Tales of Xillia (and other "Tales of" games)

[pierrot]

The physical release is pretty expensive now (incidentally, my copy was one of the first things I sold on Racketboy) but Tales of Destiny II/Tales of Eternia is a really good game. There was a PSP release for the Japanese version that might have a translation somewhere if you dig hard enough. I like Symphonia, but a lot of the plot points are redundant when considering Eternia. I don't find any of the Tales series particularly special, and since the 6th gen releases, it's really not much more than fan service for nerdy Japanese gamers (a lot of girl gamers) but I like to collect the games, regardless.

I'd recommend ToD II, and maybe Phantasia. Not much else.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Heh, I was gonna start a thread about this series yesterday but decided not to.

Yes, you can start wherever. I like the series, though all the games are long (too long) and kinda same-y. Try to play several in a row and you'll get burned out.

I think Tales of Symphonia and its direct sequel (Dawn of the New World) are the two best titles. Tales of Phantasia would be third place (the SF original is superior to all the ports, in my opinion).

The series is huge, and most of the games never made it out of Japan. I have imported Tales of Rebirth and Tales of Destiny 2 (the real Tales of Destiny 2 - not tales of Eternia), but haven't touched them yet.

Anyone play Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology? It was released on PSP some years back.

[ninjainspandex]

I bought this yesterday when I picked up Dragon Crown. It was a spur of the moment think, i really enjoyed Tales of Vesperia so hopefully I enjoy this one too. Is it like vesperia where a friend can take control of one of your party members with a second controller?

[Xeogred]

The series is awesome, but I've had a consistent knack of never being able to finish any of them for some reason. Maybe the average story/characters gets to me after awhile, I don't know. The ones I've played the most have been Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, and now Graces F.

Xilia definitely looks amazing though. I'll probably get it eventually to check it out and maybe add it to the ongoing pile of never finishing a Tales game. lol

[BoneSnapDeez]

Tales of Xillia 2 is also going to be released in North America eventually.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Tales of Eternia is a really good game. There was a PSP release for the Japanese version that might have a translation somewhere if you dig hard enough.

There was a European English release. PSP is region free. It will probably cost you $40.

I played Symphonia and didn't really like it. Think I'll like Xillia more? The characters certainly look better, but what about the gameplay? Guess I ought to wait for reviews.

[MrPopo]

Tales of Eternia is a really good game. There was a PSP release for the Japanese version that might have a translation somewhere if you dig hard enough.

There was a European English release. PSP is region free. It will probably cost you $40.

I played Symphonia and didn't really like it. Think I'll like Xillia more? The characters certainly look better, but what about the gameplay? Guess I ought to wait for reviews.

The core gameplay is pretty similar between the 3D Tales games, especially the ones on consoles. Innocence on the DS has a randomly generated dungeon system that falls pretty flat, though. So if your complaint with Symphonia is you didn't like the story then you might like Xillia (disclosure: I haven't played Xillia yet). But if you didn't like the combat system then you should probably steer clear of the non-2D Tales games (which you might like better since it's on a single plane, rather than 3D movement).

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I liked the combat system initially, but it got boring fast. A game that long needs to keep throwing tough enemies that require better control and strategy. In Symphonia, I got bored with the easy and repetitive fighting.

[ZenErik]

Did you ever up the difficulty? I had fun with the Graces f battling because I unlocked higher difficulties until I was on the hardest one.

[hashiriya1]

I started Xillia last night. I chose Milla as the protagonist, but I read some Japanese and Western reviews and most of them say to play as Jude for a more enjoyable experience.

Eh, I'm not starting over.