Interesting Question i just say i like the most Games very much so i cant deside which one is the worst. I think this vote came out because the series had very much good games games.
I think there is no such thing as best or worst in Tales of series, its just the matter of peoples opinion of which is which. I played them all as in all, including mobile and that says I'm a nerd for Tales of series. JRPG will forever be a "Bliss."
When are you gonna do an video for "How divided is the gaming Community when it comes to Sony's stance on Cross-Play and Mike Ybarra's tweet on the subject"
i never played vesperia which is why im hyped for the definitive edition so i cant say its the best but, to me personally the worst was tales of xillia 2 because i could not get invested in the main character. combat was good but ludger was pointless and time travel plots confuse the hell out of me
Since i've only played 4, i guess i'll list them 1.symphonia 2.abyss 3.legendia 4.symphonia 2 Legendia's biggest flaw is probably going back to a 2d plane of combat, but the story didn't really grab me. Symphonia 2 is my worst because it took out world exploration and added in monster capture. The new characters were fine, but continually introducing and removing older characters annoyed me. As for the top two, it was a toss up. I've played symphonia through multiple times and abyss roughly twice. My symphonia love may be part bias. Stoked to play Vesperia since it's in roughly the same style and comes highly recommended.
I think Tales, like Final Fantasy, really lend themselves to dividing a fanbase as each tell their own story, but all stand alone as excellent games with character complexity and interesting themes. I can’t really think of an objectively bad Tales game (out of the ones I’ve played), so whichever one resonates the most with you will ultimately determine which you like more. If anything, I’d say it’s a testament to the quality of the franchise as a whole that people are so divided as it proves that, while not everyone likes a given title, there are those who rabidly defend it as their favorite as opposed to the entire fanbase deriding a single game.
+ Mariner I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but what are the interesting themes of Zestiria? The game keeps hinting at potential temptation for corruption of Sorey, but he never gets any proper test/temptation to become corrupt. With the exception of the Sorey/Rose/Medusa last scene and the last 20 seconds of the ending, all of the emotional stuff in the game seemed to fall flat due to bad "directing" of the cutscenes. The game is pretty fun, and it was my third Tales game I ever played (Phantasia then Symphonia), and I kinda like it better than both of those, but wow was it underwhelming when it comes to having an interesting storyline. =/ And the loli villain felt like something got left on the cutting room floor about her story/motivations. Remember all that stuff about how "you don't understand the true purpose of seraphs" stuff that's hinted at and all...so many wasted hints at cool stuff that never happens in the game and is never properly addressed.
or the fact that they couldn't admit the Sorey was gay; or at least gay for that one Male spirit. Personally I feel the whole, we have to dance around the romance subplot to the point its actually damaging the interpersonal story lines and relationships of the characters is idiotic but well that's why I like Abyss best.
+ Ki Swore I never saw or heard anything to implicate that they had any romantic feelings toward one another. Sorey and Meebo were raised as brothers, and acted as such throughout the entirety of the game. They were the least enjoyable playable characters in the game for me, though, and some of the least enjoyable characters out of all of the games I've played in the franchise thus far. That's the only way they really stand out to me in any special way.
Mr. Matt You see, people have theorized that Zestiria was supposed to be a slap in the face. That the theme was never truly winning. This is due to the story constantly railroading you so the least likely or the least fun option happens. Such as not having Alisha or w.e her name is or not being able to save Eizen. You also have to understand that Zestiria was rushed. It was scheduled to be released for an anniversary with a whole new combat system in place. The issue? They never got around to doing what could have been. As you said, it was hinting at a lot of stuff, but the game suffered from time constraints, redos, and just plain poor management. Not only that, they had a controversial issue over the lack of a character which led to Baba criticizing players which is probably a bad thing. Also in Berseria, they made a reference joking about the importance of Seraphs. Where Velvet and her crew just say who the fuck cares and just goes back to their one-liners like, I am here for revenge, get in my way or I'll kill you, and etc. Really, what could have been decent was squandered. My favorite game was Dawn of the New world. Great game. People hate it, but I love how people shit on Emil for being an edge lord and none of the other characters are willing to put up with his bs. Then it goes cheesy and says that you just need courage and friends. God, I love laughing at how the characters felt like idiots and the sub characters were just normal folk putting up with teenagers.
sasukeuchiha998 I think people are putting too much faith into the idea that anything brilliant, outside of some decent world-building - and a fun character in the form of Edna - happened in Zestiria. It would be financially crazy, but just out of my sheer love of the stuff Zestiria set up and failed at following through on, I would totally adore a remake (won't happen) where they fix all the screw-ups of the original (i.e. Sorey is more interesting, Meebo is likable outside of skits and the dreams of Sorey x Meebo shippers, putting more emphasis and effect into killing Eizen or bothering to have there actually be a cure for players to strive for, following through on Lailah's background with the last Shepherd, having Sorey come close to corruption and be tempted several times, have Heldalf be a fake villain (the true villain is interestingly written and Heldalf is more of a lieutenant/captain), have what's-her-name (evil loli) actually do interesting stuff and impart intriguing lore, do better directing on cutscenes, either get rid of Dezel or have him use a different weapon from Zaveid so it's not painfully obvious what is going to happen later, rework the "crafting" system, and many, many more changes that are better than what we got. Haha, I actually really enjoyed Dawn of the New World. I would have preferred characters to monsters in my party, but if you just grab the first bear you can find, you will obliterate the game's battles, so there wasn't much micromanagement needed, thankfully. Emil had a bit of "Hope syndrome" from FFXIII, which was annoying, but I think the game does a far better job of making him likable enough much of the time. Trying to convince you that Lloyd is evil is a fool's errand, though.
My conclusion of the stats are that a good tales game require both a good story and battle system. For ex: graces F has imo the best battle system but it unfortunately has a very simple story. Abyss, symphonia, and vesperia has the best of both worlds and that why they are so popular. Just my opinion.
rjzero00 yes this is the gist of it. Xillia had a great story and atmosphere and graphcis but the gameplay was a dumbed down version of graces meaning it was worse and limited compared to vesperia symphonia and abyss
Yeah I agree with that because I felt looking at those games as a whole that overall they had the most solid structures as far as Tales games go. Though that is to say they still had flaws in one area or another but, the flaws where the least bothersome out of the whole series.
Chris Lightfellow well I've been watching too much TNG lately so that why I said best of both worlds. :) However my original statement goes by the results in this video. Symphonia battle system may be meh to you but it was good enough to most people. I personally prefer abyss battle system bc I too feel like symphonia is slow.
Thank you very much for the shout out! It's very surprising to see a random tweet of mine inspire a video like this lol. The results are very interesting, however I think you did point out the one large consensus amongst fans, that Symphonia, Abyss and Vesperia are, at the very least, the most popular and most well regarded entries, which looking back isn't altogether too surprising. I still stand by the Tales fanbase as being rather divided, but maybe not to the degree I had anticipated, good video my man.
I think however it's interesting to see the last stat it shows that games like Phantasia and Xillia 2 aren't play/love by many but people that do like/play them regard them quite highly.
Luke is my favorite character. I've seen all characters in series but luke I see as my favorite as life kicks him down so low yet he tries his best yet he still has to take it. I can't wait until verspeia. I already love all the characters
Storywise: 1. Berseria: Everything from pacing, characters, twists, and localization is done masterfully here. I especially liked playing as the bad guys 2. Abyss: Great epic story with good cast, lore, and development, especially Luke 3. Vesperia: Same as berseria just less masterful by a tiny bit but still great and I actually prefer this setting better too. 4. Symphonia: Epic but I think pacing is on the low end here. 5: Legendia: underrated game due to the art but story and characters were top notch Gameplay: 1: Graces f: Everything feels right here from fluid flash combat to dualization being the best crafting system so far. 2. Xillia 2: great battle system and customization and you play as Gaius. 3. Vesperia: Love the 3 or 4 weakness mechanic that trigger special finishes and especially love that ff9 way to gain arts and skills from equipment 4. Berseria: combat wise it improved perfectly on graces f which had the best combat prior to this but I wasnt a fan of the customization 5. Abyss: the jump from tales of symphonia and legendia to this was noticeably huge. From 3d free roam to how attacks change based on element field. I also loved controlling guy. First tales where I preferes controlling characters other than the main
i disagree with berseria gameplay wise. I felt like it was a huge failure. Casters were basically put to the wind cause of the way the art tree worked, and it felt like you were playing at a disadvantage by using anyone but velvet. Yeah Xillia 2 had that problem too, but it still worked off the xillia system which meant the old characters were still balanced and great to use, with gaius and muzet not falling short either. Ludger was just better than them, but playing as the others wasn't a huge problem. Berseria definitely has one of the best stories in the series yeah, but the gameplay was as bad as the original phantasia (or the crap ios port) and tales of the tempest.
Look up any Berseria combo video and you can see the potential of casters. Granted they are NOT easy to grasp or master compared to Velvet mashing, but the depth is there, which makes it satisfying when you get it to work. Adds solid replay value too, which is a big reason why I love Tales combat in general.
I absolutely love Berseria, it's my favourite game to date - and I've been playing Tales of games for over 10 years now. That said, I would like to complain about the gameplay. I mean, it's nice and I agree with what you said. But I did not like playing as the main character (Velvet) in that game, because it literally just felt like you just needed to press buttons because she was so strong and simple. If you play any other character though, it was the perfect amount of challenge. That said, your top 4 list storywise is the exact same as mine
I'm more than excited to play it :) And curious to see how it goes, considering I was player 2 for my first play through (so I didn't have much control of the travels, and never played as Yuri ^^" I can destroy worlds with Judith, though!)
Also should have asked which Tales games people started with. A lot of people don't go back in a series surprisingly enough. Makes me want to do a more intensive survey.
First one I played was Destiny, first one I owned was Eternia (Destiny II on US PS1). I'd definitely rank Eternia toward the top of my list, so I really do think that has a lot to do with it. It's why I'm sure a lot of people rank Symphonia and Abyss as their favorites as those are usually the first ones a lot of people played/owned. It also seems notable that the people who played those first also love to complain about how awful the 2D Tales games are, whereas the older fans would disagree. Definitely has a lot to do with your entry point into the franchise.
I started with Legendia and it is one of my favorites. The main thing holding it back is the gameplay because I know now that I am used to the better combat systems it would be harder going back to that and the horrid random encounter rate.
Tales of Eternia will always be the best to me, from an experience standpoint as well as artistic. It's a fantastic PS1 game that sadly many gamers have never had the chance to experience simply because it's really expensive and at the time of it's release the PS2 was already out.
Conclusion I draw is I still love me some Zestiria. Was the first Tales game I played and I was like "o.O...where have you been all my life?" Then I'll admit I played Berseria and went "O.O...where have YOU been all my life?!"
Very interesting video Jay! If I remember correctly I had Graces F as my favourite game, followed by Eternia closely after, not exactly the most popular picks it seems but that's fine, I like almost every Tales game after all ;P
My vote for best Tales game has to be Symphonia. It's admittedly a nostalgic game for me, and one of my childhood favorites, but I don't at all agree with the notion that it has "aged poorly", I still enjoy it just as much as I did when I was a kid. Vesperia is a close runner-up though, and I can see why people would prefer it to Symphonia. As for my vote for the worst Tales-game, it's undoubtedly Hearts r. That game just pissed me off with how bad it was, especially the ending, it's probably the worst ending to any game I've ever played. Zestiria would be my second choice, it was rarely outright BAD, but goddamn, was it mediocre.
I'm currently playing through the entire series but am not finished everything. However this would be my current top 5, im currently playing abyss not finished yet so I will leave it out (although I'm disappointed by its story, hope it picks up soon) 1. Tales of Symphonia- My favorite game of all time, my first tales game and the nostalgia factor is definitely very real. Will always be number 1. 2. Tales of Eternia- Absolutely love the aesthetic and presentation of the game, the story and combat are also both very solid. I love its vibe, it reminds me of symphonia. Tales of Xillia- So far my favorite combat and gameplay in the series (love the lilium orb system). Battles are very fun, the AC system allows for some cool combinations of artes. I also found the story and cast to be pretty solid. Only downside is the environments are a bit repetitive, those seahaven towns are literally all the same lol 4. Tales of Phantasia- Fantastic story and characters, right up there with symphonias. Being an older game the combat system is not quite as enjoyable, but for me story and presentation are more important than gameplay, which is why I guess I like the older games. Being connected to symphonia also makes it special to me. I am referring to the PS1 remake of Phantasia, the only version I've played. Tales of Destiny- Also a very good story and cast of characters, gameplay is older and stiff but again I don't mind. Stahn is maybe my fav protagonist so far. It's really the story and cast that does it for me with this game. I need to play the DC remake on ps2. I should make an aside about Vesperia, while I understand it's popularity I personally don't find the story to be memorable or enjoyable, the pacing is very slow and the plot is pretty uneventful all game. This really drags it down in my ranking even though I think the game is amazing for combat and overall quality and aesthetic. I have not yet played: Destiny 2 PS2, Destiny DC PS2, Rebirth, Hearts R, Innocence, Graces F, Xillia 2, Zesitira, Berseria or Arise. Still have quite a few games to go so this list will need to be updated in the future
I do think that Tales fans are divided, but that's not a negative thing in my opinion, some people just like more the gameplay, some the combat and other the story/characters. For me personally, the best is Vesperia because it has those three elements on a overall better experience, even if I enjoyed the story of Symphonia/Berseria/Abyss more or Graces F/Zestiria/Berseria/Hearts R combat better. My personal favorite is still Eternia, it was the first one I ever played when I was like 14y old and it has a special place on my heart. About the Xillias, I'm honestly surprised the amount of love they get. Xillia 1 for me was OK but it felt a little lacking on gameplay, a mid tier game for me. Xillia 2 on the other hand it wasn't for me, its on the bottom on my list alongside Symphonia 2, the debt system was utter crap and even if the gameplay was amazing, it was too overwhelming for me. Also that game was pretty much a rehash visiting Xillia's 1 uninteresting areas for a second time. I'm a Zestiria supporter but I get why it gets so much hate, the upgrade mechanic was bad and the cast of characters wasn't that strong to be honest (edna and lailah were amazing but those two can't hold the game alone). But I honestly enjoyed the combat, overall map and dungeons. The worst? Hell no, with games like Xillia 2, Symphonia 2 or even Legendia that is another game that gets more hate that it deserves.
Xillia 2 was just overly depressing, senseless, the debt was cringeworthy since you could have avoided it story wise which lead me to the final issue the choices HAVE NOT IMPACT WHATSOEVER except the final ones!!!
Simon Low I think Zestiria was rushed in the production, which is why the result was so cluncky. Legendia needs a remake it had some good stuff and interesting ideas but some things did not work, like the combat.
