Tales of Series Discussion

Off-Topic
#41

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:40, topic:1004”]

And it did have the first canon romances I saw in a Tales game, they weren’t very well developed but it was still nice to see.

[/quote] Yeah, unfortunately. :confused:

I mean, I can get behind at least one of those ships, but the other two sound really weird in comparison. From what I’ve played of Graces f, I would not believe for one second that the romances would end up like they do in the Future Arc. Or rather, the game’s script sounds incredibly unsure of who it wants to ship with who. Asbel’s practically a face of a thousand ships in the first ten hours of the game. XD

Ah, it’s good to be in a fandom like this, where people can argue over ships all the time. Asbel x Sophie FTW :stuck_out_tongue:

#42

Sophie is too young! Otherwise yeah I agree, Asbel can be shipped with anyone. Although the childhood friend ending doesn’t sound too odd to me, and Cheria was the main candidate after all.. To be frank I didn’t like how the romance just kind of popped up at the end, and rate Xillia far higher in that regard - still I’d like to see more romance in Tales games, I feel like they tend to give in to the power of yaoi-shipping fandom. I mean even Lloyd x Colette isn’t canon!. They shouldn’t hesitate so much, romance adds more emotional investment over any form of subtext in my opinion.

#43

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:42, topic:1004”]
Sophie is too young!
[/quote]Does the game ever say what age Sophie actually is? She looks fourteen at best in the childhood arc. :confused:

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:42, topic:1004”]
rate Xillia far higher in that regard
[/quote]I’m receiving a lot of mixed messages about Xillia. Some people absolutely love it despite its flaws, and others are quicker to cite them as reasons they don’t like the game. I’m personally getting mixed messages about the presentation because the battle system certainly looks fast and fluid and what I’ve heard of the soundtrack is pretty interesting, but some of the characters designs bug me.

What do you think? Is Xillia any good? I’d like to get everyone else’s input on this too, because physical copies of Xillia are reasonably cheap now.

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:42, topic:1004”]
I mean even Lloyd x Colette isn’t canon!
[/quote]The first game really emphasized that particular pairing, even though you could choose any pairing you wanted. I don’t know what the second game does with it, and I’m kind of afraid of finding out. XP

#44

I don’t think it does… but she definitely looks too young for Asbel. Imagine what people would say about him if he started dating her!

Personally I think it’s a top game - beautiful environments, best romance in any of the Tales games I’ve played, some very nice characters too, and overall a rather engaging story, maybe not as much as with Vesperia, but I’d rate it over Graces’ for instance. However, I’ll make this straight - the ending is a let-down, and the game falters greatly there. It’s an excellent game to me, it has flaws but I rate it greatly. The second is another story, however.

But they never made those two an item, and I think it’s regrettable how they stop at the subtext. They care so much for each other, why not go all the way and breed more emotional investment that way?

#45

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:44, topic:1004”]
Imagine what people would say about him if he started dating her!
[/quote]Imagine what people would say if he dated Richard. XD

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:44, topic:1004”]
The second is another story, however.
[/quote]In a good or bad way? I heard the debt system makes people cringe, but… :stuck_out_tongue:

[quote=“daysofsummer, post:44, topic:1004”]
But they never made those two an item, and I think it’s regrettable how they stop at the subtext. They care so much for each other, why not go all the way and breed more emotional investment that way?
[/quote]On the side of gameplay, you could make the argument that pursuing each character gives you a deeper look into their internal struggles, increasing replay value. However, since the story already makes a big deal of Lloyd and Colette’s friendship, and the fact that you get more than enough backstory for each character, it makes the argument a bit weak.

The only excuse I can think of is that Lloyd is concerned over Colette because he’s known her for a long time and thus their bond as friends is pretty strong. Because he’s not the brightest schoolboy on campus, his idea of friendship is more naive and platonic in direct contrast to Zelos, whose connections are looser and centered around his own personal gain. (Lloyd comes off as a bit blander than Zelos because of this, but that’s irrelevant to the argument itself.)

