Tales of (Series)

Tales needs some representation up in here.  So, feel free to answer the usual questions. Which titles do you like?  Favorite characters?  Who do you ship?  

I have played Destiny, Legendia, Abyss, Vesperia, and Graces F.  I only played Symphonia partially because I started and kinda lost interest... then I forgot where I was, and didn't want to start over.

Abyss is my favorite story-wise.  I think that one had the best resolutions and gave me the most overall feels.

Vesperia is a close #2 just because Yuri Lowell is the best thing ever to exist and he made the story more interesting.  Unfortunately a lot of the other characters were very cliche and the story didn't feel fully resolved to me.  Or maybe it was resolved too easily.  I dunno.

ABYSS/VESPERIA SPOILERS

Spoiler:

My other fav characters would be Jade from Abyss, but I loved all of them, really.  Even the generic or annoying ones.  The combination of skits and stuff make them all so fun.

I can't pick any ships, I pretty much ship everyone x everyone.  Like in Vesperia, I was sure Yuri, Flynn, and Estelle should just have a 3-way to resolve this whole thing, and then Judith showed up super hot with Yuri and then Rita started to be cute with Estelle and I was like I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE.  Tales kinda does that to you.

I've played Abyss, Symphonia, Graces f, and some of Legendia.

I haven't played Vesperia, but I, uh, like, um, uh, Judith, for, um, her, mmm, uh... spears... Yes, that it, her spears. Mhhm.

I mean, I totally don't find her hot or anything, that would be ridiculous.

Edit: Oh yeah, but that chick from Tales of Xillia, Milla, is pretty hot. I'm going to play her story when I get it, not only because she's infinitely sexier than Jude, but because I think she seems like a more interesting character.

^lol Adrak!
Spoilers,you have been warned!

I've played Vesperia and Abyss,I plan playing older ones too,
Summary of my opnion: (will explain and detail more as the thread goes on)
Abyss: too cronological,way too much,and the arts system could be a bit closer to vesperia,in my opnion,great osts and plot,despite the cliche ritual of cutting the long hair as a sign of will to change.
Plus it's annoying to unlock the extra dungeon just by looking at the previous requeriments.
Most prefered character to play: Luke

Vesperia,loosen up a bit compared to Abyss,easier to unlock the extra dungeon and make some unique events,awesome osts,plot,gameplay and system/tools.
One thing that pissed me off is that the Xbox360 version you can play with Flynn,for 10 minutes!
And in PS3 version you have a totally new character and yet another extra dungeon.
Prefered characters to play with: Yuri (final gale overpower),Judy,Repede (Woof!),Rita and even Estelle and old man,actually all of them but K/Carol,he sucks in my opnion,really.

My favorite game is Vesperia, closely followed by Graces f and Xillia 2.  Favorite characters (male-wise) would be Raven, Yuri and Zelos tied, f arc Richard, and Luke would round out the top 5.  Favorite characters (female-wise) would be the ones from Xillia 2.  Seriously, I love

Spoiler:

, Leia, Elise, and Elle.  Oh, and Musee is hilarious. XD

I'm not a fan of Abyss in the slightest, and that's because of the characters.  I cannot stand anyone that isn't Luke, Dist, Ion, or Mieu.  Abyss is also the only Tales of game to hold the title of "the one that took me at least 3 tries to get into enough to finish."

Maybe if the game didn't have Asch (whom I absolutely loathe), I might be better able to tolerate it.  Why does Asch piss me off the way he does?  

Spoiler:

 Yeah, I hate Asch that much, and I think he ruins Abyss for me.

Hmmm, shipping.  I've kind of outgrown the shipping phase (though I'm still squarely behind Jr./Shion, Yuri/Alice, and Haseo/Endrance.)  There's no pairing in Tales of that I feel all that strongly about, though.  Oh, wait!  

Spoiler:

 And yep, that's it.

P.S. Sorry about the Abyss rant, but mentioning that game tends to set me off like that.

Relating to the discussion though, Tales of Graces f is easily my favorite. I've put a lot of time into the game (over 140 hours) and I'm still picking at the Zhonecage from time to time. My favorite character from it is definitely Sophie.

