Just purchased this game a few weeks ago (luckily, found a copy at a used game store) and beat this game recently on the 3DS. I've got to say, it rivals the classics I've played like Symphonia & Vesperia. Crossing my fingers for a Switch and/or Steam port.
Man, I have such fond memories of playing this on PS2. It was such a great game to play after playing (and loving) Tales of Symphonia a couple years prior. I was so obsessed with this game that I even did a REALLY bad cosplay as Dist at my local anime convention that year. Makes me miss the good old days. Thanks for your great review!
Do this day, Abyss is my favorite in the Tales series. I loved the characters and the story. I'll say this to the day I die and even after. I love this game.
This has got to be my favorite game in the entire franchise. The story, characters and their growth/development, world building, and lore is peak writing. There are flaws here and there and the combat while still somewhat limited is still solid and fun to play. While other Tales games have evolved and are good in their own rights………..but there’s something about Abyss that I keep coming back to. 10/10 game.
I agree about character development and growth. That's it. I found this game very repetitive and boring. Played only three other Tales games, Phantasia, Eternia and Symphonia. I'm 35 hours in on Abyss and I think I'm going to toss it aside because I think it's that bad.
@@coxxycabee Narrative wise, it think it has the best story in the series. The combat system is dated; no doubts there but to say it’s a bad game is some serious 🧢.
@Jordan Jackson I have searched around and you're right. I'm in the minority. I'm just expressing my opinion. The game just seems like such a choir, going back and forward to the same old towns over and over just to read a little extra dialogue with a hundred skits in-between where only 1% of them matter at all. Anyway, I don't mean to be downer. I'm not telling anyone not to like this game. For me, it just doesn't do it for me.
@@coxxycabee To be fair, those are valid criticisms. I think a lot of it is unnecessary padding that could have been cut or at least been shortened. The No-voice skits are dated and it does get tiresome after the first few hours and most are for slapstick humor. However, I enjoyed my time with it and I get that it just didn’t hit all the right buttons for you. Maybe one day it will but there are always other games in the series that can grab your attention.
@@coxxycabee The only thing I disliked about the game is that they made hard mode extremely difficult. Unless you're doing fonic artes on the bosses regular attacks do just 1 damage. This was my only complaint about the game, otherwise I really liked it.
If there's one thing abyss has that I can't find anywhere else in the series, it's the speed of the combat. All your characters attack and move very fast and it feels nice to go ham on mobs. Playing vesperia, the combat doesn't really feel great until the near endgame.
Honestly, I'm so glad I got TotA on 3DS back when it came out. Replaying it lately after my run with Symphonia on Switch and while I won't get into some issues with the ver. of Symphonia in English outside of Gamecube it really is a solid game but Abyss is blowing it outta the water! It's like people who love FF7, but then say FF8 or 9 were better objectively. I do want to say a few things I'd like to note about the PS2 and 3DS versions though. Firstly, and why I returned my copy on PS2 for Abyss is that the PS2 ver. at least in my experience and from what I've seen online is that it has horrible loading times. 3DS fixed this. Also, the 3DS port in either of the 3 regions are based on the NA version since it was the completed version with extra content. So the Japanese got a better deal with it on 3DS. I also really appreciate them keeping the instrumental intro on 3DS like PS2 had versus Symphonia for example that opts for the Gamecube and PS2 songs in Japanese lyric. If you like those, that's cool but I wish that epic orchestra was an option too. At least Vesperia keeps the English version of that games intro that the Japanese singer did as well. Anyway, this game deserves a port just like Graces f or Xillia. C'mon Bamco!
Great video.The character development in this game is superb. He kinda reminds me of Etzio from assassin's creed series (I know they are in different planets but the character develepmont of main protagoinst and him terning from some ignorent guy to a mature man are kinda the same.) The main problem with older tales series is lerning game systems. I had a nightmare with symphonia and it took some time to get acquainted with systems. After that it's smooth sailing for the rest of the games and similar one's in tales series.
I haven’t had that problem too much with Tales but I also haven’t gotten the chance to play a lot of the older games (because Bandai refuses to make money by porting them to PC or modern consoles), but I’m sure there’d be some learning curves with some of the systems
I've got so many fond memories of this game. It's my favorite tales game that I've played and has some of my favorite characters. I keep bouncing off Berseria for some reason, I still need to give Arise a go.
