Where to start in the Tales Series?

[DayDreamer]

I recently started playing Tales Of Phantasia (Gba) and Im loving it. I was shocked to see the story catch me off guard a few times when I expected the normal cliche's to roll in like most jrpgs. But all that is beside the point.

My question is whats a good modern tales game to play?
I'd love to try symphonia but i dont feel like taking out my gamecube for it.. or my wii.
Im more interested in getting a tales game for the ps3 or tales of abyss on the 3ds.
I just dont know where's the "best place" to start.


[SPOILER-BOX]This made me smile.. xD
http://www.gamerdad.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/klonoatos.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

[NoiseHERO]

Easily Symphonia (probably the most famous one) last one I played was abyss which I liked...

Heard Vesperia was good, cept for a certain game breaking boss... >______________>;;;

My order was phantasia, Symphonia, DS one that was fan translated that I didn't like much so much to the point that I forgot the name, then abyss.

There's also some PSX ones.

Otherwise other fans could suggest you better.

[DayDreamer]

Easily Symphonia (probably the most famous one) last one I played was abyss which I liked...

Heard Vesperia was good, cept for a certain game breaking boss... >______________>;;;

My order was phantasia, Symphonia, DS one that was fan translated that I didn't like much so much to the point that I forgot the name, then abyss.

There's also some PSX ones.

Otherwise other fans could suggest you better.

Yeah i'd play Symphonia if i could.. but i cant xD
Vesperia seems like a lot of fun but isnt that still an xbox exclusive to NA?

I know Xilla is getting released here but i dont want to wait that long 8'D

[Griffin]

Stop being lazy and get out your Gamecube! What kind of gamer are you anyway?!

[NoiseHERO]

Unless you have the actual discs I heard symphonia is still kinda pricey... >_>;;

[blace]

Tales of Symphonia is both famous and priciest of the series. As for PS3 Tales of Graces f is decent, and is a port from the Wii version with extra content.

[Shinji Kazuya]

If you can't wait for Xillia to come out, get Graces f. I've been having a blast with it.

The battle system is awesome.

[CelestialBlade]

Best to go from the oldest on up. Going from newest down is gonna bore you because of the periodic battle system improvements. I can't think of a really bad Tales, so you should be good with any choice.

[Mkan]

I would recommend with starting with Tales of the Abyss or Tales of Symphonia. They're both pretty easy to grasp (though Symphonia is considerably simpler) and two of my favorites in the franchise. You can get Tales of the Abyss for the PS2 or the 3DS if you have one (I prefer the PS2 version, but I own both and they're both good.) If you have an Xbox 360 I'd highly recommend Tales of Vesperia, as it's similar to both Abyss and Symphonia but a little bit more complex in terms of battle system. Tales of Graces f for the PS3 is also a great game, but made by a different development team than the other aforementioned games(Tales of Graces f is made by Team Destiny, wheras Abyss, Vesperia, and Symphonia are made by team Symphonia). The Team Symphonia games carry more traditional RPG battle mechanics in that you need a certain amount of TP to use your attacks/spells/etc. Tales of Graces uses the CC system present in all Tales of games made by Team destiny (IIRC anyways) where you wait for your CC meter to fill up before you can attack and chain your special moves.

So yeah, to work yourself into the franchise I'd recommend any of the Team Symphonia games, especially Tales of Symphonia or Tales of the Abyss. Have fun and good luck :)

If you decide to play any of these games I'm sure you'll find they're all blatantly superior to Phantasia.

[DayDreamer]

Stop being lazy and get out your Gamecube! What kind of gamer are you anyway?!
What kind of gamer am I?
A lazy one :3 I'll get around to it though :U

Anyway so I guess the choice is between tales of abyss and tales of graces f (for now). Is tales of graces f a sequel to tales of graces or does it just have more content? Might be a stupid question but Namco did a good job confusing me with all the games that havent been released in the US xD

[blace]

Tales of Graces f is the international release only for PS3, the original Graces was only released on the Wii in Japan. Graces f includes an epilogue scenario that takes place after the main game and can only be accessed as such.

