Tales of this thread Page 2

Started by Sydian September 7th, 2015 9:25 PM
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Cherrim

Age 34
she / her
Toronto
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted 6 Days Ago
33,049 posts
20.4 Years
Taaaales! :> Probably my favourite game series right now!

I've finished Eternia, Symphonia/2, Abyss, Innocence, Vesperia+PS3, Hearts R, Graces f, Xillia/2, and Zestiria. Additionally I've played a little bit of Phantasia and Legendia, but I've never finished them. As for side games, I've played Radiant Mythology/2, VS, Twin Brave, and I sort of play the mobile games Asteria and Link on and off. (Moreso Asteria because it has an actual plot and character interaction that isn't a crappy self-insert and that's the kind of content I care about... but I'm really mad at it for not giving me swimsuit Alvin in the gacha AGAIN this summer after throwing money at it for the second time so I haven't played a lot since then.)

My favourite game in the series is Xillia, although Graces has my favourite battle system (and ensemble cast) and Abyss is objectively the best one I've played despite all its technobabble. But seriously, Xillia is great even though a lot of people didn't like it much. I loved the lack of world map (I hate world maps, so sue me), the skits were great, and I really liked its painterly sort of graphics style. :> Plus, I think it has literally the best mechanics in any JRPG I've ever played. It's like a love story to the genre; it's such a joy to play! It keeps track of the side quests you've activated as well as their progress, it hints at you with skits any time a sidequest or its progression becomes accessible, you can quick travel anywhere (for free *glares at Zestiria) so backtracking (which the game actually had very little of) isn't such a slog, levelling up is simple but still customizable so it feels important without feeling overwhelming, and so on and so on. It's just unfortunate that Bamco rushed it (and every game after it) because if Xillia had had the same amount of time/care dedicated to it that earlier games got? I think it would be a masterpiece. Plus it was the last main Tales game where you could main any character and and have fun rather than feel like you were missing out because you're playing the "wrong" one, and as someone who never mains the main characters, I appreciate that a lot.

One of the only goals I had for the summer was to clear out some of the Tales games I'd never played because I really want to be able to say I've played them all. School started today and I just realized I... didn't even play any Tales games. ;_;'
Let's all take a moment to appreciate that in Xillia 2, Jude is apparently 16 and is already a certified doctor. What am I doing with my life
If you ever wanna feel even worse about your progress in life... he went off to med school at age 12. :')


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Sothis

Will this hand destroy you?

She/her
Firene
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9.9 Years
Jude is a doctor and I ain't even working :(
Most Tales characters are younger than me and doing so much lmao

you cannot hope to win
so bound in flesh


Cherrim

Age 34
she / her
Toronto
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted 6 Days Ago
33,049 posts
20.4 Years
http://blog.talesofgame.com/en/tales-of-zestiria-reveals-its-pc-specs-ps4-info/

Zestiria PS4/PC "specs" were released today. The upgrades sound pretty good to me! PS3 version has such terrible draw distance so it's nice to see it'll be at least 2x better. No more ENTIRE MOUNTAIN popping out of a cutscene because the camera zoomed out slightly! Updated textures and anti-aliasing sounds godlike too. I never did get over just how jaggy everyone was in the game.

The game will be locked at 30fps because apparently it doesn't perform well if they unlock it. I'm already seeing a lot of people complaining about that but honestly...? Coming from the PS3 version all I can think is "goddamn I WISH 30fps had been the norm on PS3... that sounds godlike" because seriously, framerate was just so, so, SO awful on PS3. The first few minutes of the game I remember thinking, specifically because of the framerate, that the game wasn't built for PS3. And further, I remember this one cutscene where there was a voiceover and no one on-screen was even moving--just a slow camera pan--and the game had a slow/choppy framerate for it so... 30fps, if they can keep it static, sounds great to me, lol.


paired with professor plum.

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
I'm so ready for Zestiria. Ready to watch the opening cinematic a million times and fall in love with the cast. <3
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Arc

Male
ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ
Seen March 17th, 2018
Posted January 31st, 2017
2,023 posts
15 Years
http://blog.talesofgame.com/en/tales-of-zestiria-reveals-its-pc-specs-ps4-info/
The game will be locked at 30fps because apparently it doesn't perform well if they unlock it.
I'm curious on what problems they encountered with it. I know with Dark Souls PC, unlocking the frame rate will lead to collision being non-existent when sliding down ladders. Well, I'll find out when Zestiria PC comes out since I'll probably prod around the ini files to find where the FPS settings are. Worst case scenario is the game probably won't even start when I unlock it. Best case scenario is that animations are janky. To be totally honest, what I'm actually expecting and most likeliest to happen, is that the game will break and funny muk will happen.

