"Tales of" series (News,Discussion,Etc.) - News in OP

[MegasonicZX]

After seeing some gameplay footages from Let's Plays and other videos, I think I'm interested in this series. This kinda looks like it could up my alley. Although, I should ask those who've played it and are fans of the series; which Tales of game should I go for first?

I would say start with symphonia and work yourself up from there. Symphonia isn't the greatest one when it comes to combat in the series but its still pretty good and the sense of adventure and story are pretty good in this game. Then next you should go for abyss and vesperia or graces f.

[pppp]

Yeah start with Symphonia, It hasn't aged very well, but if you start with the recent games, it will feel so archaic in comparison that it will throw you off significantly.

[JaidynReiman]

I do have to admit, I loved Phantasia back in the day when I played the SNES emulator of it. Playing Destiny again later after having already played Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia was a nightmare. Destiny is almost identical gameplay-wise to Phantasia, and it was annoying as hell. Started playing Eternia and its way better than Destiny/Phantasia, but still a downgrade.

As stupid as they were with Legendia following up to Symphonia, Legendia is way better than the classics. Symphonia is a good start for the 3D games, though, and as Chronicles is the PS2 version in HD its a lot better than the original with new features and the like. Unfortunately I don't have a PS3 so I can't play my copy of Chronicles yet.

 

Abyss is a huge step up from Symphonia by introducing the skill system and also Free Run. And Vesperia is great for having a more advanced item synthesis. Vesperia is hugely lacking in backstory and character development compared to Symphonia and Abyss, though, unfortunately.

[Solkia]

I personally love Legendia. It's like I'm playing a refined version of the original 2D trilogy.

 

Not to mention the story is gloriously weird as hell.

 

And yeah, Start with Symphonia. But I'd get Chronicles for the Dual audio. The Dub is so bad it's almost offensive.

[Mania Pipe]

Coincidently, I was watching some LPs of Symphonia. Thanks for the replies guys, I'll be sure to get Symphonia first!

[JaidynReiman]

I personally love Legendia. It's like I'm playing a refined version of the original 2D trilogy.

 

Not to mention the story is gloriously weird as hell.

 

And yeah, Start with Symphonia. But I'd get Chronicles for the Dual audio. The Dub is so bad it's almost offensive.

Oh, I love Legendia too, but the gameplay was inferior to Symphonia. Its a huge step up from the plain 2D battles in prior games, but it was disappointing to go from 3D battles in Symphonia to 2D in Legendia.

And yeah, I know even in Symphonia battles were fought moving left and right, but monsters and allies were in different positions and switching targets changes the direction you move, so Legendia feels like a step back from that. Love the story and characterization in Legendia, though, and I really want to revisit the world of Legendia because there's a lot of unexplained things going on in the world of Legendia.

[Voyant]

I'm happy the tales series is getting more attention these days. They really do deserve it. They have some amazing battle systems that make it fun to just load up and replay.

 

Vesperia is my favorite game in the series still...I just can't get enough of Yuri's broken battle system as well as Rita...and basically the rest of the cast.

 

You could do some insane shit with Judith! 

 

[PSI Wind]

I want to play Vesperia, but making it a 360 exclusive only in the US really hurts my chances with it. I wish they would at least release the PS3 version on the PSN Store.

[pppp]

I want to play Vesperia, but making it a 360 exclusive only in the US really hurts my chances with it. I wish they would at least release the PS3 version on the PSN Store.

 

Actually it's a 360 exclusive in Europe too. Apparently Microsoft payed for exclusivity outside of Japan or something, which is why we won't get the PS3 version.

[PSI Wind]

Well, I'd understand the UK as well but I live in the US, so I was just saying based in my area.

[Teoskaven]

So, they decided to localize Hearts R but not Innocence R: i guess Baba is still scared of the poor sales for the Vita (honestly, i can't blame him: he really seems to put all his effort in the localization of series right now).

Still, a very good news to hear: it might tempt me to get a Vita before the end of this year.

[PSI Wind]

At least Hearts is a bit better in terms of a remake as it made the battles 3D.

[MegasonicZX]

So, they decided to localize Hearts R but not Innocence R: i guess Baba is still scared of the poor sales for the Vita (honestly, i can't blame him: he really seems to put all his effort in the localization of series right now).

Still, a very good news to hear: it might tempt me to get a Vita before the end of this year.

