LogFAQs > #958275094

So, my overall thoughts, since this is in fact a review thread of sorts

First of all, the headline: Pretty solidly my third-favorite game in the series. Definitely not as good as Abyss, because if it was itd be the greatest game of all time, but it slots in just below Berseria for me, supplanting Xillia 2 in that top three. You can tell from that little ranking that I tend to favor the Tales games that get a little risky with their storytelling, which is a point Ill come back to later.

Namcos obviously making a concerted effort to move the series forward after a long period where it had definitely stagnated in some ways, and I applaud them for getting out of their comfort zone like that. I think they did a pretty dang good job with the aspects that received that sort of focus.

Gameplay: I played as Alphen on Moderate difficulty all through the game, so thatll be the basis of these takes. Definitely a step in the right direction after the putrid weakness system that defined Zestiria and Berseria (the latter of which I did at least mostly enjoy, but was still too button-mashy). Ive seen some people complain about the lack of stagger on bosses, and there was a point in the midgame that I agreed with them (the second and third lords, specifically), but as I got more used to the combat flow and settled on an artes lineup I was happy with, I never found it to be that much of a problem. Thought most boss fights were quite fun, really. I like the concept of triggering the other characters special abilities when needed but I feel like theres room to inject a little more creativity into it. I was a little worried the Boost Strikes would get tiring and invasive but they really never did. Graces is still the Tales combat king but this is a skeleton I wouldnt mind seeing more of going forward.

As far as other gameplay stuff Equipment management was kinda whatever, still wish theyd bring back Vesperias but at least it wasnt Zestys, which kinda crosses over into my thoughts on the title/skill system as well. I like the idea of CP, especially since it had to be used in conjunction with overworld explanation, but I think it needs a little more balancing, which would probably be improved with more interesting dungeon design as well. Speaking of dungeons They still suck. They look beautiful, for sure, which is in itself a massive improvement over the last few entries, but I sure miss the days of the Holy Trinity where they actually had puzzles. Imagine if, instead of just having to weigh the CP cost needed for an obstacle against the value of the equipment chest you can see on the other side (which is already a fine enough idea), it had some uses in solving puzzles as well?

Game looks gorgeous pretty much all around, as I touched on a second ago and which was clearly a point of emphasis. Everything from Elde Menancia on is stunning visually, and the stuff before that has some scattered standouts of its own. I think Im the only person in the world who has no strong opinion either way on the new skit presentation, and while I really miss the classic Tales HUD with character faces at the bottom and all, I got used to the new version and I understand why the change was made. Lack of victory quotes is kind of a bummer, but the dirty secret no one wants to acknowledge is that those really havent been that great since Graces anyway. The music is nice, too, although I admittedly expected a little more given that I tend to like Sakuraba more than most folks and Id been hearing that this was his best work on the series in some time.

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Chilly McFreeze
https://imgur.com/UYamul2