Customer Reviews

Tales of the Abyss

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While the Tales series isn't nearly as big as other series (namely Final Fantasy), it's still a particularly fun and satisfying game to play. For one, the Tales series has always been able to bring about fantastic gameplay and expansive worlds. While the stories sometimes seem generic they're brilliantly told with fantastic characters. Tales of the Abyss is the latest in the series and needless to say, if you liked Tales of Legendia or even the far superior (and arguably best) Tales of Symphonia, you'll more than likely enjoy this game.

Tales of the Abyss follows Luke Von Fabre. A spoiled rich kid who is busy trying to regain his memories. He was kidnapped seven years ago and can't remember a thing from before then. He's cooped up in a manor, though, and is restricted from leaving. During a training session with his master Van, someone breaks into the manor and attempts to kill him. When Luke steps up to defend his master, the two are suddenly teleported to a different location. It would be pretty basic... if you didn't meet such entertaining characters along the way. Just the same, the dialog is really clever, witty and full of humor. Simply put, you'll have a ball with these characters as they go off and save the world. It overall makes what would've been a generic story very interesting. Not only that, but there are several plot twists. Many of which you won't see coming.

Needless to say it's pretty standard stuff that you'd find yourself getting into some battles. It is, after all, an RPG. Tales of the Abyss has the best battle system in the entire series. It's far more expansive and free.

Battles are pretty much free roam. It's much faster and more intense than turn based combat. At first it's pretty simple stuff. You control one character while the AI controls the other three. Usually in a game when the AI controls the characters it's not a good thing. In the Tales of the Abyss, it's not only a good thing, but easy to tweak with as well. You can change the settings if need be to the point where characters won't waste their tech points so fast, or maybe you want them to focus primarily on attacking all together. Either way, the AI works rather well for this game.

While in battle you can use artes. These are your characters special attacks and techs. You can also string them together all you want as you get further in the game. Characters have their own unique artes, and they have quite a bit of them. This makes battling rather fun. Another great aspect of Tales of the Abyss is that up to four people can play by using a multi-tap.

The game is not an easy game, however. Many boss battles are a pain and even some normal battles can throw you for a loop. Even if you feel you're not being challenged enough, you can change the difficulty level whenever you want. Upon completing the game once even more difficulty levels are unlocked.

Everything about the battle system is pretty simple stuff. There is first the field of fonons. Fonons are the elemental factors at work. When a character cast a spell of a certain fonon a field will appear where the spell struck. Characters can then use these field of fonons for certain artes to perform a much more devastating attack.

There are also Capacity Cores for your characters. You can equip them to certain artes and abilities go to work. For example, you can power up an arte, or make it cost less MP. Some will even allow you to steal or make the effects of certain status artes last longer.

Perhaps the best part about Tales of the Abyss is that it's overall a huge game. Almost everywhere you go is filled with secrets. The main quest alone will keep you busy for hours. Even when it comes to secrets, you'll have to play through the game a second time to unearth them all. This easily makes the game over 100 hours long in and of itself. Tales of the Abyss is filled with as many secrets as any Final Fantasy game.

The voice acting is fantastic. It's lively, full of heart. Even the moments where it's not to the best of it's abilities, the voice acting is good. A lot of the music in Tales of the Abyss is forgettable. Battle themes are really good and catchy, but on the field there's nothing you'll be humming any time soon.

I wish I could tell you the graphics were absolutely fantastic. They're not, unfortunately. Many of the environments are vague. When playing on an HD television the games rougher edges really come out. For a late generation PS2 RPG, Tales of the Abyss is just not pretty to look at. The load times between battles are also very annoying.

At the very least, however, Tales of the Abyss is an exciting RPG filled with secrets, side quests, and tons of likeable characters. Any RPGer would be proud to have it.

The Good

+The characters really bring the story to life. The story itself is basic, but with these characters it become interesting
+The battle system is fast and addictive with lots of interesting aspects
+Great voice acting
+Great dialog and sense of humor

The Bad

-Horrendous Load times
-Some of the graphics could use a touch up
-Battle themes are good, but the rest of the soundtrack is forgettable

First, let me say that I bought this game without being very familiar with the TALES series. While I had read good things about the series, it was really by chance that I stumbled across it on GameSpot, read the review there, took a look at the screenshots, and decided that I wanted to give this game a spin.