It’s a decent explanation when it comes to the different pairings for Lloyd, but considering how often the game pushes them together (especially during skits and the ending), it does leave anyone who’s paying attention a little bit skeptical. Even Genis, who’s also their childhood friend, is aware of how much they care for one another and isn’t envious of Lloyd in the slightest. “Let them have their fun, I say! I’ll just go and hit on this emotionless woobie dwarf lady who’s a decade older but no taller than I am!” XD

#46

Somehow I think being a homosexual would be easier to pass than dating a seemingly 10-year-old android… is it just my impression?

Bad. Stupid debt system, far less interesting characters than in the first, entirely unsatisfying ending (well the one I got, which I think is the good one, was more of a gateway to a 3rd game than a conclusive ending in its own right, thus unsatisfactory)

I can see that, but surely it’d be more interesting to see his awareness regarding his own feelings grow throughout the game, rather than watching him remain dense for eternity. I find the lack of actual romance in this one highly questionable, especially considering:

This is it. If all the characters know and even the producers push the thing, I can’t see a reason to keep it at that - the whole game I thought they should just get together! And I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t. As you say, pursuing each character can have its own value, but in the case of Symphonia I can’t see an argument against an actual Lloyd x Colette romance, since it’s already implied so heavily.

#47

There’s a point in the childhood arc where she says she thinks she’s fourteen. Physically anyway. In terms of how long she’s actually been alive, she’s ooooold. And then at the end of the Future arc she ages physically to the point where she looks about eighteen, but even then, shipping her with Asbel would be really squicky because he adopts her.

Re: Xillia, I’d say it’s worth playing. If I’m correct, Bamco rushed its production a bit so it could be released for the fifteenth anniversary of Tales, so at times it feels like it’s missing something, but for the most part it has an enjoyable (if not super original) plot and very lovable characters. The battle system is really fun, too. Xillia 2 is also good, but it bugs me that a lot of important backstory is only revealed in side materials.

#48

So far, the Xillia 2 has a different, gloomier, Elympios feel than the original. It is kind of telling how life is in Elympios.

The relationships and character interactions are very pleasant in Xillia 2. The story gives players the option of completing backstories. These backstories are cleverly placed in-between main story events. It is also nice how the player can earn bonus scenes for doing these side stories. The system feels very rewarding.

I am curious as to how this game will play out.

#49

Probably not too important if you aren’t living in Europe, but if you are, the list of DLC for Tales of Zestiria has been announced! And it looks like most of the DLC from the Japanese release is intact! That means the Alisha side story as well as the iDOLM@STER costumes and the Evangelion costumes are coming to Europe! Also, if you somehow preordered the PS3 or PS4 versions, all the DLC you purchase is cross-buy, meaning you will have both the PS3 and PS4 versions of the content.

No idea if North America is getting the same stuff, but let’s hope for the best! :smiley:

If you want to see the full details of the DLC, check out the link below:
http://blog.talesofgame.com/en/tales-of-zestiria-upcoming-dlc/

Just a few more days (7 for consoles, 11 for PC) until Zestiria’s release! Is everyone hype? I hope so! :slight_smile:

#50

How could my European self not be hyped?! Especially now I know I’ll be able to dress Alisha as an idol! How much more exciting is the game now?! Alisha idol hype is at its maximum! (And, secondarily, Zestiria hype… who said I was losing track of what matters here?)

Despite the controversy surrounding it, a new Tales game outside Japan is always great news to me, especially just 10 after the original release (which is still a lot going by modern standards, but definitely a great improvement I hope Bandai Namco builds on). A week left eh… that’s almost too much! I’ll be sure to post my thoughts on here as I play through it.

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#51

Just a reminder: now that Zestiria is out in Europe, I would ask that when discussing the game, please mark spoilers past the first boss battle. We don’t want anyone’s experience of Zestiria to be ruined, and I don’t want this thread flagged for removal, so please be cautious.

