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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Conquer the Abyss, October 28, 2006
Tales of the Abyss is a pretty big game. There are plenty of little secrets and events that happen in literally every area. To keep yourself from pulling your hair out, Bradygames has constructed a nice easy to use guide. It's not perfect, but it's got what you need, and there isn't too much trouble navigating it either.
The guide begins with a standard introduction and a game basics section. The game basics section entitled "Training" will definitely help you get adjusted to the games battle gimmicks. Although, if you're a Tales veteran, it probably isn't all that neccessary. Still, it works, and there are some tips here that even veterans of the Tales series can appreciate. Also, in this section you'll find plenty on the AD Skills, item trading and Mieu actions. So this isn't just getting you used to the basics, it's getting you used to some of the essentials of the game. In the training section you'll also find a world map that shows you the search points and all the additional search points located throughout the game.
There's plenty more as well. Everything you need to know about item trading is listed here. In the trading porition everything is listed into it's own sub-categories. All the weapons or armor that can be obtained, as well as the rankings and required extras for it. It saves a lot of time in some instances.
There's also a table full of everything you need to know concerning the Capacity Cores. For the Capacity Cores the guide lists all the stats it increases, as well as how to get them. Then the Training section will give you the rundown on Fonic Artes, and again, if you're a Tales veteran you probably don't need some of this. Although, it does touch very deeply on the new mechanics introduced in Tales of the Abyss. Finally, the guide gives you a breakdown on Grade in a neat little chart.
After the exhaustive, yet helpful training section, we get into the characters section. Every character is given a small bio, Attack Advice, Combo examples and a compelte listing of their Artes. Each character is also given a list of titles and some F.S. Chamber advice as well. There's a lot of it here, and some of it looks a little scattered, but at least it's there, and it's useful information. They tell you when and how you'll learn these Fonic Artes.
After the characters section we come to the walkthrough simply called, "The Journey Through the Abyss." The walkthrough is very simple to use. For each area there is a run down of the objectives. Then they point out each and every sub-event you can do while you're there. Not everything is given an in depth explanation, but that's hardly needed. The maps are more than detailed to help you out. Why must a walkthrough waste time so say, "Make sure you grab the Apple Gel," when the map can easily point it out for us? In other words, the walkthrough won't tell you to get anything unless it's vital to the story (in which case you can't miss it anyway). This makes the walkthrough seem particularly short, but it's easier to use, and the maps are very detailed and helpful in finding items. A walkthrough should never have to "Tell" you how to get to items anyway, it should always be able to show you on the maps, and this guide does that perfectly. Although, in towns, the guide provides no maps at all. There are only maps provided for the dungeons, and this doesn't bother me one bit.
Most of the boss strategies could use some work, however. While many of them do give off some helpful tips, most of them spend their time saying things such as how you need to run around to lend a combo. Stuff that goes without saying. Luckily it does provide all the stats and weakness of a boss in a table. So while the boss strategies aren't really too detailed, they do at least provide you with the stats. Other than that, you're better off going against bosses in your own way.
Also, in the walkthrough your basic enemy stats aren't listed. This forces you to flip to the bestiary with every new enemy you see. I have no problem with this, but there are plenty of consumers out there who absolutely hate page flipping. The shortcut would've been nice, especially in the heat of battle.
The sub events are perhaps some of the most helpful advice the walkthrough gives you. The walkthrough provides the order they can be completed in as well as when you can complete them and the rewards for doing so. In order to see everything Tales of the Abyss has to offer, you'll have to complete all 134 sub events, and it's nice that the guide won't get you lost in completing them.
After the walkthrough we get into the sidequests. Which the guide prepares you for very well. They'll often refer to sub events you'll have to complete, but luckily, all the sub events are listed throughout the walkthrough with their assigned number and title. So if you do find yourself having to do a sub event, it's easy to find. All the optional bosses and optional dungeons are seen in tact. The optional quests section provides you with everything you need from the battle coliseum to the optional dungeon that can only be accessed the second time through the game (albeit, the optional boss gets a mundane boss strategy). It's pretty detailed stuff.
Afterwards we get into the weapons, items, etc. All this stuff is pretty standard stuff for an RPG guide. Also, it talks about the cooking and tells you the ingredients of each dish as well as what it restores and how much.
The bestiary, perhaps one of the more important aspects of an RPG guide, is huge. All the stats are listed, and so are the items dropped, and where you can find them. Also, while it isn't big, some enemies don't have a weakness listed (which actually might lead one to assume they have no weakness) or elemental absorbtion. The bosses have their own separate bestiary, but it's all the same stuff you saw in the walkthrough.
Finally we get to the extras chapter, which probably should've just been combined with the sidequests section. It only talks about the New Game+, and second play through extras. It's all on one page, and it's helpful, but it probably should've been placed right after the walkthrough. The fact that's it only a page suggests it probably should've also been placed within the sidequests section. It just looks awkward being all by itself after all the appendics.
There are a couple of other small things about the guide that do urk me just a bit. The screenshots, while plentiful in supply, are blurry and hard to decipher what's going on in them. Also, there's a world map provided for search points, but they don't point out towns or dungeons. Finally, all the shop data is listed after the walkthrough and not in the walkthrough itself. Again, I've no problem with it, but it causes a lot of page flipping that just didn't need to happen.
It's a fantastic guide to be sure. It has everything you need to complete Tales of the Abyss. Some of the information is all over the place, but the important part is that it's there. Tales of the Abyss is a large game. It's a good thing we've got a large guide for it. It's not perfect, but it'll do for any gamer wanting to conquer the game.
The Good
+Exhaustive Training section
+Everything you need to know about your characters
+Detailed walkthrough
+Great maps
+The walkthrough waste no time, it's not sluggish at all
The Bad
-Boss strategies need work
-There are no maps for towns
-Blurry screenshots
-World map doesn't show off location of towns or dungeons
-There's a lot of page flipping that's just unneccesary--such as shop data all being listed in the back of the guide, and not in the walkthrough itself
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Show, June 8, 2007
This was a great purchase for me. I completed the game the first time through and then decided to buy this product. It was good because it didn't really give any spoilers so I could have gotten it any way. It's just a straight hint guide and walkthrough that gives you all the secrets and gives you references to the pages that it will link to later. I highly recommend this if you don't want to look all over the secrets that lie within.
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