I enjoyed watching Luke grow and change just like he promised he would and his team always holds him accountable. Luke went from being a spoiled brat that didn't accept responsibility for anything that he did to becoming a strong leader.
I’m not gonna lie I stole this from Walmart when I was young boul 🤣🤣 and I loved it and I made sure to pre order or buy every one they dropped for the consoles I own going forward and I’ve played and beat 10 games so far love the series
I used to love this game, sad I can't get to any of my saves anymore cause my ps2 doesn't work anymore and the cartridge of 3ds I played it on is a friend's of mine so I don't actually have it. Hope to some day have it on pc
Man, I really regret not buying this for the 3DS. The last price that I saw it at my local game store was at $25 and I refused it because I thought that all of the Tales of Series suffered from large random encounters.
Oh that would have been a great price to get it at, hopefully they make a port now that the 3DS is pretty much shutting down so more people can play the game.
Sigh... Welp I guess I'm adding this game to the list of games I can't play now because smoothbrains in the comments cant refrain from revealing major spoilers.
Im currently playing Tales of Symphonia on Steam, but I would have loved if Abyss was on Steam too. Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorites but comparing it to Tales of the Abyss, TOA wins when it comes to Battle mechanics
I can really only speak to the 3ds version which is more than fine in my opinion. I know people who swear by the PS2 though so I don't really think you can go wrong.
@@CommRioI’m from Europe so 3DS for me lol, so I have a steam deck and have the PS2 version on there but I kinda prefer the 3DS version. We NEED a remake on the PS5/PC stat!
No one should ever play this trash heap of an overrated nightmare! The games biggest flaw isn't even its horrible characterization. It makes the mistake of telling you a story instead of showing you a story. They blabber on about diplomatic minutia without ever forming a surreal connection with any of the characters. Why would this worlds politics matter to someone that wasn't enticed into feeling a connection with it in the first place. The whole time I was waiting for some big unveiling to make me feel the turbulence of the plot but nothing ever happened. By the time I found out the protagonist was a clone I was already in denial of being bored to death. The gameplay was half-assed compared to Symphomia. Every new move was a variation of the moves you already learned and you couldn't even chain more than two attacks which eliminates the appeal and makes the game a monotonous punishment. Why would the developers want to pump out a disgruntled caricature of it's previous title? I felt like an errand boy living out a banal sisyphean sentence. People are exalting this game to the edifice of divinity but it's just a slovenly abstract counterpart to better games like Graces and Symphonia. Outside of those two games the tales series is an absolute joke.
To this day I can hear Yuri Lowenthal yelling replica
Tales does love characters yelling names and or titles at our main protagonists
Luke has the best character development in jrpg history
Sure, going from a dickhead to a crybaby sure is best character dev !
Best no, one of? Yes
I hope this gets a new port as this is my second favourite tales of game.
Me too
We actually need a sequel... or maybe a REMAKE like FF7 REMAKE....
what's your first?
@@joshuaryanbonifacio2710 Vesperia
Definitely a game worthy of a HD port. Especially on the switch.
Just purchased this game a few weeks ago (luckily, found a copy at a used game store) and beat this game recently on the 3DS. I've got to say, it rivals the classics I've played like Symphonia & Vesperia.
Crossing my fingers for a Switch and/or Steam port.
Abyss beats versperia so far into the ground it's not even funny.
Man, I have such fond memories of playing this on PS2. It was such a great game to play after playing (and loving) Tales of Symphonia a couple years prior. I was so obsessed with this game that I even did a REALLY bad cosplay as Dist at my local anime convention that year. Makes me miss the good old days. Thanks for your great review!
