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[SantaC]

Those who have played ToS, how does it stand up against the best RPG releases this generation? Thinking mainly about FFX, FFX-2, SoA, Suikoden III, Kingdom Hearts, Kotor etc.


My copy will arrive on tuesday or wednesday. I can hardly wait. All I can say is that I do enjoy JRPGs. This is the first game I will play in the Tales series.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Only ~13 hours in but i can definitely say its the best RPG i've played this gen from a japanese origin. SoA would be up there but its vastly different, SoA is more of an adventure, its RPG side is very lacking, ToS has an extremely fun and addictive battle system, exploration wise its been pretty standard so far though, i also got to the first "big" twist in the story, its getting really interesting

I've played FFX, suikoden 3, SoA, Xenosaga, Kotor (though i wont compare it to kotor, too different..)

Since you're already getting the game, you'll see by yourself.

I think it will be outmatched by Star ocean 3, shin megumi tensai 3 and Digital devil saga, which i anticipate a lot, but right now, ToS is really really fun.

 

[Claus]

Not too far into it but I love it so far. The voice acting is pretty good and I'm enjoying the action based combat.

 

[belgurdo]

Best combat in a RPG since KOTOR, but ye gods, they couldn't have made a more muddy, generic story

 

[SantaC]

Best combat in a RPG since KOTOR, but ye gods, they couldn't have made a more muddy, generic story

I can live with an average story as long as the combat and the gameplay in the game are of interest. My fav RPG of all time (FF9) doesn't exactly stand out in the story department either. (imo)

 

[MoxManiac]

Never fear then, cause ToS's fun gameplay and battle system carry the mediocre storyline quite well.

 

[Mumbles]

Those who have played ToS, how does it stand up against the best RPG releases this generation? Thinking mainly about FFX, FFX-2, SoA, Suikoden III, Kingdom Hearts, Kotor etc.

I wouldn't call it superior to BOF5, but it certainly trumps most RPGs I've played in this generation. But then, the Tales series is usually pretty good, and this generation has been weak for RPGs relative to the PSX days.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Wow, FFX, X-2, and Kingdom Hearts seriously needs to be taken off that list. I know, I know, opinions and all but still.

It's a really good and solid game. There aren't any comparisons I can bring to mind currently other then it's defenitely worth playing!

 

[belgurdo]

Wow, FFX, X-2, and Kingdom Hearts seriously needs to be taken off that list. I know, I know, opinions and all but still.

No, the original list was quite correct

 

[TekunoRobby]

Oh my!

EDIT: Checked again, nope list still isn't right.

 

[Kiriku]

Every "Tales of"-game (ToP, Tales of Destiny 1 and "2") I've played has always had rather generic storylines and characters. With a cool battle system. Another thing that always bothered me with the games is the frustrating encounter rate. How is it in Tales of Symphonia?

 

[belgurdo]

Every "Tales of"-game (ToP, Tales of Destiny 1 and "2") I've played has always had rather generic storylines and characters. With a cool battle system. Another thing that always bothered me with the games is the frustrating encounter rate. How is it in Tales of Symphonia?

Since you can physically dodge enemies it's not as ridiculous as, say, Destiny, where you had a fight every three steps

 

[Buggy Loop]

Yea, the only times there's impossible to avoid encounters is when you walk on the world map, there's enemies that run at you so fast and pop out of nowhere thats you cant avoid, they dont happen often though and when you get the long range mode, you dont get them.

 

[TekunoRobby]

This is from a ~5 hour point of gameplay.

Basic gist of it:
On the world map every couple of steps (I'd say about 2 - 3 seconds enemies will fade into the world and just randomly scurry about. There has never been a large amount of enemies spawned either so they aren't a nuisance. You can easily run around them or sometimes due to the nature where they fade in you'll run into them. Chances are VERY likely that you can easily dodge the enemies.

Within the actual environments things are a bit tougher. Enemies are all automatically spawned on the map whenever you go in a new locale (or return) and go through their rudimentary paths. There haven't been a large amount of enemies within any of the maps I've encountered. The most in a certain location (not the whole section just a small part) would have probably been three, and they are all well spaced. Now whenever you go within a certain distance (haven't noticed a differentiating "trigger" range) the enemies go into "alert" mode and they hunt you down or continue on their wayward paths (these flower monsters ignored me but that could be due to the limited space to move in). It's much harder to dodge enemies since most of the time they make a direct line to your ass, but it still can be done if you're quick enough.

Load times for the actual battles range from 1 - 2 seconds so it's rather quick and depending on how skilled you are (or how customized you've made you're party's tatics) battles are over fairly quickly. Overall I'd say the encounter rate is rather minimal to regular depending on how you play. Combined with the very enjoyable battle engine (multiplayer!) it's really not bothersome at all. In fact I look foward to every fight I can get into within the enviroments because it's so damned fun.

 

[SantaC]

Oh my!

EDIT: Checked again, nope list still isn't right.

it's called an opinion

 

[TekunoRobby]

it's called an opinion

REALLY!?

