So I'm a bit curious...

[sheena fujibayashi]

When did you first encounter the Tales franchise? Did you pick up one the games or perhaps happen to find one of their animated specials first? Whatever the reason, I'm rather interested to see what your answers are!


Personally the way I got into the Tales series was way back when Tales of Symphonia first came to North America. It was given to me as as a gift back when I was around nine or ten I believe. _{(way in the old days good golly)} Needless to say I fell in love with the game and enjoy going back every so often and replay it. It's (obviously) my favorite Tales game out there, so when the OVA came out I was extremely excited. xD _{TALES OF THE WORLD EPISODES WOOO YEAH}

Tales of the Abyss was the next Tales game I came to own and is another one I deeply enjoy. Despite long haired!Luke's whiny attitude, good lord. I haven't replayed it as much as TOS, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it any less. The back tracking is probably the only thing that makes me hesitant to replay it. xD;; But I love both titles very much. <3~


SO enough of my rambling. What are your stories if you don't mind me asking? :D

[Van Grants]

Tales of the Abyss and Symphonia where my first two :3

[sheena fujibayashi]

Ha! It seems like those two titles are usually the ones that get people into the fandom. Or at least from what I've seen. xD I hear Vesperia and Knight of Ratatosk / Dawn of the New World have also introduced a lot of people to the Tales franchise as well. Can't say that's not to be expected though, seeing as they're the most recent titles that are out for the latest gaming systems.

[tears]

I got into the series through Symphonia, as well (I can't remember exactly, but I think I was about 13). A friend and I were looking for a title to rent at a local rental shop, and picked it out on a whim before totally falling in love with the game.

The next one I got was Tales of Legendia, which was in my opinion actually a big disappointment. I didn't like the gameplay as well, and I just couldn't get into the characters or the story the same way I had with Symphonia.

I forgot about the series for a while after that, until I saw and picked up Tales of the Abyss after it got localized, which later became one of my favorite games and renewed my interest in the series.

I've since then slowly picked up/imported Tales of Phantasia, Tales Of The World: Narakiri Dungeon 3, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, Tales of Rebirth, and Tales of Innocence, along with the more recent releases of Vesperia and Symphonia 2, all of which I really enjoyed.

Now I'm just hoping that Tales of Xillia and the 3DS re-make of Abyss will get localized, and am eagerly awaiting the upcoming localized release of Tales of Graces F :3

[sheena fujibayashi]

I can recall finding Legendia a little while after my first play through of Symphonia. I was tempted to go out and buy it as a new Tales game to immerse myself in, but it just never raised enough of my interest. At least, not in the same way Symphonia did. I might eventually pick it up... but from your statement and having seen bits and pieces of the game it'll probably be a long while before I actually do. xD;;

I've really been meaning to get a hold of Phantasia though, and maybe Vesperia once I get an xbox, haha~ But good golly that's an impressive amount of titles! Though weren't a few of those only released in Japan? Can you understand Japanese then? o3o You're very lucky (and very talented!) to have such a skill if so!

… and a re-make of Abyss? What? o__o I wasn't aware of this! -goes to off to see!-

Tales of Graces looks really cute too! I'm honestly already quite fond of Pascal. :D Xillia looks like it's going to be pretty interesting as well. Plus, we finally have a heroine that's older then the hero? xD Or maybe they'll turn around and say she's not who she really thinks she is/is that old/or something. _REPLICAAAA I guess we'll just to wait and see!

[tears]

Yeah, there was something about Legendia that just didn't seem as captivating or entertaining as the other games to me (though there were still some fans who enjoyed it, of course). I think it was actually made by another team than the one who usually does the Tales games - maybe that had something to do with it.

Vesperia-wise, I didn't like the actual story or characters quite as well as those of Symphonia and Abyss, but they were decent enough, and the gameplay was extremely polished and fun! Phantasia is also a fun little title - it does show its age but is still really enjoyable. I played the GBA version for that one. They're both good choices if you get the chance to pick them up.

Yeah, some of those titles I had to import from Japan, though unfortunately I can't read Japanese (wish I could xD). Because of the pretty big fanbase, though, most of the games at least have walkthroughs/translation guides, which help to make them still playable by english only speakers.

For Abyss, there was a 3DS remake announced a while back, but it's still unknown if it will be localized. I'm hoping it will (I'm wanting to replay Abyss, but right now I'm holding off and keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get the remake here). lol, that's true, Xillia is the first game with an older heroine xD The idea of having two main characters in that one sounds interesting, too.

[sheena fujibayashi]

I think every Tales game is going to have it's lovers and it's haters. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that Legendia is simply just one of the Tales games I don't have much interest in going out and purchasing. xD But being made by another team would make sense, seeing as the style just seems very different from the rest of the mother-ship titles. Again, nothin' wrong with that. I appreciate that Namco's willing to branch out and experiment different styles and what not. It's just that Legendia in particular didn't spark the same interest I've had in other titles.

I've seen a few play-through's and Vesperia's gameplay looks very smooth! Battles look like they'd be a little hard at first with the wide screen and everything, but I'm sure it's easy to get used too. The character's didn't exactly stand out so much, but Rita and Raven have sort of started to grow on me. Not to mention there's Guy's long lost cousin Flynn... I had quite a bit of a laugh when I first saw him. xD Yeah, seeing as Phantasia is the first title I'd expect any of the games to be a bit rustic, but that also means Namco was open to all sorts of possibilities when they made it. Plus a portable Tales game would be a nice addition to any gamer's library~ :D

And speaking of which, I think my sister and I just about died when we saw the news for the Abyss 3DS remake. Supposedly it's on hold with no new release dates, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. But even if they did make it, they'd have to have it localized... Ohgosh I hope they'd do it. ;___; Oh yeah, there's that as well! Didn't they say they were working with a new type of style for Xillia too? Something about the environments if I recall correctly... Or maybe it was for the game in general. My memory is a bit spotty as of late.

Aaaah I see! That's a really good idea. I wouldn't mind trying to get my hands on a Narikiri Dungeon game or Radiant Mythology if that's the case. Honestly the thought that people would have translated walkthrough's had never crossed my mind. D'oh! D: Whelp, learn something everyday I guess!