Now and then: Thoughts on the Tales games.

[spaceworlder]

I'm hoping for a 'remake' (on Wii?) in the way ToP PSX was over the SFC version, while fixing all those technical issues... it would be awesome.

If they ever do a Wii remake of Abyss, I hope it's compatible with the Retro Controller. I can't see myself playing a Tales game with the Wiimote & Nunchuck setup.

[Sam Wagner]

Symphonia: The first Tales game I ever owned (First Really good gamecube game to...), I actually remember that when I first played the game (For some reason I wasn't into games until about 4 years ago), I visited a friend's house after he got his gamecube we played for like 2 and a half hours, I got the game a week later and got completely hooked. while the story was cliched, I never really played any games with story before this one so nothing here felt too overused. The graphics were amazing the texture though are what really caught my eye, at the time this game felt a bit like a work of art. The soundtrack was good by a bit, inconsistent, with more modernized calming music to some battle themes which I later learned to be remixes from Phantasia, I still cry every time I hear Lloyd's theme (I don't get why either...).

Now? It seems the game never lost it's charm, I haven't got to play any of the newer tales games since, so I don't wish for the advancements of Abyss. I've kept a record of never completing a new playthrough without a friend (especially the one that showed me symphonia) at my side playing some character for 80% of the time. The graphics of the game still amaze me every time I play, never finished the monster list but one day I will...

Phantasia: I got this on the GBA since it's the only tales game since symphonia to work on a system I owned, I have to say though that I (oddly enough) really enjoyed it while it felt a bit outdated and glitchy, I still love the charm the game holds, since I don't have any knowledge of Japanese I never got the chance to play anything but the dejap version... (Kinda the reason I'm posting in this forum) There's not much to say about the game here for now, never picked it up again after getting the sorcerer's ring, I think I kinda got lost...

Now (hopefully) once I get a psp this holiday season I'll be able to import Eternia from europe, and maybe get Radiant Mythology if something convinces me that It's worth not waiting for a 10$ price drop...

[Caer-caveral]

Sorry to bring up a semi-old thread, but I just love this kind of stuff. Thanks for eveyone so far sharing memories =)

In the order I played them.

Tales of Destiny:
Then: Saw it being played and though it was cool as hell. Something entirely different from the standard RPG experience. I played through it loving everything, finding everything. I even cleared that damn tower of Druaga, and that kind of thing is very rare for me nowadays (because of not as much free time I guess, mostly). Really got me into the tales-mentality.

Now: Feels horribly old. It's one game I can't go back to because of too many flaws in the battle engine. It's a good thing there's the remake now.

Tales of Phantasia PSX
Then: Stumbled upon it in a local game shop (who didn't even carry import games. No idea what this one was doing there). Really cool, though I didn't understand much apart from what I could get from scattered threads and FAQs. I played through half of Dejaps effort some time later in an effort to understand it, but it was too hard to go back to the SNES version that I dropped it. I still only have a vague understanding of the complete story actually...

Now: It lies on the threshold of playability. I can still have fun with it, but one thing makes me just a bit too annoyed to keep playing: I can't stand battle stopping for spells. It just gets too slow for me. Still cool though, some really nice design choices overall in this game, which makes it a joy to look at even after all these years.

Tales of Eternia:
Then: Tales finally done right, as far as gameplay goes. The story is a bit on the "meh" side, which is a pity. I quite liked Farah and Rid, but I never got any kind of attachment to the others. Still, battles are simply so much fun that I can play this endlessly. Ridiculous amount of cool and over the top skills and stuff to play with. Also tons of extra bosses and stuff to do, it felt like it would never end, but in a good way.

Now: Nothing much has changed in my sentiment. Has kept up very well with the years. If I ever get a PSP I might very well get the japanese version for it as a fun way to both get some language-practice in and avoid the *horrible* dub. Probably still my second favorite in the series.

Tales of Destiny 2:
Then and Now: Never replayed it, so these are my only thoughts. Battles were iffy for me. I felt far too restricted by the system, which I felt robbed it of the fast paced feeling eternia had. Also absolutely loathed when enemies cheaped out by hanging in the back and nuking you with spells while I die from backstabbing and an inability to attack properly when I try to get to them.
Wasn't really fond of the story either, but it might be because I didn't understand it very well. I just now that I found Kyle a bit too annoying for me. Anyway, that might have been different if I had played it in english, but my feelings on battles still remain.

