Dogysamich
April 10th, 2006, 12:31 AM
--Sidenote-- I've been meaning to talk about this for a while, but everytime I start typing, i basically start talking about the story, which i hate doing.
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So this is my real first experience in the Tales series. I played one fight in Tales of Symphonia with my friend, and we got raped in a boss fight (he wanted me to help him, but didnt really tell me what to do, lol), so needless to say I didnt know what to expect.
Needless to say, If i wasnt pleased (or completely appalled), I wouldnt be making my post, but my god I love this game.
Again, the one aspect that I think is the most important is what makes this game shine to me, the gameplay. Granted, I dont THINK the system has been refined or tweaked or anything, it looks like the other Tales games (i've actually seen the others played), but actually experiencing it myself has changed my outlook on it. I didnt really understand how a 2-d action rpg would work out, it just seemed kinda goofy from what I saw it, but playing it. Oh man is it fun. It's also nice that your AI partners arent retarded, as with some other action RPGS.
Another thing that stands out to me is the story. Now, considering the story itself isnt exactly new, the way it's presented keeps me hooked. By the way the story is presented, I almost feel as if i'm basicaly playing an interactive anime. Not one of those off the wall ones that make sense, but it's obvious Namco tries to catch your attention with the well-performed voice acting. The characters themselves actually help add points to the story, too. I dont know how many times I've played an RPG where when I'm not real interested in some or most of my party because I feel they are the most "rag-tag crew assembled", but it helps to (once again) have a game where all of your characters actually have a purpose and unique personalities and traits, no-matter how big or small.
The soundtrack is also good imo, but I wont dive too far into that simply because it's not monumental or earthshattering in any way that would make me rant and rave about it.
But last, and always least imo when it comes to games, is the graphics. Now, the actual graphics for the game are nice, and I like how they picked up (or always have, against I dont really know the Tales series) the concept of using 2-d sprites for diologue. They help to relay facial expressions and emotions during sequences, or more cleverly, through the lack of diologue. However, the one thing I dont like are the character models. I seriously think they look too cartoonish for the atmosphere of the game. Granted the game does have some lighthearted overtones and intentionally tries to be humorous, I actually think the models detract from the game because the look of them (to me) implies that they were trying to go for more of a "cartoonish" kind of humor instead of enuendos, puns, and randomness in humor.
__________
All in all, if you're a fan of the Tales series, if you're looking for a "different" kind of RPG to play, or if you were thinking about picking this up and are waiting for somebody to say good about it, I say you outta give it a shot. I'm pretty sure you wont be disappointed.
______________
So this is my real first experience in the Tales series. I played one fight in Tales of Symphonia with my friend, and we got raped in a boss fight (he wanted me to help him, but didnt really tell me what to do, lol), so needless to say I didnt know what to expect.
Needless to say, If i wasnt pleased (or completely appalled), I wouldnt be making my post, but my god I love this game.
Again, the one aspect that I think is the most important is what makes this game shine to me, the gameplay. Granted, I dont THINK the system has been refined or tweaked or anything, it looks like the other Tales games (i've actually seen the others played), but actually experiencing it myself has changed my outlook on it. I didnt really understand how a 2-d action rpg would work out, it just seemed kinda goofy from what I saw it, but playing it. Oh man is it fun. It's also nice that your AI partners arent retarded, as with some other action RPGS.
Another thing that stands out to me is the story. Now, considering the story itself isnt exactly new, the way it's presented keeps me hooked. By the way the story is presented, I almost feel as if i'm basicaly playing an interactive anime. Not one of those off the wall ones that make sense, but it's obvious Namco tries to catch your attention with the well-performed voice acting. The characters themselves actually help add points to the story, too. I dont know how many times I've played an RPG where when I'm not real interested in some or most of my party because I feel they are the most "rag-tag crew assembled", but it helps to (once again) have a game where all of your characters actually have a purpose and unique personalities and traits, no-matter how big or small.
The soundtrack is also good imo, but I wont dive too far into that simply because it's not monumental or earthshattering in any way that would make me rant and rave about it.
But last, and always least imo when it comes to games, is the graphics. Now, the actual graphics for the game are nice, and I like how they picked up (or always have, against I dont really know the Tales series) the concept of using 2-d sprites for diologue. They help to relay facial expressions and emotions during sequences, or more cleverly, through the lack of diologue. However, the one thing I dont like are the character models. I seriously think they look too cartoonish for the atmosphere of the game. Granted the game does have some lighthearted overtones and intentionally tries to be humorous, I actually think the models detract from the game because the look of them (to me) implies that they were trying to go for more of a "cartoonish" kind of humor instead of enuendos, puns, and randomness in humor.
__________
All in all, if you're a fan of the Tales series, if you're looking for a "different" kind of RPG to play, or if you were thinking about picking this up and are waiting for somebody to say good about it, I say you outta give it a shot. I'm pretty sure you wont be disappointed.