The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
Fortunately, Vesperia's easy as dirt so you can just use the characters you like and it really doesn't matter.
Seriously, I genuinely cannot understand why someone would choose a character you dislike just because of how they are in battle. It's entirely a foreign concept to me.
Given that you probably spend more than half the game in battle, it's not that crazy.
It is. Because the game is easy and, as was noted, every character is worthwhile in battle. So why not use your four favorites?
Man, it's a hoot busting out full-on murder mode after I'm done getting the secret mission. I just finished up number 12, and as soon it was completed I changed my party's strategy and everyone was all like, "Glad that's over, DESTRUCTION FIELD! SHINING DRAGON FANG! BURST ARTE! FATAL STRIKE! EXPRESSIVE MIDDLE DIGIT!"
I've only had to redo a fight once or twice, and the next few look like smooth sailing. I fight so much that I can crack those bullshit blue shields the bosses all have with only one strike.
and now i've got me a SKY WHALE WHOOOOO
Also Blackjack I found the post where number 17 broke you, now I've got to do it out of raw spite.
I think I stopped using Estelle and Repede the second I had enough to switch them out. And Judith never got into the party unless the plot put her there.
It is all about the Yuri/Rita/Raven/Karol party.
...huh?
How the heck did you even play the game without Estelle in the party?
I think I stopped using Estelle and Repede the second I had enough to switch them out. And Judith never got into the party unless the plot put her there.
It is all about the Yuri/Rita/Raven/Karol party.
...huh?
How the heck did you even play the game without Estelle in the party?
Raven's Love Shot is a competent party heal at full proficiency, and Karol murders fast enough to keep damage from piling up. Sure you'd chew through Gels a lot, but I can see any party working, unlike Symphonia and Abyss where you were basically required to have a mage pair in your group.
Though you're screwing yourself without Rita, I mean come on.
I think I stopped using Estelle and Repede the second I had enough to switch them out. And Judith never got into the party unless the plot put her there.
It is all about the Yuri/Rita/Raven/Karol party.
...huh?
How the heck did you even play the game without Estelle in the party?
Raven has more than enough healing to boot Estelle and never look back, especially since when I did have her, her AI was less than competent at when to heal and at what strength.
One person at 98% health and everyone else at 100% = Nurse
Personally, I like everyone, so I cycle through them whenever the mood strikes.
I never had a problem with TP usage, because gels are rather plentiful and cooking is super useful for recovering TP. Once you get an accessory that lowers TP usage, then everything is peachy.
I wish the game was a little bit more difficult. Amping it up to hard isn't really the answer, battles are just longer, not more difficult
Personally, I like everyone, so I cycle through them whenever the mood strikes.
I never had a problem with TP usage, because gels are rather plentiful and cooking is super useful for recovering TP. Once you get an accessory that lowers TP usage, then everything is peachy.
I wish the game was a little bit more difficult. Amping it up to hard isn't really the answer, battles are just longer, not more difficult
For normal encounters that's true, but bosses' AI gets tweaked so that they're more likely to combo you or bust out their Over Limits.
I'm comfortable on Normal, though. God knows I rake in Grade just by farming synthesis items from weaker monsters,
Once Estelle learned Angel Ring she and Rita turned into the tag team from hell. I'm just getting really tired of how much she jerks the party's chain in the midgame.
"I will do a thing." "NO ESTELLE IT IS TOO DANGEROUS BUT STILL YOU MUST MAKE A CHOICE." "Okay I'm making a choice, making a choice, making a choice, okay yes I will do a thing."
Repeat about a dozen times.
Also her constant post-battle high-fives are getting in the way of Raven's awesome.
The mid game in general kind of dicks everyone around.
Yuri: I am killing you because you are corrupt and if a part is infected it must be cut off!
Phaeroh: I am killing Estelle because her existence is poison to us and if a part is infected it must be cut off!
Yuri: WHAT NO THAT'S AWFUL WHO ARE YOU TO GET TO CHOOSE SUCH A THING THAT'S NO WAY TO BEHAVE AT ALL
So, I found Tales of Symphonia 2 for $30 at Best Buy, picked it up, and beat it last week.
Official review? It was... okay. Usually I'm inclined to play through the game a second time. I'm not so sure now. For one, I'm not very good at the game, but it seemed to be a lot harder than I remember. There's a couple of those that one bosses that, while you can run through the monsters in the area without problem, hit like a brick wall and take damage like one too. My biggest problem was that many of the hard bosses come with a bunch of extra mobs. So either I face the mobs and let the boss rampage through my team, or I fight the boss and let the mobs kill my healers. So the best thing to do was to get everything to chase me, then break off attack and kite them all around while my friends do all the work.