You're welcome and hey with the Tales of Symphonia remaster maybe there's still hope for Abyss coming to modern consoles
What would I give for a remastered collection of tales of games on modern hardware…
Great video :)
Bandai Namco is seriously leaving money on the table not porting past Tales games to modern consoles or PC
I really really hope Abyss gets a remaster or remake. This game is still the best Tales game for me after all these years
It more than deserves a good remaster (emphasis on good)
man i was just reminiscing about this game... my all-time favorite i hold up as the metric to judge other tales games
It might not be my all time favorite Tales game, but it's up there
It's the goat of The tales series
Hope this game get a remake into nintendo switch
man I want this to get a port/remake to modern consoles SO BAD
If we keep yelling at them we can make it happen! (hopefully)
I was playing any game when I was 14 years old he completed everything
Just recently finished my playthrough of abyss, and man this gsme just blew me away
Do this day, Abyss is my favorite in the Tales series. I loved the characters and the story. I'll say this to the day I die and even after. I love this game.
This has got to be my favorite game in the entire franchise. The story, characters and their growth/development, world building, and lore is peak writing. There are flaws here and there and the combat while still somewhat limited is still solid and fun to play. While other Tales games have evolved and are good in their own rights………..but there’s something about Abyss that I keep coming back to. 10/10 game.
I agree about character development and growth. That's it. I found this game very repetitive and boring. Played only three other Tales games, Phantasia, Eternia and Symphonia. I'm 35 hours in on Abyss and I think I'm going to toss it aside because I think it's that bad.
@@coxxycabee Narrative wise, it think it has the best story in the series. The combat system is dated; no doubts there but to say it’s a bad game is some serious 🧢.
@Jordan Jackson I have searched around and you're right. I'm in the minority.
I'm just expressing my opinion. The game just seems like such a choir, going back and forward to the same old towns over and over just to read a little extra dialogue with a hundred skits in-between where only 1% of them matter at all.
Anyway, I don't mean to be downer. I'm not telling anyone not to like this game. For me, it just doesn't do it for me.
@@coxxycabee To be fair, those are valid criticisms. I think a lot of it is unnecessary padding that could have been cut or at least been shortened. The No-voice skits are dated and it does get tiresome after the first few hours and most are for slapstick humor. However, I enjoyed my time with it and I get that it just didn’t hit all the right buttons for you. Maybe one day it will but there are always other games in the series that can grab your attention.
@@coxxycabee
The only thing I disliked about the game is that they made hard mode extremely difficult. Unless you're doing fonic artes on the bosses regular attacks do just 1 damage. This was my only complaint about the game, otherwise I really liked it.
This game deserves to have a REMASTER
Agreed
This was my first tales game ever and since then I've played every single one
Congrats, playing all of them is definitely not easy given all the different consoles they're on
@@CommRio that's the power of piracy baby
If there's one thing abyss has that I can't find anywhere else in the series, it's the speed of the combat. All your characters attack and move very fast and it feels nice to go ham on mobs. Playing vesperia, the combat doesn't really feel great until the near endgame.
Bought a brand new PAL copy a few months ago for like, £30. Was shocked at how easy this game was to get and look forward to playing it soon!
Nice, haven't seen a copy that low in price in my time of searching but glad it worked out for you
Honestly, I'm so glad I got TotA on 3DS back when it came out. Replaying it lately after my run with Symphonia on Switch and while I won't get into some issues with the ver. of Symphonia in English outside of Gamecube it really is a solid game but Abyss is blowing it outta the water! It's like people who love FF7, but then say FF8 or 9 were better objectively.
I do want to say a few things I'd like to note about the PS2 and 3DS versions though. Firstly, and why I returned my copy on PS2 for Abyss is that the PS2 ver. at least in my experience and from what I've seen online is that it has horrible loading times. 3DS fixed this. Also, the 3DS port in either of the 3 regions are based on the NA version since it was the completed version with extra content. So the Japanese got a better deal with it on 3DS.
I also really appreciate them keeping the instrumental intro on 3DS like PS2 had versus Symphonia for example that opts for the Gamecube and PS2 songs in Japanese lyric. If you like those, that's cool but I wish that epic orchestra was an option too. At least Vesperia keeps the English version of that games intro that the Japanese singer did as well.
Anyway, this game deserves a port just like Graces f or Xillia. C'mon Bamco!
Great video.The character development in this game is superb. He kinda reminds me of Etzio from assassin's creed series (I know they are in different planets but the character develepmont of main protagoinst and him terning from some ignorent guy to a mature man are kinda the same.) The main problem with older tales series is lerning game systems. I had a nightmare with symphonia and it took some time to get acquainted with systems. After that it's smooth sailing for the rest of the games and similar one's in tales series.
