One of the weaker Tales games, unfortunately, but still worth playing.
I actually didn't really like this game at the start. The characters are really bland, and the story is pretty awful. What saves it is the battle system, which never really got old for me, and definitely started to shine toward the end and in the postgame. The music is also pretty good, and the art direction is first class.
What really threw me was that the tone of the game was just super serious for so long, and that the story would just repeat the same beats over and over and over again. It felt like the writers thought they were making incredibly profound points, when in reality everything they were trying to say was super obvious, and by the time you hear the characters say it the fourth time in a different way, it really turns you off.
I also didn't like that the majority of the skits, which normally bring some lightheartedness to Tales games and serve to strengthen the character bonds, just served to further expand on the already mediocre story in this game. Thankfully, the characters did begin to actually seem like they liked being around each other around the midpoint of the game, and that's around where I started to like them (for the most part).
Still, this is probably my least favorite cast of characters in a Tales game, and definitely my least favorite story. Why 3.5 stars, then, instead of a lower score? Well, the battle system is really fun, and the postgame content is fun as well.
I just hope the next Tales game does more with the cast of characters and the story. Oh - and it would help if they would proofread their script. There were so many typos in the subtitles (and even sections where they didn't match up at all to the dialogue) that I lost count.
Also, there's no grade system, and almost all the great bonuses that used to be tied behind it, like the ability to carry 99 items (!) and EXP/SP boosts, are now DLC that you have to buy. Ugh. I guess I get it, but it's still really disappointing, especially the item capacity bit.
I actually didn't really like this game at the start. The characters are really bland, and the story is pretty awful. What saves it is the battle system, which never really got old for me, and definitely started to shine toward the end and in the postgame. The music is also pretty good, and the art direction is first class.
What really threw me was that the tone of the game was just super serious for so long, and that the story would just repeat the same beats over and over and over again. It felt like the writers thought they were making incredibly profound points, when in reality everything they were trying to say was super obvious, and by the time you hear the characters say it the fourth time in a different way, it really turns you off.
I also didn't like that the majority of the skits, which normally bring some lightheartedness to Tales games and serve to strengthen the character bonds, just served to further expand on the already mediocre story in this game. Thankfully, the characters did begin to actually seem like they liked being around each other around the midpoint of the game, and that's around where I started to like them (for the most part).
Still, this is probably my least favorite cast of characters in a Tales game, and definitely my least favorite story. Why 3.5 stars, then, instead of a lower score? Well, the battle system is really fun, and the postgame content is fun as well.
I just hope the next Tales game does more with the cast of characters and the story. Oh - and it would help if they would proofread their script. There were so many typos in the subtitles (and even sections where they didn't match up at all to the dialogue) that I lost count.
Also, there's no grade system, and almost all the great bonuses that used to be tied behind it, like the ability to carry 99 items (!) and EXP/SP boosts, are now DLC that you have to buy. Ugh. I guess I get it, but it's still really disappointing, especially the item capacity bit.
Reviewed on Oct 19, 2021