I am sorry, but I really can't see Xillia 2 being a worse game than Zestiria >w< Xillia 2 definitely has its problems, but the gameplay and characters were just so much more inviting to me than what Zestiria had to offer in both areas XP
That's why it was so good. It started normally, then it was gradually showing us more and more tragic events. When I reached Juliu's ending(my favourite) I had my jaw on the floor. Story choices were useless in general, but at least allowed multiple endings. And the cast in here is my favourite one out of almost all jRPGs i've played. Perhaps playing Xillia as one of first games on my ps3 is part of it, but i recently returned to xillia 2 to platinum it after about 2 years, and still enjoyed it to no end.
Symphonia had more puzzles than any other game I've played in the series thus far. I love me some Portal and various other puzzle games, but this JRPG had tougher puzzles than most puzzle games I've even played. If they had toned that down, I would want to play Symphonia again, but as it is, I just say "Yeah, I liked the characters, and the story was one of the best I've seen in the series, but I am never touching it again because those puzzles made me miserable." I thought about quitting many, many times due to the puzzles. I wasn't having any fun at all, and by the last third or so of the game, I just used a walkthrough for virtually everything because I just wanted to be done. The puzzles had eaten up hours of my life and I didn't enjoy them at all, despite being a fan of some puzzles. =/ On that same note, there was way too much time/story spent on acquisition of elemental spirits. The game would have benefitted from simply having Sheena already have a pact with a few of them to begin with. Obviously she shouldn't have Volt yet, because that was narratively important. The Darkness one has no plot relevance, nor did a few of the others, as I recall. Gnome was funny, but I don't think that really had any relevance plot-wise, either. So much time was spent on that. They could have really shortened the amount of time it took to get Gnome, and not lost any quality or good dialog; just include the best bits and have you go into a shrine for five minutes, get the important lines, fight Gnome, and get out. Symphonia felt like it was desperately trying to be long by means of making its content take forever by means of repetitive quests and time-consuming puzzles. The other games I've played in the series don't feel so desperate to me in that regard.
for me the puzzles were the best thing in symphonia and older tales games. the new games are just battles and empty hallways and "fancy" cutscenes and a LOT of useless talk
I’m currently playing Vesperia Definitive Edition so have been looking back at the series and this is such a cool breakdown. I think I’ll play Berseria next as it’s prob the most accessible of the high ranked ones.
TALES OF GRACES F IS A GREAT GAME. HOW DARE IT BE ON THE LOWER END. Sadly...I havent played Vesperia....but that will all change when that remake drops. ;D My number one is still Graces F, Abyss, and Berseria. Also...Symphonia is overrated. Yeah I said it. Also..where is Dawn of a New World? heh heh.. Screw that game.
I actually beat Tales of Graces F which puts it high up on my list for me. It had a solid story with likable characters and good battle system. Vesperia is #1 for me tho. Legendia is also awesome.
The best battle system indeed. Access to 13 different Assault Artes with 1 button, and 12 others (as soon as you got the "altered" Burst Artes) with the other button was doing something right. It's too bad the music and level design fell through, even the story didn't turn out for me. What if there were alternate final bosses related to Asbel's friends?
Best battle and funniest cast ^^ I guess it’s just a bit behind cuz the story felt very direct :) and the main focus graces = which focused on royals acting gracefully is hard to relate to for many ( I still loved it tho )
I've liked all the Tales games I've played so far. I can't really pick a favorite, since each title has something that stands above the others. For example, Tales of Berseria had overall better gameplay and storytelling than Zestiria, while Zestiria had better music and (for me) a more likeable protagonist (although I think Sorey and his gang had potential to be better if they had put a bit more effort into the writing). As another example, for me, Graces has the overall most likeable cast of main characters of all the Tales I've played, and the victory quotes were pure gold!
conclusion wise...its all in the taste, since every tales game present something different and everyone perceives that difference, differently.. I for one am part of the minority, if I had the chance to rate mine, it would be Zesty at 1st, then all the other at 2nd, no 3rd, 4th or 5th. Mainly cause its the only game I played where I enjoyed the cast way more than the story and even though the backstory is somewhat confusing (for others, not me) atleast the characters didnt fail me in the end (unlike berseria, abyss and others I would rather not mention). Lets face it, Tales game never had any story/plot that is really engaging more so if your getting on the age, for me its about the characters and my journey with them (side and antagonist included).
I agree, I loved the characters from Zesty. They are so far my favorite group of tales characters from all the games I played so far. (I played 6 of them so far, and am playing a 7th right now.) I loved the whole Zesty cast and more importandly their interaction with eachother. I loved the relationships between them, their friendly banther, their support for eachother This game also holds 3 of my top 10 tales characters ever, Mikleo, Edna and Zaveid (so bummed he was not a main cast member in Berseria). Loving the whole cast is not something I can say for any of the other tales games so far. There is always at least 1 character I don't like, and Berseria actualy is my least favorite cast so far where I actualy disliked half of them which never happend before. And no, among those 3 are not the 2 most other people seem to dislike. Elenor is actualy one of my top 10 as well and I actualy loved seeing Laphicet grow.
To me graces hold a special place to me it was the game that introduced me in the series and the battle system it still the best and aged well if it wasn't for graces xillia,zestiria and beseria wouldnt have being localized sure the story of graces is simply to some but people forget that at times simplicity can be good in fact graces in japan is still loved over there by number 3 (beseria became second) since vesperia is the most popular title both in japan and outside of japan so i can see why people loved it.
These are my faves Tales of Symphonia Tales of Vesperia Tales of Graces F Tales of the Abyss Tales of Berseria If I enjoyed the Tales of Graces F story more than the total package of Symphonia or Vesperia, it would be my number one. I found it's combat, leveling/progress system, etc to be the best out of all that I've played. There was something about playing as Asbel (samurai style combat) that was so much fun to me. As for ToS and ToV, the fact that they are on 1 and 2 is mostly nostalgia. If I were to play these as of today, I would put ToGF on #1. I did not like Tales of Xillia 2 or Tales of Zestiria when compared to other Tales games...I could not stand the damage type resistances as it made Ludger the most viable character, who I didn't really like. I also wanted to have Gaius as my main, which wasn't too viable as he primarily did slash damage. And Zestiria was not too interesting to me, the combat was also not as interesting to me.
Personally, I don't really have a favorite Tales of game because I like all the games in the series equally. But, if I have to pick a favorite game in the series, I would pick Vesperia only because it was my very first Tales of game and it's what got me interested in the rest of the series.
I agree, they all have their own unquiness to them. For me it’s very much a Sophie’s Choice thing. I can come up with 10 thing I really loved about each game and 10 things that break it for me but they all have their charm
games I've played: Symphonia, Phantasia, Symphonia 2, Abyss, Zestiria, Berseria, Vesperia (in that order). Phantasia was amazing, but for someone to pick it as their 1., they must feel strong nostalgia for it, and I'd assume very few of the poll participants grew up with it. It would probably make sense to somehow separate retro and modern games into two lists when doing such polls. my "worst" (not to say that it was bad) experience with a Tales of game was actually Abyss. I don't remember much of it other than that it kept sending me from location to location which very much felt like filler. It's also the only game I didn't finish - which however may have something to do with the fact that I lost it. I don't quite understand the Zestiria hate. Sure, Berseria improves upon Zestiria in just about every way, but nonetheless Zestiria was still a great experience. for instance, I remember some amazing cutscene battle animation. and Edna. Symphonia is probably always going to be my 1. as it is my childhood.
When it comes to the Tales of community, one of the aspects that has been “dividing” the fanbase so to speak is contrarianism. In recent memory there has been a small but vocal minority I have seen amongst the tales of community who make nothing but faulty or nitpick arguments especially towards Berseria. Saying things such as how the game is actually one of the worst entries in the series or giving very shallow “criticisms” like saying Velvet is nothing but an edgy fanservice character and that the game is unoriginal. This is ironic seeing how Berseria is one of the more well received titles in the series. While it is true that opinions will very and anyone can view Berseria anyway they want. This ever growing contrarian attitude towards the game does nothing but to halt any sort of actually critical overviews on the game or the series as a whole. But instead just keeps perpetuating a very shallow point of view on what is otherwise one of the better entries in the series.
Justin Turner in my opinion berseria was recieved well critically because it was a follow up to the mess zestiria was. If it had been released after say vesperia or something then berseria would have been seen as mediocre and a 50/50 love hate for the game the way xillia was. I have tried to enjoy berseria but i just cant. I liked abyss sumphonia graces except for sophies atrocious character and loved the xillias but after zestiria and playing the crap out of berseria i just cant convince myself to like it. Berseria characters except for velvet eizen and magilou were bland and forgetable. Even the villains just fealt weird to me. And this new trend of making the dungeons all look the same but switching the color and map layout is seriouststarting to piss me off as a lover of the tales franshise
@@hectrmen23ify It doesnt matter what comes out after massive critical darlings, they're always disappointing to fandoms. Movies, games, whatever. Even if they're solid. Berseria is a good ass game, sorry you personally didnt like it. I didnt play Zestiria prior to have this false sense of quality you're hypothesizing about out of pure conjecture. You dont have to make up some nonsense as to why you didnt like a good game, it happens sometimes.
@@vaporsaver This is plainly wrong. Im glad you replied because now I can shove arise in your face. Arise is a good game. Berseria is still horrible. To this day it is my belief people only enjoyed zestiria and berseria bcus it was their first experience with the tales franchise or they played it right after the mess of zesty. Everyone knows the old ones are better, but why would someone(the new generations) buy old systems to play old games? Simply put, they don’t. At the point of when I wrote this comment you replied to vesperia defiinitive was not out yet and man. . . After replaying that and now seeing what they did with arise. . . Yeah for sure, zesty and berseria are hot garbage. Simply low quality products that had minimum effort put into them.
@@vaporsaver oh and also I’m m pretty sure there are many critical darlings in media that have come out with non disappointing, superior sequels. A good example is the nier franchise. The original was great. Automata surpassed it in every way. Im sorry you can’t see quality if it hit you in the face and sum up everything you disagree with to “ooo thats just your conjecture” or some other bs. PS: you can’t have a “false sense of quality”. Quality is objective. It can be measured. It can be compared. Plus even if I compared berseria to any of the other great 3 or even arise, it still falls short.
I think it's just because Tales have a wide range of gamer and they have many things to consider the best. Even for me (playing everything except Legendia and still in the middle of Berseria) it's hard to point which is the best. IMO best story is Symphonia, Battle is Graces, characters is Zesteria, opening movie is Innocence, music is Abyss. People who like stereotypical hero save the day and heartfelt story will choose Symphonia, people who like anti-hero character development story will chose Abyss, and people who like badass guy rebelling will choose Vesperia. I think it's not fan problem, Tales series just cover those much of different tropes in their game.
I think most people prefer more playable characters. For me I liked Symphonia because of it’s dungeon puzzles, never played it longer. Tales of Vesperia PS3/Definitive edition is the best because it’s full of enjoyable content.
When it comes to popularity and what is considered “the best”, Vesperia, abyss, and Symphonia are considered the holy trinity. I myself view these three the best with Symphonia being my personal favorite and my first tales games. Xillia 2 is the worst for me with its debt system, Ludger being OP, and dreary story.
I picked up Xillia and Graces F from some guy in Craig's list for $10 each. Not being a huge Tales of fan (I played about 20 hours of Zestiria, and picked up Berseria but haven't opened it), I just thought it was a good deal on a potentially fun PS3 game or two. I actually hooked up my PS3 for the first time in years just to try Xillia, and I've liked the first hour or so, I just don't have much time to game now and I'll choose something new when I get the chance to play. Anyway, after seeing how highly Tales fans regard Xillia, I've gotta play it. So glad I jumped on that deal!! Thanks for the list, Jay RPG!!
The three highest-ranking games according to your data (Vesperia, Abyss, Symphonia) all appear within a five year window, with only three other Tales Of titles releasing in this time period. These were Innocence on DS (Japan only), Rebirth on PS2 (Also JP only) and Legendia, which while it placed low in overall appearances also did pretty well for itself in percentages of #1 picks. Most people would probably call this period the 'high point' of the series in terms of overall quality, and the numbers here corroborate this line of thinking nicely. That said, they also indicate a certain amount of nostalgia for the series too. I myself massively enjoyed Tales of Symphonia but because I never owned any Microsoft or Sony consoles, it was my only experience with the series for a long time. I somewhat recently got to experience Abyss after picking up a 3DS well after its peak lifespan, and was surprised that it was on 3DS. I was also vaguely aware of the other DS Tales Of titles but never picked them up due to hearing they were about average. I had a theory that consoles played some part in specific Tales Of titles popularity, but I have personally debunked this. First, off Symphonia was originally released on Gamecube and quickly rereleased on PS2... In Japan only. Then the Abyss released on PS2 exclusively. Finally, Vesperia released on Xbox 360 exclusively and later got a Japanese PS3 rerelease. I have no idea what to make of these points, but it's certainly fascinating. I don't know how much the future rereleases and remasters helped each of these titles. The Abyss is doing pretty damn well for only having a 3DS release, but both 3DS and PS2 were immensely popular. Symphonia is doing exceptionally for having been on the underperforming GC, but it has seen some rereleases, even if the recent PC release is disappointing. And Vesperia was, like Abyss, was on a console that did well for its generation. Interesting stuff.
Only played Vesperia, Abyss, Berseria and Zestiria and I quite enjoyed them all. Hell, Ednas voice actress is going to be at the anime convention I am going to in a few weeks and I cant wait to meet her
@Chris Lightfellow Its not really one of my favorite games because there are quite a few things about it that pisses me off. I just like it because I find it a good time passer. Give me the option of choosing between an RPG like Drakan the Ancients Gate (very unknown and fantastic PS2 RPG) or Zestiria and I would go for Drakan. I do also advice you to look up Drakan because it is a hidden gem
@Chris Lightfellow Your welcome and I would love to play the older games. Hell I plan to get Legendia to start. The place I go to can special order your games.
The franchise really lends itself to having a divided fanbase due to the games being largely standalone, but also on a huge range of different consoles.
Instead of top 5. The number one tales game would always be Symphonia for me. Now looking forward to playing Tales of Arise. I just preordered it. And it comes in the mail tomorrow! 😘
It's almost hard to actually make a top 5 Tales games in a particular order because for me personally, I like all of those games for completely different reasons and it doesn't feel like some of these games are developed to compete or be better than the other. But to be special and fantastic in their own rights. I think people need to realize that your not obligated to pick and choose which game to be over or less than the other. You don't have to choose a favorite. You can like the majority of games on this list all together for completely different reasons and that's okay! I mean, my favorite Tales game is Symphonia because of the magnificent story, great music, and characters that it'd had, but I also like Xillia, Graces F, and Beseria just as much for the same reasons. But the thing is that those games went their own direction and I feel like that's what makes them special.
Destiny R (director cut) had most fun battles, but I really hate how this battle system feels in 3d for newer games My favorite games probably trio of Symphonia/Abyss/Vesperia
I would love for Destiny's remake and its sequel to be given the HD Remaster treatment. AND get localized. Destiny, Abyss, and Graces (f) are my three favorites (and #1 is either Destiny or Abyss depending on my mood); I need this to happen.
