An excellent new Tales game In playing this new Tales game, I couldn't help feeling surprised that such an excellent title was not brought overseas, especially one belonging to a famous series like the Tales games. Anyway, on with the review....
Graphics: 5
Wow. The visuals are beautiful, vibrant, detailed and fluid. The PSP is a powerful little handheld, but even so I was continuously impressed with the artistic quality of the graphics.
Story: 4.5
The story starts off in a very typical JRPG fashion, and the somewhat emo attitude and voiceacting of the main character can get old. However, as the story develops, you really begin to care for the characters and get into it. While it isn't necessarilly very innovative, it does develop into an engaging story that will make you care about getting to the next event.
Sound: 4.5
I didn't find the music to be particualarly memorable but not bad either. Like most RPGs, it fits well but isn't all that impressive. The voiceacting, however, was very well done and definitely contributed, rather than took away, from the game experience for once.
Battle System: 5
If you liked the battle system in previous Tales games, then you'll probably enjoy this one too. I always enjoy the live action battle to turn-based play. Anyway, I won't go into it all here, but lets just say that it has a lot to offer, is well-balanced, and always entertaining.
Accessibility: 4
This one depends on your Japanese ability. The kanji are rendered very clearly, which is a huge plus over many other games that squish them in there. However, there is no furigana, so this might make you stumble a bit if you don't have something handy to figure them (i. e. the DS kanji dictionary). The voiceacting helps this a bit, but alot of it is fast and may overwhelm someone still learning the language. Obviously this isn't a criticism of the game itself, and so won't be factored into the score, but it is important to keep in mind for non-nantive speakers who may want to play.
Overall: 5
I highly recommend this Tales game to veterans and new players alike. If you have some Japanese under your belt, it is definitiely worth the trouble of importing.
Altogether, an awesome game.
Engaging and beautiful One of the best rpg's in the tales series and one of the best available for the psp. The art is beautifully drawn in 2-d and the voice acting and soundtrack are excellent. The battle system is unique and engaging and deep with the ability to either button mash your way through or to really develop your characters traits and abilities.
The game is about a jlpt 4 and there is no furigana, though all lines are voice acted. This is also true of the menus and those just learning the language may have a hard time grasping the nuances of the battle system without referencing a guide.
The best the series has yet to bring Most definitely, at least to me, the best Tales game yet. The graphics are 2-D being a game by Team Destiny, and the wolrd is just amazing. The towns and dungeons are so unique and beautiful, plus the music is very very good =]
Another major plus to this game would be the characters, the design are of course amazing, and their personalities are really something special. Veigue, the main character is unlike any protagonist, being 18 meaning we don't have to deal with the naive and dense 17 year old we know so well in the Tales series. (No offense Stahn, and I still love you) His personality is deep, calm, and definitely cold (he smiles once in the whole game) and despite this sort of "emo" behavior, you feel for him a lot and he progresses through the story wonderfully.
The new battle system is AWESOME, and the story is just precious. At first it sounds so simple, and it is! But very deep and enriching, and unlike any other story BY FAR
Play the game, and find out what kind of amazingness you will encounter ;] I assure you this will be worthwhile
