Pumpkin's Tales Marathon

Okay so this is a big one! I am almost done my Suikoden marathon (although I forgot to update :() and I'm almost done Tales of Zestiria, so this might be a bit late, but I want to do a Tales marathon for the games I do (or will) own. It'll be a very long one though.

Games to play (in no order):

(Finish) Tales of Zestiria
Tales of Xillia
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Legendia
Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Symphonia 2 (to buy)
Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Hearts R
Tales of Graces f

So I will do my best to keep this thread updated and I hope we can have some fun :love:. Also feel free to request which Tales game I play next once I finish one. And don't expect this to go by quickly because there are like 11 games there!

About spoilers: I will do my best to keep spoilers in spoiler tags so those who want to play can still play and follow this. Characters will be spoiled though. If you want to discuss because you have played the games, please spoiler as well! I will mostly be posting generalized tidbits that don't ruin the whole thing and I will expand on them in the spoilers

Enjoy :jess:

FIRST UPDATE!

Played some Tales of Zestiria. Going to finish it up soon, just a few more sidequesties and the Alicia DLC~

Started Tales of Xillia again. Could have waited but I wanted to get the idol master DLC while I could remember. It changes the battle music, it's pretty funny

http://i.imgur.com/bZVeXAE.png

I'm also super pumped to play Xillia again because it was the first Tales game I ever played and I have played EIGHT more Tales games since. I also really loved it. I'm going to finish up Zestiria before I go further, but I did Jude's storyline this time because I did Milla's last time and I also much prefer Jude as a character anyway.

Didn't get too far, just accepted my first quest. Current characters:
http://i.imgur.com/Hr2XQj3.jpgJude: Med student
http://i.imgur.com/HE1hmRW.jpgMilla: Lord of Spirita
http://i.imgur.com/wvsiiUS.jpgAlvin: Mercenary dude

Tales of Zestiria I have the whole cast, just did the Edna's brother sidequest, and wrapping up a few more loose ends before DA FINAL BOSS(ES?) and Alicia DLC~

Cool, I've always wanted to try the Tales series! Could you also list the platform every game's on when you talk about them?

Sure, I can actually do that for you now. Not including the Japan only versions

Tales of Zestiria - PS3, PS4, Steam
Tales of Xillia - PS3
Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
Tales of the Abyss - PS2, 3DS (Europe only marked for 3DS so may not be available there on PS2)
Tales of Legendia -PlayStation 2 (Doesn't say European release, so not sure about this one :/)
Tales of Symphonia - Gamecube, PS3, Steam next year
Tales of Symphonia 2 -Wii, PS3
Tales of Phantasia - GBA (I think the PS1 version is Japan only?)
Tales of Vesperia - Xbox 360
Tales of Hearts R - Vita
Tales of Graces f - PS3

Tales of Legendia was not released EU-side, and if you want to play Abyss you do need to do so on the 3DS.

That's a lot of Tales games to play! Best of luck! :D

What is the recurring theme of the series? Are they linked in any particular way? If I wanted to play them, which one should you start with?

I heard a lot of them attempt to deconstruct typical JRPG tropes. But that's all I know about the series :shobon:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Formalhaut

What is the recurring theme of the series? Are they linked in any particular way? If I wanted to play them, which one should you start with?

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They are not linked, it's kind of like Final Fantasy, except for ones that are direct sequels (like Xillia 2 and Symphonia 2). There are some loose connections between Phantasia and Symphonia, but by loose I mean very loose, kind of like FFVII and X. You don't need to play one to understand the other and it's more just a fun fact than anything.

The general theme is exploring common RPG tropes and, in some cases, deconstructing them. It does play a lot of them pretty straight, but the series loves to throw twists in the middle of it to change things up a bit.

Abyss, for example, explores the "destiny" trope. You know where everything is governed by fate and all of that. It does this by basically turning it up to eleven and having some people trying to subvert it. They basically have things that tell them how the future will play out, and common citizens use it to ask what to have for dinner and stuff, for example. Symphonia explores the whole 'Chosen One' trope, by showing just how much of a burden that would be on the chosen ones. In other ways it plays certain tropes completely straight like 'racism is bad'.

