Which Tales game should I get?

[Wildwurger]

My birthday's coming up next month, and I figured I'd ask for a Tales game. But I'd like to hear you guys' input first.

I'd like to get one of the handheld ones so I can play Tales on the go. Therefore, my options are: Innocence, Tempest, Hearts, Rebirth PSP, and Destiny 2 PSP. My friend has Eternia PSP, so I can just borrow that when he's done.

I've played Rebirth and Destiny 2 on the PS2. I like them both, though Destiny 2's kind of frustrating sometimes. My only experiences with Innocence and Tempest have been with Radiant Mythology 2 (which I LOVE). I heard Hearts was really good. I watched a couple of videos of it, and saw that the battle system is in fact 2D. I am greatly intrigued.

So, what do you guys think?

[ForceCube]

It all comes down to personal taste, so you're likely to get different answers from each person. Out of the games you listed, I'd definitely recommend Destiny 2 and Hearts over Rebirth and Innocence, though all 4 of them are worth it. Since you've played Destiny 2 and Rebirth, I'll only give you an idea of what to expect from Hearts and Innocence.

Hearts has an incredibly broken battle system, complete with endless Arte spamming and enemies that don't stop beating the crap out of you until they die, but believe me, it's as much fun as it's cheap. Not to mention the characters are really fun once you get used to them fighting all the time and the game has a lot more content than your average handheld RPG. On the other hand, the story and soundtrack are nothing special and while the dungeons are some of the best in the series, overworld travel is boring as hell.

Innocence has its share of good moments and memorable characters, but I gotta say it's kinda bland in the story department. The battle system is basically the same as RM2, so it's safe to say it won't disappoint you. However, I wouldn't recommend you get it right now - the translation patch will be out in a few months, so it's better to wait until then unless you don't mind playing it in japanese.


As for Tempest... don't bother.

[DuskShark]

What ForceCube said...but I'd pick ToR PSP because I'm biased. That and Rebirth's battles are fun as hell.

[Empty_sky]

i would say Destiny 2. I think the battle system seems a lot more fun, seeing how fast it is. then again... i haven't played it...

[Kefir]

Since you've already played ToR I'd say go with Hearts.

[gyozilla]

If you want to play something new, I suggest Hearts.
If you just want to play Tales and don't care about replaying, I suggest Rebirth.
Rebirth has more new content than Destiny 2 like God mode and a battle arena.

Go here for some of the differences.

Edit: I should say though there's nothing special about the ToR arena.

[Wildwurger]

I just saw that thread and noticed Hearts was in the translation project list. It occured to me last night that Innocence is going to be a bitch to find (listed as "out of print/stock" on Play-Asia), so I might as well just give up on that. So I'm really split between Destiny 2 and Rebirth at this point. Might be leaning towards Destiny 2, just because I like the idea of random effects on equipment drops.

[pedrocasilva]

I think I'd go for Tales of Innocence, but that's just me.

Team Destiny games should have pretty bang for the buck.

[Dopple]

Skip the ports from PS2, the new content is nice but there's not very much.  Go with Innocence and/or Hearts, definitely skip Tempest.

[Wildwurger]

I decided to get Hearts. Thanks for the info, doods. Innocence is going to be too difficult to find in time for my birthday, I bet. I've also been burned pretty bad by EBay...twice. I won't go into details.

[Wildwurger]

Self-bump!

It arrived today. What luck, since it's my birthday. Well, I'll go play the hell out of it and let you guys know what I think. This also means I can have a legitimate interest in the translation, though I'll probably just end up getting one of those blank DS cart thingies instead. My computer's a bit of an old man (like me), and it can't run no$gba faster than about 40-45 FPS.

[DuskShark]

Self-bump!

It arrived today. What luck, since it's my birthday. Well, I'll go play the hell out of it and let you guys know what I think. This also means I can have a legitimate interest in the translation, though I'll probably just end up getting one of those blank DS cart thingies instead. My computer's a bit of an old man (like me), and it can't run no$gba faster than about 40-45 FPS.

Happy birthday.