And boy, I'm glad I did! The first thing I noticed about TALES OF THE ABYSS was that its graphics, while not comprised of fancy 3D renders or polygonal-cell shaded-whatchamacallits, are really attractive. From the opening cutscene through countless hours of the game so far, I have been impressed by the way the game, as a whole, looks. Each area you visit is carefully drawn and portayed, making each location bear its own ambience and flair. While none of it is "cutting edge" per se, it works very well with the characters and overall feel of this game.

Having said that, to appreciate how well the graphics work with the rest of the game, you have to get to know the characters. Indeed, it's Luke, Tear, Jade, and the rest of the gang that make TALES OF THE ABYSS the smashing success that it is. From the first scenes with in Baticul, it becomes clear that Luke's attitude is as harsh as it is humorous. The protagonist's interactions with other characters, especially the mysterious Tear and the witty Jade, are simply fantastic. I've chuckled many times after hearing and reading some of the very clever dialogue between characters.

The story itself may occasionally leave something to be desired, but can (overall) be overlooked because of the game's high points. Save a few semi-confusing moments, nothing is "bad" about the story -- it's just not particularly inventive or distinctive. Still, the uniqueness that each character brings to the story and their mutual interactions more than makes up for any faults that the plot may have.

Aside from the main story, I was very happy to find that many optional sidequests have been included in the game. I must admit, one would be hard-pressed to complete all of them on the first playthrough, and that adds *significant* replay value where there was already plenty. Some of the sidequests require more prior knowledge than others (e.g., buying items at a specific time in anticipation of handing them over before a certain later event happens), and you'll find yourself doing some of the extras without even being aware of it (e.g., talk to a certain person somewhere and you might start a sidequest you didn't expect).

Lastly, the sound quality is excellent and the voice acting is terrific. Given the game's very witty dialogue, full of quips, jabs, and clever phrasing, demands great voice acting, and the developers have delivered on that. More than many other games on the market, you'll find yourself actually caring about what these characters are saying and anticipating the next laugh as one character pokes fun of another.

As a side note, I was really happy and surprised to see the story advanced with both voice acting in regular scenes and in text-only "face chats" as well. These "face chats" are optional, and can be viewed by pressing the Select button when prompted. All told, they do a great job of helping to advance the story while showing the gamer some of the characters' feelings and interactions with one another. Combined with the voice acting in regular scenes, this text-only venue is a good change of pace, as you get to read the text and see characters' expressions in their manga-like portraits at the same time.

Overall, TALES OF THE ABYSS may be in a world of its own when compared to blockbusters like the upcoming FFXII, but it deserves a world of credit for what it accomplishes. Truly outstanding voice acting, a refreshingly well-written script, very long playtime, and high replay value are just a few of the benefits that this game has to offer. Very highly recommended.

Summary:

Wonderful voice acting, great script, and appropriately-designed graphics make this game a true hit. They more than make up for the story, which is (for the most part) interesting but not really novel or original. Story is advanced both through regular scenes and optional "face chats" that display character portraits and dialogue in the form of text. Tons of sidequests and an innately long playtime will keep you busy for 40 hours or more, and chances are you'll be itching to play again to see what you might have missed the first time around.

I'm not normally a person who plays videogames, and hardly one who likes RPGs. I usually start them and leave them halfway because I lose interest. I picked this game up on a whim, since I had heard a lot of good things about it. I wasn't expecting much, but Tales of the Abyss consistently kept me interested and on the edge of my seat. The battle system is extremely fun, the story is very engaging and heartfelt, and the cast is full of colorful and complex characters. Even for someone who gets tired of games quickly, I never got tired of this one. I recommend it highly, even if you aren't someone who likes games that much like myself.

This game is terrific, perhaps some of the most significant upgrades in the mechanics system (as opposed to Tales of Symphonia)are the free run skill (which allows your character to traverse the battlefield in 3D as opposed to back and forth), and the change in the learning of other skills.