So in essence they're very classic RPG, they have a lot of common RPG elements to them, but they have some fun with it sometimes by exploring the issues a bit more or from a different perspective than a lot of RPG's.

As far as which one you should start with, its hard to say because while a lot of them are similar, like the FF series, you can get a variety of things that suit different people. Symphonia and Hearts are my favourites but I don't know that I would say they're objectively the best. Symphonia is kind of the starting point for modern day Tales games and it brought the series to where it is today, but because it's the starting point, it's pretty rough around the edges. So it really depends on what you're looking for and what aspects are important to you. I'll PM you with some further details about each so we can see if we can match you up with a good one for you :jess:

Will you play Talespin as well?

Attachment 65883

Alrighty so today I beat Tales of Zestiria! The last dungeon was whoo boy. Less confusing than it looks though. (SPOILER)Symonne ended up being much more of a sympathetic villain than I expected. Like my heart went out to her. Especially when she was just laying there crying and you just have to walk away. Geez

The ending was pretty good, although it felt a bit lacking. Not bad, just kind of shorter than I was expecting. Might be because there's a playable epilogue in the form of the Alisha DLC.

Which I started! I was missing my characters at first but there was a bit of a reunion and I am happy. (SPOILER)Rose started acting a bit... funky, but overall it has been good. It's kind of understandable why she's acting that way, she's been through a lot by this point.

I'll have a full review of the game up when I finish the Alisha DLC. She is also now sporting quite a fancy outfit

http://i.imgur.com/odutvXu.png

Zestiria was the least enjoyable Tales experience I've had. The characters were largely uninteresting, the concepts underpinning the plot were inconsistent, and the changes to the battle system rendered my input pointless. The writing was occasionally charming, but occasionally does not stack up against the vast array of terrific games I have played or could otherwise be playing. Competent is not nearly enough. Additional thoughts if you're interested.

I really liked it and I found the characters pretty strong. To each their own :monster:

Today I played most of Alisha's DLC and I should be able to finish it up on Tuesday and get my review written. But I needed a bit of a break, so I started back up on Xillia. Met Elize but she isn't playable yet and I just fought the big crab thing. Still fairly early on, but my shops and everything are progressing nicely so far!

Xillia looks pretty polished and has some absolutely gorgeous areas. Last time I played it was on a small screen so it's nice to play it on a TV with which I can see the details more clearly. The skits are pretty charming and I already really like Jude. It's also interesting to see the story when I know some of the spoilery things

Okay so today I finished up Tales of Zestiria and the review is in my Video Game journal in Gen gaming if you're interested! In short, I really enjoyed it and I loved the characters, but the dialogue was too vague sometimes, which made some story aspects hard to follow. Overall the story was good, the gameplay was fun, and the world was good.

Last night I played some more Xillia and I finally got!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://i.imgur.com/qKAwk9w.jpgElize: A shy young girl with strong magical abilities

I forgot how precious she is, I love her!!

That was after I went to Milla's home, and now I am in the forest! Will play more later but that is the update from last night~

Yay, congrats! :D

So did much things today, went to Sharilton, and still wish Driselle was playable. Sadly, she is not :<

Recruited
http://i.imgur.com/SU5lf9b.jpgRowan the old butler who is skilled at using artes.

Since I'm playing Jude this time, I got to see his part of this branching storyline. I think I like Milla's part of this better, but I think Jude's was simpler since you don't have all of those blocked paths. Or as many, I guess. (SPOILER)I'd forgotten about Milla's broken legs, it was an interesting section.

Also got
http://i.imgur.com/dioAWOb.jpgLeia, Jude's childhood friend. And that makes all of the main characters! I was super excite to get her because I enjoy using her the most in battle. Her outfit is also very adorable, but I like her idolmaster one too. Especially the hair.

(SPOILER)Did lose the other characters for this section though, which I'd also forgotten about. Excited to get everyone back together soon!