Well, I played almost all Tales of games. It turn out for me to be my second fav series in place of FF. Myself I like more parts that were made by Destiny team so it would be: Eternia, Hearts, Graces.... Phantasia team is nice but problem in those patrs are that I often don't like all characters in part when in Destiny team it turns that I like all characters more or less.
Legendia was nice too, but I would mix character chapters into first part of story, because I dodn't like most of party members until I beat their chapters.
Abyss is overrated for me. Luke is annoying until hair cut and all skits are like "end of world, death or Van" talks.
Vesperia- Was nice, but it would be better without Karol and Rita, those two annoyed me so much that it destroyed for me image of this part.
Eternia- I ever beat it last week, cute part and my first Tales of game I played. Too bad that even in psp version they cut out skits, I wanted to listen to them but copy I found on youtube have cut most of skits endings.
Graces: It's nice. Characters and story are pretty cute, ot deep but it's so heartwarming that bring smile to face. Dramas from this part were great too, sometimes I can't keep my laugh then listen to them, at last two first discs, new one for summer 2012 isn't so nice.  

to be continued

It shows how far I've come that I won't argue with kare over the Luke haircut comment.

(No, it's more that I save that argument for GameFAQs.  I argue lots over Luke on that site. *coughs*)

Phantasia- It was nice, well maybe Mint and Cless has somehow flat personality but it could be forgiven since it was first Tales. I didn't beat game, it keep feezing on my psp and I didn't have will to finish it. As for anime, I feel more bad for Dhaos then for Cless and rest of party XD. I started to wonder who really is bad guy there, Cless or Dhaos XDD.

Destiny 2 - I really liked Kyle and Reala, I laugh most hard from this game of all tales games. It was cute story, with boy and girld, some sad moments about losting one you love and joyfull moments. I liked idea of creating perfect life for human too. It wasn't dark way like it was showed many times in movies, but still, I stopped and thought about it for more then few seconds so it was good. Still after beating whole game I'm not sure how to update skills XD.

Symphonia- on list to play, I will propably play ps2 jap ver because I can't get work on emulator NGE ver.
Symphonia 2- checked if it works on emulator, waiting for finishing of first part.

Inocennce- It was nice, but short, I wished they show more scenes from past lifes of characters. I think it was repaired in PSVita ver but I don't have console, I planed to watch jap gameplay but didn't have time (long loadings on niconico)

Hearts- One of my fav part. Story is long, very long, it have dark and light parts. Nice characters and it was simply beautifull. I happy and worry for remake. I don't like how BG look in remake and it's sad that Soma build system was trow away because I liked it. Many scenes from Hearts were like in old ZNES parts of FF, they are mixed but it's possible to see where they look alike.

Xillia- I don't know with one I like better, graces or this one. Story is better then graces, Alvin is crazy freak and I don't like him but he's character that made Tales really dark and uneasy. I ship for Milla and Jude, I always like ideas of love no looking on kind in fantasy stories. Elise and Tipo really were funny, I love the skit when Milla tell that her fav pets are humans XD. It's very long, I'm not sure if it beat hearts on this level... Well it look beautifull, both in game scenes and anime cutscenes.

Rebrith- I didn't play it but watched translated gameplay on YT. Interesting part, but I miss something in it. Still:... Clarieeee!

Tales of World Radiant mythology: For gameplay, part 2 was the best. I thas most of crafting and cooking options, many missions and best graphic. 3rd was worst in this way, they cut many things so they could push more characters to it. I was happy because of Graces, hearts, more Legendia, full Eternia cast, but it wasn't so much fun to play.

Tales of VS- After beating 3-4 scenarios I give up. It was annoying to level up characters from low levels in story mode. Those monks and knights randoms keep killing me...Still it was better fighting game then Dissidia was...

*Some spoilers present in this post!*

Yay Tales! I've played Phantasia, Destiny, Eternia, Destiny 2, Symphonia, Rebirth, Legendia, Abyss, Innocence, Hearts, and Graces F (italicized ones are the ones I haven't finished lol).