But the main reason I don't want to repeat the game is the protagonist, Emil. Pretty much can't stand him. He gets a little better through the game, and most of the other characters weren't so bad (somehow most of what Marta said turned to white noise or something) but Emil was insufferable. If I can skip the cutscenes and miss out on Emo-boy I'd be more inclined to replay.
EDIT: Oh yeah. Included in ToS2:
Male swordsman lead who uses Demon Fang - check, Emil
Annoying female white mage love interest - check, Marta
The following elementals: Undine/Celsius, Volt, Ifrit, Gnome, Sylph, Shadow, Rem/Luna, Origin, and Maxwell - surprisingly absent. No explanation why Sheena couldn't summon them
Villain motivated by racism - check
A girl who can't cook - check, Marta
A guy who is an expert cook - check, Emil
Time Travel - don't think so... flashbacks to the past don't count, right?
Hot springs - check
Some kind of magical power/device that almost destroyed the world thousands of years ago - same one in ToS
A joke weapon for each character - didn't see it, but I definitely missed some stuff
Something horribly wrong with the world map - there wasn't one (dun dun dun)
An optional battle against PCs from a previous Tales game - check
Aifread - mentioned, didn't see him
The mid game in general kind of dicks everyone around.
Yuri: I am killing you because you are corrupt and if a part is infected it must be cut off!
Phaeroh: I am killing Estelle because her existence is poison to us and if a part is infected it must be cut off!
Yuri: WHAT NO THAT'S AWFUL WHO ARE YOU TO GET TO CHOOSE SUCH A THING THAT'S NO WAY TO BEHAVE AT ALL
I actually really like that -- it basically makes him a hypocritical badass. Makes him seem more human to me, I guess.
So, I found Tales of Symphonia 2 for $30 at Best Buy, picked it up, and beat it last week.
Official review? It was... okay. Usually I'm inclined to play through the game a second time. I'm not so sure now. For one, I'm not very good at the game, but it seemed to be a lot harder than I remember. There's a couple of those that one bosses that, while you can run through the monsters in the area without problem, hit like a brick wall and take damage like one too. My biggest problem was that many of the hard bosses come with a bunch of extra mobs. So either I face the mobs and let the boss rampage through my team, or I fight the boss and let the mobs kill my healers. So the best thing to do was to get everything to chase me, then break off attack and kite them all around while my friends do all the work.
But the main reason I don't want to repeat the game is the protagonist, Emil. Pretty much can't stand him. He gets a little better through the game, and most of the other characters weren't so bad (somehow most of what Marta said turned to white noise or something) but Emil was insufferable. If I can skip the cutscenes and miss out on Emo-boy I'd be more inclined to replay.
EDIT: Oh yeah. Included in ToS2:
Male swordsman lead who uses Demon Fang - check, Emil
Annoying female white mage love interest - check, Marta
The following elementals: Undine/Celsius, Volt, Ifrit, Gnome, Sylph, Shadow, Rem/Luna, Origin, and Maxwell - surprisingly absent. No explanation why Sheena couldn't summon them
Villain motivated by racism - check
A girl who can't cook - check, Marta
A guy who is an expert cook - check, Emil
Time Travel - don't think so... flashbacks to the past don't count, right?
Hot springs - check
Some kind of magical power/device that almost destroyed the world thousands of years ago - same one in ToS
A joke weapon for each character - didn't see it, but I definitely missed some stuff
Something horribly wrong with the world map - there wasn't one (dun dun dun)
An optional battle against PCs from a previous Tales game - check
Aifread - mentioned, didn't see him
So yeah, pretty good coverage there.
TOS is my second-favourite RPG of all time. So you can imagine that TOS2 was a pretty massive disappointment. I hate, hate, hate, HATE Emil, the writing in general is terrible, and there are WAY too many cutscenes. Literally you walk somewhere, cutscene, walk elsewhere, cutscene, walk yet a third place, cutscene, with NOTHING in between to do.
ToS was great, so I felt kind of shafted by ToS2. It certainly got better, but getting through those first few hours with I-Emil (short for Insufferable Emil) before he stopped talking so much and I could ignore him.
ToS was great, so I felt kind of shafted by ToS2. It certainly got better, but getting through those first few hours with I-Emil (short for Insufferable Emil) before he stopped talking so much and I could ignore him.