In Tales of Symphonia, skills were based on equipping specific little gems, but because so many skills were better than the other sets for a given character, many skills went unused. The Capacity Core system makes it so that in getting the big skills, you get all the little ones too, making for better combat overall. Also, equipping costumes won't kill your stat growth in this iteration of the "Tales of" series.

Lastly, it is very important to either have a walkthrough from online, or buy a guide, and to play with one or more friends. The "Tales of" series can be kind of boring alone, but with one or two friends, the games are just plain terrific. I'd give this game an A+

First of all I want to say I have been a long time gamer. I've been playing games since the 80's and have satback and enjoyed their development over the years. In my 20+ years of gamming there have been few games that moved me emotionally. I would like to say that Tales of the Abyss, is a game that will put you in tears.

Tales of the Abyss has one of the most beatiful and detailed stories of almost any RPG out there. The tales series although not as popular in the US, is more than a rival to the Final Fantasy Series.

The game starts out with you playing Luke. A young noble who is ignorant of himself and the world around him. That all changes one day when he meets a humble yet strong young girl names "Tear". Then the real adventure begins. The story of the game has an amazing pace, and you get to learn about each of the characters and their history deeply. All of them are unique, and even at times tragic, but you get to know them so well that you become attached to them almost. You feel compelled to play the game because you want to see just what happens next. Mind you this game will run you about 100hours plus to complete it. It took me 120 hours to complete the game with the side missions. Never for a second did I feel tired or disatisfied. This game will keep you on edge the entire story.

The game play of Tale of the Abyss is like most tales game. It's an action RPG which means there is no turn based eliments. The fights are fun, and each battle is new and excited. It plays more like a fighting game when in battle than a typical RPG. Although the characters each have their own roles and unique fighting abilities. You have healers, spell casters, sword slashers etc. In your party of 6, you control 4 players at a time and the fights are fantastic!

The graphics of Tales is artistically beautiful. It is more like playing a character in an Anime. There were many design eliments adapted into this game, and the time that the Namco/Bandai tales team put into the game really shows through. You really will feel as though your traveling around in the world of Audrant giving your all to save the people.

The music oh my goodness the music is amazing. All of the Tales games have rocking theme songs that stick with you. As soon as you first load the cd you are met with this. You can't help but sit and watch the title music and artwork. It is really just captivating and goes along perfectly with the characteristics of the game.

Overall Tales Of The Abyss is not a game to pass up if your in to RPG's. It is amazing story and definitely with trying out! Although I will say that Tales Fans and Final Fantasy Fans never seem to get along, but having played both of these franchises, I have to say there isn't a reason enough not to enjoy either of Square's of Bandai's amazing RPG games! So get out there and start your adventure in Tales of The Abyss!

Tales of the Abyss came in October 2006. Even though I started with the Japanese version, I was NOT disappointed with the english version. Here's what I thought about it.

First of all, the music in this game is great! The first thing you notice is that the localization team KEPT the opening song for the game, karma. This is the first in the series, as the other Tales games brought to the US have had the opening songs chagned to something not as good. The song karma is remixed several times withing the game. It shows up in several scenes, and it's also a battle theme at one point.

The gameplay is excellent. The battle system used is the Free Run Linear Motion Battle System (FR-LMBS). After playing this game, it's kinda hard going back to other games since you don't have the option of traveling anywhere you want across the battlefield. Of course some people say that this makes the game easy. Well, Free Run is an AD skill, and AD skills can be TURNED OFF! So if you don't like free run, then you can simply turn it off. Spells and techs are good, and we even got a few more Mystic Artes than the Japanese version did. That's a first AND a plus!

The story has a little bit of everything: politics, religion, science, prince and princesses, world destruction. I want to say what doesn't this game have? The story starts of kinda slow, but if you give it time it will pick up and become very exciting.

