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[Stuart444]

What will they do about Lailah in the next anime or many crossover games in the future?

Recast her.

 

[bryt]

God, the Dietician's Nightmare trophy to make all snacks is killing me. It's my last trophy needed for the platinum and I've had my game on for 6 hours today and I still haven't made all the snacks.

I hate RNG related trophies.

EDIT: I love it! Complaining about RNG always seems to help. Just 30 mins after I got the platinum.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Lailah... T_T

Her VA, Matsuki Miyu, had also played Anna and Ku-ko. two of the craziest, hilarious, girls in love... Well one of them is an eldritch horror.

Such a unique voice in the industry lost.

 

[3Kaze]

Her last blog entry last month was about her birthday... Rip.

While not related to the anime subject, has a Tales VA passed away? I'm trying to remember.

Jiji / gramps seiyuu passed away a year before the release of the game.

 

[Shouta]

Again, it's got good ideas (I really, really like how the Seraphim serve as these unseen forces and it creates a great element of doubt/faith with the Shepherd).... it's just incredibly conventional rarely going for any sort of emotional connection beyond that one big war battle where you meet Heidalf. If the game had more moments like *that*, I'd be far more interested in the story.

The first 3-4 hours with the setup are really good but it's down hill for pretty much everything after though. The biggest issue to me was that not much fed into the main story at all so a lot of things you see just feel like it's tacked on to the skeleton of the plot. It ends up feeling incomplete and unsatisfying. The cast really feels thrown together as a result.

As for PS360 Gen Tales

Xillia
Hearts
Graces F/Xillia 2
Vesperia
Zestiria
Hearts R
Symphonia: DotNW

 

[Bladenic]

Can someone please tell me where the heck the second discovery point (Sylpheagle?) in the gorge area before the wind shrine is. I've literally scoured every inch of the map and nothing.

 

[Falk]

Tales of Destiny 2 / Eternia (not sure what the hell to call this being a European)

In 2015, well into our fabulous interconnected information age, calling it ToD2 when an actual ToD2 exists is just about as dumb as calling FF4 FF2.

 

[Stuart444]

In 2015, well into our fabulous interconnected information age, calling it ToD2 when an actual ToD2 exists is just about as dumb as calling FF4 FF2.

This I can agree with but I didn't want to come off as rude to people who still insist on using the name they grew up with

 

[Firestorm]

Ok this Breed Wolf in the Lastenbell sidequest is wrecking me x.x Can't bruteforce. Maybe I should figure out this equipment fusion and skill business...

The ridiculous equipment system is really hurting my enjoyment of the game right now

 

[Datschge]

Uhhh... where are yall getting that the game is outsourced? lol. Pretty sure every game is outsourced to a degree in Japan.

From me probably. Xillia 1 & 2 had surprisingly little outsourcing even compared to other Tales games. Zestiria on the other hand went to the other extreme of having only some token staff left for specific areas which always had been sizable "in house" before.

Tales of Destiny 2 / Eternia (not sure what the hell to call this being a European)

The game is called Eternia, Europe got it as Eternia, the US got it as "Destiny II" with a Roman number, the actual Destiny 2 is written as Destiny 2.

No one knows and to be quite honest, much of the Tales fans don't really care because this is a series that isn't scrutinized about development process and stuff. Instead we scrutinize about what the fanbase cares about. Waifus and Husbandos. I'm being 100% serious here.

That being said, the game was in development for 3 years supposedly and we can assume that one of those three years was spent in pre-production. My guess is that during the actual production and development later on there was a conflict in the vision and execution of the game's' narrative which is why we see a half-baked story. Not only that but my guess is that there was a lack of a concerted effort from the narrative side leading to many faults in the story. I'm sure there was a narrative director but it could've been worn by many hats (one too many) or there never really was one leading to some issues. Regardless it's clear that this story didn't just end up bad because it's "lolTales" but some serious issues.

