Favorite Tales of game?

[TalesofGaming]

I posted a topic on Arise not too long ago and loved hearing peoples' thoughts. So, now I'm curious what everybody's favorite mainline Tales game is.  

Edited April 7, 2021 by TalesofGaming

[Whitelightnin683]

Voted Berseria, first Tales game that got me into the series with Vesperia a close second from what I've played.

[Phantochi]

Abyss is my favorite. In huge part due to Luke, who is one the best JRPG protagonist i've ever seen.

[whodeygamer]

Out of the games I’ve played in the series, Tales of Vesperia in my opinion has the best overall cast of characters (including best main protagonist Yuri Lowell), one of the best overall stories, and I’m pretty sure it was also the last game in the series to have a true overworld.

 

Abyss and Berseria aren’t too far behind, but Tales of Vesperia is definitely my favorite.

[SelectiveGamer]

I've only played Symphonia, it's sequel that everyone hates (except for me), Berseria, Zestiria and I'm currently playing Vesperia (Definitive PS4 version)

 

I can't really say just yet honestly. Besides... it's been well over a decade since I've played the Symphonia games. Until I get around to replaying them via the PS3 version... I can't really put them in any sort of 'tier' list yet or whatever.

 

So going off of what I've played so far and am currently playing... it's definitely Berseria. Vesperia's story finally got a bit more interesting but it's almost nonexistent with how overly difficult this god damn game is and how much I'm struggling with it. I can't even enjoy the story because of how much I'm struggling with this game and it's idiotic and overly difficult battle system.

Edited April 7, 2021 by SelectiveGamer

[KazaneHime]

Voted for Xillia (as a proxy for the Xillia's combined), but it is really hard to choose between those, Berseria, and Vesperia for me.

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

I'm somewhat new to the series, I played Vesperia on the 360 years ago and have slowly been getting around to the other games in the series I've had sitting in my backlog for several years. From what I've played so far, I'd say Symphonia is my favourite, at least in terms of the characters, story and world. Graces F and Xillia have so far been my favourites as far as gameplay/combat goes. I actually just got started on Xillia 2 today.

 

I'm hoping they continue to port old Tales Of games to newer systems, as Legendia was never released here (UK), as well as the other old, Japanese only titles. I pretty much have all the Tales Of games in my backlog aside from those ones.

[Deadly_Ha_Ha]

I said Symphonia. I haven't played most of them tbh but because of the Vita store shutdown I finally found the impetus to get Hearts, so here's hoping I'll enjoy it

[Phlegeth]

Abyss is one of my favorite games in general.  I love the whole cast.  The God Generals are just as interesting as the main party.

[MandA60VISE]

I've still yet to play the big two, Symphonia and Vesperia, but as of now Abyss is my favorite (and first) Tales game. I love JRPGs and the one thing I've always felt lacking in most of them is the cast besides the definitive main hero/heroine felt lacking. Like in Final Fantasy IX for example Freya, Eiko, Garnet, and Steiner only really have one arc then their story significance becomes almost nonexistent. Zidane and Vivi are the only real ones that stay relevant through the whole story. And god forbid Quina or Amarant have any sort of arc. However, in all the Tales games I've played so far every playable character has stayed relevant throughout the whole story and they all feel fleshed out. The Abyss cast has been my favorite so far but that might just be first game bias.

[Eyeman-sama]

Tie between Symphonia and Vesperia. My favorite RPG's series of all time.

[SnowxSakura]

Definitely Abyss. Watching Luke's character develop throughout the game is a total treat.

 

Although I do want to give a prize to Graces F for the amazing battle system and Pascal, seriously she is one of the best written characters in the entire franchise just *chef's kiss

[AK-1138]

Forgot the best one:

 

 

...Buuuuut I can understand you may have wanted this to result in a somewhat more evenly spread poll result here, so I'll let it slide... this time.

 

(Played a SNES one years ago and didn't like the combat system so I left it at that. I remember nothing aside from that, and how it began with a profoundly bitcrushed soundbyte in Japanese about Man's inherent capacity for evil or something. Having gone in blind and all that, I was somewhat afraid I'd stumbled across another Hong Kong 97 or something similar...)

