It may be a little old
 

But Tales of the Abyss is seriously the best game I've ever played. Just thought I'd let everyone know.


ps in case you don't believe me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXGA-fmrQ7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLwmf8YuC1M

Re: It may be a little old
 

I've wanted to play this game for so long but I don't have a PS2 and the game. I've heard so many good things about this game and I like the Tales series as well. Oh well, maybe one day.

~Tsugomaru

Re: It may be a little old
 

It's obviously not turn-based. So you just pause it and use special abilities and what-not?

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The best way to describe the battle system is that it's like a fighting game. You assign your attacks to a certain button combination and when you're fighting, you just hit the buttons in the correct order to use the attack. If you need to use an item or reassign attacks, then you would have to pause it.

~Tsugomaru

Re: It may be a little old
 

that's cool, can't believe I never saw or heard of it when I had a ps2

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Reminds me of Star Ocean, annoying spell scenes and all.

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Shame that it reminds you of Star Ocean (3, probably?) because Star Ocean 3 was dreadfully bad.

Tales has been a real-time RPG from the beginning on the SNES. But the focal point of Tales games isn't the combat system--it's the storytelling. Rather than focus on a massive ever-twisting plot, Tales games focus on character development.

What makes Tales of the Abyss the best in the franchise is that all six main characters are fantastic. You will like them all and sympathize with everything that's going on with them. While this is the case with most Tales games, it's especially great in Tales of the Abyss due to excellent writing.

I've been saying since I played the game last year that everyone who likes RPGs needs to get it. Go get it.

If you don't have a PS2 or hate playing great games, you could always watch the anime, which is currently halfway through the plot of the game.

Re: It may be a little old
 

I don't see it at most retailers, would the best place to get it be Amazon or somewhere else online?

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It came out two years ago and is becoming increasingly rare as people realize how amazing it is.

Retailers will not have it. Don't expect to see it new at Best Buy or used at GameStop. Online stores are your only option.

If you have a 360, you could get Tales of Vesperia. It's much better graphically and the combat engine is vastly improved, but the story cannot hope to match up to Abyss's.

Re: It may be a little old
 

Nope SO2, why is it a shame? SO2 was an awesome game and its just the battle style that reminds me of it.

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I'm getting an Xbox 360 on my birthday.

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Star Ocean 3 ruined the series and that was the one most people played, so I naturally assumed that was the one. I loved SO2 though. That was the last good one in the series... of three.

But really if you want realtime RPG combat Tales is the de facto standard. I've played every realtime jRPG franchise and none of them hold water to Tales.

And, like I said, that's not the focal point of the game. The characterization is.

Re: It may be a little old
 

Hey I liked Star Ocean 3 :(

But yeah, definitely get Tales of the Abyss. I was lucky and found it used at GameStop a while back but you're probably not going to find it there anymore. Use an online store like Squeek said.

Also about Tales of Vesperia. The story isn't bad at all, it's just vastly inferior to that of Tales of the Abyss, primarily because Tales of the Abyss has one of the best storylines of any game ever. Vesperia also has its share of amazing characters, though Abyss has more.

Let me put it this way: Vesperia is fantastic, but Abyss even more so (in terms of story and characters). Battle-wise, Vesperia far outpaces Abyss. If you can't find Abyss, definitely get Vesperia.

Re: It may be a little old
 

I recently became lucky and have come into posession of a PS2, Tales of the Abyss here I come :) Among other games as well, but I love the Tales series, I'm not that great at the newer ones you know like Symphonia and up but the story is solid, characters are incredible and voice acting is just enough to keep me hooked :)

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I liked ToS about the same amount as ToA.

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Hmm I'm gonna try out this 'Tales' series starting from the beginning with 'Tales Of Destiny' as Phantasia is only in Japanese :(

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I own Tales of Destiny 1 and 2 and they are great for being part of the series early on.

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That's pretty much what I was trying to say.

And the reason I disliked SO3 was that it felt more like a fighting game than an RPG. All of the RPG elements were there, yes, but they felt tacked-on. Also hated the combat system, but that might just be me. Generic skills should not cost HP, and you shouldn't die from running out of MP. Also there should've been a targeting system rather than make you swing at midair. I think Tales has it so right. It took them a while to make 3D work but once they got it, it was beautiful.

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I've always wanted to try this game, but I don't have a PS2. =d

Re: It may be a little old
 

There are Tales games on practically every system. SNES, PS1, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP, DS

Though a lot of the games stay in Japan, particularly the DS titles. The Wii title we just got was an abomination. The second PS2 title was bad too.

These are the good ones:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_(...hership_Titles

Minus Legendia because that was horrible.