Tales

[DSCroxford]

I have had a quick look through and couldn't find a similar thread so thought I would start one.

I am currently playing through Tales of Graces and Tales of Vesparia and wondered if anyone else has or is going through the stories.
My personal preference at the moment is graces, I find the story line is to be easier to follow and am getting a better relationship with the characters. Although the game play itself can be fraught with frustration, especially when for no reason we are traveling back and forth consistently with weak reasons; the overall plot is enjoyable.

Vesparia I am finding difficult to find any passion to carry on playing, I do not feel as immersed in the reason for character motives and new characters just seem to be thrown into the mix, maybe I am not far enough through the game to get a proper back story that will explain it to me, but should I be wondering about it until then?

All in all I have become a fan of Tales and am looking forward to the next installment to be released in the UK: Xillia.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I've tried Abyss and Hearts (the latter emulated; to my knowledge it's never been officially translated.) I think Abyss is a bit overrated--the story's not as deep as it tries to be, the combat hasn't aged well, and entire dungeons are permanently missable if you're not using a walkthrough. Hearts has a less ambitious story, but it's serviceable, and the combat's great. My only complaint, though it's a big one, is that the level grind is just plain mean--you can get through a lot of fights by using Iria and constantly backpedaling, but powering up enough to win the "proper" way is an exercise in tedium.

 

[Ophiucha]

I haven't played the series in years, but I used to be a big fan. Tales of Symphonia was my favourite; I thought the combat system worked well for the Gamecube and I liked the characters a lot. I've played Phantasia, Eternia, Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Legendia, and Abyss... I own Vesperia, but I haven't played it yet. I also played a side game, Tales of the World on the PSP. It had a bunch of characters from the other game, so it was kind of cute. It's definitely more of a nostalgic series for me, but it was once one of my favourites so I occasionally boot up my Symphonia save and run through a dungeon.

I know there are anime series for a few of the games, but I've only seen the Phantasia OVA. It was better looking than a lot of game adaptations, but it was really rushed in the story department. I'd like to watch the Symphonia anime, but it keeps getting put aside in my queue.