"Tales of" Games - good place to start??

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vamn

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I've never played any of the "Tales of" games. Between all the releases and re-releases across different platforms (with stuff added or taken away) and fan translations of games that never came out in the U.S., I always felt overwhelmed trying to pick a point to start.

I know all the games are part of the same story line. I just don't know which ones are direct sequels that require playing earlier games to keep from being confused.


Any suggestions?
 
Not all the Tales games are a part of the same storyline unless they are direct sequels to one another and carry the same title - for example the two "Tales of Symphonia" games. Speaking of that particular entry, Symphonia on the GameCube is definitely one of my favorites in the entire Tales catalogue and should be a fun place to start. But with that being said, you really can't go wrong with any of the Tales games, especially the ones for the GC/PS2 and on.
 
The only ones that are direct sequels (in the main series at least) are...

Tales of Destiny + Tales of Destiny 2 (The Tales of Destiny 2 in the US is Tales of Eternia, which is not related and the real one never released outside of Japan)

and

Tales of Symphonia + Tales of Symphonia 2


Good ones to play? Well it kindof differs but if you're going for this generation then:

Tales of Vesperia (360)

Then after that you could look at:

Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube)
Tales of the Abyss (PS2)
Tales of Destiny 2 (I'm referring to Tales of Eternia, the US release || Playstation or PSP Europe Import under the name Tales of Eternia)
 
Ok, so they're not all part of the same world universe? Or they are and you just have different characters and plotlines for each title, right?

And platform doesn't matter for me, I'd be just as happy playing a SNES game as I would a 360 one. But I think I'll start with Tales of Symphonia on GC. (I kinda to hold off on Vesperia until the PS3 version comes out... if it comes out.)

How are the PSX ones?
 
The PS3 version of Vesperia is probably NEVER coming out in the US. It's been too long, over 2 years since the 360 version and a full year plus since the Japanese release of the PS3 version. If you're going to play it in English, you're going to play it on the 360.

The PS1 games, as well as most of the series, is rare to extremely rare to find in the wild. Easiest games to find are Symphonia GC, Vesperia on 360, or Abyss on PS2.
 
[quote name='vamn']Ok, so they're not all part of the same world universe? Or they are and you just have different characters and plotlines for each title, right?[/QUOTE]

They're all standalone and have nothing to do with each other in any way other than the ones I mentioned above. So no, not even in the same world/universe/whatever.
 
I'd suggest starting with Tales of Symphonia. It has a good cast of characters, great graphics for a Gamecube game, and it is a good example of what makes the series good. If you don't like Symphonia, then you probably won't like the rest of the series, so it is a good one to start with to know if you should play the others or not.

And as others have said, the series is almost all in different universes, like the Final Fantasy series, which has very few direct sequels.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']The PS3 version of Vesperia is probably NEVER coming out in the US. It's been too long, over 2 years since the 360 version and a full year plus since the Japanese release of the PS3 version. If you're going to play it in English, you're going to play it on the 360.

The PS1 games, as well as most of the series, is rare to extremely rare to find in the wild. Easiest games to find are Symphonia GC, Vesperia on 360, or Abyss on PS2.[/QUOTE]

I'll give it another year before I bite on the 360 version. I'm always hunting for the best possible version/port of a game before I play it. (Case in point: I only buy GOTY copies of games, even if it means waiting.)

The rarity of old PSX games isn't really a concern. I was more curious about the quality.
 
I really loved Tales of Symphonia and the Symphonia 2. However, I'm going to recommend that you don't bother getting into the Tales of games. They are really really great games, and you'll get hooked on them; however, you'll join the masses of disappointed fans (like myself) that got screwed by Namco Bandai over here in the USA.

I have a PS3 and a Wii; Tales of Vesperia is in English on the 360, Namco ported it to PS3 with more content--but what did Namco do? They didn't release the PS3 version in the US. Tales of Graces, they made it for the Wii (first mistake), then they didn't bring it to the USA (second mistake).

Anyway, it looks like you have a 360, so I'd suggest you play Vesperia if you really have to. But, I'd recommend that you go for the Persona series if you like JRPGs. I just started playing Persona 3 Portable, and I absolutely love it (I'm hooked now). And, Atlus actually brings their Persona titles to the US (and they do a really great job with the translation and the voice acting), so if you are going to get into a JRPG, you might as well support a company that supports their fans.
 
Phantasia is also a good place to start if you like emulating snes games. IIRC, its the first tales game.
 
Keep in mind if you are thinking you can play them all, that unless you know jp you can't. Not all of them were released here in the U.S. like Vesperia and Graces. I've played both and love the KOS-MOS costume Judith has, but the thing is that not all of them you can get unless you know the language or are willing to spend the money to get the more rare ones.
 
Vesperia is amazing.

Abyss is amazing too but it has some slowdown and load time issues.

