interesting) there are many akward moments that dont fit the situation, the bosses arent as epic, the main villain is uninspiring and the objective is a cliche one : "save the world from OMG destruction that will happen with someone evil that wishes to kill it all!", ToD's and ToP's "destruction" wasnt necesarilly cause it wanted to "kill it all".
The characters THOUGH are really really good, but without the skits they lack personality (play USA ver and you will notice many characters will feel empty), like the optional characters having more depth...
All in all an excellent game, slightly behind ToP, just cause of story's sucky 9/10

[Kevassa]

ToD2= I dont know where to start reviewing this game... either from the awesome OST, that outstands really well and stays well earned second best OST from a tales game title, it isnt as good as ToP's though (god some of the event music didnt fit as well...) but in battle theme department it is extremely awesome, coup de grbce, Dona nobis pacem, Dreadnough, Wheel of fortune, Theme of Battle and we cant finish without Vive Memori Mortis, AWESOME tracks
The gameplay is a LOT hella faster than ToE.. but all with its cost... did I say cost? I meant SP cost? Oh you dont know what SP is? it is a meter that lets you use  dodge abilities,  basic attacks, skills and enchants (mainly everything - spells & guard & running) and without it you cant perform any attacks, the catch is that much more things can be done, like using enchants for using skills on air, rending meeles useless reducing their SP, and using Hi ougis at will.
There is a small, tiny piece of info you will hate now: You should never go to enemies side
In enemies side your SP/TP is reduced by HALF, you cant run away, and the worst part, the AI will try to keep in your side, THAT MEANS THEY WILL CORNER YOU AND COMBO LOCK YOU REALLY REALLY EASY, especially since some enemies can float above you and gently go to the back, oh and enemies SP/TP isnt reduced when they enter your side, whats more, they consume your side and transform it into "enemy side"  Cheap, uh?
Story wise the game has a REALLY nice plot, but a 1/4 the game is "I AM A HEROOO!" which sucks, without spoilers I will say the story has a great development showing the two main characters in tight situations  Character development is extremely awesome too, but only with 3 of the main characters... the rest is just your average tales character devolepment ("awesome").
I personally like the focus on the 3 main characters more than the others, so I will stay with the idea this is for the best (overall it is better than ToE "half and half" character development)
A great battle system, flawed by over complex enemy side system and enemy abuse, but after you get hang of it it is a hell of improvement over ToE.
9.5/10

[Kevassa]

ToS: what is this 3D?!?!?!?!
That was my first impression over the game, a new look to Tales series, now dont troll me, cause as you know I dont like a game for graphics, so sorry symphonia but your highest point is not debatabble.
Story wise it has a VERY cliche story in 1/4 of the game (ToD2 comeback?) but starts getting more and more exciting, and gets to the point where in the ending you will want to replay the game thousand times to understand every bit of it
Character development...
This is where the game can be HIGHLY devatable...
The introduction to 8 characters, IMO made the cast look unpolishily developed, and like ToD only a few characters play a great role in the end (well not to THAT extent, but it is pretty similar)
Some consider the cast to be perfect, but I myself have a negative opinion for over half the party AND half the bosses you encounter, there was no point into fighting a boss you see THRICE IN THE GAME and it shows it like "Omg it is HIM!"...
What I didnt like either was colette's personality OVER ALL THE GAME, she doesnt deserve the "female main character title"... Sheena would be FAR more appropiate if some events were changed.
Apart from that the rest of the characters are polished and have defined personalities with a lot of funny moments and great time.
The point where it aaaaaaaaaaall goes down with this game is gameplay...
> > WHY NAMCO? You made the game SLOWER than ToP, at least until 3/5 of the game, until you get those fast skills, abussive Ex skills, and great U attacks.
To put it all in a nutshell, you wont be making a 150 hit combo easily in this game as you did in ToD2 (I personally never went after the  300 hit combo =.=)
The battle system shines with its Unison attack, and almost incredible fast skills lloyd has end game. Like Sword Rain Tiger, and some abussive skills like colettes para ball, preseas final skills and  Zelos skills like LIght Spear cannon.
I wont talk about music cause it SUCKED so much I thought I wouldnt hear a good soundtrack in a long time (which ToR saved the day) it has one of the BY FAR worst soundtracks, only saved thanks of Tales of Tempest existance (man)
The game is really overrated, and is looked like an awesome game, which it is, but not as awesome as they claim to be, ToS is the first to have a low score ever since ToD PSX (in my book at least, rate it yourself after playing) 7.5/10

