Okay, it's slow here and I'm pretty much bored.
So I was thinking. If there's one thing that's a given with plenty of RPGs, it's that you're going to be seeing a lot of people swinging swords around. Of course, if there isn't variety, it can be pretty boring. So I got to thinking about talking about the various fighting style of Tales characters throughout the series (especially since that would possibly be the only way to slow down getting bored of swords). The idea came from thinking about these characters in a fighting game and if the similar movesets will feel redundant (disregarding the announced customizing options in Tales of VS for now). Also because...I actually had Star Wars on the brain and was reminded of the
reverse saber stance of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice from The Force Unleashed (and...a certain Namco fighting game many have vocally argued Star Wars characters had no business being in at all due to the sci fi elements of said guest characters.). It just sort of came like that and figure it'll be interesting to talk about the fighting styles in the series.
Right now, I'm covering a few sword users (Also, I will not be covering Tempest, Innocence, or Hearts here, since I haven't really looked into them all that much...and I still don't have Innocence or Hearts as of yet). Oh yeah, feel free to fill in the blank on this (because I also haven't really analyzed others like Philia's usage of her sword) or make some corrections on the other stuff.
Cless Alvein (ToP) - Tales wise, he starts off what feels like the traditional Tales sword style, with your Majinken/Demon Fang and your Kogahazan/Tiger Blade. His moves would be reused by other characters in other installments. Later in the game, he'll end up with space and time bending-related moves. Also worth mentioning that he also does use spears, axes, and halberds if one chooses so.
Stahn Aileron (ToD) - Borrowing from the traditional sword style movelist, he uses demon fang like others. Here, Stahn has a sentient sword (and pretty much sticks with it) that allows him to use fire-based magic and his other moves fire based.
Leon Magnus (ToD) & Judas (ToD2) - He started off with just one sword and using the traditional moveset in the PS1 ToD plus other stuff. When he fights as Judas, he has a different moveset and this is where he's changed to wielding a dagger (this one held in reverse stance) in one hand and a sword in the other and was recon for him to fight that way in the remake, still with the same moveset (but also with both blades in reverse stance).
Kyle Dunamis (ToD2) - The first Tales hero to not use the traditional moveset. He uses Souhajin as his projectile (which Yuri will use himself and given the English name Azure Edge) rather than Majinken/Demon Fang.
Lloyd Irving (ToS) - He's a dual wielding swordsman. Moveset certainly consists of the traditional moveset. Though he does get the swords that create the Eternal Sword, he doesn't seem to bend Time and Space all that much for his movesets.
Yuri Lowell (ToV) - With Yuri, he certainly likes tossing his sword around for flash and does borrow from the moveset originally done by Kyle (as mentioned already). Oh yeah, and he does use axes if one chooses to do so.
Estelle (ToV) - Okay, she's the healer of the group in the usual sense (Rutee is classified as more of a thief, despite being the healer of the group) but she uses swords as one of her weapons so she counts. I haven't really looked enough into her moveset but then again, melee fighting isn't her priority. Well, she also uses rods if one chooses to do so.
Asbel (ToG) - While the game hasn't been released yet, we have known already he has two different fighting styles he changes on the fly. One of them is to slash from pulling the sword out from its sheath.
While I haven't covered all of them, it's a look at different sword users' fighting style. Plenty of borrowed moves and some moves that deviates from the stock moves when it comes to the lead characters. I just like to see how much they stick to the usual move set and how much they depart from the usual move sets, not to mention if they use a different style for their sword skills or decides to go for a different weapon.
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