Tales stories always had been made up as the development went on. Destiny 2 was hilarious in how it was obvious that the game, animation and skits all independently had more or less different characterizations. In general one has to assume that the skeleton of the story has to be finished early so that animation and voice recording can start, the game development then keeps changing things around while still trying to fit all animation and voices in. Whether a story is told well or not is more a reflection on how smoothly the development went and how flexibly the story was rewritten, not how good the initial story may have been.

Needless to say Tales development has been down the gutter since the closure of Tales Studio. I'm told other series' development don't fare favorable either during and after all sorts of studios were merged into the centralized monolith Bandai Namco Studios.

Lailah's JP VA passed away ;_;

Too early. RIP

While not related to the anime subject, has a Tales VA passed away? I'm trying to remember.

Dhaos was one of the earlier ones. RIP Shiozawa

 

[Falk]

I'm told other series' development don't fare favorable either during and after all sorts of studios were merged into the centralized monolith Bandai Namco Studios.

I dunno, God Eater is 2 games, 2 expansions and a HD port in but seems to be doing fine~

 

[Datschge]

I dunno, God Eater is 2 games, 2 expansions and a HD port in but seems to be doing fine~

I thought God Eater is by shift and not in house?

 

[Falk]

Eh, misread your post.

No comment then!

 

[Mendrox]

Lailah... T_T

Her VA, Matsuki Miyu, had also played Anna and Ku-ko. two of the craziest, hilarious, girls in love... Well one of them is an eldritch horror.

Such a unique voice in the industry lost.

Noo... she was awesome as Anna and Lailah ;__;

 

[Earthpainting]

I've kind of hit a wall. Zaveid is really pounding my team, within seconds and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I try to block his attacks, but blocking is slow, and usually makes me lose half my health by the time the blocking actually starts. I checked some Youtubers and it seems most of them are 4 levels higher than I am, which sounds like a big deal. I don't recall actively avoiding fights, but I haven't been walking towards enemies either if they aren't directly on my path. I assume I should probably change that habit, and aim towards everything nearby.

Any tips for Zaveid are welcome.

 

[Durante]

I really don't get the hate for the skill system.

It's a lot more interesting than anything else I've ever seen in a Tales game (which was mostly forgettable).

 

[Droplet]

Again, it's got good ideas (I really, really like how the Seraphim serve as these unseen forces and it creates a great element of doubt/faith with the Shepherd).... it's just incredibly conventional rarely going for any sort of emotional connection beyond that one big war battle where you meet Heidalf. If the game had more moments like *that*, I'd be far more interested in the story.

I really welcome the more conventional route that Zestiria took. In some ways, it's quite unconventional for a Tales game. We don't have our token "we said this was probably the final battle but it actually wasn't", nor do we have the cast member that unceremoniously betrays the party halfway through (or my other favorite: the cast member that seems like they'll betray you but don't so that the actual betrayal can be more surprising). There also isn't the ridiculous over reliance on the heroine as a plot device that has permeated Tales plots for longer than I can remember. It's true, the cast really doesn't feel like they all need to be there, but I enjoyed their company so much more that I feel like I can't complain. The little bits of development were enough that I didn't feel the need for the narrative to get dragged along with their baggage.

Spoiler

Dezel's arc was enough to show me that I really didn't want to see more.

 

[Datschge]

I really don't get the hate for the skill system.

It's a lot more interesting than anything else I've ever seen in a Tales game (which was mostly forgettable).

It's too hard and unusual.

Not in actual execution, but in the little brain gymnastics it requires the player to do due to the awkward UI combined with the knowledge that the way up is not the only way this time. I feel for many players it's the presentation more than anything else killing their motivation making better use of it. (And for those that do it's actually rather bland compared to past systems.)

 

[Falk]

I really don't get the hate for the skill system.

It's a lot more interesting than anything else I've ever seen in a Tales game (which was mostly forgettable).

I find it somewhat amusing that I had less of a problem with it in my JP playthrough (only moderately proficient at reading) than I am in my EN playthrough because I actually understand what it's supposed to do and am now constantly worrying too much about min-maxing.

 

[Droplet]

It's too hard and unusual.

