I need some "Tales Of" help from the experts

[DrunkOnEstus]

This was brought about by my attempts to re-kindle my love of the genre that defined my childhood, the JRPG. I've been playing Lost Odyssey again, and I'm about to finish Persona 3. Anyway, it occurred to me that I've never played any of the Tales games. My questions are basically thus, and of course not all of them need to be answered:

Do they hold up to the best Final Fantasies, etc?
Should I go back a couple console generations to get started, or does each game have its own self-contained story?
What game is a good place to start getting into the series?
Are there any duds that aren't worth my time if I come across some Tales games?
What is it that you enjoy about the series? What are its strengths?

I hear some love for this series from time to time, and now is as good a time as any for me to finally get in the loop. Any help would be greatly appreciated, one Escapist opinion is worth ten anywhere else.

 

[hazabaza1]

Symphonia is an amazing experience that also completely subverts the whole "chosen one" trope and provides some fantastic characters on top of the really fun gameplay.
I've been playing ToGraces f with a friend too and that's pretty damn good as well. Characters are nice and varied with actual arcs and a fairly interesting political story (though it looks like its dropping that in favour for a more standard but still not generic final act). Gameplay is a fair bit different from the rest of the series, focuses a lot more on combos and resource management.

There's also Tales of the World on PSP that I've been playing. Meh. Has that problem a lot of games do where it lets you create your own character but then gives you very little input into your silent protagoarsehole and splits any of the potentially interesting characters apart (these interesting ones being characters from previous games now in this game because... character design is hard?)

I got my brother Vesperia for his birthday last month and he seems to be enjoying it. We don't talk much so I'm not sure where it shines or falls apart but I haven't heard him complain.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

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Thank you both so much for the info and insight. I don't have a 3DS, but it looks like Abyss will be first when I do pick up one. I have a Gamecube, so I'll be picking up Symphonia knowing now that there's no continuity issues. Have either of you played Graces F? Is that the one that sucks on 360 but not PS3 (or vice versa)? Thanks again guys.

 

[syaoran728]

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Thank you both so much for the info and insight. I don't have a 3DS, but it looks like Abyss will be first when I do pick up one. I have a Gamecube, so I'll be picking up Symphonia knowing now that there's no continuity issues. Have either of you played Graces F? Is that the one that sucks on 360 but not PS3 (or vice versa)? Thanks again guys.

Tales of Graces f is really good. Its battle system is a bit different from other Tales of, but its great. Just a warning though, some of the late game bosses are really hard.

 

[Yggdraz0r]

Tales of Vesperia for the 360, Tales of Graces F for the Wii and the Ps3, Tales of Symphonia (<3) for the NGC, and while you are at it, might aswell have a look at Baten Kaitos: Eternals Wings and the Lost Ocean.

I am still bummed that I can't play Abyss nor the 2nd Baten Kaitos (I think it was a prequel) game, for I'm not American :x.

Those are definately my recommendations to you.


PS: BK looks amazing for a NGC game.

 

[EvilRoy]

Tales of destiny 2 was my favorite. 2d real time combat viewed from the side with very large move sets for the characters, any one of which you choose to manually control (they add more as the.game progresses.for a total of something like 5 or 6 to choose 4 from for combat.
Two relatively unique open worlds, with a ship to travel them unlocked later and the appropriate sidequest and extra bosses. The storey is decent, well paced if nothing else and the main four charactersare surprisingly well developed.

Thinking on it, this was called tales of destiny 2 on my box, but in other places it may have been called tales of eternia. The main characters were Reid, farah, keele, and melody if I remember, so you can check with that.

 

[Cheesepower5]

I'd recommend Vesperia. It's got the most badass main character and the best battle-system outside of Legendia and possibly Xillia 1/2. (I haven't played them.) As for your other questions...