I'm already seeing a lot of people complaining about that but honestly...? Coming from the PS3 version all I can think is "goddamn I WISH 30fps had been the norm on PS3... that sounds godlike" because seriously, framerate was just so, so, SO awful on PS3.
I can understand the complaints to some degree. I don't want the entire game to be 60 FPS, I just want battles to have it. PS3 version wasn't that bad. It was still running on 30 FPS or near it most of the time, yeah, it can drop into the mid-10s when muks hits the fan, but that's not all that common.

And further, I remember this one cutscene where there was a voiceover and no one on-screen was even moving--just a slow camera pan--and the game had a slow/choppy framerate for it so... 30fps, if they can keep it static, sounds great to me, lol.
Okay, this one I'll agree with, because there were a couple scenes I distinctly remember doing this. I know one of them seemed like it was loading the environment for when the scene ends.

Really, I just want to blame this whole seamless feature that Zestiria has. I feel like all of these problems could have been avoided if they restricted it or didn't use it at all. I still can't fathom that transition into battles, when at the end of it, you're going to black screen it back to the overworld.

ソラ

May My Heart Be My Guiding Key

Age 32
He/Him
California
Seen April 7th, 2023
Posted March 18th, 2023
2,002 posts
15.2 Years
my first tales has to be Tales of Graces F, I imported it on my PS3, this was before ToGf was announced to be released outside of Japan. That game got me into the series. I then bought Tales of the Abyss on the Ps2 for a steal! 20 dollars perfect condition on amazon! Abyss became my top favorite game of the series, still is til this day! ToV is behind Abyss for me. I own the ToV PS3 version, I dont have an xbox, and i dont plan to, Im not gonna get an xbox for just one game. So I imported it for a small price. My top 3 tales is Abyss, Vesperia (PS3), and Xillia 2. my thought on Symphonia (this is my personal opinion) I dont think its that hype worthy but I do understand that people love it cause it was their first, but I felt like it was let down (Opinion), but I dont think its a terrible game at all. But I do love the series. I also Imported Hearts R, Innocence R, I also imported Hearts on the DS the anime version. I imported Xillia, and Xillia 2 (also got the NA version). I'm sad to say cause of BILLS BILLS AND MORE BILLS, I cant get ToZ :/ Plus since Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue got announced and it is 60 dollars, that is on top of my list. :/

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
ngl, when you said "bills bills and more bills" I thought you were referring to paying Ludger's debt in tox2 haha
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mannakete

exec hymme Holy=Judgment sos yor

Age 30
Female
California
Seen January 22nd, 2016
Posted October 3rd, 2015
39 posts
7.7 Years
Too much Xillia lol

Did anyone catch the livestream from Thursday? I didn't sleep much before it started lol. The PC version of Zestiria looks so, so good and I love the voices so much. I'm used to the JPN voiced but the ENG ones are so nice too.
The new Tales of Ambassador is pretty cool too.
If you missed it Namdai EU uploaded it to their youtube. There's also a preview for TOS PC but it's just Chronicles and doesn't look very different imo
Also the PC settings menu if you're into that! Doesn't affect me personally but I figured if anyone was going to play on PC you might like to see what you can change if you haven't seen it.
24 more days for the US/PC!!! I can hardly wait!

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Sopheria

響け〜 響け!

深き海の彼方
Seen July 19th, 2022
Posted December 17th, 2017
4,904 posts
9.5 Years
my first tales has to be Tales of Graces F, I imported it on my PS3, this was before ToGf was announced to be released outside of Japan. That game got me into the series. I then bought Tales of the Abyss on the Ps2 for a steal! 20 dollars perfect condition on amazon! Abyss became my top favorite game of the series, still is til this day! ToV is behind Abyss for me. I own the ToV PS3 version, I dont have an xbox, and i dont plan to, Im not gonna get an xbox for just one game. So I imported it for a small price. My top 3 tales is Abyss, Vesperia (PS3), and Xillia 2. my thought on Symphonia (this is my personal opinion) I dont think its that hype worthy but I do understand that people love it cause it was their first, but I felt like it was let down (Opinion), but I dont think its a terrible game at all. But I do love the series. I also Imported Hearts R, Innocence R, I also imported Hearts on the DS the anime version. I imported Xillia, and Xillia 2 (also got the NA version). I'm sad to say cause of BILLS BILLS AND MORE BILLS, I cant get ToZ :/ Plus since Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue got announced and it is 60 dollars, that is on top of my list. :/
Graces was my first too! It's a great game and I'm surprised I don't hear as many people talk about it. I'm still working through Abyss on the 3DS, slowly but surely. And I've been wanting to play Vesperia for a while now, but I'm holding out for an English PS3 port.

