And so I've finished the other Vita reimagining of a DS Tales game. The first RPG entirely in Japanese I've finished as well! Neither Innocence nor it's reimagining were released in the West, so Japanese was the only option without pirating the DS version. It wasn't my least favorite Tales game, but it's certainly no great loss we never saw it in the West.
The story is kinda fundamentally not that great. The main cast of six characters (as well as several NPC's) all have past lives whose memories influence their actions. The main problem is that these past emotions and memories conflict with the characters' normal aspirations and personalities. It all made for a very strangely dissonant feel to the otherwise well-written characters that never really clicked for me. The end villain was fairly well constructed, and it wasn't my least favorite villain in a Tales game, but this has certainly been my least favorite overarching plot in a Tales game. It is worth noting, however, that just as Hearts used several narrative ideas that would be improved upon in Graces, Innocence uses several ideas that are improved upon in Vesperia, so that was an interesting tidbit to notice. I'd still say Hearts and Graces have more similarities than Innocence and Vesperia, but it's still interesting. As a final note on the story, I will mention that this is the only Tales entry I've played where the macsot character (think Teddy from Persona 4, Cat things in Monster Hunter, the Cheagle from Tales of the Abyss, basically just a cute fluffy character they can make toys of easily who isn't a human) actively annoyed me, so that's something else to consider.
The combat and leveling system are fairly similar to Hearts R in many ways. The leveling is done independently, but skill points earned in battle can be spent on "styles" (skills, basically) in a big style-grid, and you unlock more stuff as you do certain sidequests and as the story progresses. I thought it was okay, but a smidgen more confusing than it really needed to be (in good ol' Tales fashion). I think I preferred Hearts R's system to this though.
The content added for the reimagining compared to the DS version is fairly significant. Two new party members bring the total up to 8, and they're both fairly well written into the story. It's a little clear they've been tacked on after the fact given that they don't have any really big stakes in the story, but it never feels like they're just absent from any given event and they make their presence worthwhile. The new Vulcan weapons are also a fun diversion that give you a new 2nd ultimate arte, which was another cool feature. Just like in Hearts R, there're characters from other games (in this case from Hearts and Xillia) as the final encounters to fight in the arena, but they are WAY harder than in Hearts. They're significantly harder than the final boss, I'd say, in Innocence R, where they're far easier than that in Hearts R. Also some Tri-Verse areas to do in the post-game (I think you actually have to do them in new game +, which is a little lame) which are crazy difficult but give some new backstory to the added party members, but I didn't try those.
Verdict: Recommended for Series Veterans. There are so many other very well done, not to mention domestically released, Tales games out there that I find it difficult to recommend one I didn't enjoy quite as much to just anyone. For anyone itching for more Tales who has enjoyed entries in the series since Abyss, though, I'd say this is a fine thing to give a whirl. It's not bad by any means, just not quite up to the standard of others in the series.
The story is kinda fundamentally not that great. The main cast of six characters (as well as several NPC's) all have past lives whose memories influence their actions. The main problem is that these past emotions and memories conflict with the characters' normal aspirations and personalities. It all made for a very strangely dissonant feel to the otherwise well-written characters that never really clicked for me. The end villain was fairly well constructed, and it wasn't my least favorite villain in a Tales game, but this has certainly been my least favorite overarching plot in a Tales game. It is worth noting, however, that just as Hearts used several narrative ideas that would be improved upon in Graces, Innocence uses several ideas that are improved upon in Vesperia, so that was an interesting tidbit to notice. I'd still say Hearts and Graces have more similarities than Innocence and Vesperia, but it's still interesting. As a final note on the story, I will mention that this is the only Tales entry I've played where the macsot character (think Teddy from Persona 4, Cat things in Monster Hunter, the Cheagle from Tales of the Abyss, basically just a cute fluffy character they can make toys of easily who isn't a human) actively annoyed me, so that's something else to consider.
The combat and leveling system are fairly similar to Hearts R in many ways. The leveling is done independently, but skill points earned in battle can be spent on "styles" (skills, basically) in a big style-grid, and you unlock more stuff as you do certain sidequests and as the story progresses. I thought it was okay, but a smidgen more confusing than it really needed to be (in good ol' Tales fashion). I think I preferred Hearts R's system to this though.
The content added for the reimagining compared to the DS version is fairly significant. Two new party members bring the total up to 8, and they're both fairly well written into the story. It's a little clear they've been tacked on after the fact given that they don't have any really big stakes in the story, but it never feels like they're just absent from any given event and they make their presence worthwhile. The new Vulcan weapons are also a fun diversion that give you a new 2nd ultimate arte, which was another cool feature. Just like in Hearts R, there're characters from other games (in this case from Hearts and Xillia) as the final encounters to fight in the arena, but they are WAY harder than in Hearts. They're significantly harder than the final boss, I'd say, in Innocence R, where they're far easier than that in Hearts R. Also some Tri-Verse areas to do in the post-game (I think you actually have to do them in new game +, which is a little lame) which are crazy difficult but give some new backstory to the added party members, but I didn't try those.
Verdict: Recommended for Series Veterans. There are so many other very well done, not to mention domestically released, Tales games out there that I find it difficult to recommend one I didn't enjoy quite as much to just anyone. For anyone itching for more Tales who has enjoyed entries in the series since Abyss, though, I'd say this is a fine thing to give a whirl. It's not bad by any means, just not quite up to the standard of others in the series.