Do they hold up to the best Final Fantasies, etc? I don't like any Tales game as much as my favourite FFs, but on average they're up there.
Should I go back a couple console generations to get started, or does each game have its own self-contained story? Symphonia is a distant prequel to Phantasia and there's Symphonia 2, Destiny 2 and Xillia 2. Other than that, totally self contained, other than cameos.
Are there any duds that aren't worth my time if I come across some Tales games? Not sure what you mean? The weaker games in the series? Phantasia GBA is slow and has an occasionally questionable translation (I prefer it to the trying-way-too-hard SNES fan translation.) Legendia is generally regarded to have the worst plot/characters (although I love Moses) and the best battle system.
What is it that you enjoy about the series? What are its strengths? Skits and the battle system.

 

[Eric Milligan]

I'm not a Final Fantasy Fan, so I can't comment on that, but as a Lost Odyssey fan I can tell you that the Tales of games that I have played for sure are just as great as Lost Odyssey.

I'd recommend you start out with either Tales of Symphonia (My first, for the Gamecube), Tales of the Abyss (PS2) or Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360.

Most Tales games are self-contained, although some do have sequels and prequels.

Different Tales games have different strengths and weaknesses, but common strengths for all include their fun and exciting battle systems, good soundtracks, and good character development and interaction that makes you care about and feel invested in the characters.

 

[madwarper]

Tales of Graces F for the Wii (in Japan) and the Ps3,

Fixed.
The Wii version of Graces never left Japan. The PS3 version of Graces F was released in the US and Europe.
Which means, no Graces for me.


OP: I've only played Phantasia, Symphonia, Verperia, Symphonia 2 and Abyss.
Symphonia, Verperia and Abyss were excellent, Phantasia and Symphonia 2 can be skipped.


Also, if you're going to pick up a 3DS, I'd recommend getting into the Etrian Odyssey series.
EO4 was just released and you can try the demo on the 3DS store.

 

[Yopaz]

Tales of Graces F for the Wii (in Japan) and the Ps3,

Fixed.
The Wii version of Graces never left Japan. The PS3 version of Graces F was released in the US and Europe.
Which means, no Graces for me.

Yeah, that thing made me sad too, but I think this was partially because it suffered from a massive amount of game breaking bugs. I did actually buy a Ps3 because of Graces.

OT: I haven't played a single Tales of game that I didn't love. Tales of Symphonia 2 gets a lot of undeserved criticism for what it does, but I thought that made it kinda interesting. It had a little bit of Pokemon elements in it which I have to admit that I liked.

Do they hold up to Final Fantasy? No, they don't. Final Fantasy and Tales are very different. Tales a real time combat with the option to control several characters and even have a friend join in. Final Fantasy and Tales of are both RPGs, but they are so different that I can't recommend Tales based on your like for Final Fantasy VII.

Tales of are games that you have to try and decide for yourself. Fans of the series will tell you it is among the best JRPGs out there others will tell you it's worthless junk that you shouldn't waste your time with.

As long as you stay away from the GBA version of Tales of Phantasia I have no objections to any of the games. I'd recommend trying the SNES or PSX version (PSX is really worth looking up because it has tons of extras). However Tales of Vesperia would be the one I'd recommend as a stepping stone because of how well the combat has been done.

 

[Silvianoshei]

Everything has been suggested, but I'd like to post one caveat; I would avoid the Symphonia sequel for the Wii. It has some of the worst dialouge of any tales game, and one of the cheesiest love stories of all time. It's a shame, since the first one was so sweet.

 

[Guffe]

1. Do they hold up to the best Final Fantasies, etc?
2. Should I go back a couple console generations to get started, or does each game have its own self-contained story?
3. What game is a good place to start getting into the series?
4. Are there any duds that aren't worth my time if I come across some Tales games?
5. What is it that you enjoy about the series? What are its strengths?

1. Never played FF but I don't think they can be compared and my friends whom have played both really enjoy both

2. The games aren't really connected over the platforms so if you have a Xbox, pick up the Xbox version (Vesperia) or if a
Nintendo then Symphonia, I've played like 1 hour of Vesperia and both Symphonia games, the symphonia ones must be played in order, GameCube first, then the Wii version.