Anyway, as a visual novel community, we like talking about scenario writers, right? Guess what I found:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bdok3-N__H7IAXnp9rLJtPrrLDJYEp-XzJLaxTe8XR4/pub?output=html

I found this list in another forum while looking for the scenario writer of Abyss, and it reveals a bit about what went into the game’s stories. What do you guys think? Perhaps this might convince people to play more games in the series in order to see how good the stories are. :smiley:

EDIT (4/22/16) - Removed the Google Doc preview due to annoying loading issues; although it’s in need of updating some info, the document can still be accessed by right-clicking the URL above. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to be careful with what I show off on previews. :stuck_out_tongue:

#52

The trivia about Legendia and DotNW really makes me wonder about what the games could have been if things had gone more according to the writers’ initial ideas.

While I do like Legendia, the way it’s essentially formatted as two different games always felt a bit sloppy to me. I wonder if that’s in any way related to how much of the original content got cut out. Maybe with all of that original content, the story would have functioned as one “game,” but the plot points that ended up getting removed made it more practical to split it in two. Totally just speculation, though.

As for DotNW, I think I would have liked it better if it had taken place 400 years after Symphonia. For one thing, Raine and Genis’s struggle with outliving all of their friends is something I wish had been explored more. If I remember correctly, it was only discussed in a skit or two, but I think it must have had a huge effect on their outlooks on life. And as nice as it was to see the original gang again, it felt like they were really just there for fanservice rather than actual character development. (Lloyd’s an exception, but I didn’t really like what was done with his character, so…) I guess their stories had already been told in Symphonia and there wasn’t a lot more to be done with them, so it felt unnecessary for them to be present in DotNW.

1 Like
#53

[quote=“meltokio, post:52, topic:1004”]
While I do like Legendia, the way it’s essentially formatted as two different games always felt a bit sloppy to me. I wonder if that’s in any way related to how much of the original content got cut out.
[/quote]Interesting. I’ve yet to experience Legendia, but if the story is that poorly structured due to how much was cut out, it sounds like I might not like it all that much.

I keep hearing about how much some fans want a Legendia remake, and I think that might be one of the things such a remake could fix. I don’t know if they still have access to the original draft of the story, but with today’s technology, there’s a good chance a story of that scope could be done. It would also be a good opportunity to fix all the various issues the game had, perhaps even make the game more presentable to a modern audience. :slight_smile:

#54

Hello, everyone! For those of you who have Zestiria, are you enjoying the game? It’s been a while since we’ve had any major Tales news, but today I’ve found something of particular note.

As you may or may not know, Tales of Phantasia was released on December 15, 1995, which means in four days it will be the series’ 20th anniversary. The series has come a long way since Phantasia’s release, with multiple changes in the battle system, the successful jump to 3D with Symphonia, the loads of characters we’ve all grown to love, and now with Berseria, the focus on a female protagonist instead of a male one. Of course there have been stumbling blocks along the way as well, but what series doesn’t have its low points?

To celebrate, Bandai Namco will have a Tales livestream on Monday, December 14. There will be special guest appearances by various seiyuu, including Katsuyuki Konishi (Lloyd Irving), Chihiro Suzuki (Luke fon Fabre), Tsubasa Yonaga (Jude Mathis), and more. There will also be a retrospective on the series as a whole, and lots more! You can find the full details in this article: http://gematsu.com/2015/12/tales-20th-anniversary-live-stream-december-14

In addition, during Jump Festa 2016 on December 19-20, Tales of Berseria will be featured, presumably with some promotional material and a new trailer, but nothing playable just yet. More information can be found here: http://www.abyssalchronicles.com/?fn_mode=comments&fn_id=1419

How do you guys feel about the series’ 20th anniversary? Are you going to replay any games to celebrate? Don’t hesitate to tell me below. :smiley:

EDIT - 12/15: Whoa, we have a ton more Tales news at the ready! First up is the reveal of the Tales of Zestiria anime’s official title: Tales of Zestiria the X (pronounced ‘cross’). The anime is set for a 2016 release date.