My ideal kind of games is one where I like the characters at least, the story could be crap, but as long as the characters are good I can enjoy it. Though in some cases...a certain character can make it hard to replay. In this case I have trouble replaying Abyss because of Luke's personality at the beginning, love the game to death and it was my first. My top five are: Xillia/Xillia 2, Zestiria/Berseria (I'm playing them both at the same time), Vesperia, Abyss, and Symphonia/Symphonia 2. I do like Graces, great game, though I find some characters really lacking, mostly it's just Cheria, and I say that only because I have grown fond of Pascal and Hubert by the point in the game I am at. For that reason I have trouble getting into Graces sadly...I think it's a great game though.
I think the weak performance of Destiny and Eternia has a lot to do with lack of availability. In North America, both have only ever been released on the original PlayStation with no rereleases, and on the second hand market you're looking at $70+ US for Destiny and over $150 for just a loose disc of Eternia. I know Eternia has a rerelease in PAL regions for PSP, but to my knowledge it isn't available digitally, and PSP isn't a wildly popular console in the US and PAL regions
agree. I played eternia, but couldn't play Destiny, Legendia or Rebirth, cause it wasn't released in Europe. and even "the Abyss" was only released on 3DS in Europe. I still wish it would have a remake, like Vesperia now got. I prefer playing on playstation, instead of a handheld console. I bet alot of tales fans wish for a remake of abyss here in europe.So..yeah it's hard to count some of the older ones, when it wasn't released everywhere and I'm probably not the only european watching those videos here xD
Glad to see Vesperia got the most number one picks. Admittedly I have not played every Tales game but of what I have played I adore Vesperia for many reasons and cannot wait till the remaster comes out later this year!
Honestly, I see the fandom praising Symphonia and Vesperia the most while hating on most of the other ones - I will probably play Vesperia when the remake happens but right now I don't have a favorite Tales game, per se.
The Xillia 2 stat didn't actually surprise me I think the people who are going to like it are going to LOVE it, and as someone who has mostly played the newer games it felt like the most "complete" game of them all. The world felt like a real place and the amount of content was INSANE.
It is pretty great and interesting to see which Tales game the community likes more and their reasons why they like it so much. And I thought that the fact that the community is divided would be something bad, but actually is not. As I mentioned before, everyone (or mayority) give good reasons of why they like a Tales game more than another. I personally don't think there is a Tales game that is objectively bad, except maybe Tempest, and I think is more mediocre than bad (which is not the same). I actually think that almost every Tales game is kinda underrated (specially outside of its community). My favorite personal it's between Berseria, Graces and Symphonia. I'm gonna be able to play Vesperia when the definite edition comes out, I didn't wanted to buy an Xbox 360 just for 2 games that I wanted (the other one was Alan Wake).
I view the spread of loved games as a good thing. It means the series is relatively consistent in overall quality and regularly produces games that appeal to a variety of people in different ways.
Tales of Graces is underrated to me when it comes to tales games. The greatest combat out of all the games that has so many possibilities on how you can combo. The mystic artes system rewards you abusing that combo system. The story was on the weaker end but it was still enough to hold attention when you spend the time doing as many side stories along the way as possible. The main story only shines when you take the time to do all of this.
For me the reason Tales of Graces F ranked in my top 5, is that even though some gameplay things were not on point, that i absolutely LOVED the story of this game. That made me rank it in my top 5. But well for me, the story plays a big role. so graces f got higher in my list, cause of it's story. my order was vesperia, symphonia, xilia, abyss and Graces F...but not that i don't like the other aswell. for example i really liked Hearts R and Berseria aswell for it's story. i can't tell about phantasia, destiny and legendia.haven't played them, but from the list Symphonia 2 is the baddest. There were even some thing i wasn't happy about the story. But it's quiet fun to see how devided the fanbase of those games is. but not surprised at all, that vesperia, symphonia and abyss build the top 3. heard alot, that those three are really popular from the games.
I wonder how much what a fan’s first Tales game and how old they were when the played it impact these choices. That might also impact what gets first place. Mine would be: Abyss Xillia DotNW Symphonia Xillia 2 I know a lot of people don’t like DotNW and I know the fact that it was my first Tales game probably has a lot to do with this, but I genuinely loved it. Had I played Symphonia 1 first, I probably would have felt differently. I’m surprised at how much hate Zesty gets. I couldn’t get into it, but that’s because I liked Xillia’s darker and more complex story and Zestiria seemed to go in the opposite direction. Great video.
I suppose with how much hate it gets, I'm surprised Dawn of the New World actually had several people favoring it, and placing it at the top of their list specifically above Symphonia itself. I wouldn't place it above the big three personally (Symphonia, Vesperia, and Abyss, in the order I'd probably rank them) but I'd consider it of pretty high regard. The biggest complaint I see tends to derive their anger towards the fact that it doesn't bode well as a sequel, but I personally found it absolutely charming while treating it like a separate title altogether. Emil was distinctly different from our usual hot blooded Tales protagonists, and I kind of wish the monster ally function was brought into other Tales games. I wish I could give more speculation, but sadly I've only played five Tales titles ^^" And I'd hardly consider Legendia a title (sorry to anyone who's fond of it! It just wasn't my cup of tea), so I couldn't even muster the heart to give it the fifth spot even though it's one of those five games. I've technically played all of five minutes of Zestiria...until my laptop crashed. Steam made me keep the game because I didn't know I could "return" a game until after their deadline >_> If you really wanted to reach, you could say that the fan base is divided, but divided usually comes with this negative connotation, which I really don't think is the case here. Sure, there are some negative specs here and there (the hate that Zestiria and DTNW get comes to mind) but the division is solely because there are so many games within the franchise that may or may not connect with each other, and everyone is bound to love something about certain games, and dislike things about others. Just for an example, I played almost all of these with my best friend during college. I loved Emil, he pissed her off until the end of the game. I wanted to bury Raven in a random ravine, she liked his cocky humor (but she didn't like Jade's cocky humor, which baffles me). I liked Symphonia's slow pace, she liked Vesperia's fast pace. Yet we still laugh, debate, and are wholly excited for any and all remakes we get! So yes, we're divided, but only because there's so much to love ^_^
Tales of Destiny DC Tales of Vesperia (PS3) Tales of Rebirth Tales of the Abyss Tales of Graces f. People who never played the jp titles missed out the best shit, especially gameplay.
Symphonia is my favorite of all time, despite it's many flaws. Nostalgia goggles for my first Tales game. In terms of ranking the games i played (havent played the whole series through), ToS is my number 1. Followed by Xillia, Vesperia, Abyss, and Eternia in no particular order. And my least favorite two are Graces F and Zestiria, mostly due to battles. I also have a soft spot for Legendia. It had so many glaring flaws in it's story and battles, but the music is the best in the series and i like the characters. Plus Chloe is my favorite sword user in the series, so there's that too. Battles: I prefer the older style tales games in terms of battle systems over the majoruty of Graces the inspired/based systems. I don't dislike Graces style, but i much prefer Symphonia-Vesperia style. The best battle system, in my opinion, might be unpopular; I don't really keep up with this sort of thing in the community so not sure. Xillia's battle system is my favorite. It was fun and mixed both styles. It had flaws of course, but it meshed them well and was the most fun imo.
I haven't played a lot of Tales games yet (just got into them maybe 2-3 months ago), but here are all of them I've played thus far in the order I liked them (descending order): 1. Berseria - I loved most of the cast, and I have never rooted more for a protagonist in a game. Velvet rocks. Also, Magilou is hilarious.
My favorite tales of game is Berseria, followed by Vesperia. Well... Here is my (late)top 5 list 1. Berseria 2. Vesperia 3. Symphonia 4. Abyss 5. Eternia My least favorite games are: 1. Dawn of the New World 2. Hearts R 3. Xillia 4. Zestiria 5. Xillia 2
Oooohhhhhh, nice to see three of my favs in the top 5 :3 As for each of the games (I've played anyway): Symphonia - Definitely my favorite game from a story and character perspective, I love the themes in that game and how it puts a spin on typical JRPG tropes you normally see. That, and the villain is easily the best in the series by far, I friggin' love Yggdrasial. That said, I really can't come back to the gameplay. It can still be fun, but I do find the more recent games to have far deeper and enjoyable combat systems >w< Vesperia - From a technical standpoint, I can see this as being the best in the series - Awesome soundtrack, fantastic visuals, high production values, etc. Gameplay was incredibly solid as well, despite it feeling all too familiar to previous games. That said, I actually didn't really care for the story or most of the cast outside of Rita (the rest I found either kind of dull, annoying or not developed enough, and yes, I find Yuri overrated), and most of the villains in that game are some of the worst in the series to date imo (looking at you, Cumore) Graces f - The art style was slightly off-putting, but I got used to it, and the gameplay was a nice change of pace from what we normally got; it's definitely solid and deep, if not a tad overwhelming. That said, the characters felt VERY one-note and stereotypical compared to previous entries, and the story is one of the most basic ones in the series XD Xillia - I do have a bias towards this as it was the first Tales of game I picked up. That said, the soundtrack was good stuff, the story, despite having a few hiccups, was overall enjoyable for me, as was most of the cast. The gameplay was also solid as well; despite being more basic compared to Graces f, I love just how combo-riffic the game can be, especially with the addition of air combos. That said, the visual style of the game is kind of muddy, and traveling through the open world areas can be a chore. Xillia 2 - AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Definitely more polarizing in terms of what I liked and didn't like. Gameplay is easily my favorite in the series to date, I absolutely love how insane combos can be, and Ludger himself is an absolute beast. I do like the darker elements in the story as well, the side-character stories, and the bigger emphasis on a more technological setting. The debt system sucked hard, tho, the story felt VERY choppy because of it, and about 80% of what you do in that game is already done in Xillia. Which is a real shame, because I really wanted to see more of Elympios. I REALLY want to put this game as my number one favorite just because I love the gameplay so damn much, but it's got a lot going against it as well, and I just can't! XP Zestiria - Oh boy.... While I don't outright hate this game.... it is a mess for a lack of a better word. Combat feels like Graces f lite and is worsened with a VERY unresponsive camera, the equipment system is unnecessarily complicated, the story is just too simple and dull, none of the characters bar Sorey and Rose get much focus making them feel forgettable, and the game makes one too many mind-boggling decisions that set it back behind other Tales of games imo. Berseria - Definitely a step-up from Zestiria; the story is fantastic at throwing curveballs and making everyone equally likable with their own character arcs, combat is fast-paced and can be very fun, and the game does a really good job with its darker tone, outside of a few "edgy" moments. Music wasn't too memorable imo tho, and traveling through open-worlds feels even WORSE in this game than in Xillia/Zestiria. You do get a faster means of travel, but that's only after about 2/3'ds into the game. Dawn of the New World - Yeeeeaaaahhhhh, I hate this game. Technically, it's not awful, but it's borderline infuriating what they did to the original cast, the new characters are unbearably annoying, the story is forgettable, and it has some of the worst writing in the series period. Gameplay is at least a little fun, but even that's marred by some pretty BS boss fights, an unnecessary monster Pokemon-type system, and the fact that you can't even play as the OG Symphonia cast unless you're not Player 1. If I were to rank my top 5 favorite out of the ones I played (doesn't really mean much, but eh), it would be: 1. Symphonia 2. Xillia 3. Berseria 4. Vesperia 5. Xillia 2
My Top 5 are games of the series i have played so here are mine. 1). Vesperia- Not only does this have one of my favorite Main characters Yuri of the series but the world, the designs, the graphics, the battle system are amazing. It's not a typical story of good vs evil but differing opinions on whats wrong vs whats right in the sense of Personal Justice Vs Societal Justice. A well balanced game that is worth replaying over and over again and one i give a perfect 10 to. 2). Berseria- This game is amazing to jump to 2nd place in my all time list. Velvet Crowe is one of my favorite female leads in the series now as she is one of the most complex characters the series has had to offer. The ensemble cast is SO good and well balanced how they play off each other. Not to mention Artorius has to be one of the better antagonists the series has offered in a while. A story of revenge and a tale of anti-heroes fighting Reason with Chaos, this is the game the series needed after Zestiria happened. 3). Legendia- I am still amazed how much crap this game gets from the community. One of the best ensemble casts, with charming side characters and a variety of villains to both hate and sympathize with. Whats unique about this game is it's art style compared to most other games which i find adorable but that cuteness can hide a much darker side the game shows later on. A tale of personal growth for each of the main cast as well as figuring out how to live without prejudice and accepting one another. Plus this game's unique in the fact that it takes place on a giant land made ship, when has the series ever done that?! And by one of the best soundtracks in the series. I still get chills when i hear "The Bird Sings" (can't remember the title) 4). Symphonia- A game the gamecube desperately needed. Symphonia is a bit of a trope fest in terms of it's initial story but the game only gets better with time playing it. Much like Eternia its about two parallel worlds striving to survive. A group of friends must journey in order to stop the world decline and solve the mysteries of the war between half elves and humans. One of the first 3D Tales games that helped the rest of the series in terms of battle and exploration. A great visual style of cel shaded water colors and a good cast of characters. 5). Eternia- This was my very first tales game back when it was called Tales 2 in america on ps1. The game centers around Reid, and Farah, they find a girl their age crashed from a space ship that comes from the world hanging above their own. They must go on a journey to find out how to stop a growing evil that might cause two worlds to LITERALLY collide with one another. A good cast of characters with perhaps one of the more memorable villains of the seires.
Good points on Berseria. When you say "societal justice" about Vesperia, though, you don't mean like "social justice," do you? That's kind of a divisive topic that can hamper good times in a game if it's all politically correct and tries to put me down because I like freedom of speech and the free market...
My top 5 Tales games are: 1. Tales of Destiny (my 1st Tale, & 1st in the US, + love the story). 2. Phantasia (WOLF TEAM). 3. Legendia (plus character quests afterwards gave me the feels). 4. Symphonia. 5. Berseria and Graces F are close to tie for 5th. Graces F is my favorite HD Tales, but Berseria is right about with it, 'cause it's a wee bit darker for a tales game. Only played Phantasia on GBA, but Wolf Team's remake of *Phantasia Tale* is *still* among my favorites.
I kinda agree with this. Vesperia and Abyss are probably the best ones when it comes to the tales titles released worldwide. I also really enjoy Graces. The story is kinda weak but it has one of the best battle systems in all of Tales. That alone has me rank it pretty high
I think Berseria is one I keep going back to. Having a team of Criminals really stands out compared to other titles. My downside to it is the items and equipment feel lackluster or you have to spend a planet of difficult to grind resources to make things good.
I think its all in the person prefance, some may like the game for either the story, gameplay, character or the world building. Not many people can say that every tales game can be all perfect. Its just either meant for some people to enjoy or the developer wanted to make something new for each tales game instead of being the same.
