i did a thing this weekend
got a Tales game running on almost all my gaming machines
phantasia on the GBA, Innocence on the DSLite (there's Tempest too), Abyss on the 3DS, Destiny on the PSP, Hearts R on the Vita, Vesperia on the Switch.
I also got Vesperia again on 360, Symphonia, Zestiria and Berseria on the PC and Xilia, Graces F on PS3
the only systems missing Tales games (for me) are wii, wiiu and PS4.
Hearing people complain about going back to Vesperia after Berseria is very exciting, because I haven't played Berseria yet but I am hoping to sometime this year and I am getting amazingly hyped. Better than Vesperia???!
I think whichever game you played first factors into it a bit. Maybe if I'd played Vesperia first, I'd have those fond memories tied to it or something, I dunno. Berseria, IMO, is just so damn good. Interesting story and characters, and a fast/fluid combat system that's flashy and satisfyingly fun to play around with.
I dropped Vesperia after a couple hours because the characters weren't doing anything for me, the story felt non-existent, and the combat was beyond clunky and boring. Also the English VA is atrocious, which is odd because I think I heard Troy Baker in there? He's not usually so awful, but I guess Yuri was one of his earlier roles? (was he even Yuri?)
OK, so, Troy Baker was indeed Yuri and I believe it was one of his earlier roles when he wasn't famous and expensive. Also, when Vesperia was first released, not everything was voiced.
Fast forward to now, and the Vesperia re-release is going to be fully voiced. But Troy Baker is a lot more expensive now. So all the new Yuri lines are voiced by Grant George doing a Troy Baker impression.
I ended up buying a physical copy of ToV (for Xbox) substantially discounted the week before Kingdom Hearts 3 released, because that definitely made sense.
I haven't played it since KH3 accordingly, but did get an hour or two in (basically up to Yuri's detainment). I actually played the demo on Xbox 360 as well as the full game, finding them both hard as nails--so if I've learned one thing (besides buying lots of Magic Lenses), it was setting it on easy. Aside from the challenge, there doesn't seem to be a single reason to play it on any particular difficulty mode, and I struggled with the game on normal last time around.
Plus, I doubt I'll be able to find someone willing to play it with me. What local multiplayer I have left is monopolized by fighting games.
EDIT: I do really like the 60 FPS framerate and higher resolution, neither of which were true on Xbox 360 or PS3, I think.
Playing Vesperia on normal and above rewards GRADE from battles, which is used for New Game+.
But you can also just farm it really easily later.
Huh--come to think of it, I thought something was missing from the battles.
On the other hand, I'm so terrible at the game I'm probably really going to need that easy. And unless I'm mistaken, I can change difficulty under settings.
Playing Vesperia on normal and above rewards GRADE from battles, which is used for New Game+.
But you can also just farm it really easily later.
Huh--come to think of it, I thought something was missing from the battles.
On the other hand, I'm so terrible at the game I'm probably really going to need that easy. And unless I'm mistaken, I can change difficulty under settings.
You can. I took it down to easy for various boss battles in the late game because I couldn't be arsed.
Want to find me on a gaming service? I'm SwashbucklerXX everywhere.
i did a thing this weekend
got a Tales game running on almost all my gaming machines
phantasia on the GBA, Innocence on the DSLite (there's Tempest too), Abyss on the 3DS, Destiny on the PSP, Hearts R on the Vita, Vesperia on the Switch.
I also got Vesperia again on 360, Symphonia, Zestiria and Berseria on the PC and Xilia, Graces F on PS3
the only systems missing Tales games (for me) are wii, wiiu and PS4.
Now import Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon for the GBC!
as someone who has felt that Tales combat has been pretty samey for a long long time now (probably very much in the minority here, i know), am DEEPLY excited for Arise's combat
it looks to be like, seamless? and sort of open-worldy? and they cranked up the "action game" meter like WAY HIGH. i saw dodge rolls!!
i'm excited. i've honestly felt that the Tales series has needed a shake-up for a long time coming and, well, this is it, huh.
