This is a series that I've never really gotten into, but I've tried a couple of times (with Tales of Symphonia and now Tales of the Abyss). I really like the world and characters, but a lot of the mechanics and gameplay just don't really flow for me, and it makes it hard to keep playing.
I'll use Tales of the Abyss for starters, since that's what I'm working on now. I just got the Fields of Fonons tutorial. And, frankly, my opinion of them is pretty much the same as Luke's: They're cool, but useless. Since I can't control my party members, and Luke can't use Fonons, I have no reliable way to set them up, and am counting entirely on the AI to do it for me. And since the game features fast moving combat on a 3D field, the chances of the AI placing fields where they'll stack and activate is pretty much non-existent. So how am I supposed to use and manipulate these? Combat for me is still just pretty much spamming Luke's sword attacks, with no real thought and very little strategy, and I can't see a way to change this.
I'm also finding the entire Cooking system to be a chaotic mess. How do I find recipes, how do I learn which character likes which foods the best, etcetera. It may add a little depth to the role playing, but it's a pain in the butt for actually figuring out and learning the systems.
So, yeah, if anyone could give kind of a starter's guide or overview for actually taking advantage of the gameplay systems available, I'd appreciate it.