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[encephalon]

Gamecube ownership redeemed.

Spoiler

I still don't own this game yet.

 

[Roto13]

Don't really understand the hate for Asbel when Emil+Marta, Kyle were worse. You should all be playing the series for gameplay first anyway, otherwise you won't enjoy Rebirth if it ever got localized in a future port. ... Though that story is laughably bad so it's enjoyable in its own way.

Those guys don't make other terrible characters better just by being worse.

 

[suko_32]

I didn't think it was too bad.

That's good. I didn't remember if it was this game or not.

 

[BY2K]

If you were on a mental breakdown you would be puking kittens and rainbows?

No, but I wouldn't throw food plates on the floor and telling my closest friend to basically fuck off.

 

[xBuTcHeRx]

Would've loved to buy this and play this, too bad I sold my PS3 since I have little time to play games and need money for my move. Fuuuuuuuuuu. Hope to see this on PS Now. I still have my PS4 lol!

 

[PKrockin]

You know what's hilarious about Lloyd, is that every time he tries to say something cool and witty to a villain it backfires... except the one time when he botches it so badly it's hilarious by itself, and it actually works.

 

[kayos90]

No, but I wouldn't throw food plates on the floor and telling my closest friend to basically fuck off.

I know Jude is young and stuff but the way he was so attached to

Spoiler

Milla and acting the way he did was just... UGH.

Spoiler

Idk.... I found it very off-putting.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Still don't understand the hate for Absel (though the cast was kinda weak overall); Emil and Marta were far worse.

Symphonia was my first, so I'm biased towards it, but most of the things I like about Symphonia I thought Vesperia did better - cast, narrative, and battle gameplay.

However, the places where Symphonia has yet to be matched in the rest of the series, in my opinion of course, is the soundtrack and in the dungeon-explorable areas. I simply felt most locations had an adequate length, an appropriate amount of puzzles, and interesting map design - often with multiple floors and paths, not just a corridor, nor a bland open field, nor a boring maze. Sometimes these areas went a little overboard like Ymir Forest, however. Still much better than Graces or Xillia in that regard.

Pretty much how I feel (excluding narrative - I didn't particularly care for Vesperia's). I consider Symphonia something of a flawed masterpiece.

 

[ShroudOfFate]

So close, yet so far! I can't wait to play this again in HD. It was one of my favorite GC games growing up.

Also if anyone wants it:

 

[Seik]

The fact that GC version on Dolphin Emulator looks better speaks volumes.

even in 720 like the Ps3 version

I would agree normally but man, we need a 4:3 shot here to do honor to the version.

I'm on it.

EDIT: Done.

 

[BY2K]

I know Jude is young and stuff but the way he was so attached to

Spoiler

Milla and acting the way he did was just... UGH.

Spoiler

Idk.... I found it very off-putting.

Spoiler

Spoiler

There's that too, that for most of the game he can't do shit until Milla tells him to.

As for Asbel, I didn't think he was that bad until he admitted in a skit that had he been in Richard's place, he would have done the same things.

 

[FSLink]

Those guys don't make other terrible characters better just by being worse.

Not really what I meant. The whole series is full of tropes anyway so I suppose I expect at least a few terrible characters since most Tales of games have 6+ party members.

I'd rather have them polish the gameplay up since they clearly don't want to deviate much from anime tropes due to the target audience. Yuri was the best protagonist but even in Vesperia they returned to Tales tropes by the end.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

The way Jude acts with Leia during his mental breakdown puts him at the bottom of the best Tales of main character list. Just above Asbel.

"Mental breakdown." I think that's kind of the point, since he wasn't quite himself when he was in that state of mind. Besides, it was a one time thing, and after he snapped out of it he realized how badly he screwed up and made sure it wouldn't happen again.

 

[kayos90]

I look at the animation for this game and realize how amazing ufotable is. jeez.

 

[FSLink]

"Mental breakdown." I think that's kind of the point, since he wasn't quite himself when he was in that state of mind. Besides, it was a one time thing and after he snapped out of it he realized how badly he screwed up and made sure it wouldn't happen again.

I dunno I never felt he showed enough remorse. It was a good scene but I never felt Jude regreted it too much. Probably a result of the rushed part 3

I look at the animation for this game and realize how amazing ufotable is. jeez.

Yeah. I wish they included the OVAs as a bonus. Though to Symphonia's credit, the animated scenes weren't too bad, not great but servicable. Still wondering wtf happened with Abyss's war scene.

 

[Vazra]

I would agree normally but man, we need a 4:3 shot here to do honor to the version.

I'm on it.

EDIT: Done.

So much better Jesus.

 

[cafemomo]

So the regular box says Bandai Namco but the CE box says Namco?

 

[Vazra]

Let me quote that image with the widescreen patch

Look the enemy detail with the outlines and the texture quality looking better than the HD remake. Actually I might say it looks better than Xillia and Graces in terms of enemies and characters. If they reused that style with a non chibi style and do better environments it would be crazy. I also take Vesperia style btw.