And of course, super hyped for ToZ! I've been resisting the urge to watch playthroughs on Youtube for months.
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alisaie

they/them
Seen March 14th, 2023
Posted February 3rd, 2022
13,598 posts
14.8 Years
Tales is love. Tales is life.

Although I've only finished four of them (Symphonia, DotNW, Abyss, and Vesperia) oops. Symphonia has been a major part of my life for more than 10 years now and still holds it's title as pretty much my favorite game. Though Abyss and Vesperia are pretty much right there under it. I'm not sure which one I enjoy more between Abyss and Vesperia, but after playing the PS3 version of Vesperia I almost want to say that it beats Abyss by a margin. If only because I love the non-romantic element of Vesperia so you can see any interaction your own way (for example Ristelle is canon you can't tell me otherwise).

I do intend on playing some of the future games but I've been a little hesitant as they don't have a few things that the older games have. But I'll give them chance... eventually. Definitely going to try and get Zestiria (for the PS3 sadly. I don't have a powerful computer nor do I have a PS3) and then hope that Berseria other characters look intriguing because currently the main protag just... doesn't do it for me. :/ But yeah! I've been in a Vesperia PS2 mood the past few weeks with my sister and it's still going strong with all the extra crap that we haven't finished doing yet hahaha.

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
Y'all I beat Tales of Xillia 2 and...

Spoiler:
why did they do this to me............................


I have some big complaints with the game unfortunately, but it's mainly the fact that pretty much everything from Xillia gets rehashed. It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the game, but it was still a bit disappointing and I'm sure that's a huge turn off for some players.

Anyway, next game I'm playing is Zestiria since that comes out soon. :> I went ahead and preordered it the other day so I'm looking forward to playing it and hoping it doesn't crush my soul lol.
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Kay, so Zestiria has been out for a couple of days now. Anyone picked it up and have some first impressions that they'd care to share? Mine are under the spoiler, although there's nothing hugely spoilery story-wise:

Spoiler:

I'm...not sure I care for the way the battle system is set up this time around; it's a pretty mindless button masher with crazy camera angles thanks to the on-field setup. Not gaining anything other than AP when you level is also silly, because herbs are not that common, Gald is scarce, and weapon drops are quite rare...even with 2x multipliers, on Hard mode. I'm not struggling at the moment, but I can see this becoming a problem later on unless you grind, and the Tales series has never been a grindy series, so I can see that working against it. Xillia's Sphere Grid was pretty crap, but it worked at least. I'm not sure this will over time. Fusing a piece of equipment to +99 is going to be horribly time-consuming...

As for the story...well, I can already see exactly where this is going to go. If I'm wrong about it I'll be surprised; it'd be a very Tales thing to do, especially since Lailah is being so secretive. Knowing Alisha will leave the party and never return is stopping me from getting too attached to her though, which will probably mean I'll enjoy it more in the long run; I judge characters very early. Sorey, for instance, is a happy-go-lucky carefree moron. He reminds me a bit of Po at the beginning of Kung Fu Panda, and that image is going to stay with me now, haha. I don't like Mikleo at all, and Lailah makes me smile.

EDIT: Edna is the best; I adore her. Every Tales game, even the ones I dislike, have one character I ADORE. Vesperia had Rita. Graces had Pascal. Xillia had Elise. Zestiria has Edna. YESSSS.


Obviously these are first impressions subject to revision as I progress further, but at the moment, I'm about as excited as I was when I first started playing Xillia...which is to say, not very. It's a very slow start, and it's going to have to pull some Xenoblade-level surprises to catch up. Well, maybe not THAT high, but close to it.

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
It's out in North America so I finally got my copy! I'm enjoying it so far, but...

