• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Final Fantasy vs Tales of, better RPG series.

Final Fantasy Vs Tales

  • Final Fantasy

    Votes: 4 66.7%
  • Tales

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Total voters
    6
  • Poll closed .
Which is the better JRPG series, Final Fantasy, the series that but RPGs on the map, or Tales of, a series that is usually overlooked by most people, yet has a devoted fanbase.

Though I love both of them, Tales wins. My favorite game of all time is Tales of the Abyss. The reasons why I think Tales is better are because:

1) Better character development
2) Battle system is awesome.
3) Better humor
4) Deconstructs the standard good vs evil plot by having villians with deep, personal reasons for why they are doing what they are doing.
5) Many of the games have dark themes, but remain bright and colorful
6) and this is the big one, Tales hasn't lost its fun factor, something that Final Fantasy has lost since IX.

But what do you think?
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I think the "Tales" series is very popular with fans of J-RPGs, but few other people. I think Final Fantasy is more mainstream as far as RPGs go, whereas if you mention the Tales games, no one knows them.

That being said, I'm a bigger fan of the Final Fantasy series, mostly because of earlier entries. I've only played Tales of Symphonia, and it's OK. I have Tales of Vesperia too, which I've heard is pretty good, but I haven't played it yet.
 

Ophiucha

Auror
Depends. Tales is a more consistent franchise. If you like one of them, you'll probably like all of them. The only one that stood out to me as kind of bad in the Tales series was Tales of Symphonia 2, but even that I mostly just disliked the cast; the gameplay remained consistently fun and amusing. Also, it barely counts as part of the main franchise, since it's a direct sequel to another one. Final Fantasy, at its best, is phenomenal. Far better than any individual Tales game. But as a franchise... well, I think I'd rather play ET on the Atari than ever boot up Final Fantasy XIV again.

Further, in terms of gameplay and tone, the series ranges wildly, making it much easier for someone to say I liked "Final Fantasy __" as opposed to claiming they like the series as a whole. Whether or not that is a good thing, I guess, depends on your perspective. But usually, people are either a fan of I through VI, VII through X, XI and XIV, and a few people really like the characters in XII. Nobody liked XIII.

All of that said, two of my favourite games of all time are Final Fantasy IX and Tales of Symphonia. I like all of the Tales games, which I certainly can't say about FF, but none of the others are even close to being a favourite game of mine, whereas Final Fantasy VI was in my Top 10 before I felt obliged to put Skyrim in there (you dedicate 400+ hours of your life to playing a game and it just seems sort of sad if it isn't one of your favourites).
 
Depends. Tales is a more consistent franchise. If you like one of them, you'll probably like all of them. The only one that stood out to me as kind of bad in the Tales series was Tales of Symphonia 2, but even that I mostly just disliked the cast; the gameplay remained consistently fun and amusing. Also, it barely counts as part of the main franchise, since it's a direct sequel to another one. Final Fantasy, at its best, is phenomenal. Far better than any individual Tales game. But as a franchise... well, I think I'd rather play ET on the Atari than ever boot up Final Fantasy XIV again.

Further, in terms of gameplay and tone, the series ranges wildly, making it much easier for someone to say I liked "Final Fantasy __" as opposed to claiming they like the series as a whole. Whether or not that is a good thing, I guess, depends on your perspective. But usually, people are either a fan of I through VI, VII through X, XI and XIV, and a few people really like the characters in XII. Nobody liked XIII.

All of that said, two of my favourite games of all time are Final Fantasy IX and Tales of Symphonia. I like all of the Tales games, which I certainly can't say about FF, but none of the others are even close to being a favourite game of mine, whereas Final Fantasy VI was in my Top 10 before I felt obliged to put Skyrim in there (you dedicate 400+ hours of your life to playing a game and it just seems sort of sad if it isn't one of your favourites).

Thats why I love Tales and starting to hate FF. Tales knows what works for them and make minor tweeks to make it better, where as Final Fantasy has, starting with VI, has been having a major identity crisis.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I wrote an article on Final Fantasy and how I'd personally like to see it change. *cheap plug*

Final Fantasy Reimagined: J-RPG+Western RPG=Awesome?

It's definitely going down the wrong path at the moment, but I think it has the ability to re-invent itself because it has a very loyal fanbase. The Dragon Quest series is leagues more popular here in Japan than Final Fantasy, and it's because they haven't changed their system very much. Loyal players like that. FF is constantly trying to change things, so it can make some fans lose touch with it. And I think some of the stories don't translate well.

I may be the only person that liked FFXIII. It's not my favorite by any means, but I like it.
 
Top