I haven’t had that problem too much with Tales but I also haven’t gotten the chance to play a lot of the older games (because Bandai refuses to make money by porting them to PC or modern consoles), but I’m sure there’d be some learning curves with some of the systems
Love this game! I’ve been waiting for a modern port to steam for ages… A remaster touching it up would be even better!
Both of those would be more than welcome
Just seeing if i wanted to play this game... I am going to give it a play now. Thanks.
My beloved ❤ how I miss this game. Nothing beats a first play through 😢
I've got so many fond memories of this game. It's my favorite tales game that I've played and has some of my favorite characters. I keep bouncing off Berseria for some reason, I still need to give Arise a go.
I enjoyed watching Luke grow and change just like he promised he would and his team always holds him accountable. Luke went from being a spoiled brat that didn't accept responsibility for anything that he did to becoming a strong leader.
I’m not gonna lie I stole this from Walmart when I was young boul 🤣🤣 and I loved it and I made sure to pre order or buy every one they dropped for the consoles I own going forward and I’ve played and beat 10 games so far love the series
A crime that lead to passion
@@CommRio a crime of passion if you would say 🤣🤣
Picking this up for the 3DS this month.
This also same title with:
"Why Bamco must remastered this game!"
Yep pretty much
I used to love this game, sad I can't get to any of my saves anymore cause my ps2 doesn't work anymore and the cartridge of 3ds I played it on is a friend's of mine so I don't actually have it. Hope to some day have it on pc
This game is worthy of a remake. Like full current gen from the ground up remake.
It is worthy now if only Bandai Namco were willing to do a from the ground up remake of any of their games
Man, I really regret not buying this for the 3DS.
The last price that I saw it at my local game store was at $25 and I refused it because I thought that all of the Tales of Series suffered from large random encounters.
Oh that would have been a great price to get it at, hopefully they make a port now that the 3DS is pretty much shutting down so more people can play the game.
my childhood
im playing it to my xperia 5 using emulator Aether sx2
This tales had great character development because I hated the MC for the first couple of hrs.
Yeah Luke is not particularly likable at first
I remembered being so annoyed with Luke the first time I played😅
And then the second arc hits😭
Sigh... Welp I guess I'm adding this game to the list of games I can't play now because smoothbrains in the comments cant refrain from revealing major spoilers.
Im currently playing Tales of Symphonia on Steam, but I would have loved if Abyss was on Steam too. Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorites but comparing it to Tales of the Abyss, TOA wins when it comes to Battle mechanics
Abyss is definitely a refinement of the Symphonia style combat. It deserves a port at the very least so others can experience it.
i got a 3ds but a computer & steam deck that can run the ps2 version fine emulated which version do i hop on. $$$ aint an issue
I can really only speak to the 3ds version which is more than fine in my opinion. I know people who swear by the PS2 though so I don't really think you can go wrong.
@@CommRioI’m from Europe so 3DS for me lol, so I have a steam deck and have the PS2 version on there but I kinda prefer the 3DS version.
We NEED a remake on the PS5/PC stat!
stil the best tales of!!
sexy voice
unfortunately for the tales series, none of the stories make any sense, and all the characters are archetypal
No one should ever play this trash heap of an overrated nightmare! The games biggest flaw isn't even its horrible characterization. It makes the mistake of telling you a story instead of showing you a story. They blabber on about diplomatic minutia without ever forming a surreal connection with any of the characters. Why would this worlds politics matter to someone that wasn't enticed into feeling a connection with it in the first place. The whole time I was waiting for some big unveiling to make me feel the turbulence of the plot but nothing ever happened. By the time I found out the protagonist was a clone I was already in denial of being bored to death.
The gameplay was half-assed compared to Symphomia. Every new move was a variation of the moves you already learned and you couldn't even chain more than two attacks which eliminates the appeal and makes the game a monotonous punishment. Why would the developers want to pump out a disgruntled caricature of it's previous title? I felt like an errand boy living out a banal sisyphean sentence. People are exalting this game to the edifice of divinity but it's just a slovenly abstract counterpart to better games like Graces and Symphonia. Outside of those two games the tales series is an absolute joke.
I want to see a remake of this
just realized Jades belt is pacman eating pelets lol