The 'f' in the title signifies 'future' so that's the reason for the epilogue. Or trying to get more cash out of their fans, I mean a quick look at the PS Store and you can see they're selling content that can be obtained from playing through/clearing the game.

[RenzokukenZ]

Unless you have the actual discs I heard symphonia is still kinda pricey... >_>;;

I recently sold my used copy for $25 at a flea market, after buying it for $8 roughly 6 years ago. So I can confirm this statement... and in hindsight, I feel that I could have made more bank.

I too vouch for Symphonia as the next played title. Although that might be bias on my part because of Raine Sage.

[DayDreamer]

Tales of Graces f is the international release only for PS3, the original Graces was only released on the Wii in Japan. Graces f includes an epilogue scenario that takes place after the main game and can only be accessed as such.

The 'f' in the title signifies 'future' so that's the reason for the epilogue. Or trying to get more cash out of their fans, I mean a quick look at the PS Store and you can see they're selling content that can be obtained from playing through/clearing the game.
So tales of graces f has everything the orignal tales of graces has plus the epilogue?

I recently sold my used copy for $25 at a flea market, after buying it for $8 roughly 6 years ago. So I can confirm this statement... and in hindsight, I feel that I could have made more bank.

I too vouch for Symphonia as the next played title. Although that might be bias on my part because of Raine Sage.
Im going to try Symphonia at what point, for sure. I just feel I really need a new ps3/3ds game so why not it be Tales.

[blace]

Pretty much.

[FOODFOOD]

Symphonia still has one of the best plots I've ever seen in a video game.

[McLaughlin]

If you have a 360, Vesperia is a must-play, or if you can import the International port for the PS3, do that. I have no idea what Rock means by game breaking boss, unless he means the bullshit the final boss pulls on Unknown difficulty, which is less game breaking and more "are you fucking kidding me?"

Graces F is good, as is Abyss. I haven't played the Symphonia sequel on the Wii, but if you're going to play Symphonia, do it before the newer ones because it feels pretty archaic compared to the new combat systems.

I also really enjoyed Legendia, but I'm probably in the minority on that one.

[Mkan]

I think he's referring to Gatuso, which is a hard boss relatively early game. I was able to beat him after a few tries though, he's not impossible. It's really just a randomly difficult boss fight that you might need to grind a little bit before fighting and maybe tweak your AI's strategy a little bit (but that will only help a little bit)

The Wii symphonia sequel is....okay...not really memorable or outstanding in any way. The game has a lot of problems but is still relatively fun to play. I agree with McLaughlin that playing Symphonia before the others is a good idea because it will be hard to go back to Symphonia after have playing a more advanced game like Abyss.


I mostly play the games for the battle system and not the storylines, but most of them are OK despite having some plotholes. Except for Vesperia, where the plot can be summarized in the following sentence: "Where to next, Estelle?"

[Cloudstrife xx]

I think he's referring to Gatuso, which is a hard boss relatively early game. I was able to beat him after a few tries though, he's not impossible. It's really just a randomly difficult boss fight that you might need to grind a little bit before fighting and maybe tweak your AI's strategy a little bit (but that will only help a little bit)

The Wii symphonia sequel is....okay...not really memorable or outstanding in any way. The game has a lot of problems but is still relatively fun to play. I agree with McLaughlin that playing Symphonia before the others is a good idea because it will be hard to go back to Symphonia after have playing a more advanced game like Abyss.


I mostly play the games for the battle system and not the storylines, but most of them are OK despite having some plotholes. Except for Vesperia, where the plot can be summarized in the following sentence: "Where to next, Estelle?"
You forgot her amazing abilty in battle to shout out "Oh let me heal you!" 1minute later hmm i never did get that heal....

[McLaughlin]

You forgot her amazing abilty in battle to shout out "Oh let me heal you!" 1minute later hmm i never did get that heal....

Why leave her up to the AI when you can permanently stick her invincibility buff and then just solo everything?

[Noblewine]

I suggest Tales of Phantasia first. Symphonia was good and I loved the cast of character alot more than Abyss. However, I don't know how the game ends due to never finishing it. The only thing I liked about Abyss was the combat which is an improvement over Smyphonia battle mechanics. The story to Abyss was meh and I didn't have any attachment to most of the playable characters in the story.