Keiichi Morisato said:
oldtaku said:
I couldn't tell you what the plot of any Tales game is (okay, except 'all the same plot, just different mad libs')
the only real similarity between each Tales game is the two worlds thing, which isn't as a common trope in the franchise as you would think.
You think so? It's always different incarnations of the same character types out to save the world from evil that wants to suck the life force dry. Getting the elementals along the way, the same minigames (except in Xillia where they shocked everyone by dropping the cooking, but the food works as usual). The male protagonist is always the same guy with minor starting and cosmetic variations like Luke. There's always an Alvin (all cool guy), Estelle (princess/girlfriend type), Rita (mad scientist), Eliza (loli), etc. Xillia again mixed it up a bit by letting you play as male protagonist in a female body.
Story progression is very predictable. The only one that really stands out as interestingly different was Tales of Legaia, and that's because a different team did that. And then tons of people complained because it deviated from the formula.
It's like harem anime - after watching enough you see that it's all the same crap. In this case, though, I like the Tales formula - it's comfortable. And the specific characters vary individually enough in their archetypes that I enjoy them. You're here for the dialogue (and combat).