 

[Vazra]

IGN Video Review 1080p

 

[Seda]

Not really what I meant. The whole series is full of tropes anyway so I suppose I expect at least a few terrible characters since most Tales of games have 6+ party members.

I'd rather have them polish the gameplay up since they clearly don't want to deviate much from anime tropes due to the target audience. Yuri was the best protagonist but even in Vesperia they returned to Tales tropes by the end.

The closing parts of Tales games are usually pretty subpar, cliche and/or uninteresting, narratively speaking - Vesperia and Abyss especially suffer in the end.

I still can't fully settle on which battle system is my favorite. It's one of Graces, Vesperia, or Xillia, but each has aspects I don't care for even though I enjoy them all. Graces combos are addicting but party AI always seemed to be a problem for me. Vesperia is well balanced but can get repetitive with the same general combination structures, although it opens up a lot by the end game. Xillia's is also pretty fast and fluid -less rigid than Vesperia - but the linking seemed too limiting at times. These are nitpicks though.

As someone else mentioned, Symphonia's system is definitely a more basic precursor to most of these, but usually I can derive enjoyment regardless. I recall having a lot of fun trying to master some arte combinations with Regal, specifically.

 

[kayos90]

I had a blast playing as Lloyd. I did not enjoy using Genis though. I always try mage but Genis was just not fun to play at all.

 

[R_thanatos]

Already beat both games to "death" (27 times symphonia + 4 times symphonia 2) , gonna take this one just to support dual audio.


I'm ready.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

I dunno I never felt he showed enough remorse. It was a good scene but I never felt Jude regreted it too much. Probably a result of the rushed part 3.

It would have been nice if there was an extra scene or two reflecting on it, but I didn't mind too much. At the very least he was shown to be

Spoiler

taking care for her for a while after she was shot.

Maybe it's just me, but I felt like Jude and Leia had the sort of friendship where they had known each other so long that they would already know what the other one was really thinking, so they wouldn't always feel the need to spell everything out.

I'll stop talking about Xillia in the Symphonia topic, though =p

 

[Seik]

Let me quote that image with the widescreen patch

Good lord, that's beautiful!! Dolphin really does miracles.

 

[FSLink]

The closing parts of Tales games are usually pretty subpar, cliche and/or uninteresting, narratively speaking - Vesperia and Abyss especially suffer in the end.

I still can't fully settle on which battle system is my favorite. It's one of Graces, Vesperia, or Xillia, but each has aspects I don't care for even though I enjoy them all. Graces combos are addicting but party AI always seemed to be a problem for me. Vesperia is well balanced but can get repetitive with the same general combination structures, although it opens up a lot by the end game. Xillia's is also pretty fast and fluid -less rigid than Vesperia - but the linking seemed too limiting at times. These are nitpicks though.

As someone else mentioned, Symphonia's system is definitely a more basic precursor to most of these, but usually I can derive enjoyment regardless. I recall having a lot of fun trying to master some arte combinations with Regal, specifically.

Yeah, they usually are. I actually liked Phantasia's and Destiny's act 3's but unfortunately the high encounter rate + long final dungeons in those really broke the pacing. Xillia's is probably the closest to a good pacing and a decent Act 3, but it was a bit rushed. I think another dungeon + a proper final dungeon with a tiny bit of story padding would have been perfect.

As far as the battle systems, out of the recent 3D titles....Graces has the best subsystems, Vesperia's is the most polished, and Xillia 1+2;s are the most fun outside of boss battles.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Holy crap, it's just a week away?
Can't wait to hold and cuddle the ufotable.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

Symphonia was my first, so I'm biased towards it, but most of the things I like about Symphonia I thought Vesperia did better - cast, narrative, and battle gameplay.

However, the places where Symphonia has yet to be matched in the rest of the series, in my opinion of course, is the soundtrack and in the dungeon-explorable areas. I simply felt most locations had an adequate length, an appropriate amount of puzzles, and interesting map design - often with multiple floors and paths, not just a corridor, nor a bland open field, nor a boring maze. Sometimes these areas went a little overboard like Ymir Forest, however. Still much better than Graces or Xillia in that regard.

Man, now I really want to play Vesperia. Mostly for the things you have highlighted, cast, narrative, and battles system. I've read so much love for the cast in particular.

 

[BY2K]

IGN Video Review 1080p

Somebody doesn't like Dawn of the New World very much. lol

Weird that she doesn't mention any of the PS2 extras for the first Symphonia.

EDIT: Oh wow, one of the negative is "Second game is weak." Priceless.

 

[clem84]

The fact that Dolphin does a better job then the HD PS3 port is puzzling. Clearly not much love was given to this port. At least we get a nice CE. I'm still happy but it's too bad Namco didn't take the time to make a proper remaster.

 

[kayos90]

Richter is a legit villain and Emil in

Spoiler

Aster's outfit

is 1000000x better.

 

[Levyne]

Is anyone buying this for the second game? Haha. I like how people are just kind of accepting that it comes with. "Eh, whatever, throw that game on the disc too."