Bandai Namco will host a “Tales of Graces Anniversary Party” event at the Maihama Amphitheater on November 24 in celebration of the game’s 10th anniversary, the company announced.
The afternoon performance will begin at 14:00 JST and end at 16:00 JST, while the night performance will start at 19:00 JST and end at 21:00 JST.
Further details were not announced.
Tales of Graces first launched for Wii in December 2009 in Japan. An enhanced port, Tales of Graces F, launched for PlayStation 3 in December 2010 in Japan, followed by March 2012 in North America and August 2012 in Europe.
Nintendo Console Codes
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
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HAIL HYDRA
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
Alright I am honestly hoping for a fun romance part to the story.
She causes pain to any she touches and he can't feel pain? So cliche and I LOVE IT.
Its a Tales game, they don't have romance.
You'll take this highly suggestive subtext and you'll like it.
And that's the way I like it
+1
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
So I grabbed Vesperia on Switch for like 12 american funbux after various discounts and points etc. My first Tales game since Symphonia, which was super my jam back in the day. I don't remember the combat being this janky though. I feel like I get stunlocked constantly, and poked out of artes all the time. One boss literally juggled me to death in the corner, I didn't even hit the ground until I was dead!
I'm about 30 hours in though, so apparently I must be enjoying it? It's getting ridiculous the number of times my party has had the same argument about whether or not to advance the plot.
Let's go
We can't!
But we could
No, we couldn't
But we should
You're a dick for even thinking we should!
... eh Flynn will take care of it
Ok let's go.
As much as I love Vesperia, and I appreciate that the game tries to justify why the group sticks together, they do have that same conversation a lot.
To help with combat, I would recommend always equipping party members with weapons they can learn skills from. Some basic combat abilities in Symphonia need to be learned in Vesperia.
So I grabbed Vesperia on Switch for like 12 american funbux after various discounts and points etc. My first Tales game since Symphonia, which was super my jam back in the day. I don't remember the combat being this janky though. I feel like I get stunlocked constantly, and poked out of artes all the time. One boss literally juggled me to death in the corner, I didn't even hit the ground until I was dead!
I'm about 30 hours in though, so apparently I must be enjoying it? It's getting ridiculous the number of times my party has had the same argument about whether or not to advance the plot.
It has been AGES since I have played Vesperia so take it with a grain of salt but making good use of dodging (side-steps and backdodge) & blocking improves the flow of combat a lot and opens up a ton of combo potential. Characters like Yuri, Judith, and Repede all excel at quick rapid combos, too.
It might help a little to switch it from Semi-Auto to full Manual. I found that the range where player characters would start their attack was a bit closer than where enemies would start their attack, so they were always starting their attack first, which combined with Vesperia's slower player attack speed meant getting interrupted all the time. Of course, then you risk attacking thin air. Vesperia also tends to pack lots more enemies closer together, so you're more frequently fighting into a swarm, and even at the maximum aggression settings, your party does a piss-poor job of peeling.
And yeah. I don't know what happened after Abyss to the Namco writing team, but the main plot for all the Tales games went from squibby to downright horrendous. It's weird because much of the character writing and skit stuff has remained pretty solid, but then the main plot is copy pasted scene after copy pasted scene. Berseria especially drove me nuts by the main plot going literally nowhere from start to finish despite the cast being one of the strongest the franchise has had.
ArcTangent on
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
So far the fights where it's just one tough enemy have been the most fun. Basically anything where I don't get swarmed.
I notice some bosses have armor that keeps you from interrupting their attacks. Do you ever get anything like that?
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
So far the fights where it's just one tough enemy have been the most fun. Basically anything where I don't get swarmed.
I notice some bosses have armor that keeps you from interrupting their attacks. Do you ever get anything like that?
