Lotheneil vs. The Backlog Hydra, Ep. #14
Yet another week has passed, quite successful as far as backlog killing is concerned. Two more targets off my ABC Challenge project list beaten, codename T and U - including Tales of Symphonia, he title I was looking forward the most. And by no means I was disappointed, quite the contrary. It was one hell of a ride, the game dragged me in and did not let go until credits were displayed :)
Tales of Symphonia
53.3 hours of playtime, 21 of 39 achievements
Verdict: strongly positive Mature plot, interesting characters, detailed world with a lot of tiny (and not so tiny) things to do - classic jRPG at its best. I have to admit Tales of Symphonia is the first title of the series I’ve played, though definitely not the least - as from what I’ve gathered, what captivated me the most: mature topics, diverse characters and factions with their own goals and agendas on both sides (with no clear division between allies and enemies or good and evil) are characteristic for the series as a whole.
Note, that technical issues mentioned in large number of reviews are mostly fixed now, and the game is fully playable and stable nowadays. Just do yourself a favour and install the unofficial patch (ToSfix) to get rid of the remaining issues like improper aspect ratio.
Status: beaten Fully completing the game was never going to happen and I wasn’t going to even try. The title offers character titles (giving them stat bonuses or costumes) for various deeds - starting from finishing a battle with all-male team and ending with talking to all women (like 200 of them) in the whole game or refraining from using healing items during battles until a specific point approximately 15h+ into the game, there are also achievements for completing monster and item compendiums (which means fighting and scanning every opponent and finding every item, respectively). This type of achievement hunt does not fall into my definition of entertainment. I’ve finished the game with all subquests I knew about and was able to do with plot decisions I’ve made, though.
Btw: I have a question: which of the remaining ‘Tales of’ series titles you’d suggest playing? Unfortunately I have no access to PS3/4, so anything either released on PC or on any system with working emulator would be preferable, please :)
Sanctum 2
13.2 hours of playtime, 16 of 50 achievements
Verdict: neutral A mixture of FPS and tower defense in sci-fi setting. A couple of weapons, tower types and perks to choose from, and the rest is building towers, walls to create a real labyrinths, then running around the map shooting hostile things before they reach glowing orbs you protect. Not a bad game, but nothing extraordinary either. Contrary to my favourite title of the genre, Dungeon Defenders, character progress is very limited, though towers and perks give enough variety for the player to tailor them to their own playstyle. Still, after finishing the campaign (16 maps with a very simplistic plot not even worth mentioning here) I didn’t feel compelled to play further. On a positive side, the title offers some nice visuals and the fact it is not set in another fantasy world is refreshing as well. The game offers co-op mode for up to four players.
Status: beaten As mentioned above, finished the whole campaign and called it a day. Left feats of strength (that give opponents bonuses and more exp for the player) and survival modes for the sake of achievements alone.
Having fun, are you? BAM!
But yeah, I also enjoyed ToS a lot. It was my first Tales of game that I actually played to finish but very much like what you said actually completing it is one of those crazy things that requires multiple playthroughs and a guide for sure. That’s just not my thing.
Btw: I have a question: which of the remaining ‘Tales of’ series titles you’d suggest playing?
I had fun with Tales of Phantasia from few hours I played of it back in the day and it’s kinda interesting how it ties into Symphonia so I guess I’d recommend that. It has a simpler combat system, and Star Ocean 1 and 2 spun off from it.
Ymir Forest and THAT puzzle… cursing ensues. To add insult to injury, one of the available characters can beeping FLY! and could get that beeping fruit from the beeping tree without having to rely on river currents, birds and fish. Yup, fun indeed.
Yay! I agree - Tales of Symphonia holds a very special place in my heart, and replaying it on Steam was a joy.
As for other Tales of games, I’m in the minority in that I really didn’t click with Tales of the Abyss. If you have an xbox 360, Tales of Vesperia is AMAZING. It’s the best-looking Tales game - I’m noooooot really a fan of how the stylization has gotten more realistic body proportions, but still VERY anime faces. Tales of Vesperia is the exact perfect balance, with absolutely beautiful shading and rendering to boot. Any still frame of that game looks like it could come from an anime (and, now that there’s a handful of all-3D anime like Land of the Lustrous, it fits right in!) I also enjoyed the story and characters a lot.
I also really enjoyed Tales of Zestiria, though I’m not sure how much that was because friends of mine set my expectations VERY low and I was pleasantly surprised on top of that. Here is my review, if you’re interested. Those same two friends really enjoyed Tales of Berseria, though! I own it, but have yet to play it. I hope this helped.
(If you’re looking for other good JRPGs, though, I really really love the Legend of Heroes series. Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 are probably overall my favorite JRPGs, period)
((okay, maybe not more than FF10 and 12. But they’re up there!))
Thanks for recommendations, I’ll definitely check those out :)
Btw: I have a question: which of the remaining ‘Tales of’ series titles you’d suggest playing?
Zestiria is good, and well worth playing. I would recommend staying away from the two PS1 exclusive, they’re boring. Phantasia is a game that some love, and some (like me) find really frustrating due to its high encounter rate. It’s very… old school… in its encounter rate (meaning you’ll get a new encounter every few steps).
And that’s the tales games I’ve played. The tales series is one I find got better once it made it into the 3rd dimension, which is quite rare, with most older series I find the opposite to be true.
I have a question,
are the tale series turn based in thire combat? cause thats the major turn off of jrpg’s for me…but as its on sale on humble rn I’m curious/intrested cause I’ve heard good things about it
No, the combat is real time (and quite dynamic), on a circular area. You control one character directly out of 4-person party (you can switch at any moment) and use normal and special attacks to form combos, as well as blocks. The only moment the title pause is when menu is accessed (to use item or directly order a party member to use a specific skill). The only issue is that you can’t move freely, just approach or run away from a targeted enemy in straight line. May cause some minor issues at first, but it’s easy to get used to.
Definitely worth those 5 euros. People tend to point at Berseria as the best of the three from what I’ve gathered, if I didn’t have such a huge backlog I’d get it right now :) As for Symphonia - the gameplay has its flaws (like poor camera behavior at times and lack of any non-standard mechanics) but the story… the game is worth playing for it alone.