Not in actual execution, but in the little brain gymnastics it requires the player to do due to the awkward UI combined with the knowledge that the way up is not the only way this time. I feel for many players it's the presentation more than anything else killing their motivation making better use of it. (And for those that do it's actually rather bland compared to past systems.)

I tried, but all that text when I wanted to be playing I think I really fucked up early on in the game, and by the time I figured out what I was supposed to be doing it was too late.

 

[Bowlie]

Can someone please tell me where the heck the second discovery point (Sylpheagle?) in the gorge area before the wind shrine is. I've literally scoured every inch of the map and nothing.

In case you still haven't found it. I spent some good minutes trying to find that one as well, walking as slow as possible and with Point of Interest Detection on to check where it would be triggered (it's Discovery point 051):

Here's the link if it is too small. Look at the wall at your waist level, you'll see two little birds.

 

[Kouriozan]

Lailah's JP VA passed away ;_;

I really loved all the works she contributed to, and really loved her timbre of voice.

Wow, rest in peace, really liked her work.

 

[Matt Attack]

I really don't get the hate for the skill system.

It's a lot more interesting than anything else I've ever seen in a Tales game (which was mostly forgettable).

I think it's really cool in concept, and I even enjoyed messing around with it early on. Sadly, as I've put more hours into the game it's just become such a huge pain to mainipulate that I've sort of given up.

 

[Fisico]

What will they do about Lailah in the next anime or many crossover games in the future?

Recast her as it was said above, they did that for Dhaos' seiyuu (and the Vesperia cameo had both the voice of his original seiyuu and his new one)

 

[kayos90]

Honestly I would've rather had a Xillia story than a Zestiria story for an anime. Huge mistake. Plus we're wasting ufo's talents on something shitty.

 

[Dari Elxix]

Guys, I'm still confused on how the skill system works. So once I have a piece of equipment or title's proficiency maxed out, should I immediately switch to another item?

 

[kayos90]

Guys, I'm still confused on how the skill system works. So once I have a piece of equipment or title's proficiency maxed out, should I immediately switch to another item?

Proficiency only changes the cost for fusion. That's all. You don't actually need to do proficiency at all.

 

[irfaanator]

It's too hard and unusual.

Not in actual execution, but in the little brain gymnastics it requires the player to do due to the awkward UI combined with the knowledge that the way up is not the only way this time. I feel for many players it's the presentation more than anything else killing their motivation making better use of it. (And for those that do it's actually rather bland compared to past systems.)

yea that's my reason for not liking it. It's pretty difficult to see what the actual effect fusing equipment has outside of reading the descriptions is.

 

[Dari Elxix]

Proficiency only changes the cost for fusion. That's all. You don't actually need to do proficiency at all.

Well that's sorta more confusing heh. So when should I change a piece of equipment or title then?

 

[ULTROS!]

I have a love/hate relationship with the Water temple.

The dungeon is so bad but the music is so good.

 

[Voror]

Still extremely early but in terms of gaining levels are the Crucibles the best place to grind for a bit if you want to? And from what I get, it's better to lower the difficulty as you'll get more exp that way?

 

[hutna]

Not super far in, but so far my only complaint is I can't take screenshots or movies on the PS4. So weird since ToX was one of the few games to utilize the PS3's screenshot feature.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I have a love/hate relationship with the Water temple.

The dungeon is so bad but the music is so good.

All of the trial dungeons had amazing music. Earth temple was my fav but Water came really close.

 

[Bowlie]

Still extremely early but in terms of gaining levels are the Crucibles the best place to grind for a bit if you want to? And from what I get, it's better to lower the difficulty as you'll get more exp that way?

Haven't done any crucible yet but yes, lower difficulties give you more exp. Or rather, higher difficulties give you less. Up until Normal you receive 1.0x, then it starts to decline.

On the other way, higher difficulties give you more grade to spend on your Lords of the Land and nice drops from monsters. I'm doing Intense and I'm gaining equipments way better than the ones sold at shops.