You can, but not until almost postgame. Yuri's Last Fencer gives him it and its as utterly broken as it seems (not that Yuri being able to chain his mystic arte multiple times in a combo isnt dumb enough)
Easy source of Last Fencer:
Kill the second stage of the final boss with Yuri's mystic arte
Went back to Berseria lately, been having a lot of fun.
On a whim, I decided to sit down and really try to figure out spellcasting in this game, with the goal of making it easier to play as Magilou in dungeons where Spell Absorber is hyper important. Aaand I think that's resulted in Laphicet becoming my preferred character to play as, even above Velvet. I was super surprised, because I hadn't been enjoying spells at all until I looked up how to substitute strong spells for fast ones. But it's just so fun to blow up the entire arena as Laphicet. Magilou's also neat, but I feel her base spells thus far aren't as fun to pull off. Now, her Spell Absorber followups? Those are awesome. I just wish Magilou had more to do when enemies aren't using spells. Maybe I like Mystic Artes too much for my own good.
But... yeah, I'm enjoying the combat a fair bit more at the moment, though it's so annoying when an enemy just shadows me the whole time while I'm trying to set up spells. That's a good reason to find a good melee combo for the mages, I guess.
I'm thinking right now that my preferred characters are Laphicet, Velvet, and Magilou, in roughly that order.
I do have a question about combat: I'm assuming that the way to go is to have a couple combos that flow well, and then equip another combo specifically for exploiting the weaknesses of the specific enemies in a given dungeon, is that right? That way you can set up a weakness combo and hopefully inflict some status ailments or staggers, for extra Souls.
Enlong on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
I decided to start up Abyss again, and it's refreshing to see the game has some teeth, unlike Xillia.
Also, the skits are hilarious.
(I almost typed skirts, which seems accurate too.)
Zestiria and Berseria both have really strong writing on party banter, though I think Berseria is better about spreading the suffering around. Poor Sorey gets picked on by everyone.
Yeah, that one's dumb. You know about the flower stun, right? Otherwise, just free run any time it's coming for you to stall it while the party hits it.
Posts
got a Tales game running on almost all my gaming machines
phantasia on the GBA, Innocence on the DSLite (there's Tempest too), Abyss on the 3DS, Destiny on the PSP, Hearts R on the Vita, Vesperia on the Switch.
I also got Vesperia again on 360, Symphonia, Zestiria and Berseria on the PC and Xilia, Graces F on PS3
the only systems missing Tales games (for me) are wii, wiiu and PS4.
I ended up buying a physical copy of ToV (for Xbox) substantially discounted the week before Kingdom Hearts 3 released, because that definitely made sense.
I haven't played it since KH3 accordingly, but did get an hour or two in (basically up to Yuri's detainment). I actually played the demo on Xbox 360 as well as the full game, finding them both hard as nails--so if I've learned one thing (besides buying lots of Magic Lenses), it was setting it on easy. Aside from the challenge, there doesn't seem to be a single reason to play it on any particular difficulty mode, and I struggled with the game on normal last time around.
Plus, I doubt I'll be able to find someone willing to play it with me. What local multiplayer I have left is monopolized by fighting games.
EDIT: I do really like the 60 FPS framerate and higher resolution, neither of which were true on Xbox 360 or PS3, I think.
But you can also just farm it really easily later.
Blah blah blah tidal wave for a couple hours basically. Depending on what you want in NG+.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
Huh--come to think of it, I thought something was missing from the battles.
On the other hand, I'm so terrible at the game I'm probably really going to need that easy. And unless I'm mistaken, I can change difficulty under settings.
You can. I took it down to easy for various boss battles in the late game because I couldn't be arsed.
Now import Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon for the GBC!
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Let's Plays of Japanese Games
That is giant step up visually.
Excited to see where this goes.
Was gonna bring up Berseria, but that’s absolutely not average in tone. Other games get gloomy, but usually not until the Reveal.