Spoiler:
Battle system is weird. I'm not really digging the changes, but I also think coming right off the Xillias doesn't help, lol. Enjoying it other than that so far...but I'm annoyed I can't rewatch skits and it doesn't seem like they come around as often either. :( So that's lame, but eh. I haven't been hooked like Xillia did with me yet, but I mean...miracles happen. I didn't like Ludger when I started Xillia 2 and we all see how that ended up.
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Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
It's out in North America so I finally got my copy! I'm enjoying it so far, but...

Spoiler:
Battle system is weird. I'm not really digging the changes, but I also think coming right off the Xillias doesn't help, lol. Enjoying it other than that so far...but I'm annoyed I can't rewatch skits and it doesn't seem like they come around as often either. :( So that's lame, but eh. I haven't been hooked like Xillia did with me yet, but I mean...miracles happen. I didn't like Ludger when I started Xillia 2 and we all see how that ended up.

That in mind, I didn't think I'd like Mikleo either but jfc he is a sassy lil thing I love him I want seven.
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Male
the town on no map
Seen September 16th, 2022
Posted July 12th, 2022
3,340 posts
14.2 Years
Granted, I'm only a few hours in so most of my opinions aren't worth much, but so far it's been okay. Not really feeling the story, and haven't warmed up to any of the characters yet but it's early. Won't say anything on combat yet, but it's definitely reminiscent of Graces so far; battle theme is catchy though. :)

Satoshi Ookami

Memento Mori

Age 30
Male
Abyss of Time, Great Seal
Seen August 5th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
14,253 posts
14.8 Years
It's out in North America so I finally got my copy! I'm enjoying it so far, but...

Spoiler:
Battle system is weird. I'm not really digging the changes, but I also think coming right off the Xillias doesn't help, lol. Enjoying it other than that so far...but I'm annoyed I can't rewatch skits and it doesn't seem like they come around as often either. :( So that's lame, but eh. I haven't been hooked like Xillia did with me yet, but I mean...miracles happen. I didn't like Ludger when I started Xillia 2 and we all see how that ended up.

That in mind, I didn't think I'd like Mikleo either but jfc he is a sassy lil thing I love him I want seven.
Did you already download Best Girl The DLC? :D
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Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
Did you already download Best Girl The DLC? :D
I haven't added the DLC I got with my preorder yet, if it's in that. Haven't gotten anything else aside from that either. /too lazy to fix internet settings on ps3 atm
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Nah

Age 30
she/her, they/them
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted 16 Hours Ago
15,640 posts
9.5 Years
I went and ordered Zesteria today so that should come in.....sometime.

What exactly is the DLC for it though?
Nah ンン
“No, I... I have to be strong. Everyone expects me to."

Arc

Male
ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ
Seen March 17th, 2018
Posted January 31st, 2017
2,023 posts
15 Years
but I'm annoyed I can't rewatch skits and it doesn't seem like they come around as often either.
You'll get the ability to rewatch skits at the Katz Village.

Skits are viewed exclusively at savepoints, resting at inns, and points of discovery. There are a fair amount of them, it's just doesn't seem that much since you don't get bombarded with two - three skits after an event, like past Tales games. Plus, it's really easy to miss a lot of the inn ones.

I went and ordered Zesteria today so that should come in.....sometime.

What exactly is the DLC for it though?
Pre-order DLC is the classic Tales costumes and weapons. edit: Forgot about the DLC Mystic Artes.

Free DLC that's available to everyone at here, is the Alisha story. It's just a short side-story that takes place after Zestiria's ending, where Alisha is the main character.
I have to admit, I'm a tad annoyed that I've plugged away about thirty hours into Tales of Zestiria now and I'm only just beginning to see signs that there might be an actual plot to it. I might not like the story to certain Tales games, but at least it keeps me in the thick of it. Zestiria is a lot of pointless (restricted) wandering across the continent being firmly steered away from anything plot-related by Lailah's ramblings.

Much as I'm loving Edna's snark - and I am; she's quickly on the way to becoming my favourite character of any Tales game - it'd be nice if the plot was a little more present and intricate and a little less secretive and blatantly obvious in all the "hints" its dropping. It reveals things in snippers, then when something major comes along and Lailah refuses to speak about it, it's pretty much confirmation that what you're probably thinking is actually how things are, so it's a totally ineffective strategy.