[Kevassa]

ToR: After ToS I thought that Tales series woulnt come back to its former status, which they did! This game is so awesome that it fully deserves the title "rebirth" (it revived series  awesomeness )
The main MAIN MAIN point they revived was music... awww now it hears a lot better, Battle organization, Scutum fang, Desperate Battle, Dogfight and the final battle theme (dont remember) along with the final boss theme are master tracks...
The other reason why it is good is story.. which is about racism and how it involves peoples hearts.
The battle system is ToE with... what the? 3 LINES?!?!
Yeah, it sounds awesome and it PLAYS awesomely, but there is a small lil problem, the battles are much slower than in ToD2... the game lacks that fast paced feel, the really long combos, never ending hi ougis, oh I mentioned hi ougis? Yeah in this game there are DUAL HI OUGIS, but dont get hyped, they can only be done once every 6 BATTLES in the best case as a FINISHER ONLY
I am not complaining cause the battle system added a REALLY GOOD ELEMENT=  ENHACING EQUIPMENT! It is a lot LOT better than refinement from ToD2, it allows you to have awesome equipment with almost any ability you think it is good worthwile (32X DAMAGE!!!!)
The battle system sports the new RG/FG system which has a lot of emphasis over the RG/FG gauge (duh), and the effects that it causes, like hi ougis Force Cube effects, Defending, attacking and etc
To put it basically you dont have TP, you can spam skills, but they will be weaker if you dont have the FG ready, you will have to set a skill for each side, and each side has a crystal which fills and when filled you can do the skill "properly" with all its powers.
the higher RG is the more damage you deal and receive, that is the basics, there are also other stuff it does infer like guarding, status inflicting, ougis and even HP recovery.
Arguably the best ever since ToP, has no flaws except the slowness in battle which might be the ONLY POSSIBLE EXCUSE FOR COMPLAINING ! 15/10^-^!
not really  but 10/10

[Kevassa]

For Tol and TotA... I wont review anymore cause... I dont want to look putting ANY more blocks of text,  :S I will just say they arent as polished as ToR was...

[Cyllya]

I'd say it looks a lot more like ToR's. Besides the conflicts between two races, there's the whole "OMG they kidnapped my sister / friend / whatevershe'sgonnabemygirlfriendbytheendofthegameanyway !! I've got to rescue her!" stuff going on.

Yeah, but ToS had those elements too. (Granted, they're very, very minor compared to ToR, but ToL had them kind of between the two extremes. Closer to ToR with the girl, closer to ToS with the racism.) The girl's even blue-eyed + long blond hair in all three. (I hear this is considered exotically beautiful in the land these games came from.)

But ToL also had some plot points shared with ToS that weren't in ToL:
--The blond-haired blue-eyed heroine fits ol' chosen one archetype, in that she's born for the purpose of some supernaturally oriented task. (Granted, Colette was more [spoilers]bred than supernaturally chosen[/spoilers], but it's still pretty similar.)
--The protagonists are against her completing this task. The hero uses his relationship with her to talk her out of it.
--The girl's got wings. Not even real wings but rather magical colored light wings.
--Probably some other stuff I forgot. I listed this out before when someone demanded an explanation for why I said the ol' "You just don't like ToL because it's different!" argument is silly because they're actually really similar, and I recall the list being longer.

Oh yeah, there's also that segment where the antagonist systematically confronts all party members except the hero and his closet companion (who have already finished their character development) with illusions tailored to their main character flaw, so they have to get over that last character development hump... lots of cheesy emotional speeches, and the more tear-prone players go through lots of tissue... It took like 30 minutes in ToS, but a whole 30 hours in ToL. But was that in ToR also? I think it was, but it was more spread out rather than being at the climax of the game, so ToL is slightly more similar to ToS in that matter.

[ForceCube]

But was that in ToR also?

It was, but not related to the antagonist (not directly, at least) and yeah, quite a bit different from ToS and ToL.
And indeed, your arguments make sense. I guess ToL is more similar to ToS after all... it only seems to be such a ToR ripoff because both Senel and Veigue have white hair