Let's discuss Namco's Tales series (and help others learn).

[Sarge]

Honestly, the series is very uneven, despite being incredibly consistent overall. The formula for the series hasn't changed much at all over the years, and as such entries are really differentiated by factors that are a lot more difficult to quantify. Combat flow, story-telling beats, characters, and exploration feel go a long way towards making games in the series feel better or worse as a result.

So, of the list, here's my history with the series:

1995 Tales of Phantasia - beat on GBA, played on SNES/PSX
1997 Tales of Destiny - beat
2000 Tales of Eternia - played (localized as Tales of Destiny II)
2002 Tales of Destiny 2 - never played, not localized
2003 Tales of Symphonia - beat
2004 Tales of Rebirth - not localized
2005 Tales of Legendia - beat
2005 Tales of the Abyss -beat
2007 Tales of Innocence - played briefly
2008 Tales of Vesperia - beat
2008 Tales of Hearts - beat on Vita, significantly different from DS entry
2009 Tales of Graces - played
2011 Tales of Xillia - played
2012 Tales of Xillia 2 - not even opened, haha!
2015 Tales of Zestiria - played
2016 Tales of Berseria - haven't gotten it yet

Of the series, my favorite entries are Symphonia and Abyss. That being said, sometimes dropping back to Symphonia after playing games in the series that have free-run is a bit of an adjustment.

[Exhuminator]

That being said, sometimes dropping back to Symphonia after playing games in the series that have free-run is a bit of an adjustment.

I've got the original Symphonia on GameCube and Symphonia II on Wii. But I was thinking of getting Tales of Symphonia Chronicles for PS3, because of widescreen support, sharper resolution, and the extra content it provides. Do you think Chronicles is a good way to play these games? Are there any problems with Chronicles that you (or anyone else reading) know of?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Here's a spin-off I enjoyed:

There were Tales, Star Ocean, and Grandia games released on the GBC but none were localized. Sad!

[MrPopo]

That being said, sometimes dropping back to Symphonia after playing games in the series that have free-run is a bit of an adjustment.

I've got the original Symphonia on GameCube and Symphonia II on Wii. But I was thinking of getting Tales of Symphonia Chronicles for PS3, because of widescreen support, sharper resolution, and the extra content it provides. Do you think Chronicles is a good way to play these games? Are there any problems with Chronicles that you (or anyone else reading) know of?

As far as I know there's no reason not to get Chronicles over the others.

[PartridgeSenpai]

That being said, sometimes dropping back to Symphonia after playing games in the series that have free-run is a bit of an adjustment.

I've got the original Symphonia on GameCube and Symphonia II on Wii. But I was thinking of getting Tales of Symphonia Chronicles for PS3, because of widescreen support, sharper resolution, and the extra content it provides. Do you think Chronicles is a good way to play these games? Are there any problems with Chronicles that you (or anyone else reading) know of?

As far as I know there's no reason not to get Chronicles over the others.

The port of Chronicles is a port of the PS2 port of Symphonia. I've heard there are some very minor framerate issues with Chronicles compared to the original version, but I beat it last year and didn't notice anything. I recommend Chronicles.

The formula for the series hasn't changed much at all over the years, and as such entries are really differentiated by factors that are a lot more difficult to quantify. Combat flow, story-telling beats, characters, and exploration feel go a long way towards making games in the series feel better or worse as a result.

I very much agree. The specific combat nuances and characters are most of what differentiate each game, which makes it kinda strange compared to a series like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Though you have a lot less variation and experimentation (which I guess one could argue they save for the spinoffs), you never really have a Dragon Quest II or a Final Fantasy VIII situation where the mechanics just aren't good so most everyone won't like it. Chances are if you like one Tales game, you'd probably like most of the other ones.

How did you like Legendia btw, Sarge? I'm thinking of starting either that one or Xillia next.

[Xeogred]

Outside of Phantasia, I think I own all of the PS1, and PS2 titles in the main series, but I just can't tolerate the "anime" of it all, anymore.

Honestly I think the "anime of it all" is one of my favorite parts. I can see how someone wouldn't care for it though.

I'm all about that anime of it all. Love it, keep them coming.

Berseria sounds kind of dark and looks cool. I think that might be my 6th Tales gamble someday.

[MrPopo]

I felt like Berseria was a breath of fresh air with regards to a lot of the series tropes. And it manages to make the Graces style battle system fun.

[Xeogred]

I felt like Berseria was a breath of fresh air with regards to a lot of the series tropes. And it manages to make the Graces style battle system fun.

Graces F combat was awesome, it was mainly managing the cooking/skill progression in between that wore me out. Is it better in those areas?

[MrPopo]

The skill stuff is basically FFIX's skill system. And I think cooking was minimal.

[PartridgeSenpai]

The skill stuff is basically FFIX's skill system. And I think cooking was minimal.

I've beaten FFIX but I can't remember it's skill system, which I guess shows what an impression the game's systems made on me

I'm of the opinion that cooking is minimal in every game though. I've beaten every Tales game I've beaten completely ignoring cooking. It's just a flavor thing that the Japanese audience likes, I'm fairly sure. Either that, or it's a flavor thing that like ONE dev/producer really likes and it would kill them to just take it out of the game. Maybe it's REALLY useful for speedruns or special hardcore runs or something, but the benefits it gives are so minimal for how much of a pain in the ass it is to maintain (only being able to carry 15 of each ingredient when some recipies can take like 4 of the same ingredient in some titles) that I don't know who on earth has the patience for all of that crap.