Yeah, he's a whiny bitch made even worse by his voice. I'm glad I went to Gladsheim as R-Emil because I'd hate having to listen to normal Emil in combat through that entire place. For the most part I didn't like Zelos' voice in combat, particularly when he is casting a spell and sounds like he's bored out of his fucking mind. During the skits he was fine.
They could also have done a better job with your monster AI. Too many creatures that should be used as casters lack a "mage" setting so they aren't that useful.
Barrakketh on
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
So hey, Rita learned Tidal Wave. Did the developers make it their goal to create the most broken mage character ever?
Not even counting her Over Limit powers. "Blah blah blah, VIOLET PAIN!"
Also, I died to the Mission 16 boss. How embarrassing. Yet I am confident I will have Mission 17 put away neatly by Tuesday! So far the only one I actually got worried about failing was 13.
Boss and character spoilers in a big way:
I saw Schwann-Raven coming a mile away (really man don't use an alias that gives away your nature as a spy), but Jesus I wasn't predicting him to be such a brutal fighter. I had to treat him with kid gloves while he laid trap glyphs all over my characters and when I finally got the mission my party was like three-quarters dead. I managed to come back from the brink, but it was tough going. Then again, Raven's returning scene was probably one of the game's high points, so it's all good.
I hope the cutscene before Yeager isn't too lengthy, at least.
And Brutal lives up to his name. I put it down, but my inventory was hurting afterwards.
So hey, Rita learned Tidal Wave. Did the developers make it their goal to create the most broken mage character ever?
Not even counting her Over Limit powers. "Blah blah blah, VIOLET PAIN!"
Also, I died to the Mission 16 boss. How embarrassing. Yet I am confident I will have Mission 17 put away neatly by Tuesday! So far the only one I actually got worried about failing was 13.
Boss and character spoilers in a big way:
I saw Schwann-Raven coming a mile away (really man don't use an alias that gives away your nature as a spy), but Jesus I wasn't predicting him to be such a brutal fighter. I had to treat him with kid gloves while he laid trap glyphs all over my characters and when I finally got the mission my party was like three-quarters dead. I managed to come back from the brink, but it was tough going. Then again, Raven's returning scene was probably one of the game's high points, so it's all good.
I hope the cutscene before Yeager isn't too lengthy, at least.
And Brutal lives up to his name. I put it down, but my inventory was hurting afterwards.
Welp, 17's frustration wasn't exaggerated, that's for sure. Still haven't gotten it yet, but I know why I'm not, at least. You've got to wait a few seconds after breaking his guard so that he clutches his chest, and then shoot. That, combined with his erratic blocking pattern, makes things pretty tricky.
He almost always guards if he's caught in an Over Limit activation, though, so I'm hoping to just break him with Rain, wait, and then shoot him again. Sticking with Raven should keep the angle I shoot him at from being a problem.
oh man SM17 was bad.
Save point, long cutscene, part 1 of battle, and then trying to keep everybody alive while spamming rain, fail, and repeat
Another SM that took me a while was the one in which you had to have the boss perform every single move. Since I didn't know all the moves the boss had, it took me several tries, and once again, there was a cutscene before the battle
You call that a long cutscene? The one before the number 16 boss was long. That was downright brief. I was able to tear through his first form in like three minutes, too, so it wasn't that annoying.
I also think the angle you shoot him at doesn't matter as long as you get him while he's holding his heart. I'm almost positive the winning shot hit his back.
The only annoying thing about him combat-wise were his status effects. Aside from that, he couldn't really cause significant harm to my party unless he used CARESS AF DEATH!
I just caught wind of this Tales of Versus game which seems to be a fighter in the same vein as Dissidia. I'm pretty excited since its an easier transition.
I've only played the US games, but the character selection seems solid, taking some of the best characters from each game (big exception on Collete)
Cless Alvein(Cress Albane) Tales of Phantasia
Chester Barklight Tales of Phantasia
Arche Klaine(Klein) Tales of Phantasia
Stan(Stahn) Aileron Tales of Destiny
Lion(Leon) Magnus Tales of Destiny
Philia Philis(Felice) Tales of Destiny
Mighty Kongman Tales of Destiny
Kyle Dunamis Tales of Destiny 2
Nanaly Fletch Tales of Destiny 2
Harold Berselius Tales of Destiny 2
Lloyd Irving Tales of Symphonia
Colette Brunel Tales of Symphonia
Presea Combatir Tales of Symphonia
Kratos Aurion Tales of Symphonia
Mao Tales of Rebirth
Eugene Gallardo Tales of Rebirth
Senel Coolidge Tales of Legendia
Luke fon(fone) Fabre Tales of the Abyss
Tear Grants Tales of the Abyss
Jade Curtiss Tales of the Abyss
Anise Tatlin Tales of the Abyss
Asch Tales of the Abyss
Ruca Milda Tales of Innocence
Richter Abend Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Yuri Lowell Tales of Vesperia
Rita Mordio Tales of Vesperia
Judith Tales of Vesperia
Shing Meteoryte Tales of Hearts
Also there's not enough Judith love in this thread. She's my favorite character to play as.
