An okay JRPG that is sadly too generic for its own good.
My third Tales game I've played, after Symphonia 1 & 2. It does feel like those games, but something is just missing. The story is interesting, but both basic and confusing. Just a group of slaves fighting against their masters, but then there's this sentient planet that wants to absorb all life off another planet and it made creaters who created our main characters... and that is all explained in a giant plot dump at the end of the game.
Doesn't help that the characters are, while likable, are also generic as hell. We have the Amnesiac hero who teams up with a mysterious girl with powers. Add in a bookworm magic user, an idiot tough guy, a flambouant man who constantly speaks in poetry, and a armored tough girl, and you have the entire cast. It also feels like we got less allies then we should, as there are two empty spaces that just never get filled. Hate the repetitive dialogue, especially at the end of the game. Every time you fast travel, some makes a comment, and they are all annoying as hell.
The combat is your typical Tales combat, with many moves making it into the game. It does get repetitive, and you just don't get enough moves to make it unique. Hate the shared magic bar for healing, especially when it costs more to refill then buying revive potions. Like the team up moves and limit bursts, though they also got repetitive. Hate that the opening area has a creature that is level 40+ and you can't even take him on until 3/4 of the way into the game.
I did enjoy the game to some extent. The world is nice and fun to look at. While repetitive, the combat is fluid and easy to pick up on. The Villains are easy to hate and fun to fight. Like the interactions between the characters, until they run out of dialogue and start repeating themselves. I wasn't bored until the grind to get the platinum trophy.
Still, the game would have been better with some minor tweaks. Tell me the level of a creature before I fight it, and not in the way they did, by having a character be like, "lets avoid him," cause they did that even when I stood a chance of winning. Making it easy to track what items you need to level up your weapon, or give you a way to buy them. Have bonfires before bosses with a merchant, instead of a magic healing circle. A larger magic bar or cheaper way of refilling it.
This isn't a bad game, there are many fun things about it, but it just takes a lot of patience to get though all of it. Waiting more than half the game to take on one stupid boss from the first area was just so tedious and a waste of time. While i'd play this again before Symphonia 2, this is nowhere near as compelling or interesting as Symphonia 1. This is passable, but there are a lot of Tales games, and I feel like this one will always be the "meh" of the franchise.
My third Tales game I've played, after Symphonia 1 & 2. It does feel like those games, but something is just missing. The story is interesting, but both basic and confusing. Just a group of slaves fighting against their masters, but then there's this sentient planet that wants to absorb all life off another planet and it made creaters who created our main characters... and that is all explained in a giant plot dump at the end of the game.
Doesn't help that the characters are, while likable, are also generic as hell. We have the Amnesiac hero who teams up with a mysterious girl with powers. Add in a bookworm magic user, an idiot tough guy, a flambouant man who constantly speaks in poetry, and a armored tough girl, and you have the entire cast. It also feels like we got less allies then we should, as there are two empty spaces that just never get filled. Hate the repetitive dialogue, especially at the end of the game. Every time you fast travel, some makes a comment, and they are all annoying as hell.
The combat is your typical Tales combat, with many moves making it into the game. It does get repetitive, and you just don't get enough moves to make it unique. Hate the shared magic bar for healing, especially when it costs more to refill then buying revive potions. Like the team up moves and limit bursts, though they also got repetitive. Hate that the opening area has a creature that is level 40+ and you can't even take him on until 3/4 of the way into the game.
I did enjoy the game to some extent. The world is nice and fun to look at. While repetitive, the combat is fluid and easy to pick up on. The Villains are easy to hate and fun to fight. Like the interactions between the characters, until they run out of dialogue and start repeating themselves. I wasn't bored until the grind to get the platinum trophy.
Still, the game would have been better with some minor tweaks. Tell me the level of a creature before I fight it, and not in the way they did, by having a character be like, "lets avoid him," cause they did that even when I stood a chance of winning. Making it easy to track what items you need to level up your weapon, or give you a way to buy them. Have bonfires before bosses with a merchant, instead of a magic healing circle. A larger magic bar or cheaper way of refilling it.
This isn't a bad game, there are many fun things about it, but it just takes a lot of patience to get though all of it. Waiting more than half the game to take on one stupid boss from the first area was just so tedious and a waste of time. While i'd play this again before Symphonia 2, this is nowhere near as compelling or interesting as Symphonia 1. This is passable, but there are a lot of Tales games, and I feel like this one will always be the "meh" of the franchise.