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. :')