I love all the tales games I played. I would play the 3ds ones if I could besides tales of abyss i love that one. Each game even the less interesting ones are still fun to play and every cameo and reference makes you love How much you paid attention to the detail
Great video! I have been a fan since Tales of symphonia, and i believe this game has a massive nostalgia/first time effect. Vesperia is the best for me, and i say this without nostalgia since i only experienced the PS3 version pretty late. I think grace F is the most fun.... it just have a lots of hate for the departure of many habits people have but i think the gameplay is the pure essence of what tales of should be. Voilà!
1. Berseria 2. Graces F 3. Abbys 4. Xillia 5. Symphonia can't wait to play vesperia remaster. very curious and excited. People said its the best tales. Lets see...
I am kinda shocked that people would hate graces f. Sure its not the best tales of game but it does lay the ground for all the more recent ones in terms of combat.
I don't really have a lot of complaints about any of the Tales games I've played. I have only played Zestiria, Berseria, Symphonia, and Vesperia (as I am a PC player). But I've only beaten Zestiria. I mostly judge the games based on the characters, then the story, then the game play. I'd say I loved like 96% of all of the characters in every Tales game I've played. I really do think the characters are what makes the Tales games so good, just because of the interactions and how much personality they have. A game that makes the characters feel real and not 2 dimensional is a really good game in my opinion. I do think Zestiria's characters are good. The only characters that I found somewhat boring was Rose and Dezel. I feel like they deserved more time in the game, because what it seemed the game was going for with them needed more depth and information, but even then they are still slightly above average as characters for me. The story was a very interesting idea, I just think there was wasted potential. There could've been a lot more that could've made the game feel more like an adventure to stop malevolence. Finally, I think the ending was pretty abrupt since I didn't know the game was ending, and the ending itself was depressing as fuck. Zestiria was the first Tales game I've played, and I did have a very enjoyable time with it, and hearing other people talk about the others being "better", I have high hopes since it only goes up from here. I do think the stories of Zestiria and Berseria make each other better as they are from the same world, but I can't really forget how Zestiria got me so interested in the Tales franchise to begin with. At the current moment, I think Zestiria is my favorite Tales game. The characters are the biggest thing that matter to me, so as long as there are good characters in my eyes, then it's a good game, and for liking pretty much every character from every game, I think all of the Tales games are worth playing.
it's late but for me it's: 1. Zestiria 2. Hearts (thought I rather have in mind DS ver since I had no chance to play vitas) 3. Xillia 4.Graces 5.Eternia
Zestiria was the first tales games I played and I genuinely enjoyed it. So far I've only played Berseria after that which I also enjoyed, but one thing I was missing in Berseria was the amazing soundtracks found within Zesti.
Honestly out of all the Tales games, Berseria's combat has to be my personal favorite, the gameplay was really smooth and flexible, the mechanics were fun, even the AI played better than in the previous games. It would definitely be my number one, however, Symphonia will single-handedly get my vote every time for one reason only - Kratos
my fave is the 1st on the series "Tales of Destiny" on PS1 for the nostalgia reason, the hero "country boy" become my meme alas the 2nd one on PS2 didnt get translated ever, and the fans translation project also stopped in the middle :(.
The ones I will always like regardless is Vesperia, Abyss, Xillia, Eternia. I also put in 100+ hours of PURE CO-OP in these games(playing from 2-4 players) but as a single player run I only played Zesteria/Berseria and Phantasia solo and Phantasia is my top of them all. Nothing can be perfect and always has some flaws depending on ones preferences but more often then not almost all of the Tales games have more positive's then negatives.
Top 5: 1. Symphonia 2. Vesperia 3. Graces F 4. Abyss 5. Berseria I heven't even beaten Berseria and Abyss yet so I can't really place them high for now. However Symphonia's story and fighting mechanics is something that I hold very dear to me.
The fanbase is partly divided because of the different styles of storytellinf the different teams working in titles . Graces and zestiria both was made made by the same team and was pretty much horrible, while abyss and vesperia was made by another team and was great , for example. I dont remember how many are there but you can see the similarities in the games i mentioned. Xillia and berseria shares common art styles and has darker themes so i think they were made by the same peoples too.
I personally played Abyss, Eternia, Symphonia, Berseria, Zestiria and Legendia. And if I were to sort them from best to worst it would be like this: 1. Abyss (Very good story, best characters, setting, battle system and music) 2. Eternia (A slightly dumped down version of Abyss) 3. Symphonia (Best story wise, lots of twist, but loses in all the other aspects to the 2 above) 4. Berseria (Didn't really like the new battle system, but awesome story and characters, the dungeons and towns were kinda dull as well as the sidequests) 5. Zestiria (A dumped down version of Berseria) 6. Legendia (Didn't actually finish it, lost my save file after 12 hours of gameplay and never came back, but didn't impress me much, though I liked the setting)
I loved Zesty! 1. Zestiria 2. Abyss 3. Berseria 4. Graces F 5. Xillia Symphonia 1 was my first tales but just because it was doesn't mean it was my favorite. At that time it was but I discovered more Tales games afterwards and enjoyed them more. Also probably because I played the shit outta Symphonia that I got burnt out on it lol Haven't played Vesperia but waiting for the remaster. And Zesty was the game that got me back into tales games and made me wanna play graces, berseria, xillia etc... Zest made me a tales fan. :) I don't care if people hate it. Yes it has its flaws but I still love it. Just took some time to learn the mechanics of the game. And the camera that's easy to fix lol
Well, I kind of like when people in fandom have different opinions, that means no matter how unpopular your opinion is there is a person who understands you
Tales of phantasia/destiny/eternia for snes/ps1 hold the top spot for me in general. Their stories were interesting and well executed, but you could clearly see the evolution of the Linear Motion battle system over the course of time. By the time eternia came out it really felt like i was in complete control of my character during fights. It was to the point where i was inputting and practicing fighting moves and combo's like i would in a fighting game like Street Fighter. In a JRPG no less. To this day i've never seen/played anything like that level of control in a JRPG. I left the tales series for a long time after that and came back on a whim with Graces R. And while it was an interesting game, it just didn't have that level of control. Combined with the 3d battle environment, it felt much more button mashy and limited then the Linear motion battle system used in the 2d snes and playstation era games. I'm glad there are still people out there that remember and liked those older games enough to have them #1 on their list. I would of really liked to see a 2d game today utilize an updated version of that battlesystem. Would be glorious.
My top 5 is 1 Vesperia -Yuri has got to be the best mc! The search for ones own justice is so damn compelling! and the characters are so awesome plus the name of the game is what they're group is called. I simply cannot wait til the remake is released! 2 Berseria - Finally a lead female (not a choice like Xillia) roll and you play as the antagonist 3 Graces F- The Colors! aside from that this was my 1st time not playing as the mc, I loved Pascal! 4 Xillia- This story was brilliant, with the choice to choose between mc's. 5 Symphonia- Nostalogia for me, it's my 1st Tales. The story was amazing, the characters were lovable but Battle system I cannot return to
Good list and informative vid. Personally I love Zestiria...Not as much as Xillia and Berseria, but I enjoy my time with it from beginning to end (okay minus the iris gems LOL) Haven't played Vesperia, but seeing the definitive edition is coming I pre-order it. I now started playing Graces F and so far I am enjoying it.
1. Symphonia Not just for nostalgia but because it was a fantastic story and I have played it so many times because the affection guide made me want to. The fighting system has admittedly aged badly but the rest of it is still fantastic. It wasn't the perfect cast as Persea was literally a drag due to her condition and I question the choice to make her playable. 2. Vesperia Who didn't love this game. And now having played the definitive edition I'm pleased as punch. It was a lovely cast and I really enjoyed all aspects of it. The cast was near perfect. Not quite which leads into my next choice. 3. Graces F The story was fun but the camraderie of the cast being kids to start with and growing up seperated and then rejoining for a whirlwind adventure was fantastic. Hands down the more complete cast in my opinion because everyone played so well off the others, even those who hadn't been there long. It made the story a more emotionally charged one and the fighting system is one of my favorites. 4. Abyss It's been years since I played it but I still look back on it fondly. Such a fun game. I loved the story and what fun twists, ones that almost rivaled Symphonia's. The cast was great though Tear was annoying and I felt the relationship with her and Luke was admittedly uncomfortable considering he was legit a 7 year old. I wish they had pushed that on the back burner as the strained couple of Asch and Natalia was way more interesting. I'm still sad I didn't get a chance to choose which Like lived tbh. They missed a fun chance for some replayability. 5. Berseria It might have gotten fourth but because alot of the emotion relied heavily on Zesteria it gets fifth. Not gonna lie. It was stupid easy. The combat system was kinda meh. But I loved the story and the cast. It was neat playing something connected to another game like that. And seeing how things changed and shifted from one to the next. It made me pull Zesteria back it which I felt wasn't as strong at all. Which I feel is a fair point for both games. Berseria is a better story on the surface but it gets some added depth only because Zesteria existed. And I can not express my love for Laphicet enough. Hands down one of my favorite Tales characters. His development was amazing. 6. Zesteria It was honestly a weaker game for me. I felt like it had heart but the character swaps were awkward. I hated Rose. I never full understood why she was there. But Zavied was a fantast switch for that guy who had been there before. That whole part honestly was lost on me. That aside though it was fun. The maps were too big though. Plz goodness the Geo board in Berseria saved my life. The story itself was interesting though and I did like Sorey and Mikleo and of course no awkward romance to be seen. But even if it had flaws I honestly felt Berseria added a lot of weight to it. I feel like both games need one another to matter which is odd to say but there it is. I won't bother listing more but I'll say Symphonia two was utter trash. And I did play Xillia but I hated Milla so much I couldn't enjoy it. Which was a shame because it had such a good supporting cast and then there was Milla who was like a giant, boring log in the middle of what could have been a fabulous buffet. The gross encroaching, romance they forced down my throat with Jude and Milla was so uninspiring. I never felt the chemistry and it really just killed the experience. Heck I didn't even beat it properly. I watched the end online. Unpopular opinion but it was just hard to get around that unnecessary romance. I refuse to even look in Xillia 2's direction because of it.
I'm fairly confident that Vesperia would be far and away the most well regarded game in the series if more people had a chance to play it. Given that this is largely a list made by Western fans, their only chance to play the game was on the 360. While the 360 did well in the West compared to Japan, it wasn't exactly the console that RPG lovers flocked to, so it had such a low amount of Tales fans that could actually play the title for the last ten years. In general, most Tales fans agree that the Team Symphonia games are among the best in the series, if not the three best. Vesperia was easily the most polished and refined of the three, particularly due to it being on a more powerful console than Symphonia+Abyss were and that would definitely work in its favor. The biggest divide for Tales fans tends to be characters. Few people think that the Tales of games have stellar stories, but if someone likes the cast of characters enough, it'll make the story more enjoyable despite any weaknesses it may have. Abyss is usually the easiest way to see this in action. There are a lot of people who adore the cast and rank them among the all time best RPG casts. Others can't find a single likeable character in the bunch and have to really struggle to find enjoyment in watching their stories unfold. Vesperia, Berseria and Symphonia have pretty well received casts overall an thus thier usual placements near the top of lists. While the gameplay of the series is a huge part of why people enjoy it, a game such as Graces F which is easily a top 3 game from a gameplay standpoint is often regarded as lesser than Symphonia or even Xillia due to their casts being stronger than Graces. While poor gameplay can be enough to really hinder a game's reception (i.e. Zestiria), great gameplay doesn't guarantee a spot high up on the list. The fan base is definitely split on whether or not they like the Team Symphonia style of gameplay or the more recent Xillia, Zestiria, Berseria style. That being said, I know of more than a few fans who like Berseria more than Vesperia, for example, due to the cast being strong enough to negate their dislike of the gameplay in comparison to Vesperia. The series has a lot of core elements, but few consistencies beyond that. I think that fans who have played most or all of the games do have a relative consensus on top 5, but such few Tales fans have played more than five of the games in the first place that it starts to get really iffy when you break it all down.
Last one. My favorite list gameplay 1.tales of graces 2. Tales of the abyss. 3. Tales of xillia 4. Tales of symphonia 5.tales of bersteria. And my favorite story list. 1. Tales of the abyss. 2. Tales of graces. 3. Tales of symphonia. 4. Tales of xillia. 5 tales of symphonia. Knights of rhatostask. This is before playing tales of vesperia. I hope this game blows my expectation. This game will be my top 3 if I get to play with flynn
*Which Tales do you think is the BEST?* www.strawpoll.me/16421463
*Which Tales do you think is the WORST?* www.strawpoll.me/16421471
Interesting Question i just say i like the most Games very much so i cant deside which one is the worst.
I think this vote came out because the series had very much good games games.
I think there is no such thing as best or worst in Tales of series, its just the matter of peoples opinion of which is which. I played them all as in all, including mobile and that says I'm a nerd for Tales of series.
JRPG will forever be a "Bliss."
When are you gonna do an video for "How divided is the gaming Community when it comes to Sony's stance on Cross-Play and Mike Ybarra's tweet on the subject"
i never played vesperia which is why im hyped for the definitive edition so i cant say its the best but, to me personally the worst was tales of xillia 2 because i could not get invested in the main character. combat was good but ludger was pointless and time travel plots confuse the hell out of me
Since i've only played 4, i guess i'll list them
1.symphonia
2.abyss
3.legendia
4.symphonia 2
Legendia's biggest flaw is probably going back to a 2d plane of combat, but the story didn't really grab me. Symphonia 2 is my worst because it took out world exploration and added in monster capture. The new characters were fine, but continually introducing and removing older characters annoyed me.
As for the top two, it was a toss up. I've played symphonia through multiple times and abyss roughly twice. My symphonia love may be part bias.
Stoked to play Vesperia since it's in roughly the same style and comes highly recommended.
I think Tales, like Final Fantasy, really lend themselves to dividing a fanbase as each tell their own story, but all stand alone as excellent games with character complexity and interesting themes. I can’t really think of an objectively bad Tales game (out of the ones I’ve played), so whichever one resonates the most with you will ultimately determine which you like more.
If anything, I’d say it’s a testament to the quality of the franchise as a whole that people are so divided as it proves that, while not everyone likes a given title, there are those who rabidly defend it as their favorite as opposed to the entire fanbase deriding a single game.
+ Mariner I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but what are the interesting themes of Zestiria? The game keeps hinting at potential temptation for corruption of Sorey, but he never gets any proper test/temptation to become corrupt. With the exception of the Sorey/Rose/Medusa last scene and the last 20 seconds of the ending, all of the emotional stuff in the game seemed to fall flat due to bad "directing" of the cutscenes.
The game is pretty fun, and it was my third Tales game I ever played (Phantasia then Symphonia), and I kinda like it better than both of those, but wow was it underwhelming when it comes to having an interesting storyline. =/ And the loli villain felt like something got left on the cutting room floor about her story/motivations. Remember all that stuff about how "you don't understand the true purpose of seraphs" stuff that's hinted at and all...so many wasted hints at cool stuff that never happens in the game and is never properly addressed.
or the fact that they couldn't admit the Sorey was gay; or at least gay for that one Male spirit. Personally I feel the whole, we have to dance around the romance subplot to the point its actually damaging the interpersonal story lines and relationships of the characters is idiotic but well that's why I like Abyss best.