So uhh wrench in my plans, sharky remembered that we still have his work Xbox 360 that we borrowd for a "few weeks" about a year ago and he figured he should bring it back soon. So now I have to try and cram in Vesperia before he remembers to do so, all while studying for final exams, yaaaay

SO! Xillia on pause, Vesperia go!

Started the game, Yuri has long girl hair, battles. The world of Vesperia is absolutely gorgeous, and apparently muscle memory is good because I'm having much less trouble with the Xbox controller this time

So
http://i.imgur.com/7HdxLPF.pngYuri: Follows his own moral code, has a snarky attitude, troublemaker, secret heart of gold

The Aque Blastia was stolen, (SPOILER)Yuri ends up in jail and I get to see the scenes from a different perspective with Raven now

Estelle's first outfit is quite adorable, but I like her second one too because SO MUCH PINK :omgomg:

http://i.imgur.com/FZlzZa9.pngEstelle: Naive girl that Yuri meets in the castle

I love Estelle, she is just so precious. I'm thinking, when I finish my marathon, I'll rank the Tales characters in order of favourite to least favourite, and Estelle will be up there. I don't super enjoy using her in battle though.

So we leave the place and are joined by Repede

http://i.imgur.com/FkkVgZn.pngRepede: Pipe wielding 'dog' with a sassy attitude.

He has some swagger when he walks. Some of the battle endings have been super charming and I love Estelle's hi-five poke. Got to the place and the monsters and have to find another route. I believe Karol is coming in soon.

Hopefully I can get the hang of the battle system more this time around. Also going to Halure (?) the big tree place and it is GORGEOUS and I am PUMPED!

Also, excited to be playing a Tales game were I can get costumes WITHOUT having to pay money

Yaaay

http://i.imgur.com/FkkVgZn.png

A pipe-wielding dog? That is just the most awesome thing ever. All he needs now is a deerstalker cap and he's made.

So we went the other way and ran in to

http://i.imgur.com/CcLS0GE.pngCaptain Karol: A spunky kid who is part of a monster hunter guild.

Then we got to go to the beautiful town of Halure :omgomg:

http://i.imgur.com/ChxFLg0.jpg

The mayor is so nice, such a beautiful town. So of course we had to fix it and things and (SPOILER)Estelle used her big healing artes and Yuri obviously knows something is up. It's pretty well handled I think. Not too obvious, but obvious enough

So afterwards, we went to the mage city and found

http://i.imgur.com/AEAWg1h.pngRita: A genius mage and researcher with an attitude, who has a passion for fashion blastia.

Her boots. HER BOOTS

http://i.imgur.com/XlxeB1S.jpg

She is my main battle character until I get Judith, but I have Estelle as my lead on-screen lady. I did get the special flag today for that.

So uh then we went to the ruins, got the sorcerers ring, met some sketchy people. Headed back to Halure, saw the ocean, heading to the port!

Okay let's see, I went to the port and we finally caught up with

http://i.imgur.com/rffLLGK.pngFlynn: Knight dude who is BFF's with Yuri but a stickler for the rules

I like his last name. Scifo. SHHEEEEFOOOOO

And then we met Ragou, like the spaghetti sauce kind of, and (SPOILER)boyfriend was pointing out how comically evil it was that he's changing the weather so people can't pay their taxes and then feeding their kids to his basement full of monsters???

So then after more comically evilz stuff happened, we crossed over the ocean and then people were really bad at cooking. Some more things happened and we went more places and then I felt super bad for Karol when he was being verbally berated by Nan. I did actually feel really bad for him, it made me quite sad. More dragon freak. Rita hates a lot of people.