[Thedah]

Berseria for sure! I really enjoyed the story.

[JavaNext]

Didnt vote because I actually never played a Tales of game, but this topic made me look into the franchise.

The new Tales of Arise looks interesting, ill probably begin there.

[rangers_lead5278]

Xillia. That games holds a lot of meaning to me as focussing on it played a part in me overcoming a mental breakdown. I made it my 150th plat as a milestone of recovering from mental health issues.

[Mipsy]

Berseria for me, loved nearly *every* aspect of it, with Abyss tailing a close 2nd behind. Very very much hoping for greatness from Arise.

[Honor_Hand]

Unfortunately, I haven't really had the chance to experience THAT many Tales of games as to weigh them all, but out of the ones I've played, Tales of Xillia is certainly the strongest one at everything. Likable characters, interesting world, gripping story, smooth active combat, lovely graphics, and the cutscenes at the time had me stoked about everything happening in that game. Got the Platinum without me even noticing or actively going for it. It was that good!

 

An honorable mention for the second favorite goes to the very Symphonia game I played on my Gamecube all those years back. It really taught me all the magic and wonders that JRPGs are known for. The combat at the time was unlike anything I had ever seen and while it probably hasn't aged all that gracefully, I thoroughly enjoyed it when I played it again on PS3.

 

Judging by the votes here, it seems I really do need to try Berseria and Abyss at some point.

[Xylobe]

I'd rank the ones I've played something like:

Xillia 2 > Symphonia > Graces f > Xillia > Vesperia > Berseria > Hearts R > Zestiria >>> Dawn of the New World

 

Xillia 2, Symphonia, and Graces f can be pretty interchangeable depending on the day, but they're definitely my favorite stories and casts. Xillia 1 is great as well, but I much preferred the structure, pacing, and gameplay of 2, so it feels a bit... obsolete? to go back to it.

Vesperia was good overall, but it really fell apart in its third act and squandered one of the series' most interesting supporting characters imo.

Berseria I might be ranking a bit harshly due to the slog of earning the platinum in one playthrough, but the revamped combat never really clicked for me. I also have a pretty low angst tolerance, so I wasn't big on the story or a lot of the cast, though Eizen and Eleanor were both fun.

Hearts R honestly left so little of an impression on me that I don't even recognize some of the party members. Who is Gall? I've never seen this man in my life.

Zestiria for me was the hat trick: bland cast with unclear motivations, nonsensical story with troubling themes, and unsatisfying combat with an equipment system so contrived and cryptic that Bletchely Park couldn't crack it. I love Sorey's design, probably my favorite looking character in the series outside of Xillia 2, but that's about it for praise. As it stands, it's the only game in the series with multiple English trophy stacks that I won't be bothering with.

We don't talk about Dawn of the New World.

[RoastedPeanut]

Graces for me. Absolutely loved it. I liked Asbel and I really enjoyed most of the story.

 

I need to properly playthrough Vesperia. I started it but dropped it soon after

[Hisuiryu]

It's a tough pick between Vesperia and Abyss for me - I voted Vesperia in the end but even that I think is down to bias for the first in the series that I played

 

And no-one asked, but from what I've played I would rank them: Vesperia > Abyss > Xillia > Graces f > Symphonia > Xillia 2 > Hearts R > Eternia > Zestiria…. but I barely remember Eternia, I should dig out my PSP and replay it some time!

[PraiseTheFluppi]

I voted Xillia, it's the first Tales-of-game I played and is still my favorite of all Tales games I played (closely followed by Graces)
I pretty much love everything about the game: music, characters, gameplay, the OPENING! Love the song 'Progress' by Ayumi Hamasaki!
Still sad though that the EU version didn't have japanese dub so I'm still hoping they bring a remaster with japanese voice over, like with Vesperia (don't know if the original version had jap dub already)

[Doomed_Gary]

For me it's Berseria. That game was the goldielocks of stupid anime bullshit for my personal taste.

Edited April 9, 2021 by nyarLOLhotep

[Sikutai]

Tales of Symphonia, Gamecube.

[punkshepherd]

Tales of Berseria is great, i also like Hearts and Abyss but the vote goes to VESPERIA which for me has the best story and characters.