+ Ki Swore I never saw or heard anything to implicate that they had any romantic feelings toward one another. Sorey and Meebo were raised as brothers, and acted as such throughout the entirety of the game. They were the least enjoyable playable characters in the game for me, though, and some of the least enjoyable characters out of all of the games I've played in the franchise thus far. That's the only way they really stand out to me in any special way.
Mr. Matt You see, people have theorized that Zestiria was supposed to be a slap in the face. That the theme was never truly winning. This is due to the story constantly railroading you so the least likely or the least fun option happens. Such as not having Alisha or w.e her name is or not being able to save Eizen. You also have to understand that Zestiria was rushed. It was scheduled to be released for an anniversary with a whole new combat system in place. The issue? They never got around to doing what could have been. As you said, it was hinting at a lot of stuff, but the game suffered from time constraints, redos, and just plain poor management. Not only that, they had a controversial issue over the lack of a character which led to Baba criticizing players which is probably a bad thing.
Also in Berseria, they made a reference joking about the importance of Seraphs. Where Velvet and her crew just say who the fuck cares and just goes back to their one-liners like, I am here for revenge, get in my way or I'll kill you, and etc. Really, what could have been decent was squandered.
My favorite game was Dawn of the New world. Great game. People hate it, but I love how people shit on Emil for being an edge lord and none of the other characters are willing to put up with his bs. Then it goes cheesy and says that you just need courage and friends. God, I love laughing at how the characters felt like idiots and the sub characters were just normal folk putting up with teenagers.
sasukeuchiha998 I think people are putting too much faith into the idea that anything brilliant, outside of some decent world-building - and a fun character in the form of Edna - happened in Zestiria. It would be financially crazy, but just out of my sheer love of the stuff Zestiria set up and failed at following through on, I would totally adore a remake (won't happen) where they fix all the screw-ups of the original (i.e. Sorey is more interesting, Meebo is likable outside of skits and the dreams of Sorey x Meebo shippers, putting more emphasis and effect into killing Eizen or bothering to have there actually be a cure for players to strive for, following through on Lailah's background with the last Shepherd, having Sorey come close to corruption and be tempted several times, have Heldalf be a fake villain (the true villain is interestingly written and Heldalf is more of a lieutenant/captain), have what's-her-name (evil loli) actually do interesting stuff and impart intriguing lore, do better directing on cutscenes, either get rid of Dezel or have him use a different weapon from Zaveid so it's not painfully obvious what is going to happen later, rework the "crafting" system, and many, many more changes that are better than what we got.
Haha, I actually really enjoyed Dawn of the New World. I would have preferred characters to monsters in my party, but if you just grab the first bear you can find, you will obliterate the game's battles, so there wasn't much micromanagement needed, thankfully. Emil had a bit of "Hope syndrome" from FFXIII, which was annoying, but I think the game does a far better job of making him likable enough much of the time. Trying to convince you that Lloyd is evil is a fool's errand, though.
My conclusion of the stats are that a good tales game require both a good story and battle system.
For ex: graces F has imo the best battle system but it unfortunately has a very simple story.
Abyss, symphonia, and vesperia has the best of both worlds and that why they are so popular. Just my opinion.
I couldn't agree more
rjzero00 yes this is the gist of it. Xillia had a great story and atmosphere and graphcis but the gameplay was a dumbed down version of graces meaning it was worse and limited compared to vesperia symphonia and abyss
Yeah I agree with that because I felt looking at those games as a whole that overall they had the most solid structures as far as Tales games go. Though that is to say they still had flaws in one area or another but, the flaws where the least bothersome out of the whole series.
Chris Lightfellow yes it does. For its time, symphonia was revolutionary and was one of the best sellers of 2004.
Chris Lightfellow well I've been watching too much TNG lately so that why I said best of both worlds. :)
However my original statement goes by the results in this video.
Symphonia battle system may be meh to you but it was good enough to most people. I personally prefer abyss battle system bc I too feel like symphonia is slow.
Thank you very much for the shout out! It's very surprising to see a random tweet of mine inspire a video like this lol. The results are very interesting, however I think you did point out the one large consensus amongst fans, that Symphonia, Abyss and Vesperia are, at the very least, the most popular and most well regarded entries, which looking back isn't altogether too surprising. I still stand by the Tales fanbase as being rather divided, but maybe not to the degree I had anticipated, good video my man.
I think however it's interesting to see the last stat it shows that games like Phantasia and Xillia 2 aren't play/love by many but people that do like/play them regard them quite highly.
Luke is my favorite character. I've seen all characters in series but luke I see as my favorite as life kicks him down so low yet he tries his best yet he still has to take it. I can't wait until verspeia. I already love all the characters
I feel like Fire Emblem is way more divided than Tales of fanbase
I only recently got into the Tales fan base, but the Fire Emblem fanbase is definitely quite the garbage fire of division.
Oh absolutely, the tales fandom is definitely divided, but Fire Emblem is much, much worse
You know who's really divided...3d vs 2d sonic fans
Storywise:
1. Berseria: Everything from pacing, characters, twists, and localization is done masterfully here. I especially liked playing as the bad guys
2. Abyss: Great epic story with good cast, lore, and development, especially Luke
3. Vesperia: Same as berseria just less masterful by a tiny bit but still great and I actually prefer this setting better too.
4. Symphonia: Epic but I think pacing is on the low end here.
5: Legendia: underrated game due to the art but story and characters were top notch
Gameplay:
1: Graces f: Everything feels right here from fluid flash combat to dualization being the best crafting system so far.
2. Xillia 2: great battle system and customization and you play as Gaius.
3. Vesperia: Love the 3 or 4 weakness mechanic that trigger special finishes and especially love that ff9 way to gain arts and skills from equipment
4. Berseria: combat wise it improved perfectly on graces f which had the best combat prior to this but I wasnt a fan of the customization
5. Abyss: the jump from tales of symphonia and legendia to this was noticeably huge. From 3d free roam to how attacks change based on element field. I also loved controlling guy. First tales where I preferes controlling characters other than the main
Nice break down 👍
Guy was great. Loved his hopeless romantic steampunk look
i disagree with berseria gameplay wise. I felt like it was a huge failure. Casters were basically put to the wind cause of the way the art tree worked, and it felt like you were playing at a disadvantage by using anyone but velvet. Yeah Xillia 2 had that problem too, but it still worked off the xillia system which meant the old characters were still balanced and great to use, with gaius and muzet not falling short either. Ludger was just better than them, but playing as the others wasn't a huge problem. Berseria definitely has one of the best stories in the series yeah, but the gameplay was as bad as the original phantasia (or the crap ios port) and tales of the tempest.
Look up any Berseria combo video and you can see the potential of casters. Granted they are NOT easy to grasp or master compared to Velvet mashing, but the depth is there, which makes it satisfying when you get it to work. Adds solid replay value too, which is a big reason why I love Tales combat in general.
I absolutely love Berseria, it's my favourite game to date - and I've been playing Tales of games for over 10 years now.
That said, I would like to complain about the gameplay. I mean, it's nice and I agree with what you said. But I did not like playing as the main character (Velvet) in that game, because it literally just felt like you just needed to press buttons because she was so strong and simple.
If you play any other character though, it was the perfect amount of challenge.
That said, your top 4 list storywise is the exact same as mine
Conclusion :
Everyone has different tastes.
So Vesperia, Abyss and Symphonia are the top 3
I can live with that
koopanique and Vesperia and Abyss are the Top 2 it seems, I can also live with that
well, they ARE considered "the big 3" in a large part of the fandom
They have always been top three. 😆
Imagine a top 3 without Xillia 1 and 2.
Thats because tales series has 90% good games.Most of the games are really good.Therefore the fan abse is divided
Whos excited to play VESPERIA DEFINITIVE EDITION on december 31?...
I am.
I'm excited that it comes out, but not to play it. I already beat the game on PS3.
nobody, because it comes out January 11th, 2019., excited to play it then though.
Chuckles...Too true that. I have had it on pre-order since it was announced. Just got the release notice a day or two ago.
I'm more than excited to play it :) And curious to see how it goes, considering I was player 2 for my first play through (so I didn't have much control of the travels, and never played as Yuri ^^" I can destroy worlds with Judith, though!)
Also should have asked which Tales games people started with. A lot of people don't go back in a series surprisingly enough. Makes me want to do a more intensive survey.
First one I played was Destiny, first one I owned was Eternia (Destiny II on US PS1). I'd definitely rank Eternia toward the top of my list, so I really do think that has a lot to do with it. It's why I'm sure a lot of people rank Symphonia and Abyss as their favorites as those are usually the first ones a lot of people played/owned. It also seems notable that the people who played those first also love to complain about how awful the 2D Tales games are, whereas the older fans would disagree. Definitely has a lot to do with your entry point into the franchise.
Started with XILLIA first
I started with Legendia and it is one of my favorites. The main thing holding it back is the gameplay because I know now that I am used to the better combat systems it would be harder going back to that and the horrid random encounter rate.
Berseria is my number one!
Tales of Eternia will always be the best to me, from an experience standpoint as well as artistic. It's a fantastic PS1 game that sadly many gamers have never had the chance to experience simply because it's really expensive and at the time of it's release the PS2 was already out.
The Brotherhood of Gaming Eternia is as of right now, my favorite 2D Tales, I thought it was a great game and doesn't get the attention it deserves
Conclusion I draw is I still love me some Zestiria. Was the first Tales game I played and I was like "o.O...where have you been all my life?" Then I'll admit I played Berseria and went "O.O...where have YOU been all my life?!"
Honestly that is probably experience of many PC gamer.
Haha you read me like a book 😉
I love Zestiria, the first Tales game I played and I love it more than Berseria ha ha.
Very interesting video Jay! If I remember correctly I had Graces F as my favourite game, followed by Eternia closely after, not exactly the most popular picks it seems but that's fine, I like almost every Tales game after all ;P
My vote for best Tales game has to be Symphonia. It's admittedly a nostalgic game for me, and one of my childhood favorites, but I don't at all agree with the notion that it has "aged poorly", I still enjoy it just as much as I did when I was a kid. Vesperia is a close runner-up though, and I can see why people would prefer it to Symphonia.
As for my vote for the worst Tales-game, it's undoubtedly Hearts r. That game just pissed me off with how bad it was, especially the ending, it's probably the worst ending to any game I've ever played. Zestiria would be my second choice, it was rarely outright BAD, but goddamn, was it mediocre.
I'm currently playing through the entire series but am not finished everything. However this would be my current top 5, im currently playing abyss not finished yet so I will leave it out (although I'm disappointed by its story, hope it picks up soon)
1. Tales of Symphonia- My favorite game of all time, my first tales game and the nostalgia factor is definitely very real. Will always be number 1.
2. Tales of Eternia- Absolutely love the aesthetic and presentation of the game, the story and combat are also both very solid. I love its vibe, it reminds me of symphonia.
Tales of Xillia- So far my favorite combat and gameplay in the series (love the lilium orb system). Battles are very fun, the AC system allows for some cool combinations of artes. I also found the story and cast to be pretty solid. Only downside is the environments are a bit repetitive, those seahaven towns are literally all the same lol
4. Tales of Phantasia- Fantastic story and characters, right up there with symphonias. Being an older game the combat system is not quite as enjoyable, but for me story and presentation are more important than gameplay, which is why I guess I like the older games. Being connected to symphonia also makes it special to me. I am referring to the PS1 remake of Phantasia, the only version I've played.
Tales of Destiny- Also a very good story and cast of characters, gameplay is older and stiff but again I don't mind. Stahn is maybe my fav protagonist so far. It's really the story and cast that does it for me with this game. I need to play the DC remake on ps2.
I should make an aside about Vesperia, while I understand it's popularity I personally don't find the story to be memorable or enjoyable, the pacing is very slow and the plot is pretty uneventful all game. This really drags it down in my ranking even though I think the game is amazing for combat and overall quality and aesthetic.
I have not yet played: Destiny 2 PS2, Destiny DC PS2, Rebirth, Hearts R, Innocence, Graces F, Xillia 2, Zesitira, Berseria or Arise.
Still have quite a few games to go so this list will need to be updated in the future
I do think that Tales fans are divided, but that's not a negative thing in my opinion, some people just like more the gameplay, some the combat and other the story/characters.
For me personally, the best is Vesperia because it has those three elements on a overall better experience, even if I enjoyed the story of Symphonia/Berseria/Abyss more or Graces F/Zestiria/Berseria/Hearts R combat better.
My personal favorite is still Eternia, it was the first one I ever played when I was like 14y old and it has a special place on my heart.
About the Xillias, I'm honestly surprised the amount of love they get. Xillia 1 for me was OK but it felt a little lacking on gameplay, a mid tier game for me. Xillia 2 on the other hand it wasn't for me, its on the bottom on my list alongside Symphonia 2, the debt system was utter crap and even if the gameplay was amazing, it was too overwhelming for me. Also that game was pretty much a rehash visiting Xillia's 1 uninteresting areas for a second time.
I'm a Zestiria supporter but I get why it gets so much hate, the upgrade mechanic was bad and the cast of characters wasn't that strong to be honest (edna and lailah were amazing but those two can't hold the game alone). But I honestly enjoyed the combat, overall map and dungeons. The worst? Hell no, with games like Xillia 2, Symphonia 2 or even Legendia that is another game that gets more hate that it deserves.
Xillia 2 was just overly depressing, senseless, the debt was cringeworthy since you could have avoided it story wise which lead me to the final issue the choices HAVE NOT IMPACT WHATSOEVER except the final ones!!!
Indeed. Zestiria is better than Xillia 2. As for Legendia, it deserves a remake.
Simon Low
I think Zestiria was rushed in the production, which is why the result was so cluncky. Legendia needs a remake it had some good stuff and interesting ideas but some things did not work, like the combat.
I am sorry, but I really can't see Xillia 2 being a worse game than Zestiria >w< Xillia 2 definitely has its problems, but the gameplay and characters were just so much more inviting to me than what Zestiria had to offer in both areas XP
That's why it was so good. It started normally, then it was gradually showing us more and more tragic events. When I reached Juliu's ending(my favourite) I had my jaw on the floor. Story choices were useless in general, but at least allowed multiple endings. And the cast in here is my favourite one out of almost all jRPGs i've played. Perhaps playing Xillia as one of first games on my ps3 is part of it, but i recently returned to xillia 2 to platinum it after about 2 years, and still enjoyed it to no end.
Symphonia fan here. Fite me.