So then more things happened and I got a new totally not sketchy party member!

http://i.imgur.com/5Z5bObl.pngRaven: New, totally not sketchy party member who causes a lot of trouble

After all that, we returned to Guildsville and met some more people and did some attacking and saw some more Dragon Freak and then ended up in a special place AND

http://i.imgur.com/AjOwcTp.pngJudith: Lady who spoilery things and uses a spear and likes to show off her boobies

Despite my description, I actually really like Judith and I enjoy using her in battle, so she is my main lady! She left for now, but she'll be back. They always come back

I did many things yesterday but I can't remember them all! Learned new recipes, got a preview of the Enchanting Belle costume I want that I won't be able to get until much later. Estelle keeps pulling a bait-and-switch on the poor knights. Flynn got promoted. (SPOILER)Yuri showed off some vigilante justice I got my own ship, explored a little, and entered the coliseum.

Let's see, yesterday I did the coliseum portion and had an annoying boss fight. Then we went in to the cave, beat up a big monster, I completed a secret battle challenge (yay), made up more recipes, had my characters complain about trying to come up with new recipes, entered the sketchy desert town, broke some cacti, rescued the parents.

Discovered hidden village, ran in to Mr. Friendly (Duke), did some more things. A lot of story heavy things today so spoilers

(SPOILER)Yuri killed Cumore, it was quite a scene. Then Flynn got all fussy at him. Was a pretty good scene. Yuri's friends have been made aware of his vigilantism. Met the Duce, found out she's a talking monster. Learned about all of that stuff. Estelle feels bad about herself. Judith leaves, the Don kills himself, Leviathan's Claw is weird, Judith is gone and I'm stuck not using Judith (:/) then I go "rescue" Judith and Ba'ul who Pokevolves, NOW I CAN FLY! I also really enjoyed the scene after Don Whitehorse dies and Karol and Yuri talk. It was touching and felt very real. It was a good scene.

So I head back to Danghrest and do the waitressing mini-game for some OUTFITS!!! Ugh it was awful, even with my boyfriend helping me by writing things down. Raven's level was especially brutal.

BUT NEW OUTFITS YAAY

http://i.imgur.com/wxYMqlW.png
So Estelle's outfit is the one I really wanted. It's one of my favourites in the whole game. So adorable!

http://i.imgur.com/YoWR445.png
I also like Judith's

http://i.imgur.com/2yECSYS.png
Karol's lunch lady outfit is just precious!

http://i.imgur.com/lIBdUZ6.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/hLG7bmO.png
That leaves Raven and Rita's outfits. I don't particularly care about those, but I'll keep them on for a bit because funny. I'll have a theme going on

Did a lot of cooking and synthesizing, (SPOILER)went to see Pharaoh, learned more about Estelle and then went to the Krytian hometown Hurray!

Let's see, yesterday (SPOILER)Raven betrayed me and kidnapped Estelle and the I found out he's *GASP* a captain of the nights. Now I'm inside the big Heracles thing

Yesterday I finished up Heracles and then we had the big (SPOILER)crazy scene with Zagi and Flynn ramming Heracles and the massive explosion. Estelle was all like "kill me Yuri" and it was a long scene. Then we ended up at the port town and got told of the detour, so we went to icy place and (SPOILER)Karol was a (slow) badass and tried to take on that monster by himself. It was awful. But yay, he tried!

I keep forgetting to update this!

I FINALLY got (SPOILER)Estelle back. Those were some rough times. But yay! Now I am in Zaude, and I just finished killing Klaus from American Dad in human form

Rita's outfit with the cat ears is hilarious. xD

I really wish this game came out on the PS3 in the US. ; -;

Sorry I have been so busy guys. I actually started Tales of Phantasia on the GBA and will be picking Xillia up again soon. So far in Phantasia, it has been SUPER SHOCKING because you start in this village where everyone is all "We're super happy here, this is the best village ever, good thing we never have to ring our emergency bell hahaha~"

So you can imagine my shock when the village was destroyed. That never happens in games :/

Really though I haven't played enough to know my opinion yet. It does seem much harder so far

Finally read the second half of this thread, very amusing stuff. Makes me want to get back into Vesperia. We got Judith and got a boat and all that jazz but I don't recall obtaining any new cool outfits :( Ive always loved games that allow for an outfit change, and the DLC obsession of this series is mildly disheartening