3rd's a very divisive game in the series for sure. While the story does not add any additional depth to the story from FC and SC specifically (besides the addition of the septarian church), the game does an amazing job at fleshing out character arcs that you wouldn't think needed fleshing out from the first two games while dropping plot elements that would be expanded upon in the Crossbell and Erobonia games.

If you like the gameplay in sky, there are a ton of customization in terms of orbal arts and a staggering 16 party members that you can choose between. The customization is warranted though since 3rd is the hardest game in the trilogy by far.

While 3rd is just an over-glorified epilogue to the Liberal saga, the game wears that title with pride while still delivering some fine gameplay to go along with it.

Oh yeah, the story. I hope you like Kevin lmao

when tales started feeling more tales. though the whole evasion mechanic where some enemies just super armor through your moves randomly still exists at this point, so it is impossible to get through this game without getting hit in the middle of your own artes as an enemy decides "it's my turn" by "evading" something you do and hitting you with an attack that has virtually no startup (or literally no startup in some cases). regardless, still fun. The English dub sounds endearingly cheesy and is one of my favorite parts of the game.

Definitely outdone by later titles but still pretty great. The cast is good, the story is good, the combat is solid, the music is good, nothing too special, but this game's 3rd act, charm, and overworld are some of the best in the series. Engaging stuff, definitely not a must play but if you're a Tales fan I'd definitely at least give this a shot, it's also a pretty good first game if you're a fan of classic RPGs. Impressive game, especially considering the titles preceding this were pretty mediocre.

So funnily enough, I actually think the biggest flaw of this game was the monster raising system. I did not think it really fit a Tales game, especially when we have a whole cast of previously known characters. It was also annoying as shit to manage.

Other than that, I actually quite liked the game. Emil/Marta was a weird and cheesy romance but I liked it. Helps it's one of the few outright for sure canon pairings in the whole series.

Most of the new characters were amusing or interesting enough. Could the older characters have been used more? Sure but I thought their role was perfectly fine.