Symphonia had more puzzles than any other game I've played in the series thus far. I love me some Portal and various other puzzle games, but this JRPG had tougher puzzles than most puzzle games I've even played. If they had toned that down, I would want to play Symphonia again, but as it is, I just say "Yeah, I liked the characters, and the story was one of the best I've seen in the series, but I am never touching it again because those puzzles made me miserable." I thought about quitting many, many times due to the puzzles. I wasn't having any fun at all, and by the last third or so of the game, I just used a walkthrough for virtually everything because I just wanted to be done. The puzzles had eaten up hours of my life and I didn't enjoy them at all, despite being a fan of some puzzles. =/
On that same note, there was way too much time/story spent on acquisition of elemental spirits. The game would have benefitted from simply having Sheena already have a pact with a few of them to begin with. Obviously she shouldn't have Volt yet, because that was narratively important. The Darkness one has no plot relevance, nor did a few of the others, as I recall. Gnome was funny, but I don't think that really had any relevance plot-wise, either. So much time was spent on that. They could have really shortened the amount of time it took to get Gnome, and not lost any quality or good dialog; just include the best bits and have you go into a shrine for five minutes, get the important lines, fight Gnome, and get out. Symphonia felt like it was desperately trying to be long by means of making its content take forever by means of repetitive quests and time-consuming puzzles. The other games I've played in the series don't feel so desperate to me in that regard.
Babies first tales game bet FF7 is your first and favorite tales game too
Same here! Love Symphonia!
Dotnw is my fav! : D
for me the puzzles were the best thing in symphonia and older tales games. the new games are just battles and empty hallways and "fancy" cutscenes and a LOT of useless talk
I’m currently playing Vesperia Definitive Edition so have been looking back at the series and this is such a cool breakdown. I think I’ll play Berseria next as it’s prob the most accessible of the high ranked ones.
TALES OF GRACES F IS A GREAT GAME. HOW DARE IT BE ON THE LOWER END.
Sadly...I havent played Vesperia....but that will all change when that remake drops. ;D My number one is still Graces F, Abyss, and Berseria.
Also...Symphonia is overrated. Yeah I said it.
Also..where is Dawn of a New World? heh heh.. Screw that game.
Pelvic Gaming can I say I love your videos and do u plan on reviewing Dragon quest 11?
Tales of Graces f offers THEE BEST battle system in the series, imo, but in terms of overall feel, I personally like Vesperia.
I actually beat Tales of Graces F which puts it high up on my list for me. It had a solid story with likable characters and good battle system. Vesperia is #1 for me tho. Legendia is also awesome.
The best battle system indeed. Access to 13 different Assault Artes with 1 button, and 12 others (as soon as you got the "altered" Burst Artes) with the other button was doing something right. It's too bad the music and level design fell through, even the story didn't turn out for me. What if there were alternate final bosses related to Asbel's friends?
Best battle and funniest cast ^^ I guess it’s just a bit behind cuz the story felt very direct :) and the main focus graces = which focused on royals acting gracefully is hard to relate to for many ( I still loved it tho )
I've liked all the Tales games I've played so far. I can't really pick a favorite, since each title has something that stands above the others. For example, Tales of Berseria had overall better gameplay and storytelling than Zestiria, while Zestiria had better music and (for me) a more likeable protagonist (although I think Sorey and his gang had potential to be better if they had put a bit more effort into the writing). As another example, for me, Graces has the overall most likeable cast of main characters of all the Tales I've played, and the victory quotes were pure gold!
conclusion wise...its all in the taste, since every tales game present something different and everyone perceives that difference, differently..
I for one am part of the minority, if I had the chance to rate mine, it would be Zesty at 1st, then all the other at 2nd, no 3rd, 4th or 5th. Mainly cause its the only game I played where I enjoyed the cast way more than the story and even though the backstory is somewhat confusing (for others, not me) atleast the characters didnt fail me in the end (unlike berseria, abyss and others I would rather not mention). Lets face it, Tales game never had any story/plot that is really engaging more so if your getting on the age, for me its about the characters and my journey with them (side and antagonist included).
I agree, I loved the characters from Zesty. They are so far my favorite group of tales characters from all the games I played so far. (I played 6 of them so far, and am playing a 7th right now.) I loved the whole Zesty cast and more importandly their interaction with eachother. I loved the relationships between them, their friendly banther, their support for eachother This game also holds 3 of my top 10 tales characters ever, Mikleo, Edna and Zaveid (so bummed he was not a main cast member in Berseria). Loving the whole cast is not something I can say for any of the other tales games so far. There is always at least 1 character I don't like, and Berseria actualy is my least favorite cast so far where I actualy disliked half of them which never happend before. And no, among those 3 are not the 2 most other people seem to dislike. Elenor is actualy one of my top 10 as well and I actualy loved seeing Laphicet grow.
+ amberanime You disliked Velvet and Magilou? D':
To me graces hold a special place to me it was the game that introduced me in the series and the battle system it still the best and aged well if it wasn't for graces xillia,zestiria and beseria wouldnt have being localized sure the story of graces is simply to some but people forget that at times simplicity can be good in fact graces in japan is still loved over there by number 3 (beseria became second) since vesperia is the most popular title both in japan and outside of japan so i can see why people loved it.
These are my faves
Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of Graces F
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Berseria
If I enjoyed the Tales of Graces F story more than the total package of Symphonia or Vesperia, it would be my number one. I found it's combat, leveling/progress system, etc to be the best out of all that I've played. There was something about playing as Asbel (samurai style combat) that was so much fun to me. As for ToS and ToV, the fact that they are on 1 and 2 is mostly nostalgia. If I were to play these as of today, I would put ToGF on #1.
I did not like Tales of Xillia 2 or Tales of Zestiria when compared to other Tales games...I could not stand the damage type resistances as it made Ludger the most viable character, who I didn't really like. I also wanted to have Gaius as my main, which wasn't too viable as he primarily did slash damage. And Zestiria was not too interesting to me, the combat was also not as interesting to me.
Not much as final fantasy fanbase
😂
Seriously people can't discuss FF games without it dissolving into all out war.
There are people who exist who perfer Final Fantasy XIV version 1.0.
FF fanbase are worst than TALES fanbase...
@@erickreyes7902 If we keep it to just jrpgs what would be worse then the ff fanbase.
Personally, I don't really have a favorite Tales of game because I like all the games in the series equally. But, if I have to pick a favorite game in the series, I would pick Vesperia only because it was my very first Tales of game and it's what got me interested in the rest of the series.
I agree, they all have their own unquiness to them. For me it’s very much a Sophie’s Choice thing. I can come up with 10 thing I really loved about each game and 10 things that break it for me but they all have their charm
games I've played: Symphonia, Phantasia, Symphonia 2, Abyss, Zestiria, Berseria, Vesperia (in that order).
Phantasia was amazing, but for someone to pick it as their 1., they must feel strong nostalgia for it, and I'd assume very few of the poll participants grew up with it. It would probably make sense to somehow separate retro and modern games into two lists when doing such polls.
my "worst" (not to say that it was bad) experience with a Tales of game was actually Abyss. I don't remember much of it other than that it kept sending me from location to location which very much felt like filler. It's also the only game I didn't finish - which however may have something to do with the fact that I lost it.
I don't quite understand the Zestiria hate. Sure, Berseria improves upon Zestiria in just about every way, but nonetheless Zestiria was still a great experience. for instance, I remember some amazing cutscene battle animation.
and Edna.
Symphonia is probably always going to be my 1. as it is my childhood.
When it comes to the Tales of community, one of the aspects that has been “dividing” the fanbase so to speak is contrarianism. In recent memory there has been a small but vocal minority I have seen amongst the tales of community who make nothing but faulty or nitpick arguments especially towards Berseria. Saying things such as how the game is actually one of the worst entries in the series or giving very shallow “criticisms” like saying Velvet is nothing but an edgy fanservice character and that the game is unoriginal. This is ironic seeing how Berseria is one of the more well received titles in the series. While it is true that opinions will very and anyone can view Berseria anyway they want. This ever growing contrarian attitude towards the game does nothing but to halt any sort of actually critical overviews on the game or the series as a whole. But instead just keeps perpetuating a very shallow point of view on what is otherwise one of the better entries in the series.
Justin Turner in my opinion berseria was recieved well critically because it was a follow up to the mess zestiria was. If it had been released after say vesperia or something then berseria would have been seen as mediocre and a 50/50 love hate for the game the way xillia was. I have tried to enjoy berseria but i just cant. I liked abyss sumphonia graces except for sophies atrocious character and loved the xillias but after zestiria and playing the crap out of berseria i just cant convince myself to like it. Berseria characters except for velvet eizen and magilou were bland and forgetable. Even the villains just fealt weird to me. And this new trend of making the dungeons all look the same but switching the color and map layout is seriouststarting to piss me off as a lover of the tales franshise
@@hectrmen23ify It doesnt matter what comes out after massive critical darlings, they're always disappointing to fandoms. Movies, games, whatever. Even if they're solid. Berseria is a good ass game, sorry you personally didnt like it. I didnt play Zestiria prior to have this false sense of quality you're hypothesizing about out of pure conjecture. You dont have to make up some nonsense as to why you didnt like a good game, it happens sometimes.
@@vaporsaver This is plainly wrong. Im glad you replied because now I can shove arise in your face. Arise is a good game. Berseria is still horrible. To this day it is my belief people only enjoyed zestiria and berseria bcus it was their first experience with the tales franchise or they played it right after the mess of zesty. Everyone knows the old ones are better, but why would someone(the new generations) buy old systems to play old games? Simply put, they don’t. At the point of when I wrote this comment you replied to vesperia defiinitive was not out yet and man. . . After replaying that and now seeing what they did with arise. . . Yeah for sure, zesty and berseria are hot garbage. Simply low quality products that had minimum effort put into them.
@@vaporsaver oh and also I’m m pretty sure there are many critical darlings in media that have come out with non disappointing, superior sequels. A good example is the nier franchise. The original was great. Automata surpassed it in every way. Im sorry you can’t see quality if it hit you in the face and sum up everything you disagree with to “ooo thats just your conjecture” or some other bs.
PS: you can’t have a “false sense of quality”. Quality is objective. It can be measured. It can be compared. Plus even if I compared berseria to any of the other great 3 or even arise, it still falls short.
@@hectrmen23ify alright, chief.
I think it's just because Tales have a wide range of gamer and they have many things to consider the best. Even for me (playing everything except Legendia and still in the middle of Berseria) it's hard to point which is the best. IMO best story is Symphonia, Battle is Graces, characters is Zesteria, opening movie is Innocence, music is Abyss. People who like stereotypical hero save the day and heartfelt story will choose Symphonia, people who like anti-hero character development story will chose Abyss, and people who like badass guy rebelling will choose Vesperia. I think it's not fan problem, Tales series just cover those much of different tropes in their game.
I think most people prefer more playable characters.
For me I liked Symphonia because of it’s dungeon puzzles, never played it longer.
Tales of Vesperia PS3/Definitive edition is the best because it’s full of enjoyable content.
Legendia is Tales of game most in need of a remake. It would easily jump to top 5 with any modern features and a full dub.
When it comes to popularity and what is considered “the best”, Vesperia, abyss, and Symphonia are considered the holy trinity.
I myself view these three the best with Symphonia being my personal favorite and my first tales games. Xillia 2 is the worst for me with its debt system, Ludger being OP, and dreary story.
I picked up Xillia and Graces F from some guy in Craig's list for $10 each. Not being a huge Tales of fan (I played about 20 hours of Zestiria, and picked up Berseria but haven't opened it), I just thought it was a good deal on a potentially fun PS3 game or two. I actually hooked up my PS3 for the first time in years just to try Xillia, and I've liked the first hour or so, I just don't have much time to game now and I'll choose something new when I get the chance to play. Anyway, after seeing how highly Tales fans regard Xillia, I've gotta play it. So glad I jumped on that deal!! Thanks for the list, Jay RPG!!
The three highest-ranking games according to your data (Vesperia, Abyss, Symphonia) all appear within a five year window, with only three other Tales Of titles releasing in this time period. These were Innocence on DS (Japan only), Rebirth on PS2 (Also JP only) and Legendia, which while it placed low in overall appearances also did pretty well for itself in percentages of #1 picks.
Most people would probably call this period the 'high point' of the series in terms of overall quality, and the numbers here corroborate this line of thinking nicely. That said, they also indicate a certain amount of nostalgia for the series too.
I myself massively enjoyed Tales of Symphonia but because I never owned any Microsoft or Sony consoles, it was my only experience with the series for a long time. I somewhat recently got to experience Abyss after picking up a 3DS well after its peak lifespan, and was surprised that it was on 3DS. I was also vaguely aware of the other DS Tales Of titles but never picked them up due to hearing they were about average.
I had a theory that consoles played some part in specific Tales Of titles popularity, but I have personally debunked this. First, off Symphonia was originally released on Gamecube and quickly rereleased on PS2... In Japan only. Then the Abyss released on PS2 exclusively. Finally, Vesperia released on Xbox 360 exclusively and later got a Japanese PS3 rerelease. I have no idea what to make of these points, but it's certainly fascinating.
I don't know how much the future rereleases and remasters helped each of these titles. The Abyss is doing pretty damn well for only having a 3DS release, but both 3DS and PS2 were immensely popular. Symphonia is doing exceptionally for having been on the underperforming GC, but it has seen some rereleases, even if the recent PC release is disappointing. And Vesperia was, like Abyss, was on a console that did well for its generation.
Interesting stuff.
Only played Vesperia, Abyss, Berseria and Zestiria and I quite enjoyed them all. Hell, Ednas voice actress is going to be at the anime convention I am going to in a few weeks and I cant wait to meet her
@Chris Lightfellow Its not really one of my favorite games because there are quite a few things about it that pisses me off. I just like it because I find it a good time passer. Give me the option of choosing between an RPG like Drakan the Ancients Gate (very unknown and fantastic PS2 RPG) or Zestiria and I would go for Drakan. I do also advice you to look up Drakan because it is a hidden gem
@Chris Lightfellow Your welcome and I would love to play the older games. Hell I plan to get Legendia to start. The place I go to can special order your games.
@Chris Lightfellow A Tales game does not always need Mystic Artes to be fun or good. Just look at Symphonia when it first came out or even Phantasia.
The franchise really lends itself to having a divided fanbase due to the games being largely standalone, but also on a huge range of different consoles.
Instead of top 5. The number one tales game would always be Symphonia for me. Now looking forward to playing Tales of Arise. I just preordered it. And it comes in the mail tomorrow! 😘
tales of symphonia is my favorite of the series and others disagreeing will not effect my life.
divide....and enjoy.
It's almost hard to actually make a top 5 Tales games in a particular order because for me personally, I like all of those games for completely different reasons and it doesn't feel like some of these games are developed to compete or be better than the other. But to be special and fantastic in their own rights. I think people need to realize that your not obligated to pick and choose which game to be over or less than the other. You don't have to choose a favorite. You can like the majority of games on this list all together for completely different reasons and that's okay!
I mean, my favorite Tales game is Symphonia because of the magnificent story, great music, and characters that it'd had, but I also like Xillia, Graces F, and Beseria just as much for the same reasons. But the thing is that those games went their own direction and I feel like that's what makes them special.