 

[Bladenic]

In case you still haven't found it. I spent some good minutes trying to find that one as well, walking as slow as possible and with Point of Interest Detection on to check where it would be triggered (it's Discovery point 051):



Here's the link if it is too small. Look at the wall at your waist level, you'll see two little birds.

THANK YOU I'll check and also COMPLETELY forgot about that talent, I've had Sorey cooking for too long and the talent is kinda useless but it would've helped here I'm sure. Thanks!

Also you know what else is super different in this game? No token big tits girl who's envied by little tits girl. Unless I missed that skit.

 

[robotzombie]

So what are the best skills to go for?

I'm thinking stacks of 4 for Ekseed is something to aim for, what else is good?

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I bought the school outfits just so I could give

Spoiler

Zaveid a shirt (that wasn't Dezel's)

He now has the best outfit in the game. His guidance counselor outfit doesn't look out of place, fits his wind seraphim motif, and it makes

Spoiler

his hat

look better, too.

 

[Vamphuntr]

Is the grade system in this game broken? I just got 130 something grade from a battle and I'm still at the beginning

Spoiler

When you get the water armatization

.

 

[GoldCrusader]

Honestly I would've rather had a Xillia story than a Zestiria story for an anime. Huge mistake. Plus we're wasting ufo's talents on something shitty.

I know you already stated your reasons but you really sound like you are on a crusade against Zesteria and that you want to stop people from playing it. Sure you can dislike the game but isn't calling it shitty 3 times per page a little too intense?

 

[kayos90]

I know you already stated your reasons but you really sound like you are on a crusade against Zesteria and that you want to stop people from playing it. Sure you can dislike the game but isn't calling shitty 3 times a little too intense?

Not really on a crusade. I'm not here to convince anyone anything. People are already taking my word with a grain of salt and the Tales users that know me on the board know I'm overly critical of games in the first place anyway.

 

[InternHertz]

Is the grade system in this game broken? I just got 130 something grade from a battle and I'm still at the beginning

Spoiler

When you get the water armatization

.

It's not, Grade is region-specific and it makes you level the Lords of the Lands. Each level then gives a certain amount of points that you can then use to buy options for NG+

 

[Layell]

Got to the second trial with its overabundance of annoying level "puzzles" as well as overuse of the worst d-pad power in the game.

I was seriously excited at the potential of this Sorcerer's Ring style power back again, but I'm saddened by how quickly they were thrown out and how useless one in particular is. Combined with the bad equipment system I think I'll take a break from this game for a bit.

Question on the Iris Gems

Spoiler

do they actually end up forming some sort of cohesive story or is it just random stuff?

 

[Rhapsody]

Dhaos was one of the earlier ones. RIP Shiozawa

I can't believe I forgot this one (along with the Nanaly one).

 

[ys45]

So I'm about 12ish hours into the game , I just got

Spoiler

Rose

in my party, enjoying the game so far but I can see why some don't .
The skill system and the leveling system is pretty strange and I don't like it, combat is not as good as other Tales, and there is much less skits which is a bummer for me because I quite enjoyed that in the Tales games since Vesperia .

I might end up putting the game on easy just to finish the game as I don't feel like trying fuse equipment to "lvl up" my character .

I definitely hope that they go back to the old mechanics with Berseria , give me the good old lvl up system with stats increase please !

Story is the element that save the game so far IMO characters are interesting hopefully this will stay like this ....

 

[Durante]

Well that's sorta more confusing heh. So when should I change a piece of equipment or title then?

When a different piece of a equipment offers more overall value (as in the combination of its skills and the skills it unlocks). Or a different piece of equipment can be combined with some other pieces to offer more value. Or if you can replace it with another piece which retains most of the advantages, while the original one can be used to greater effect in combination with another character's equipment. Or ...

That's why I consider the system far more interesting than most JRPG equipment systems, which often boil down to either pure upgrades (boring) or keeping outdated equipment until some arbitrary time-gating/"learning" mechanic is met (boring).