I'll let RSP ream you out for that very noticeable omission.
Aroduc on
0
DunxcoShould get a suitNever skips breakfastRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Right then, time to break open my Gamecube from retirement and go through ToS again. Even though it's seven years old and the lid won't close properly.
Posts
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I've only had to redo a fight once or twice, and the next few look like smooth sailing. I fight so much that I can crack those bullshit blue shields the bosses all have with only one strike.
Also Blackjack I found the post where number 17 broke you, now I've got to do it out of raw spite.
That one is awful.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
...huh?
How the heck did you even play the game without Estelle in the party?
Raven's Love Shot is a competent party heal at full proficiency, and Karol murders fast enough to keep damage from piling up. Sure you'd chew through Gels a lot, but I can see any party working, unlike Symphonia and Abyss where you were basically required to have a mage pair in your group.
Though you're screwing yourself without Rita, I mean come on.
One person at 98% health and everyone else at 100% = Nurse
Three people at 50% health = First Aid x3
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I never had a problem with TP usage, because gels are rather plentiful and cooking is super useful for recovering TP. Once you get an accessory that lowers TP usage, then everything is peachy.
I wish the game was a little bit more difficult. Amping it up to hard isn't really the answer, battles are just longer, not more difficult
For normal encounters that's true, but bosses' AI gets tweaked so that they're more likely to combo you or bust out their Over Limits.
I'm comfortable on Normal, though. God knows I rake in Grade just by farming synthesis items from weaker monsters,
I've not had a problem with Estelle's healing at all.
Plus, Nightingale has saved my rear often.
Personally, I just set Estelle to Heal and let her do her thang. I never have an issue with TP.
Repeat about a dozen times.
Also her constant post-battle high-fives are getting in the way of Raven's awesome.
Phaeroh: I am killing Estelle because her existence is poison to us and if a part is infected it must be cut off!
Yuri: WHAT NO THAT'S AWFUL WHO ARE YOU TO GET TO CHOOSE SUCH A THING THAT'S NO WAY TO BEHAVE AT ALL
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
That's an awesome spell.
One of my most favorite quotes from any game ever.
Except that the quote is never said in the game and that's something the translators added, IIRC.
Good enough for me.
Official review? It was... okay. Usually I'm inclined to play through the game a second time. I'm not so sure now. For one, I'm not very good at the game, but it seemed to be a lot harder than I remember. There's a couple of those that one bosses that, while you can run through the monsters in the area without problem, hit like a brick wall and take damage like one too. My biggest problem was that many of the hard bosses come with a bunch of extra mobs. So either I face the mobs and let the boss rampage through my team, or I fight the boss and let the mobs kill my healers. So the best thing to do was to get everything to chase me, then break off attack and kite them all around while my friends do all the work.
But the main reason I don't want to repeat the game is the protagonist, Emil. Pretty much can't stand him. He gets a little better through the game, and most of the other characters weren't so bad (somehow most of what Marta said turned to white noise or something) but Emil was insufferable. If I can skip the cutscenes and miss out on Emo-boy I'd be more inclined to replay.
EDIT: Oh yeah. Included in ToS2:
Male swordsman lead who uses Demon Fang - check, Emil
Annoying female white mage love interest - check, Marta
The following elementals: Undine/Celsius, Volt, Ifrit, Gnome, Sylph, Shadow, Rem/Luna, Origin, and Maxwell - surprisingly absent. No explanation why Sheena couldn't summon them
Villain motivated by racism - check
A girl who can't cook - check, Marta
A guy who is an expert cook - check, Emil
Time Travel - don't think so... flashbacks to the past don't count, right?
Hot springs - check
Some kind of magical power/device that almost destroyed the world thousands of years ago - same one in ToS
A joke weapon for each character - didn't see it, but I definitely missed some stuff
Something horribly wrong with the world map - there wasn't one (dun dun dun)
An optional battle against PCs from a previous Tales game - check
Aifread - mentioned, didn't see him
So yeah, pretty good coverage there.
"Repede!"
Woof!
"Your tail?!"