3. No idea, I've understood they are all pretty likeable

4. same answer as number 3

5. I talk about the Symphonia ones here k? (Nintendo)

Great story (very mindfuckery at times but great )
I like the characters, only like 2 teenagers which is great!
Good/Challenging boss fights
Character customisation mainly what "magic" they learn depending on how you use it
Long playing time

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Snip (Graces Japan)

I understand Japanese...so is F like a sequel to Graces or something? Or is it an enhanced port? I would consider importing the Wii one if it would make F cooler to play.

Everything has been suggested, but I'd like to post one caveat; I would avoid the Symphonia sequel for the Wii. It has some of the worst dialouge of any tales game, and one of the cheesiest love stories of all time. It's a shame, since the first one was so sweet.

Thanks for the heads up. Part of what made me interested in the series is the apparent lack of extreme melodrama and shit dubbing, basically trying to play the kinds of games that FF 10-2 - 13-2 should have been.

Tales of the Abyss (PS2)

Is the 3DS version better enough to justify getting a 3DS? It wouldn't be just for that, but if it was a compelling motivator that would be cool. Otherwise I've got a perfectly good PS2 until the list of 3DS games I want gets a little bigger.

So...Tales of Symphonia is 130 fucking dollars. Same pain I get for not picking up Xenoblade at launch I guess.

Thank you again everyone, you guys are the best.

 

[Eric Milligan]

I've read good reviews about the 3DS version of Tales of The Abyss, and have considered getting myself, but have not played it, so I can't really help you there. ToS was 130$? Ouch man, although I'm not really surprised. If you have a 360 go for Vesperia.

 

[DSK-]

I've only played Vesperia but have not finished it as of yet - it's great and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with it.

I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Silvianoshei]

So...Tales of Symphonia is 130 fucking dollars. Same pain I get for not picking up Xenoblade at launch I guess.

OUCH. That's terrible.

I think now is a great time to pick up a 3DS XL. Fire Emblem just came out and is amazing, you've got pokemon games too if you like those, and some FANTASTIC legacy DS titles. Some big hitters to look forward to as well.

Also, I wont suggest emulation. I am definitely not suggesting emulation.

 

[Eric Milligan]

Actually, if you like SNES games, you can play Tales of Phantasia, which was the first Tale of game ever, by getting a SNES emulator or playing the gameboy advanced version. It's the 4000 year sequel to Tales of Symphonia, not exactly a direct link though, so enjoyment of the story isn't dependent upon another game.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I think now is a great time to pick up a 3DS XL. Fire Emblem just came out and is amazing, you've got pokemon games too if you like those, and some FANTASTIC legacy DS titles. Some big hitters to look forward to as well. Also, I wont suggest emulation. I am definitely not suggesting emulation.

Is it true that the 3DS isn't as good at playing regular DS games than an actual DS? Longer loading times or something like that? Oh, and I decided to go swimming, and a dolphin clicked at me that emulation is very bad and naughty.

 

[madwarper]

I understand Japanese...so is F like a sequel to Graces or something? Or is it an enhanced port? I would consider importing the Wii one if it would make F cooler to play.

Enhanced port. Symphonia got received a similar port to the PS2.

Is the 3DS version better enough to justify getting a 3DS? It wouldn't be just for that, but if it was a compelling motivator that would be cool. Otherwise I've got a perfectly good PS2 until the list of 3DS games I want gets a little bigger.

The 3DS is more of a direct port, with exception to the slight 3D graphic upgrade and touch screen support.

So, it of itself isn't really a console seller... But, didn't I mention Etrian Odyssey? Also, Fire Emblem: Awakening just came out. And, Rune Factory 4 is going to be coming out some time around Summer.

EDIT:

Is it true that the 3DS isn't as good at playing regular DS games than an actual DS? Longer loading times or something like that? Oh, and I decided to go swimming, and a dolphin clicked at me that emulation is very bad and naughty.

Wait... What? No.

The 3DS isn't slower that a regular DS. In fact, with the digital download of (some) 3DS games, such as Etrian Odyssey (have you gotten the hint that it's a good game yet?), it's actually faster that the normal cartridges.