 

[SolVanderlyn]

All elemental trial themes back to back

Notice that they all share a leitmotif

 

[Stuart444]

When a different piece of a equipment offers more overall value (as in the combination of its skills and the skills it unlocks). Or a different piece of equipment can be combined with some other pieces to offer more value. Or if you can replace it with another piece which retains most of the advantages, while the original one can be used to greater effect in combination with another character's equipment. Or ...

That's why I consider the system far more interesting than most JRPG equipment systems, which often boil down to either pure upgrades (boring) or keeping outdated equipment until some arbitrary time-gating/"learning" mechanic is met (boring).

To be fair, I agree that it's interesting though I still don't like it personally.

Don't have to like something to think it's interesting

 

[Fuu]

When a different piece of a equipment offers more overall value (as in the combination of its skills and the skills it unlocks). Or a different piece of equipment can be combined with some other pieces to offer more value. Or if you can replace it with another piece which retains most of the advantages, while the original one can be used to greater effect in combination with another character's equipment. Or ...

That's why I consider the system far more interesting than most JRPG equipment systems, which often boil down to either pure upgrades (boring) or keeping outdated equipment until some arbitrary time-gating/"learning" mechanic is met (boring).

Yep, it offers tons of flexibility. I'm liking it, but I guess that aside from the extra "work" fusion can require, there's also bit of paradox of choice going on for people who can't seem to enjoy it because a lot of times there aren't obvious "best" equipments.

For example, I just made a dagger combination on Rose that was a downgrade to her Attack (while raising her Arte Attack), but it allowed me to have two separate E-Union 4 skill combos on her instead of one, meaning she'll have bonuses of Defense +1 and Arte Defense +1 whenever she levels up. If I ever feel like I need the use another dagger that has more Attack in a fight, I can just equip it before or during the battle.

And that's all before I finish the current dungeon, get to a shop and start fusing new drops and purchases with old equipment, while also switching equipment between characters to see what new setups I can come up with. After I started paying more attention to manipulating locked skills while fusing, the whole thing opened up even more.

 

[kayos90]

When a different piece of a equipment offers more overall value (as in the combination of its skills and the skills it unlocks). Or a different piece of equipment can be combined with some other pieces to offer more value. Or if you can replace it with another piece which retains most of the advantages, while the original one can be used to greater effect in combination with another character's equipment. Or ...

That's why I consider the system far more interesting than most JRPG equipment systems, which often boil down to either pure upgrades (boring) or keeping outdated equipment until some arbitrary time-gating/"learning" mechanic is met (boring).

While true, the problem is that there are still pure stats tied to the equipment you use rather than just skills making it absolutely cumbersome when trying to juggle both the skillboard and using the stats attached to said items. This means that old equipment is going to always feel useless 90% of the time. If they were going to go with the skillboard system they needed to have done it better. Period.

 

[Durante]

To be fair, I agree that it's interesting though I still don't like it personally.

Don't have to like something to think it's interesting

Absolutely. Some IF games have interesting systems, but they are so convoluted (and embedded in a repetitive game) that they get bore me as well.

However, IMHO the Zestiria system so far has a good degree of complexity, where it's interesting to try and optimize equipment synergies across your party without getting too bogged down and convoluted.

For example, I just made a dagger combination on Rose that was a downgrade to her Attack (while raising her Arte Attack), but it allowed me to have two separate E-Union 4 skill combos on her instead of one, meaning she'll have bonuses of Defense +1 and Arte Defense +1 whenever she levels up. If I ever feel like I need the use another dagger that has more Attack in a fight, I can just equip it before or during the battle.

And that's all before I finish the current dungeon, get to a shop and start fusing new drops and purchases with old equipment, while also switching equipment between characters to see what new setups I can come up with. After I started paying more attention to manipulating locked skills while fusing, the whole thing opened up even more.

Exactly! I love stuff like this.

While true, the problem is that there are still pure stats tied to the equipment you use rather than just skills making it absolutely cumbersome when trying to juggle both the skillboard and using the stats attached to said items.

You call it "absolutely cumbersome", I call it "interesting".

Tomato tomato.