Awww you guys aren't any fun.

 

[Mumbles]

Just so everyone knows - you can shoot monsters on the dungeon maps with your elemental ring. It freezes them for a while, so you can easily get past them.

...but aside from emergencies, why would you do this? The battle system is the attraction of the Tales series.

 

[Vargas]

I would do it because even though the battles are fun, I don't like participating in battles unless I am getting some EXP. 60 EXP doesn't help me in anyway when it takes 3000 to get to the next level.

 

[belgurdo]

Just so everyone knows - you can shoot monsters on the dungeon maps with your elemental ring. It freezes them for a while, so you can easily get past them.

...but aside from emergencies, why would you do this? The battle system is the attraction of the Tales series.

The attraction wears thin when you have to battle 50+ times in one dungeon

 

[Mejilan]

Oh posh! Ignore Belgurdo. He seems to have an anti-JRPG agenda half the time.

The combat's a blast, and even if the exp gains you get for SOME battles are lacking, those are the easiest ones to rack up ingredients for food, materials for weapons customization, and especially GRADE points. Though you can quite easily go out of your way to avoid encounters, I don't recommend it. Getting 2 or 3 full grade points for a 10 second encounter (no exaggeration) is a very good thing.

As for the world map monsters, most actually are avoidable, and once you get powerful enough, most of th enemies will be running from you, not towards. Heh.

 

[belgurdo]

Oh posh! Ignore Belgurdo. He seems to have an anti-JRPG agenda half the time.

Which is why I buy them all the time?

And I was talking about the battles being repetitive in context. It's not fun fighting enemies in a dungeon over and over that only give you 5 experience 30 hours into the game well after you've cleared that area, and that's true of any RPG. The combat is awesome otherwise

 

[TekunoRobby]

And I was talking about the battles being repetitive in context. It's not fun fighting enemies in a dungeon over and over that only give you 5 experience 30 hours into the game well after you've cleared that area, and that's true of any RPG.

Tried playing the game in multiplayer? I know it won't magically make it more enjoyable but it does add another level since your constantly communicating with your friend('s).

EDIT: THANKS MEJILAN, that's very useful information (along with the whole freezing enemies trick). Unfortunately I'm too STOOPID to have figured it out on my own.

 

[Mejilan]

You buy 'em only to hate 'em!! ;p

Guys, did you know you freaking slash enemy projectiles out of the air before they strike you? Pulled it off a couple of times by accident before I realized what I had done.

Hahahah, awesome. Very good trick against the Desian archers.

 

[belgurdo]

Tried playing the game in multiplayer? I know it won't magically make it more enjoyable but it does add another level since your constantly communicating with your friend('s).

No (no friends,) but I usually make up for it in Tales games by synchonizing the moves of the AI characters (50+ hit Bloody Rose/Divine Wind/Assassin/maelstrom combos on the last boss in Destiny is quite fun)

 

[Rogerkiller]

a little of toppic but does this game work whit freeloader?

 

[u_neek]

Sure hope so...!!

 

[etiolate]

One of the best RPGs I've played this gen. So far I still like SoA a little better, but the battles in Tales are certainly more fun.

 

[Diomedeskun]

If tales of Symphonia had a shred of originality story wise, it would probably be the best RPG I have played this generation. Where it excels is every other aspect. Its story is a mix of Final Fantasy X and Star Ocean 2 with just about every typical anime and RPG convention ever, but it is all done very well and the characters are probably the most likeable I have ever played in a RPG.

The characters are not quite as customizeable as I would like, but not every game can be Final Fantasy Tactics.

I am a little sick of some of the elements that seem to pop up in nearly every 32-bit and beyond RPG.

 

[Gruco]

I liked Tales of Symphonia as much as, maybe a little more than Gandia Xtreme and Wild Arms 3, which were my other two favorite RPGs of this gen.

While I generally don't think story is a big deal, I actually liked Symphonia's story (interpreting the word as broadly as possible, to just mean "Overall quality of dialogue") a lot more than most RPGs. The basic scenario and course of events are standard fare, but I thought all the characters meshed well and lead to some entertaining conversations.

 

[MrCheez]

Last couple of comments have pretty much expressed what I was about to post. The story is mediocre but the characters and dialogue are great thusfar. Definitely makes me want to keep going.

And the combat is oh-so-delicious.

Loving the game. =)

 

[Wario64]

a little of toppic but does this game work whit freeloader?

I don't know if this will affect freeloader users, most likely it will...

You are probably aware that the game is on 2 discs. When you get to the disc switching point, you have to switch discs on the spot with no game save. Not sure how playing imports work on Gamecube, but I assume it works like the PSOne

 

[Tellaerin]

(Generic story + vivid, likeable characters) > (generic characters + unique, creative story).

 

[etiolate]

(Generic story + vivid, likeable characters) > (generic characters + unique, creative story).

Agreed. You can't get into a story if you don't care for the characters. Square sometimes has me rooting against their hero.