 

[FSLink]

The fact that Dolphin does a better job then the HD PS3 port is puzzling. Clearly not much love was given to this port. At least we get a nice CE. I'm still happy but it's too bad Namco didn't take the time to make a proper remaster.

We'll probably get a Tales of Phantasia X + ToS + ToS2 Aselia Ultra HD edition for PS4 or some shit later. :/

Is anyone buying this for the second game? Haha. I like how people are just kind of accepting that it comes with. "Eh, whatever, throw that game on the disc too."

I still prefer to see that game as an extended epilogue/Phantasia 0.5 since it didn't really get a budget of a main Tales iirc. So calling it a sequel doesn't seem completely right outside of the obvious story connections. Gameplay is still pretty fun despite the weird limitations.

 

[kayos90]

Is anyone buying this for the second game? Haha. I like how people are just kind of accepting that it comes with. "Eh, whatever, throw that game on the disc too."

I vastly prefer the second game for the combat. It does a lot of things right that the series never fucking capitalized on. LIKE PUNISHING YOU FOR FREE ROAMING!

 

[Vazra]

Somebody doesn't like Dawn of the New World very much. lol

Weird that she doesn't mention any of the PS2 extras for the first Symphonia.

EDIT: Oh wow, one of the negative is "Second game is weak." Priceless.

So Dawn isnt that bad since the game still got an 8 in overall score lol

 

[BY2K]

So Dawn isnt that bad since the game still got an 8 in overall score lol

Symphonia balanced it out.

 

[Levyne]

Playing Emil was kind of like Judith, combos felt hard to string together and keep the enemy in the right spot but once you knew what worked, things justed clicked. I don't recall much of Marta's playstyle. Luckily the games have multiplayer.

 

[FSLink]

So Dawn isnt that bad since the game still got an 8 in overall score lol

Yeah, lol, still pretty funny.
I still don't think it's that bad of a game, it's definitely one of the better spinoffs in the series. I definitely enjoyed it more than like Narikiri Dungeon 2+3 and a few of the other weird ones.

Playing Emil was kind of like Judith, combos felt hard to string together and keep the enemy in the right spot but once you knew what worked, things justed clicked. I recall much of Marta's playstyle. Luckily the games have multiplayer.

Except it's mostly 2 player with the other two maybe getting a ToS1 character to play as.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

Is anyone buying this for the second game? Haha. I like how people are just kind of accepting that it comes with. "Eh, whatever, throw that game on the disc too."

I probably wouldn't be getting this if I already had both games. I needed to get around to playing DotNW eventually, anyway, so I might as well pick this up with Symphonia being a "bonus," of sorts.

 

[Levyne]

Except it's mostly 2 player with the other two maybe getting a ToS1 character to play as.

Yeah, bummer, but only need 2.

I probably wouldn't be getting this if I already had both games. I needed to get around to playing DotNW eventually, anyway, so I might as well pick this up with Symphonia being a "bonus," of sorts.

I also didn't consider that it was on the Wii, I guess other Playstation gamers may also be getting their first chance at it.

 

[MoxManiac]

I think the only Tales character I actually like is Alvin.

 

[ohlawd]

I recall much of Marta's playstyle.

Best character to use in battle.

Stack those Speed Casts, spam Photon and that other Light move.

 

[Seda]

Richter is actually my favorite

Spoiler

'antagonist'

in the series, and it's not really close.

 

[FSLink]

I also didn't consider than it was on the Wii, I guess other Playstation gamers may also be getting their first chance at it.

Haven't played the PS3 port, but don't you have to use the right analog stick during the Wii Remote/Waggle sections of ToS2? :lol

 

[TEJ]

Emil was pretty bad but Tenebrae was pretty awesome so I think that balances it out.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

I also didn't consider than it was on the Wii, I guess other Playstation gamers may also be getting their first chance at it.

I have a Wii, but I didn't get into the franchise until two years ago. I also kept putting off Dawn of the New World for all of the new entries being released, instead.

 

[DryvBy]

I've got my collector's edition coming in the mail!

 

[Rhapsody]

I look at the animation for this game and realize how amazing ufotable is. jeez.

Wait, they animated new stuff for this release or something?

There's that too, that for most of the game he can't do shit until Milla tells him to.

As for Asbel, I didn't think he was that bad until he admitted in a skit that had he been in Richard's place, he would have done the same things.

For some odd reason, Asbel saying that didn't really feel off putting for me as it did for some people.

 

[FSLink]

Wait, they animated new stuff for this release or something?

Lol nope. They did the Symphonia's OVAs and Xillia 1 and 2.

 

[Seda]

Lol nope. They did the Symphonia's OVAs and Xillia 1 and 2.

Well they 'animated' the new cut-ins which you can see here. lol

 

[Rhapsody]

Lol nope. They did the Symphonia's OVAs and Xillia 1 and 2.

I figured. I was like, I don't remember it getting the Vita Realta Nua treatment. lol

I do like Ufotable, but the only problem I have is their art style isn't as faithful as I would like it. It's more apparent for the Symphonia designs though, imo.