My first Tales game and I don't have the GC 2003 nostalgia since I played this recently. I don't like abandoning games, but this was an absolute bore to play. Characters and story are animu and mango cliche land 101, the combat is mind numbing repetitive. The story is slugish too and at some point the game decided to stop being clear about what to do next. I will try Tales of the Abyss next to see if it was just me or this franchise is just something I can live my life without really diving into it.