Picking a favourite is tough, but I would say my top ones are Symphonia, Abyss, and Rebirth. Symphonia was the first one I ever played and I've replayed it more times than I can count;

it definitely has a very special place in my heart. Rebirth had some amazing character development, and I remember just breaking down and crying at at least one point. For Abyss, I really liked Luke's character development, all the characters were quite memorable, and I liked the story.

As for favourite characters, I love Lloyd, Luke, Jade, Veigue, Tytree, Spada, Richard, aaaand Asch. I literally cannot witness the part where Asch dies without completely breaking down.

But yeah, I would have to say my favourite moment in all of the Tales games is when Veigue and Tytree beat the shit out of each other towards the end of Rebirth, not only because it was amusing, but because it was so emotional. Veigue had been so closed in on himself for so long, and Tytree had had enough.

Gosh, I just love these games so much. ;;

Oh yeah, guys. Check it. I have a photo of me as my life coach, Yuri Lowell.



I did not make the costume (except for the bracelet, I did make), it was something I ordered online.

Whenever I get lost in life, I just ask what Yuri Lowell would do. WWYLD.

kare_reiko wrote:
Vesperia- Was nice, but it would be better without Karol and Rita, those two annoyed me so much that it destroyed for me image of this part.
to be continued

I didn't like Karol myself,neither his never-ending fights with Rita,but I liked her character.
Maybe it would be better if they mentioned less their rivality as a manner of speaking,Rita kicking his ass all the time started to be repetitive,it could be with others too.

I liked Karol because to me he behaved like a real kid would.  His relationship with other characters, like Raven, Judith, and Yuri, was heartwarming.  I just found him a bit uninteresting compared to the others.  But that was fine too, because he was not a central main character.    

Likewise, I really like Estelle, but I did not find her story interesting.   This was slightly less forgivable for her, since she is one of the most plot-relevant characters.

I like Rita too, but I found her hair trigger temper a bit predictable and not so funny after a while.  It had that whole vibe of "violence is funny when it happens to boys."

And she also does nothing for the plot accept for invent convenient work-around to the plot's barriers on the fly.

It's funny, because I feel the exact same way, GlanceReviver. So many people hate Karol, but I think they forget he's just a kid and reacts how a normal twelve-year-old would in the situations he's put in. Plus, I absolutely love his crowning moment. He doesn't get the credit he deserves for the role he plays.

As for Rita, while I like her character for the most part, her abusive behavior can get on my nerves. It tends to get old after you see her hit Karol or Raven for the fiftieth time or so.

This doesn't keep Vesperia from being my favorite, or the cast from being tied for my favorite along with Legendia.

For a second I had Phantasia confused with the first Star Ocean. Muddled memories, got to love them.

The only game from the series I've actually finished is Tales of the Abyss. The whole miasma phenomenon and how it was resolved pre-game is something I keep coming back to whenever I think of Abyss. It makes me want to write fanfiction about what things were like at the time of Yulia Jue, and how she came to found the Order of Lorelei.

Watching the Vesperia LP over at the SA forums, as I don't have an Xbox so I can't play it myself. I really like the rapport the characters have with each other.

I've never been much of a shipper. I like seeing characters interact, but not to the extent that I'm rooting for a specific couple.

I think my favourite is Phantasia, always thought that something was lacking in the other ones! But Fav character is Jade Curtiss

.: The only game I ever played was Tales of Innocence I need to play moreeeee.... :.

OMG that yuri cosplay is so awesome... even though I'm so late...that reminds me I have to finish this ... Rita cosplay one day.... XD... I did however cosplay Ange Serena(tales of innocence) and Pascal(tales of graces).

For the curious(Ange was a bought cosplay and pascal was made by me... even though it'll need to be fixed a bit) :

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Anyhow back on topic *cough* I think my two most favorites are probably vesperia and symphonia .... However battle system wise I also liked a lot tales of graces f.

I really like your Pascal cosplay.

haha thanks ! Like said it still need some work, but I really like it as well ! ^^

Tales series is a favorite of mine So far I've played Abyss, Vesperia PS3, Graces f, Xillia, and Xillia 2.