Destiny R (director cut) had most fun battles, but I really hate how this battle system feels in 3d for newer games
My favorite games probably trio of Symphonia/Abyss/Vesperia
I would love for Destiny's remake and its sequel to be given the HD Remaster treatment. AND get localized. Destiny, Abyss, and Graces (f) are my three favorites (and #1 is either Destiny or Abyss depending on my mood); I need this to happen.
My ideal kind of games is one where I like the characters at least, the story could be crap, but as long as the characters are good I can enjoy it. Though in some cases...a certain character can make it hard to replay. In this case I have trouble replaying Abyss because of Luke's personality at the beginning, love the game to death and it was my first. My top five are: Xillia/Xillia 2, Zestiria/Berseria (I'm playing them both at the same time), Vesperia, Abyss, and Symphonia/Symphonia 2. I do like Graces, great game, though I find some characters really lacking, mostly it's just Cheria, and I say that only because I have grown fond of Pascal and Hubert by the point in the game I am at. For that reason I have trouble getting into Graces sadly...I think it's a great game though.
Hmmm that's wierd cheria didn't really feel "lacking." that's just You mate lol
I think the weak performance of Destiny and Eternia has a lot to do with lack of availability. In North America, both have only ever been released on the original PlayStation with no rereleases, and on the second hand market you're looking at $70+ US for Destiny and over $150 for just a loose disc of Eternia. I know Eternia has a rerelease in PAL regions for PSP, but to my knowledge it isn't available digitally, and PSP isn't a wildly popular console in the US and PAL regions
agree. I played eternia, but couldn't play Destiny, Legendia or Rebirth, cause it wasn't released in Europe. and even "the Abyss" was only released on 3DS in Europe. I still wish it would have a remake, like Vesperia now got. I prefer playing on playstation, instead of a handheld console. I bet alot of tales fans wish for a remake of abyss here in europe.So..yeah it's hard to count some of the older ones, when it wasn't released everywhere and I'm probably not the only european watching those videos here xD
Glad to see Vesperia got the most number one picks. Admittedly I have not played every Tales game but of what I have played I adore Vesperia for many reasons and cannot wait till the remaster comes out later this year!
Thank you, this was very helpful. Getting a straight answer on which is the best Tales game is hard.
I’ll subscribe Jay RPG, looks like you’re the only channel who talks about the Tales series here on RUclips
Honestly, I see the fandom praising Symphonia and Vesperia the most while hating on most of the other ones - I will probably play Vesperia when the remake happens but right now I don't have a favorite Tales game, per se.
The Xillia 2 stat didn't actually surprise me
I think the people who are going to like it are going to LOVE it, and as someone who has mostly played the newer games it felt like the most "complete" game of them all. The world felt like a real place and the amount of content was INSANE.
Personally my favorite is Graces and Vesperia. But I still love all tales games, none are truly bad to me. That’s just my opinion.
It is pretty great and interesting to see which Tales game the community likes more and their reasons why they like it so much. And I thought that the fact that the community is divided would be something bad, but actually is not. As I mentioned before, everyone (or mayority) give good reasons of why they like a Tales game more than another. I personally don't think there is a Tales game that is objectively bad, except maybe Tempest, and I think is more mediocre than bad (which is not the same). I actually think that almost every Tales game is kinda underrated (specially outside of its community).
My favorite personal it's between Berseria, Graces and Symphonia. I'm gonna be able to play Vesperia when the definite edition comes out, I didn't wanted to buy an Xbox 360 just for 2 games that I wanted (the other one was Alan Wake).
I view the spread of loved games as a good thing. It means the series is relatively consistent in overall quality and regularly produces games that appeal to a variety of people in different ways.
Tales of Graces is underrated to me when it comes to tales games. The greatest combat out of all the games that has so many possibilities on how you can combo. The mystic artes system rewards you abusing that combo system. The story was on the weaker end but it was still enough to hold attention when you spend the time doing as many side stories along the way as possible. The main story only shines when you take the time to do all of this.
Vesperia will always be the benchmark for a quality Tales game! Thats my number 1
This was a fun video to watch!
For me the reason Tales of Graces F ranked in my top 5, is that even though some gameplay things were not on point, that i absolutely LOVED the story of this game. That made me rank it in my top 5. But well for me, the story plays a big role. so graces f got higher in my list, cause of it's story. my order was vesperia, symphonia, xilia, abyss and Graces F...but not that i don't like the other aswell. for example i really liked Hearts R and Berseria aswell for it's story. i can't tell about phantasia, destiny and legendia.haven't played them, but from the list Symphonia 2 is the baddest. There were even some thing i wasn't happy about the story. But it's quiet fun to see how devided the fanbase of those games is. but not surprised at all, that vesperia, symphonia and abyss build the top 3. heard alot, that those three are really popular from the games.
I wonder how much what a fan’s first Tales game and how old they were when the played it impact these choices. That might also impact what gets first place.
Mine would be:
Abyss
Xillia
DotNW
Symphonia
Xillia 2
I know a lot of people don’t like DotNW and I know the fact that it was my first Tales game probably has a lot to do with this, but I genuinely loved it. Had I played Symphonia 1 first, I probably would have felt differently.
I’m surprised at how much hate Zesty gets. I couldn’t get into it, but that’s because I liked Xillia’s darker and more complex story and Zestiria seemed to go in the opposite direction.
Great video.
I suppose with how much hate it gets, I'm surprised Dawn of the New World actually had several people favoring it, and placing it at the top of their list specifically above Symphonia itself. I wouldn't place it above the big three personally (Symphonia, Vesperia, and Abyss, in the order I'd probably rank them) but I'd consider it of pretty high regard. The biggest complaint I see tends to derive their anger towards the fact that it doesn't bode well as a sequel, but I personally found it absolutely charming while treating it like a separate title altogether. Emil was distinctly different from our usual hot blooded Tales protagonists, and I kind of wish the monster ally function was brought into other Tales games.
I wish I could give more speculation, but sadly I've only played five Tales titles ^^" And I'd hardly consider Legendia a title (sorry to anyone who's fond of it! It just wasn't my cup of tea), so I couldn't even muster the heart to give it the fifth spot even though it's one of those five games. I've technically played all of five minutes of Zestiria...until my laptop crashed. Steam made me keep the game because I didn't know I could "return" a game until after their deadline >_>
If you really wanted to reach, you could say that the fan base is divided, but divided usually comes with this negative connotation, which I really don't think is the case here. Sure, there are some negative specs here and there (the hate that Zestiria and DTNW get comes to mind) but the division is solely because there are so many games within the franchise that may or may not connect with each other, and everyone is bound to love something about certain games, and dislike things about others. Just for an example, I played almost all of these with my best friend during college. I loved Emil, he pissed her off until the end of the game. I wanted to bury Raven in a random ravine, she liked his cocky humor (but she didn't like Jade's cocky humor, which baffles me). I liked Symphonia's slow pace, she liked Vesperia's fast pace. Yet we still laugh, debate, and are wholly excited for any and all remakes we get! So yes, we're divided, but only because there's so much to love ^_^
Tales of Destiny DC
Tales of Vesperia (PS3)
Tales of Rebirth
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Graces f.
People who never played the jp titles missed out the best shit, especially gameplay.
is there a 100% english patch foe Rebirth?
You put Destiny DC higher than PS3 Vesperia? Even though my first tales game is Destiny I like Vesperia more.
Tales of Rebirth is just like Legendia
Which one do you recommend for PSP?
I love u so hard rn
I'd put Destiny 2 above Destiny DC tho
Here's to hoping we get a remaster of Abyss! We got Vesperia already so I'm happy in the meantime!
Symphonia is my favorite of all time, despite it's many flaws. Nostalgia goggles for my first Tales game.
In terms of ranking the games i played (havent played the whole series through), ToS is my number 1. Followed by Xillia, Vesperia, Abyss, and Eternia in no particular order. And my least favorite two are Graces F and Zestiria, mostly due to battles.
I also have a soft spot for Legendia. It had so many glaring flaws in it's story and battles, but the music is the best in the series and i like the characters. Plus Chloe is my favorite sword user in the series, so there's that too.
Battles:
I prefer the older style tales games in terms of battle systems over the majoruty of Graces the inspired/based systems. I don't dislike Graces style, but i much prefer Symphonia-Vesperia style.
The best battle system, in my opinion, might be unpopular; I don't really keep up with this sort of thing in the community so not sure. Xillia's battle system is my favorite. It was fun and mixed both styles. It had flaws of course, but it meshed them well and was the most fun imo.
File2ish Absolutely love the Xillia battle system, especially Xillia 2 with Ludger's weapon changing abilities and all of the team combo's
Dude we have almost the exact same opinion about everything, I could make a post and id have said all the same things as you
I haven't played a lot of Tales games yet (just got into them maybe 2-3 months ago), but here are all of them I've played thus far in the order I liked them (descending order):
1. Berseria - I loved most of the cast, and I have never rooted more for a protagonist in a game. Velvet rocks. Also, Magilou is hilarious.
Tales of Berseria is the only game from the series I've played, and I loved almost everything except the ending.
YT recommended this to me and I‘ve to say: very interessting information shared with this video 👍🏻
My favorite tales of game is Berseria, followed by Vesperia. Well... Here is my (late)top 5 list
1. Berseria
2. Vesperia
3. Symphonia
4. Abyss
5. Eternia
My least favorite games are:
1. Dawn of the New World
2. Hearts R
3. Xillia
4. Zestiria
5. Xillia 2
Tales of zestiria is masterclass
Oooohhhhhh, nice to see three of my favs in the top 5 :3
As for each of the games (I've played anyway):
Symphonia - Definitely my favorite game from a story and character perspective, I love the themes in that game and how it puts a spin on typical JRPG tropes you normally see. That, and the villain is easily the best in the series by far, I friggin' love Yggdrasial. That said, I really can't come back to the gameplay. It can still be fun, but I do find the more recent games to have far deeper and enjoyable combat systems >w<
Vesperia - From a technical standpoint, I can see this as being the best in the series - Awesome soundtrack, fantastic visuals, high production values, etc. Gameplay was incredibly solid as well, despite it feeling all too familiar to previous games. That said, I actually didn't really care for the story or most of the cast outside of Rita (the rest I found either kind of dull, annoying or not developed enough, and yes, I find Yuri overrated), and most of the villains in that game are some of the worst in the series to date imo (looking at you, Cumore)
Graces f - The art style was slightly off-putting, but I got used to it, and the gameplay was a nice change of pace from what we normally got; it's definitely solid and deep, if not a tad overwhelming. That said, the characters felt VERY one-note and stereotypical compared to previous entries, and the story is one of the most basic ones in the series XD
Xillia - I do have a bias towards this as it was the first Tales of game I picked up. That said, the soundtrack was good stuff, the story, despite having a few hiccups, was overall enjoyable for me, as was most of the cast. The gameplay was also solid as well; despite being more basic compared to Graces f, I love just how combo-riffic the game can be, especially with the addition of air combos. That said, the visual style of the game is kind of muddy, and traveling through the open world areas can be a chore.
Xillia 2 - AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Definitely more polarizing in terms of what I liked and didn't like. Gameplay is easily my favorite in the series to date, I absolutely love how insane combos can be, and Ludger himself is an absolute beast. I do like the darker elements in the story as well, the side-character stories, and the bigger emphasis on a more technological setting. The debt system sucked hard, tho, the story felt VERY choppy because of it, and about 80% of what you do in that game is already done in Xillia. Which is a real shame, because I really wanted to see more of Elympios. I REALLY want to put this game as my number one favorite just because I love the gameplay so damn much, but it's got a lot going against it as well, and I just can't! XP
Zestiria - Oh boy.... While I don't outright hate this game.... it is a mess for a lack of a better word. Combat feels like Graces f lite and is worsened with a VERY unresponsive camera, the equipment system is unnecessarily complicated, the story is just too simple and dull, none of the characters bar Sorey and Rose get much focus making them feel forgettable, and the game makes one too many mind-boggling decisions that set it back behind other Tales of games imo.
Berseria - Definitely a step-up from Zestiria; the story is fantastic at throwing curveballs and making everyone equally likable with their own character arcs, combat is fast-paced and can be very fun, and the game does a really good job with its darker tone, outside of a few "edgy" moments. Music wasn't too memorable imo tho, and traveling through open-worlds feels even WORSE in this game than in Xillia/Zestiria. You do get a faster means of travel, but that's only after about 2/3'ds into the game.
Dawn of the New World - Yeeeeaaaahhhhh, I hate this game. Technically, it's not awful, but it's borderline infuriating what they did to the original cast, the new characters are unbearably annoying, the story is forgettable, and it has some of the worst writing in the series period. Gameplay is at least a little fun, but even that's marred by some pretty BS boss fights, an unnecessary monster Pokemon-type system, and the fact that you can't even play as the OG Symphonia cast unless you're not Player 1.
If I were to rank my top 5 favorite out of the ones I played (doesn't really mean much, but eh), it would be:
1. Symphonia
2. Xillia
3. Berseria
4. Vesperia
5. Xillia 2
My Top 5 are games of the series i have played so here are mine.
1). Vesperia- Not only does this have one of my favorite Main characters Yuri of the series but the world, the designs, the graphics, the battle system are amazing. It's not a typical story of good vs evil but differing opinions on whats wrong vs whats right in the sense of Personal Justice Vs Societal Justice. A well balanced game that is worth replaying over and over again and one i give a perfect 10 to.
2). Berseria- This game is amazing to jump to 2nd place in my all time list. Velvet Crowe is one of my favorite female leads in the series now as she is one of the most complex characters the series has had to offer. The ensemble cast is SO good and well balanced how they play off each other. Not to mention Artorius has to be one of the better antagonists the series has offered in a while. A story of revenge and a tale of anti-heroes fighting Reason with Chaos, this is the game the series needed after Zestiria happened.
3). Legendia- I am still amazed how much crap this game gets from the community. One of the best ensemble casts, with charming side characters and a variety of villains to both hate and sympathize with. Whats unique about this game is it's art style compared to most other games which i find adorable but that cuteness can hide a much darker side the game shows later on. A tale of personal growth for each of the main cast as well as figuring out how to live without prejudice and accepting one another. Plus this game's unique in the fact that it takes place on a giant land made ship, when has the series ever done that?! And by one of the best soundtracks in the series. I still get chills when i hear "The Bird Sings" (can't remember the title)
4). Symphonia- A game the gamecube desperately needed. Symphonia is a bit of a trope fest in terms of it's initial story but the game only gets better with time playing it. Much like Eternia its about two parallel worlds striving to survive. A group of friends must journey in order to stop the world decline and solve the mysteries of the war between half elves and humans. One of the first 3D Tales games that helped the rest of the series in terms of battle and exploration. A great visual style of cel shaded water colors and a good cast of characters.
5). Eternia- This was my very first tales game back when it was called Tales 2 in america on ps1. The game centers around Reid, and Farah, they find a girl their age crashed from a space ship that comes from the world hanging above their own. They must go on a journey to find out how to stop a growing evil that might cause two worlds to LITERALLY collide with one another. A good cast of characters with perhaps one of the more memorable villains of the seires.