Seriously, wtf? Is that just poor translation or am I missing something here?
She wanted a high-five but he gave his tail instead of a paw.
I actually really like that -- it basically makes him a hypocritical badass. Makes him seem more human to me, I guess.
Wow, I feel dumb now.
TOS is my second-favourite RPG of all time. So you can imagine that TOS2 was a pretty massive disappointment. I hate, hate, hate, HATE Emil, the writing in general is terrible, and there are WAY too many cutscenes. Literally you walk somewhere, cutscene, walk elsewhere, cutscene, walk yet a third place, cutscene, with NOTHING in between to do.
Epic disappointment.
Incidentally I now know that anyone who makes fun of Karol is crazy.
Yeah, he's a whiny bitch made even worse by his voice. I'm glad I went to Gladsheim as R-Emil because I'd hate having to listen to normal Emil in combat through that entire place. For the most part I didn't like Zelos' voice in combat, particularly when he is casting a spell and sounds like he's bored out of his fucking mind. During the skits he was fine.
They could also have done a better job with your monster AI. Too many creatures that should be used as casters lack a "mage" setting so they aren't that useful.
Respawning all the monsters every time it resets? COME ON
Not even counting her Over Limit powers. "Blah blah blah, VIOLET PAIN!"
Also, I died to the Mission 16 boss. How embarrassing. Yet I am confident I will have Mission 17 put away neatly by Tuesday! So far the only one I actually got worried about failing was 13.
Boss and character spoilers in a big way:
I hope the cutscene before Yeager isn't too lengthy, at least.
And Brutal lives up to his name. I put it down, but my inventory was hurting afterwards.
@spoiler: Haha...well you hoped wrong.
And yeah, Rita is pretty broken. Grade farming aside, she's crazy with overlimit.
He almost always guards if he's caught in an Over Limit activation, though, so I'm hoping to just break him with Rain, wait, and then shoot him again. Sticking with Raven should keep the angle I shoot him at from being a problem.
I'm awesome like that.
GER-MAN DANCE!
GER-MAN DANCE!
EVE-RY-BODY GER-MAN DANCE!
Once I figured out the "wait a few seconds" part it only took me one try.
Save point, long cutscene, part 1 of battle, and then trying to keep everybody alive while spamming rain, fail, and repeat
Another SM that took me a while was the one in which you had to have the boss perform every single move. Since I didn't know all the moves the boss had, it took me several tries, and once again, there was a cutscene before the battle
I also think the angle you shoot him at doesn't matter as long as you get him while he's holding his heart. I'm almost positive the winning shot hit his back.
The only annoying thing about him combat-wise were his status effects. Aside from that, he couldn't really cause significant harm to my party unless he used CARESS AF DEATH!
I've only played the US games, but the character selection seems solid, taking some of the best characters from each game (big exception on Collete)
Cless Alvein(Cress Albane) Tales of Phantasia
Chester Barklight Tales of Phantasia
Arche Klaine(Klein) Tales of Phantasia
Stan(Stahn) Aileron Tales of Destiny
Lion(Leon) Magnus Tales of Destiny
Philia Philis(Felice) Tales of Destiny
Mighty Kongman Tales of Destiny
Kyle Dunamis Tales of Destiny 2
Nanaly Fletch Tales of Destiny 2
Harold Berselius Tales of Destiny 2
Lloyd Irving Tales of Symphonia
Colette Brunel Tales of Symphonia
Presea Combatir Tales of Symphonia
Kratos Aurion Tales of Symphonia
Mao Tales of Rebirth
Eugene Gallardo Tales of Rebirth
Senel Coolidge Tales of Legendia
Luke fon(fone) Fabre Tales of the Abyss
Tear Grants Tales of the Abyss
Jade Curtiss Tales of the Abyss
Anise Tatlin Tales of the Abyss
Asch Tales of the Abyss
Ruca Milda Tales of Innocence
Richter Abend Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Yuri Lowell Tales of Vesperia
Rita Mordio Tales of Vesperia
Judith Tales of Vesperia
Shing Meteoryte Tales of Hearts
Also there's not enough Judith love in this thread. She's my favorite character to play as.
Judith Combo 2
If she has any of her basic mechanics in Tales of Versus (not even counting all her air cancel craziness) she has:
* Triple Jump
* Air-Dash and Back-Air-Dash (can be instant)
* Tiger Knee
* Instant Air Dash=>Air Arte chain.
* Crazy mobility
* Dive kick
* Air Block
It would like be like having a Guilty Gear character fighting the cast of Street Fighter 2.
Be strong, my pet. We're together again...