Symphonia is a step back from the others but is still great. It features 2D combat whereas Vesperia and Abyss have 3D.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']
Symphonia is a step back from the others but is still great. It features 2D combat whereas Vesperia and Abyss have 3D.[/QUOTE]

Symphonia has 3D battles. Maybe you are thinking of Legendia?
 
[quote name='ihadFG']Symphonia has 3D battles. Maybe you are thinking of Legendia?[/QUOTE]

I thought you could only move left or right in Symphonia.
 
The Tales of are truly, truly great with the exception of one or two (i.e. Tales of Legendia on the PS2 or Tales of the World on PSP). As the others have said, there are probably as many games that have been made and never released in the U.S. as there have been ones released. Tales of Rebirth strikes me as especially neglectful, as well as the one for DS.

So far, ones that have been translated and released on this side of the pond are:

PS1:
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II (Really Tales of Eternia)

PS2:
Tales of Legendia
Tales of the Abyss

Gamecube/Wii:
Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Symphonia II

GBA:
Tales of Phantasia

PSP:
Tales of the World
Tales of the World II (I think we got this... didn't care after playing the shitfest that was the first one)
Tales of Eternia (import from Europe, totally worth it)

360:
Tales of Vesperia


That's all that I can think of off the top of my head. Apparently some of the ones released in Japan only have been fan translated out there and have been made into subtitled ROMs, but I've never had any luck obtaining any of those. If anyone in here knows anything about them, I'd love to hear about it!
 
[quote name='willardhaven']I thought you could only move left or right in Symphonia.[/QUOTE]

The battlefield is a 3D plane where you can move towards and away from enemies. Your movement isn't as free as in Vesperia or Abyss, but it's still 3D, unlike Legendia, which is only left and right. I actually prefer the Symphonia Battle system over the others.
 
Vesperia or Symphonia. Word of warning: If you do Vesperia, there's no going back to Symphonia combat wise.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Vesperia or Symphonia. Word of warning: If you do Vesperia, there's no going back to Symphonia combat wise.[/QUOTE]

Seconded. Vesperia is the greatest J-RPG this generation, so go with Symphonia first so you don't get disappointed when going into the older titles. Well, that is if you can stand playing older games. Otherwise just go right into Vesperia.
 
[quote name='ihadFG']Symphonia has 3D battles. Maybe you are thinking of Legendia?[/QUOTE]

Haha...Legendia. The one PS2 tales game not developed by the Tales Studio. I wish that Namco decided to bring over Rebirth instead of that (probably influenced by SCEA).
 
Honestly I think Abyss and Vesperia are as good as it gets for recent JRPGs. I think Symphonia is still worth playing though, especially if you can get it for a good price.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Vesperia or Symphonia. Word of warning: If you do Vesperia, there's no going back to Symphonia combat wise.[/QUOTE]

Probably the best advice though I wouldn't say it makes the other games unplayable... it's kinda of playing RE4 and then going back to play RE1, 2 or 3.

I'd start with Symphonia, it's still my favorite Tales game. It has the best balance between story, gameplay, charters, and music. Then Vesperia (though I wish they'd release the PS3 version). Everything after that is hit or miss. The two Destiny games on the PS1 are fun but do show their age, Abyss had an awful story, Symphonia 2 seemed to lack direction, and Legendia was just average.
 
:cool: Play Star Ocean instead

Actually, I played Destiny (PS1) first, then Symphonia (GC), Legendia (PS2), Phantasia (GBA), Eternia (PSP), TotWorld Radiant Mythology (PSP), and started Abyss (PS2). I agree that World was crap. Legendia felt mediocre, but was otherwise fine. My favorite of those I have played was Symphonia, followed closely by Destiny and Eternia. Abyss has a lot of potential, but I'm only an hour into it (it is basically back logged by now...)

Incidently, my wife is currently playing Vesperia. She claims she likes Vesperia better than Symphonia, and those are the only two she's played. However, she'd recommend both games.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Probably the best advice though I wouldn't say it makes the other games unplayable... it's kinda of playing RE4 and then going back to play RE1, 2 or 3.
[/QUOTE]

I can still appreciate Symphonia. Also I prefer the old RE games to 4 and 5.
 
if you have a jailbreak PS3 you can check out the translation patch for Tales of Graces F demo.

I played Vesperia first and still managed to complete Tales of Destiny 2 (Japanese) and Rebirth so it isnt that bad.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']Vesperia or Symphonia. Word of warning: If you do Vesperia, there's no going back to Symphonia combat wise.[/QUOTE]

Good advice. If you play Vesperia first every other Tales game will feel like a step backwards. Abyss, Symphonia and Vesperia are all safe bets.

And like other people have mentioned already you don't have to worry about missing any story. Each Tales game is independent. (with a few exceptions)

Vesperia is my favorite in the series. Great cast of characters, and a pretty good story for a JRPG. In fact I just recently re-bought it. I'm planning on another play through.
 
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