Good points on Berseria. When you say "societal justice" about Vesperia, though, you don't mean like "social justice," do you? That's kind of a divisive topic that can hamper good times in a game if it's all politically correct and tries to put me down because I like freedom of speech and the free market...
My favorite is Xillia/Xillia 2 because:
GAIUS
My top 5 Tales games are: 1. Tales of Destiny (my 1st Tale, & 1st in the US, + love the story). 2. Phantasia (WOLF TEAM).
3. Legendia (plus character quests afterwards gave me the feels). 4. Symphonia. 5. Berseria and Graces F are close to tie for 5th.
Graces F is my favorite HD Tales, but Berseria is right about with it, 'cause it's a wee bit darker for a tales game.
Only played Phantasia on GBA, but Wolf Team's remake of *Phantasia Tale* is *still* among my favorites.
I kinda agree with this. Vesperia and Abyss are probably the best ones when it comes to the tales titles released worldwide. I also really enjoy Graces. The story is kinda weak but it has one of the best battle systems in all of Tales. That alone has me rank it pretty high
I think Berseria is one I keep going back to. Having a team of Criminals really stands out compared to other titles. My downside to it is the items and equipment feel lackluster or you have to spend a planet of difficult to grind resources to make things good.
I think its all in the person prefance, some may like the game for either the story, gameplay, character or the world building. Not many people can say that every tales game can be all perfect. Its just either meant for some people to enjoy or the developer wanted to make something new for each tales game instead of being the same.
I love all the tales games I played. I would play the 3ds ones if I could besides tales of abyss i love that one. Each game even the less interesting ones are still fun to play and every cameo and reference makes you love How much you paid attention to the detail
Berseria is my fav. I can’t overstate how well done the worldbuilding, plot, and characters all are.
Great video! I have been a fan since Tales of symphonia, and i believe this game has a massive nostalgia/first time effect.
Vesperia is the best for me, and i say this without nostalgia since i only experienced the PS3 version pretty late.
I think grace F is the most fun.... it just have a lots of hate for the departure of many habits people have but i think the gameplay is the pure essence of what tales of should be.
Voilà!
Division is good in my eyes sometimes, it means we have a lot to choose from.
1. Berseria
2. Graces F
3. Abbys
4. Xillia
5. Symphonia
can't wait to play vesperia remaster. very curious and excited. People said its the best tales. Lets see...
I am kinda shocked that people would hate graces f. Sure its not the best tales of game but it does lay the ground for all the more recent ones in terms of combat.
I hate the combat. Needs to go away.
I don't really have a lot of complaints about any of the Tales games I've played. I have only played Zestiria, Berseria, Symphonia, and Vesperia (as I am a PC player). But I've only beaten Zestiria. I mostly judge the games based on the characters, then the story, then the game play. I'd say I loved like 96% of all of the characters in every Tales game I've played. I really do think the characters are what makes the Tales games so good, just because of the interactions and how much personality they have. A game that makes the characters feel real and not 2 dimensional is a really good game in my opinion. I do think Zestiria's characters are good. The only characters that I found somewhat boring was Rose and Dezel. I feel like they deserved more time in the game, because what it seemed the game was going for with them needed more depth and information, but even then they are still slightly above average as characters for me. The story was a very interesting idea, I just think there was wasted potential. There could've been a lot more that could've made the game feel more like an adventure to stop malevolence. Finally, I think the ending was pretty abrupt since I didn't know the game was ending, and the ending itself was depressing as fuck. Zestiria was the first Tales game I've played, and I did have a very enjoyable time with it, and hearing other people talk about the others being "better", I have high hopes since it only goes up from here. I do think the stories of Zestiria and Berseria make each other better as they are from the same world, but I can't really forget how Zestiria got me so interested in the Tales franchise to begin with. At the current moment, I think Zestiria is my favorite Tales game. The characters are the biggest thing that matter to me, so as long as there are good characters in my eyes, then it's a good game, and for liking pretty much every character from every game, I think all of the Tales games are worth playing.
I think age would have been an interesting thing to note... simply because of my favorites vs my nephews.
it's late but for me it's:
1. Zestiria
2. Hearts (thought I rather have in mind DS ver since I had no chance to play vitas)
3. Xillia
4.Graces
5.Eternia
Zestiria was the first tales games I played and I genuinely enjoyed it. So far I've only played Berseria after that which I also enjoyed, but one thing I was missing in Berseria was the amazing soundtracks found within Zesti.
Honestly out of all the Tales games, Berseria's combat has to be my personal favorite, the gameplay was really smooth and flexible, the mechanics were fun, even the AI played better than in the previous games. It would definitely be my number one, however, Symphonia will single-handedly get my vote every time for one reason only - Kratos
my fave is the 1st on the series "Tales of Destiny" on PS1 for the nostalgia reason, the hero "country boy" become my meme
alas the 2nd one on PS2 didnt get translated ever, and the fans translation project also stopped in the middle :(.
Floyd Dominique I still like the PS1 version because of it’s weird glitches, I also like the PS2 for different reasons
i really want to play the 2nd one :(
you played it with japanese language?
Floyd Dominique i played it over 10 times even without understanding the story. But discovered the mechanics just by playing. Its a good game.
The ones I will always like regardless is Vesperia, Abyss, Xillia, Eternia. I also put in 100+ hours of PURE CO-OP in these games(playing from 2-4 players) but as a single player run I only played Zesteria/Berseria and Phantasia solo and Phantasia is my top of them all. Nothing can be perfect and always has some flaws depending on ones preferences but more often then not almost all of the Tales games have more positive's then negatives.
Top 5:
1. Symphonia
2. Vesperia
3. Graces F
4. Abyss
5. Berseria
I heven't even beaten Berseria and Abyss yet so I can't really place them high for now. However Symphonia's story and fighting mechanics is something that I hold very dear to me.
The fanbase is partly divided because of the different styles of storytellinf the different teams working in titles . Graces and zestiria both was made made by the same team and was pretty much horrible, while abyss and vesperia was made by another team and was great , for example. I dont remember how many are there but you can see the similarities in the games i mentioned. Xillia and berseria shares common art styles and has darker themes so i think they were made by the same peoples too.
I personally played Abyss, Eternia, Symphonia, Berseria, Zestiria and Legendia. And if I were to sort them from best to worst it would be like this:
1. Abyss (Very good story, best characters, setting, battle system and music)
2. Eternia (A slightly dumped down version of Abyss)
3. Symphonia (Best story wise, lots of twist, but loses in all the other aspects to the 2 above)
4. Berseria (Didn't really like the new battle system, but awesome story and characters, the dungeons and towns were kinda dull as well as the sidequests)
5. Zestiria (A dumped down version of Berseria)
6. Legendia (Didn't actually finish it, lost my save file after 12 hours of gameplay and never came back, but didn't impress me much, though I liked the setting)
I loved Zesty!
1. Zestiria
2. Abyss
3. Berseria
4. Graces F
5. Xillia
Symphonia 1 was my first tales but just because it was doesn't mean it was my favorite. At that time it was but I discovered more Tales games afterwards and enjoyed them more. Also probably because I played the shit outta Symphonia that I got burnt out on it lol
Haven't played Vesperia but waiting for the remaster. And Zesty was the game that got me back into tales games and made me wanna play graces, berseria, xillia etc... Zest made me a tales fan. :)
I don't care if people hate it. Yes it has its flaws but I still love it. Just took some time to learn the mechanics of the game. And the camera that's easy to fix lol
Woah dude. me too! I love Zesty!
So yeah my favorites are
1. Phantasia
2. Hearts R
3. Destiny
4. Graces F
5. Abyss
Guess I'm really strange....:/
Well, I kind of like when people in fandom have different opinions, that means no matter how unpopular your opinion is there is a person who understands you
i know this isn't the vid to post it here but i will anyways: Top 5 Tales game fore me are:
-Xillia
-Graces F
-Xillia 2
-Berseria
-Zestiria
Tales of phantasia/destiny/eternia for snes/ps1 hold the top spot for me in general. Their stories were interesting and well executed, but you could clearly see the evolution of the Linear Motion battle system over the course of time. By the time eternia came out it really felt like i was in complete control of my character during fights. It was to the point where i was inputting and practicing fighting moves and combo's like i would in a fighting game like Street Fighter. In a JRPG no less. To this day i've never seen/played anything like that level of control in a JRPG. I left the tales series for a long time after that and came back on a whim with Graces R. And while it was an interesting game, it just didn't have that level of control. Combined with the 3d battle environment, it felt much more button mashy and limited then the Linear motion battle system used in the 2d snes and playstation era games. I'm glad there are still people out there that remember and liked those older games enough to have them #1 on their list. I would of really liked to see a 2d game today utilize an updated version of that battlesystem. Would be glorious.
My top 5 is
1 Vesperia -Yuri has got to be the best mc! The search for ones own justice is so damn compelling! and the characters are so awesome plus the name of the game is what they're group is called. I simply cannot wait til the remake is released!
2 Berseria - Finally a lead female (not a choice like Xillia) roll and you play as the antagonist
3 Graces F- The Colors! aside from that this was my 1st time not playing as the mc, I loved Pascal!
4 Xillia- This story was brilliant, with the choice to choose between mc's.
5 Symphonia- Nostalogia for me, it's my 1st Tales. The story was amazing, the characters were lovable but Battle system I cannot return to
Good list and informative vid. Personally I love Zestiria...Not as much as Xillia and Berseria, but I enjoy my time with it from beginning to end (okay minus the iris gems LOL) Haven't played Vesperia, but seeing the definitive edition is coming I pre-order it. I now started playing Graces F and so far I am enjoying it.
1. Symphonia
Not just for nostalgia but because it was a fantastic story and I have played it so many times because the affection guide made me want to. The fighting system has admittedly aged badly but the rest of it is still fantastic. It wasn't the perfect cast as Persea was literally a drag due to her condition and I question the choice to make her playable.
2. Vesperia
Who didn't love this game. And now having played the definitive edition I'm pleased as punch. It was a lovely cast and I really enjoyed all aspects of it. The cast was near perfect. Not quite which leads into my next choice.
3. Graces F
The story was fun but the camraderie of the cast being kids to start with and growing up seperated and then rejoining for a whirlwind adventure was fantastic. Hands down the more complete cast in my opinion because everyone played so well off the others, even those who hadn't been there long. It made the story a more emotionally charged one and the fighting system is one of my favorites.
4. Abyss
It's been years since I played it but I still look back on it fondly. Such a fun game. I loved the story and what fun twists, ones that almost rivaled Symphonia's. The cast was great though Tear was annoying and I felt the relationship with her and Luke was admittedly uncomfortable considering he was legit a 7 year old. I wish they had pushed that on the back burner as the strained couple of Asch and Natalia was way more interesting. I'm still sad I didn't get a chance to choose which Like lived tbh. They missed a fun chance for some replayability.
5. Berseria
It might have gotten fourth but because alot of the emotion relied heavily on Zesteria it gets fifth. Not gonna lie. It was stupid easy. The combat system was kinda meh. But I loved the story and the cast. It was neat playing something connected to another game like that. And seeing how things changed and shifted from one to the next. It made me pull Zesteria back it which I felt wasn't as strong at all. Which I feel is a fair point for both games. Berseria is a better story on the surface but it gets some added depth only because Zesteria existed. And I can not express my love for Laphicet enough. Hands down one of my favorite Tales characters. His development was amazing.
6. Zesteria
It was honestly a weaker game for me. I felt like it had heart but the character swaps were awkward. I hated Rose. I never full understood why she was there. But Zavied was a fantast switch for that guy who had been there before. That whole part honestly was lost on me.
That aside though it was fun. The maps were too big though. Plz goodness the Geo board in Berseria saved my life. The story itself was interesting though and I did like Sorey and Mikleo and of course no awkward romance to be seen. But even if it had flaws I honestly felt Berseria added a lot of weight to it. I feel like both games need one another to matter which is odd to say but there it is.
I won't bother listing more but I'll say Symphonia two was utter trash. And I did play Xillia but I hated Milla so much I couldn't enjoy it. Which was a shame because it had such a good supporting cast and then there was Milla who was like a giant, boring log in the middle of what could have been a fabulous buffet. The gross encroaching, romance they forced down my throat with Jude and Milla was so uninspiring. I never felt the chemistry and it really just killed the experience. Heck I didn't even beat it properly. I watched the end online. Unpopular opinion but it was just hard to get around that unnecessary romance. I refuse to even look in Xillia 2's direction because of it.
I'm fairly confident that Vesperia would be far and away the most well regarded game in the series if more people had a chance to play it. Given that this is largely a list made by Western fans, their only chance to play the game was on the 360. While the 360 did well in the West compared to Japan, it wasn't exactly the console that RPG lovers flocked to, so it had such a low amount of Tales fans that could actually play the title for the last ten years. In general, most Tales fans agree that the Team Symphonia games are among the best in the series, if not the three best. Vesperia was easily the most polished and refined of the three, particularly due to it being on a more powerful console than Symphonia+Abyss were and that would definitely work in its favor.
The biggest divide for Tales fans tends to be characters. Few people think that the Tales of games have stellar stories, but if someone likes the cast of characters enough, it'll make the story more enjoyable despite any weaknesses it may have. Abyss is usually the easiest way to see this in action. There are a lot of people who adore the cast and rank them among the all time best RPG casts. Others can't find a single likeable character in the bunch and have to really struggle to find enjoyment in watching their stories unfold. Vesperia, Berseria and Symphonia have pretty well received casts overall an thus thier usual placements near the top of lists.
While the gameplay of the series is a huge part of why people enjoy it, a game such as Graces F which is easily a top 3 game from a gameplay standpoint is often regarded as lesser than Symphonia or even Xillia due to their casts being stronger than Graces. While poor gameplay can be enough to really hinder a game's reception (i.e. Zestiria), great gameplay doesn't guarantee a spot high up on the list. The fan base is definitely split on whether or not they like the Team Symphonia style of gameplay or the more recent Xillia, Zestiria, Berseria style. That being said, I know of more than a few fans who like Berseria more than Vesperia, for example, due to the cast being strong enough to negate their dislike of the gameplay in comparison to Vesperia.
The series has a lot of core elements, but few consistencies beyond that. I think that fans who have played most or all of the games do have a relative consensus on top 5, but such few Tales fans have played more than five of the games in the first place that it starts to get really iffy when you break it all down.
Last one. My favorite list gameplay 1.tales of graces 2. Tales of the abyss. 3. Tales of xillia 4. Tales of symphonia 5.tales of bersteria. And my favorite story list. 1. Tales of the abyss. 2. Tales of graces. 3. Tales of symphonia. 4. Tales of xillia. 5 tales of symphonia. Knights of rhatostask. This is before playing tales of vesperia. I hope this game blows my expectation. This game will be my top 3 if I get to play with flynn
Symphonic got me into the Tales games but Vesperia will always be number 1. It has the best battle system imo and that's what it's all about in RPG's.