Unless this game is pulling a Magna Carta II and is going to drown me in story cliches so I can't see which one is going to be followed through with (I'm still hoping for this) I'm going to rank this one pretty low on that little list I keep in my head of best to worst Tales game. It's about on-par with Vesperia at the moment in the story department, in my opinion.

But but but I'm getting the hang of the battle system now...well, except for when I'm forced to battle in corridors with corners. Then the camera goes INSANE and I can't see a thing. Usually I just switch to a Seraph and spam artes, though. I forsee a lot of weapon grinding in my future. Should be fun.

Spoiler:
...it'd also be nice if I didn't keep calling Heldalf "Gandalf" in my head. But that's a personal issue. xD

Also, Rose > Alisha. I'm GLAD she left, she was a soulless Knight/Princess whose lack of personality completely clashed with her badass image. Rose has a deceptively light-hearted personality with a core of steel I love; she's a much more interesting travelling companion and I don't know what the Japanese fans were complaining about.



Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
Just me about to get grumpy, you can ignore me if you want. n___n But it is a major spoiler, so don't click it unless you're at least...I'd say 30ish hours in?

Spoiler:
You're not really 30 in, get out.

Okay BASICALLY, I don't understand why Bamco insists on killing off my favorite characters in their games like really??? Really??? You take Dezel away from me? :( I mean, I love Zaveid and could not wait for him to join the party but this is far from the way I wanted it Bamco..................so far from it..............
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Spoiler:

It would have been really nice if that whole thing had actually been woven into the narrative, rather than just completely dropped on us like that. I mean, it was nice to know that these characters had actual backstory, but it didn't really relate to the current plot in any way at all! It just kinda...happened. There was no build-up, and the game in the wake of it was pretty stale as well; it was like it never even happened. It's exactly like what happened with Eizen - that was a huge, HUGE deal for Edna, and it hasn't been mentioned since. There's a ****ing DRAGON on top of the mountain! Are we not going to do something about that? Are we not even going to look for something to do about it?!

Although if you go back to fight him she completely refuses to take part in the battle, so you're down one seraphim. He's also Level 64 on Simple and hits like a ****ing truck.


I'm closer to fifty hours in now and I think I'm near the end...although rather than progress, I'm going to follow the game's advice and looking for the remaining Earthen Historia; I don't think I have many left. Because hey, why not make me work for my backstory, rather than feed it to be and weave it into the main narrative so I actually give a damn? =/

Also, Intense is intense. I hate werewolves, boars need to **** OFF AND DIE, and I can't get the trial themes out of my head. And scary loli girls are scary. Also, YOU SHALL NOT PASS. He even SOUNDS like bloody Gandalf to my ears now. A weird mix of Gandalf and Darth Vader, done in the style of Sonic Unleashed's werehog. Hail, ye mighty villain.

Sydian

fake your death.

Age 30
they/them
Georgia
Seen May 22nd, 2022
Posted November 29th, 2021
33,354 posts
15.2 Years
One thing I will give this game credit over the other Tales games I've played (and I guess it only technically counts as two because the Xillias use mainly the same music) is that the music is fantastic and way above the others. I wasn't overly impressed with a lot of tracks in Xillia sans Battle For A Future to Believe In and The World Sinking Into Darkness. And in Abyss, like...I couldn't tell you much of anything I really liked in that game. But Zestiria? I could tell you like 10 songs off the top of my head that I adore. Take this with a grain of salt though, since I've only played Abyss and both Xillias. So that's all I have to go by here.

Zaveid the Exile = best song imo. All the trial temple songs are amazing as well, especially the earth one.

Spoiler:
They really did just drop a bunch of **** on us there with the Dezel thing though. I get that he kept all his stuff secret and he wasn't gonna actually tell us what his beef was, but that was just so sudden and out of no where, really. And I'm gonna destroy Symmone first chance I get. If Dezel isn't gonna be here to be driven by vengeance, then dammit, I'll fill that slot.
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Nah

Age 30
she/her, they/them
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted 16 Hours Ago
15,640 posts
9.5 Years
The Tales series usually has some fairly good music. There's other games/series that have better pieces or better soundtracks overall, but the music's never really a letdown in Tales.

My copy of Zesteria came in today, so whenever my sister's got the time we're gonna start playing it.
Nah ンン
“No, I... I have to be strong. Everyone expects me to."