Tales of Symphonia:
Then: Only played this at my friends gamecube. It's really a fun game, making battles fast and furious with lots of skills. Shame on the lack of hi-ougis (in this version). Need more flash dammit! ^^. Mania was fun and challenging, keeping me and my friend entertained for a large part of the second time through.
What I never did quite like was the characters. Story was okay I guess, though it felt a bit too clichéd (done before in ToP, perhaps?) maybe I missed out a bit on never having really gotten into ToP's story. However, characters: I never liked Lloyd at all, he just seemed like the stupid hero (Destiny) and overly noble hero (Cless, and most games really) combined and taken to their peaks. Collete was funny sometimes, but mostly just boring. Presea too quiet for my tastes. I hated Genis! It's rare for me to give pure hate to a character, but I never clicked with Genis at all. I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be an issue with the translation (and his voice), but as things stand that's how it is. Zelos was probably the only character that I really liked all the way through, though the rest were okay as well.
I should also mention that this game is a bit up and down on the visual design side (which I find important).  Most of it was quite beautiful in it's style, but a lot of the main enemies were quite ugly and uninspired and had a very boring story about them, if they even had one.

Now: Most things remain, but Abyss put a dent in the battles. I have too hard a time to go back to this after seeing how the game should have played. That's what you get for being spoiled.

Tales of Rebirth
Then: Really like it when I started out. It felt freer than symphonia since you could choose you line and actually dodge enemies that way. Skills were also surprisingly satisfying, considering how non-flashy most of them were (Though Hi-ougi system sucked). As of today, few things feels as nice as doing Veigues story unlocked ougi on a whole row of enemies. The major flaw was probably that spellcasters were not controlled well by the AI. Ougis with them were very rare, which made some parts more difficult than they should have been (grumble grumble, damn bonus dungeon). Also quite a cool new skill system, that worked quite well on the whole and gave a taste of something new. Still prefer the old classic system though.
On the whole I had a lot of fun with it at the time, but one thing I hated was the lack of bosses. They are incredibly few and far between, which sucks because they were really fun.

Now: It has fallen back a bit. I originally quite enjoyed the story, going through it as I was with Spekios translation. I think this was influenced by how much I liked the battles, as I continually like it less and less the more I think about it and replay it. Still fun to go back to the occasional boss battle, but I doubt I'll have the energy for a full replay.

Tales of the Abyss
Here and everywhere, now and always: Apologies in advance, but this paragraph will have quite some fanboyism over it.

I simply love this game.

The battle system is almost everything I've wanted from a tales. I remeber full well before it was announced how I said I really liked Rebirth's system and was sad to see it go, to which Cless responded with his vision of an upgraded Symphonia-system. I liked the idea then, and Namco proved it to be as great as it sounded. Skills are not as much in abundance as many previous titles, but most of them were well thought out and supplemented by my favourite feature: FoF. It's sad that it's a gimmick and thus will probably never be used again, for I find it incredibly cool and satisfying. This together with plenty of Hiougis fulfill my desire for flashy stuff, which I find important for full enjoyment. Battles were challenging enough (on hard, alone, first time through), and my 2-3 player low leveled mania playthrough was an absolute blast with some really epic challenges (Arietta and Ancylopolyp, I'm looking at you).

I also quite liked the story. I haven't actually played all of the english version, but my several playthoughs of the japanese versions with Spekios FAQ and japanese speaking friends have given me what I need. Story is quite interesting in it's own right, but mostly it's the characters that does it for me. Love everyone, even the enemies. Natalia is probably the only one that didn't get a strong connection with me. "old" Luke rocks and Jade is the best ever. =)

I'm currently replaying it again, even though I already have two and a half playthroughs previously, averaging 110 hours each. Partly it's because I'm learning japanese myself and want the practice, but mostly it's for the sheer fun. Also got to say that even though many people bash it for graphics, I find the design and art direction so beautiful that I've hardly ever thought about it.

If I could ask for more, I would say less loading time (of course, though I'm quite used to it now), faster spell startups to make them harder to dodge (all spells should be like FoF spells in startup), and that enemies should more actively try to get FoF's themselves. Some pacing can be enhanced, but I never felt particularly bothered by it. Thank god for airship autopilot though.

So yeah, so far one of the best games I've played to date, certainly at the top of the RPG list. I have a save before every major boss fight in the game, just because it's fun to go back and take e'm down, like a boss rush =)


Legendia... Played it for about 3 hours, but the stiff gameplay and especially the lack of multiplayer turned me off, so I quit. Probably won't start again.


whew, long...