Of course, Phantasia opened with a mass slaughter, so it’s not set in stone
it looks to be like, seamless? and sort of open-worldy? and they cranked up the "action game" meter like WAY HIGH. i saw dodge rolls!!
i'm excited. i've honestly felt that the Tales series has needed a shake-up for a long time coming and, well, this is it, huh.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
It does look great visually, and if the combat is actually well implemented it could be like graces combat with more freeform doding.
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Alright I am honestly hoping for a fun romance part to the story.
Anything I should know?
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Its a Tales game, they don't have romance.
You'll take this highly suggestive subtext and you'll like it.
There is a ton of content hidden behind obtuse requirements. Find a spoiler free guide if you want to see as much of the game as possible.
I'm trying to believe that this is part of the evolution!
We'll get at least 1 smooch!
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
And that's the way I like it
I'm about 30 hours in though, so apparently I must be enjoying it? It's getting ridiculous the number of times my party has had the same argument about whether or not to advance the plot.
Let's go
We can't!
But we could
No, we couldn't
But we should
You're a dick for even thinking we should!
... eh Flynn will take care of it
Ok let's go.
To help with combat, I would recommend always equipping party members with weapons they can learn skills from. Some basic combat abilities in Symphonia need to be learned in Vesperia.
It has been AGES since I have played Vesperia so take it with a grain of salt but making good use of dodging (side-steps and backdodge) & blocking improves the flow of combat a lot and opens up a ton of combo potential. Characters like Yuri, Judith, and Repede all excel at quick rapid combos, too.
Let's Plays of Japanese Games
And yeah. I don't know what happened after Abyss to the Namco writing team, but the main plot for all the Tales games went from squibby to downright horrendous. It's weird because much of the character writing and skit stuff has remained pretty solid, but then the main plot is copy pasted scene after copy pasted scene. Berseria especially drove me nuts by the main plot going literally nowhere from start to finish despite the cast being one of the strongest the franchise has had.
I notice some bosses have armor that keeps you from interrupting their attacks. Do you ever get anything like that?
A little but its only so effective.
Yuri also gets the Glory ability which is OP and makes it so he never flinches but that's an endgame thing.
But yeah going back and playing it one thing I was annoyed about compared to the newer games is how every little thing staggers you.
You can, but not until almost postgame. Yuri's Last Fencer gives him it and its as utterly broken as it seems (not that Yuri being able to chain his mystic arte multiple times in a combo isnt dumb enough)
Easy source of Last Fencer:
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
On a whim, I decided to sit down and really try to figure out spellcasting in this game, with the goal of making it easier to play as Magilou in dungeons where Spell Absorber is hyper important. Aaand I think that's resulted in Laphicet becoming my preferred character to play as, even above Velvet. I was super surprised, because I hadn't been enjoying spells at all until I looked up how to substitute strong spells for fast ones. But it's just so fun to blow up the entire arena as Laphicet. Magilou's also neat, but I feel her base spells thus far aren't as fun to pull off. Now, her Spell Absorber followups? Those are awesome. I just wish Magilou had more to do when enemies aren't using spells. Maybe I like Mystic Artes too much for my own good.
But... yeah, I'm enjoying the combat a fair bit more at the moment, though it's so annoying when an enemy just shadows me the whole time while I'm trying to set up spells. That's a good reason to find a good melee combo for the mages, I guess.
I'm thinking right now that my preferred characters are Laphicet, Velvet, and Magilou, in roughly that order.
I do have a question about combat: I'm assuming that the way to go is to have a couple combos that flow well, and then equip another combo specifically for exploiting the weaknesses of the specific enemies in a given dungeon, is that right? That way you can set up a weakness combo and hopefully inflict some status ailments or staggers, for extra Souls.
Also, the skits are hilarious.
(I almost typed skirts, which seems accurate too.)
Zestiria and Berseria both have really strong writing on party banter, though I think Berseria is better about spreading the suffering around. Poor Sorey gets picked on by everyone.
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy
3DS: 0473-8507-2652
Switch: SW-5185-4991-5118
PSN: AbEntropy