The characters are so far, one of the best. Luke is a bitchy little aristocrat who doesn't know anything about the world around him, but that changes throughout the progress of the game. Tear, a soldier who wants to kill her brother, but has a soft side to cute things (as do i ^^;). Guy, Luke's servent (hehe) and has a phobia of women. Jade, the best sarcastic colonel ever. Anise, a money loving girl who wants to marry a nobleman. And finally Natalia, a princess who wants to fight. I can't say anymore without spoiling it for you.

Overall, this is an EXCELLENT game! One you should definitley pick up. I give it a 5/5.

I picked up this game for 30 bucks at a Gamestop in the mall. At first I had my doubts but I was surprised. Let's get started.

I'll start by looking at different factors of the game and grading them.


Gameplay: 8/10

The gameplay for Tales of the Abyss is exceptionally fun and pretty easy to learn. You are not stuck with using any characters as long as you have them in your party, with only a couple of story-triggered exceptions.

I was not used to the new battle system but even so, it didn't take long to master. You can control your allies in battle, what they should do, and if you're worried, you can just make them do whatever you want them to, regardless. You can also change the battle formation of your characters. It's easy to assign Strike Artes as Luke for the controls and easy to actually execute them.

Story: 10/10

This story is full of excitement, a little romance, drama and mysteries, not to mention interesting characters. There was not a moment that I can remember being bored while playing this game. A lot is resolved during the game's plot and if not, replaying the game and doing a sidequest might answer any unsolved questions the player might have.

Graphics: 7/10

For a 2005 game, this game is not bad. The graphics are not horrible but they are not formidable with say Tales of Vesperia. The graphics are more realistic than Tales of Symphonia's graphics, which is something that I liked. I often saw blurry blades of grass and textures of trees while playing the game that disappointed me but as I said, this is a game published in the year 2005 and developed even earlier than that. The graphics are decent and allow you to enjoy the game.

Music: 8/10
Well, I love a couple of the epic instrumentals this game has and I love "Karma" by Bump of Chicken and its many versions. Other than that, though, there is nothing too exceptional about Tales of the Abyss's sound track.

Voice Acting: 9/10
The English voiceacting was very well done, in my opinion. I give it a 9/10 because there is always room for improvement but everyone had a remarkably good voice that suited their roles. I found myself searching for voice acted cutscenes on purpose. I usually don't like English voices but even Mieu won me over.

Replay Value: 9/10
There are many sidequests, I have heard, for this game. I have also seen people play this game as many as 5 times. That speaks for itself.

By that I mean, very good. I played Symphonia on the Gamecube and my friend picked this up. I, unfortunately, waited too late to buy it new, and thus had to get it here.

Very good, however. I like the improved battle system (Free Run!), but I found that Mystic Artes were too easy to come by - even if they did make some difficult battles beatable.

Definitely funner with 4 people playing, highly recommended.

Folks, it's not exactly classified information that the Tales of series, contradictory to its popularity in Japan, is not exactly famous over here in North America or, to an even further extent, everywhere else you can buy it. But honestly, that's not a bad thing when it comes to these games; each Tales of game that I've played so far has always been exceedingly entertaining, capable of keeping you engaged for countless hours with the fast-paced, real-time action, the cast and crew of likeable characters, the seemingly nonstop comedy, and the overall outstanding stories. I wanted to take this review to tell you all that Tales of the Abyss is, by no means, an exception to these principles. From the moment you boot up this game to the very end of it, I can almost guarantee--no, I DO guarantee--that you will be hooked, or that you will at least enjoy playing this game. It's at least worth playing through at least once, but if you're anything like me, in your mind, it will go from, "okay, sure, I'll play through the game once and just quit" to, "My god...I want more! I don't care if I already know everything that happens; I still wanna play!" Fantastic scenery, engaging characters and plot elements, real-time, action-packed combat system, interesting and intriguing systems that are otherwise new to the RPG franchise (such as the Town Shop system or the FS Chamber system), and, as standard for most of the Tales games, a breathtaking musical score. You'll want to play this game again and again! I know I did!

I truly enjoyed this game. the story line was very interesting as well as the lead character. Many of the voices of the cast are very familiar in other games including animes. The key to having a good RPG is the storyline.