I always kind of disregarded Tales of as a low tier jRPG series... so I never really planned on playing one of the games. This Christmas, I bought myself my first Tales of game... only because I wanted to play a colorful game and this is the only one I found at the shop. I'm talking about Tales Of Symphonia Chronicles on PS3, which includes the HD remaster of the PS2 version and the sequel, Dawn of the New World.

At first, I wasn't much into the story or characters (to be honest, I'm still not that much into them 40 hours later... but I enjoyed my time in

Spoiler:

a bit more)... but the more I played, the more I enjoyed the game itself. The gameplay used to frustrate me too because I set the game on hard (thinking I could handle it) when I started the game. Then I totally forgot about the game having a difficulty setting and got frustrated by the difficulty up until the fire temple. Then, I realized what I did, set the game on normal and I didn't have an issue ever since   .

Anyway, yeah... I'm enjoying the game mainly because it's fun. But aside from Regal (and maybe Presea), I don't really have favorites. The story can get dark at times, but it's not really presented in a way that would suck me in (dunno how to explain it... just that I prefer the directing/style of the FF series *among other series* much more). But I do like the little talks/scenettes the characters can have in between events. It helps making them feel like a group (it's always important to have a feature like this, I feel).
I don't really dig the character models (the look of them... the anime cutscenes/portraits are, of course, much pleasant... even if it's everything you would expect from japanime), the music is kind of disappointing (considering it's Motoi Sakuraba... I enjoyed his work in other franchises *Valkyrie Profile, Baten Kaitos or Eternal Sonata* but very little in Tales of Symphonia), the world is fine (kind of has a soft cell shaded look that reminds me LoZ Skyward Sword)... but like I said, the highlight of this game is the gameplay and the puzzle sections (very Zelda-esque)... even if I needed to google the solution for some of them.

I just have one problem... it's with the exsphere system. The fact that I have to sacrifice the expheres I set (to replace them with new ones) and lose the combinaisons I unlocked just frustrates me. So, I kind of stopped caring about the system all together where I am (hoping it won't penalize me in the future... so far, it went well).
Oh, and I hate the NPCs in cat costumes. Mostly because their service seems to be useless and they don't tell even you how much money they need for their "researches" (so, I gave them a certain amount of money that one time, and they came back empty handed... ahah ... I want my money back).

I'll probably do a replay of this game in the future... if only because I really enjoy the gameplay à la Valkyrie Profile (combat) + Zelda (exploration/dungeons)... and because I missed a lot of things apparently (I like doing 100% challenges). If the New Game + is good, I will probably use the same file and pick the Hard mode again. If not, I will start anew completely.

For now, I will try to get to the end (I'm back in

Spoiler:

) and see how the sequel is like. Oh yeah... and Symphonia has an anime, I saw. I should check it out, maybe.

So, at the end of the day... maybe Tales Of is not for me when it comes to story/characters/music (or maybe there are Tales Of more to my tastes in the series)... but I discovered a fun game with Symphonia. I wouldn't mind trying another one if it's as (or more) fun.

Ah, Symphonia. It is a bit dated by now but back when it was first released on gamecube it looked
amazing and it was amazing to play. Today I would recommend Vesperia as a first step into the
series even if Phantasia always will be my favorite.

100% in Symphonia is both fun and a really large project since you need to beat the game at least three times
to get everything (it took me 230 hours). In new game+ you buy upgrades like more HP etc from the grade you
earn.

The only ex-sphere you really need is the one that makes you run faster around the towns and dungeons!

I agree that this is not the strongest of Motoi's soundtracks but it is impossible to always be on top considering that
he has composed half of all RPG soundtracks, hehe.

I never understood the Katz or their services either...

Starting out on hard was maybe not the best idea, haha, luckily most Tales of let's you change that whenever you want.

One thing I really like in Symphonia is the Voice actors since some are the same as in Xenosaga!

Also, one thing many people miss is that you can take some alternative routes through the game, the story is not 100%
linear even if might seem so at first, one scenario is quite dark and hard to get.