How much are vita's going for right now anyway? Might just get one by the end of the year.

[Solkia]

$200 for the SLim model.

 

Honestly we don't really even need Innocence R, as nice as it'd be to have.

 

Thought I imagine the future of it getting localized depends on the success of Hearts R, which I'm fairly worried about.

[Ristar]

While I´m happy that more Tales games are coming to the West, I´m sad that the english translation of the DS version is now put on hold...

 

I am not interested in buying a Vita, but I want to play this game so bad :´(

[Solkia]

Kajitani-eizan has been working on that fucking patch for almost half a decade now. Vita's would probably $50 used on ebay by the time he finished it.

[Solkia]

 

 

European Collectors edition of Xillia 2.

 

Release date in EU set for August 22nd

[KrazyBean]

I KNEW it will release the same time as the first game. Instant pre-order...where can I pre-order the Collectors Edition?

 

EDIT: A whole bunch of gameplay and screenshots of the English version of the game. Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2014/04/22/tales-xillia-2-collectors-edition-comes-figurine/

 

Videos:

 

Screenshots.

 

Here's the most interesting one. You can make choices:

[Solkia]

Bamco EU usually sets preorders up on their own site.

 

GAME or Amazon.co.uk may have them.

[Solkia]

ToX2 US date is 8/19/14 (19/8/14)

[KrazyBean]

US collectors edition. SSMB will not let me post the picture for some reason...

http://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn1%2Ft31.0-8%2F1512009_823806687648874_3386507545104230442_o.jpg&key=hMJtTd1XKFX5Rg36NoJ3cQ&w=600&h=366.6125

[MegasonicZX]

US collectors edition. SSMB will not let me post the picture for some reason...

http://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn1%2Ft31.0-8%2F1512009_823806687648874_3386507545104230442_o.jpg&key=hMJtTd1XKFX5Rg36NoJ3cQ&w=600&h=366.6125

God namco just take my money now!

[KrazyBean]

Kotaku's article about the game

http://kotaku.com/5970348/for-every-step-tales-of-xillia-2-takes-forward-it-takes-another-back/all

 

They raise some new points and...my hype has gone down a bit. The two main pet peeves I already have with the game is both about the protagonist. He's silent until you finish the game and play New Game + (just why?), and he's overpowered. The debt system sounds pretty unneeded and the high amounts of copy-pasting content from the first game is kinda disappointing. 

 

Looks like this game might be in the same predicament as Pokemon Black/White 2. Whatever, I know I'll still buy the game.

 

Anyway, the CE can now be pre-ordered in the UK via Amazon. It's #2 on the Best Sellers rankings (beating Watch_Dogs on PS4) so it has a LOT of attention. If you want it, be quick and sign up for alerts.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JTO40J0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[JaidynReiman]

Kotaku's article about the game

http://kotaku.com/5970348/for-every-step-tales-of-xillia-2-takes-forward-it-takes-another-back/all

 

They raise some new points and...my hype has gone down a bit. The two main pet peeves I already have with the game is both about the protagonist. He's silent until you finish the game and play New Game + (just why?), and he's overpowered. The debt system sounds pretty unneeded and the high amounts of copy-pasting content from the first game is kinda disappointing. 

 

Looks like this game might be in the same predicament as Pokemon Black/White 2. Whatever, I know I'll still buy the game.

 

Anyway, the CE can now be pre-ordered in the UK via Amazon. It's #2 on the Best Sellers rankings (beating Watch_Dogs on PS4) so it has a LOT of attention. If you want it, be quick and sign up for alerts.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JTO40J0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Honestly, the silent protagonist thing bugs the hell out of me, too. Tales games have never had a silent protagonist, why start now? And why of all things does the silent protagonist suddenly get a voice on New Game+? I already knew about this from the Japanese version, though (which I've read a small bit about).

[KrazyBean]

Honestly, the silent protagonist thing bugs the hell out of me, too. Tales games have never had a silent protagonist, why start now? And why of all things does the silent protagonist suddenly get a voice on New Game+? I already knew about this from the Japanese version, though (which I've read a small bit about).

 

He does speak during battle so he's not mute per se, but during cutscenes he's like Link...but at least in Zelda games, everyone is silent but in a game like this were EVERYONE else speaks on a regular basis, it's a bit odd.