For those who play Tales of Asteria and Tales of Link, new story content will be available in the future. For Asteria, a new chapter with Sorey and Mikleo as main characters will be available in Spring 2016. For Link, Part 4 will be released around the same time, with the inclusion of fully-voiced dialogue for Zephyr in Part 3 as well as Unison Attacks for pair units.

You can find more details on these and other announcements in the following article: http://www.abyssalchronicles.com/?fn_mode=comments&fn_id=1424

Perhaps the biggest news that was announced is in regards to Tales of Berseria. A new PV has been released on YouTube, showing off more of Velvet’s character and introducing a new delicious loli character named Lifiset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0iCYEavcU

A few clips of the game’s take on the Linear Motion Battle System is also present in the PV. This LMBS places a greater focus on Free Run and introduces a free-moving camera. In addition, all four face buttons on the controller (Cross, Circle, Triangle, and Square) can be mapped to artes. More additions to the battle system will be announced in the future, but the battle system already looks great so far! It sounds like the battle system is starting to take on a more Star Ocean feel, which is far from bad in my books.

You can see more about the recent announcement by reading this article: http://www.abyssalchronicles.com/?fn_mode=comments&fn_id=1422

Are you guys excited about Berseria now? I know I am. :slight_smile:

#55

I have to say I’m rather pleased with the new trailer; the first look at the heroine had me really worried she’d just be your typical Tales male protagonist in the body of a girl, but looking at the video it doesn’t seem to be quite that way which is good news. And although a 2-minute trailer is a pretty light basis to judge a story, it does look a fair bit more mature than preceding entries in the franchise, so it might prove a nice change in that regard as well. All in all this is looking pretty good, and I can only hope they follow the trend set by Zestiria of releasing the game worldwide just some months after the Japanese release, instead of the old two year wait or so.

2 Likes
#56

Western Tales fans, rejoice! Tales of Berseria is getting a localization in 2016, exclusively for PS4 and Steam. (Sorry PS3 owners…time to upgrade.) Some extra information regarding the game, as well as an official English trailer, has also been released, which you can find here: http://www.abyssalchronicles.com/?fn_mode=comments&fn_id=1427

In other news, Tales of Symphonia’s Steam release date has been announced! According to this page ( http://www.abyssalchronicles.com/?fn_mode=comments&fn_id=1428 ), it will be available on February 2nd. Are you guys excited? :smiley:

3 Likes
#57

I would be excited but I know my computer can’t run either so oh well. Didn’t expect it to anyways

1 Like
#58

Aside from the pleasant surprise I mentioned earlier, guess what else I got this wonderful Christmas:

IM006064.JPG1600×1200 523 KB

Wish me luck as I tackle this controversial behemoth of an RPG! I also appreciate any tips a first-time player like myself could use. :slight_smile:

#59

Oh yeah I never finished that one… Uhh I would give you tips but I completely forgot how that game works. all I know is it does weird 2D battles compared to the 3D of the later games

#60

Haven’t posted in a while, but Tales of Symphonia, one of the most popular games in the series (and still just barely holding the record of my favorite game of all time), is finally out on Steam today!

For those of you who got the game with the Zestiria preorder, great! I hope you all enjoy the game that reinvigorated my love for JRPGs and made me a fan of the Tales series. Since it’s based on the PS3 remastering of the PS2 port, it has some content I never got to experience on the original GameCube version.

For Symphonia veterans, who is your favorite character and your favorite moment in the game? My favorite character is Kratos (because being a father in a JRPG automatically makes you ten times cooler), and my favorite moment is the Flanoir scene, particularly when you turn everyone down in order to meet Kratos. :slightly_smiling:

P.S. In Legendia news, I just met Grune. She’s pretty odd, but that’s not saying much compared to Norma, who is best girl. :heart:

1 Like