can i get a tales of graces f for all of the comments and likes i lost from patrons because i had to reupload this T_T also if you weren't aware, this is a remake of an older video "choosing your first tales game" which is my most viewed video, but no longer public. looking back on it i'm just not proud of it due to a combination of unnecessary and overabundant swearing, trying too hard to be funny imo, and lousy editing. perhaps this is just me being too hard on myself, i think a lot of my videos are trash including ones that are still public, but i just had to remake this. i doubt it'll get the same numbers as last time, but hey, at least i can say that as of now, this is my best video and i undeniably gave it my best effort, so perhaps it'll age better in that aspect. anyway, thanks for watching and reading this comment - if you'd like to watch the original video for some reason, you can view it in my "old videos" playlist, or click the link here: th-cam.com/video/dBuHx-7if44/w-d-xo.html be warned: the original video is bad lol
I actually wanted to watch that video awhile back and was very confused as to why I couldn't find it XD I liked the original, but I really enjoy this version :)
west got Zestiria, Xillia, Xilia 2, Berseria, Arise, a remaster of Vesperia and others. wouldnt say its underrated compared to Samurai Shodown RPG (which SNK are still too foolish to not port/localize it to current consoles). Star Ocean would like as many games and profits. Tales is mainstream in the west and much bigger loyal fanbase compared to SaGa. though yea, it should be more widely popular than FF, Persona (which I think Tales is more popular). Tales is definitely more consistently popular and hyped than Dragon Quest in the west.
@@fivefive9514 facts. Id go as far to say its overrated. SO fan here(mostly just second story) but its fucking sad that tales of is more popular then DQ here.... Also kind of a side note but i feel even real tales fan would say Arise is esp overrated.
@@bojangler9685 whats sad is that DQ for the most part doesnt let players main any party members outside battle. and they only have Female MC in DQ3, 4, 9 and 10. Tales is more considerate of players and less strict than DQ.
I remember getting Tales of Phantasia for my 16th birthday. A friend of mine had gone to gamestop with me and i had shown interest in it, but didn't get it. He got it for me and wrapped it in aluminum foil because he didn't have wrapping paper. Good times.
I started with Symphonia, which was great for me because of the characters. They're still my all-time favorite cast as a whole and the deconstruction of the "Chosen One" storyline was amazing and I'm so glad I went in totally blind so nothing was spoiled for me. The gameplay does feel a little clunky compared to Vesperia (the one I played right after) but the characters more than made up for any personal issues I had with combat.
Symphonia was my first game in the series as well. I played it during a time when my dad was against the internet so I barely had a chance to look things up. It took me years to play and collect all of the titles and finish all of the side content back when it first came out. Although, after experiencing that headache I am all for guides. I will say I hate Vesperia though, its my least favorite game in the series hand down for story and fighting. The characters are meh as well.
Symphonia was a masterpiece down to its last detail. Like not in terms of game design but in terms of RPG. I love the fact that they don't advertise how the choices you make impact the game. even down to the food you choose to cook. Also, I love how they allow you to take the story in any direction and it still flows and makes sense. The game is only linear until the fire temple. After that, you can complete the temples in any order you wish. I do love Vesparia I think from a gameplay design, it is better than Symphonia but I personally thought, Lloyd was a better protagonist than yuri. I like yuri but he's this weird blend between edge lord and Go with the Flow. where Lloyd's character I feel is more genuine.
I remember falling in love with Abyss on my 3DS in high school and impulse bought a ton of Tales games without thinking what to play next. You helped me decide, I'll try Vesperia next. Thank you! Great video!
I'm so happy. Literally NOBODY talks about or even KNOWS this series. It's sad when you literally have no one to talk to about it. The series is so damn beautiful and so underrated. I hope more people will know and love it in the future.
yeah, I never knew Vesperia was the 10th title in the franchise. I thought it was the 1st. Lol. After that, I thought Xillia was the sequel, but come to find out several games released before Xillia. I thought Berseria was the next game & I never knew until now that Xillia had a sequel & Berseria had a prequel. & for the 1st time, I know a Tales game is releasing. Can't for Arise. It looks really great!
Tales been getting ports and localization since PS1. its in a much better level of popularity and profits in the west than SaGa, Star Ocean, Yokai Watch, and even Dragon Quest in the west. Style Savvy would like these numbers.
Oof, your words wound me. That whole Tales Of 25th going absolutely nowhere for new ports to modern consoles made the whole thing feel almost pointless.
Good to know. I started with Berseria because of the accessibility of the language and with this video I fell in love with the saga. Lack of skill frustrates me in Pvp games, so it's time to play some adventures at my own pace.
I actually really appreciate the amount of characters shown in gameplay footage, you don't really see more than MCs played in stock clips talking about Tales. Especially don't see characters like Elize and Presea getting any attention. Idk just thought that was a nice thing to see.
thats because of individual bias and selfserving selfishness. would say the protagonist label should be abolished and condemned and developers should encourage seeing all characters as equals and the party as an ensemble cast instead of labeling someone the MC. giving a character on a MC/protagonist badge promotes arrogance and narcissism and self centered mentalities. the story should write and treat each party member as equal in importance and stay away from chosen one nonsense. its a shame devs and some people defend the traditional hierarchy of character importance which serves selfish political agendas and panders often to one demographic for the most part.
I have searched for a great tales franchise review before and couldnt find one. Now I am super glad you made this. You made me hyped once more for the franchise.
12:30 Yeah I think we're a little late for that. Berseria has become the second Symphonia of the series for the amount of newcomers. If Symphonia is the FFVII than Berseria is the FFX.
Berseria is a great start bevause it's a good game that's easy to get into. Zaffre seems to want to recommend based on the assumption that you WILL become a mega fan, which is risky.
@@sometwithtoomuchfreetim3842 honestly I had way more fun with hearts than berseria. The characters were actually interesting and had good development and the battle was fun without being severely overdone by that point.
@@sometwithtoomuchfreetim3842 I never liked the graces combat so honestly all these countless games still using it were never that fun to me. I will say xillia was the best combat we’ve seen recently. The rest of them were so similar it kept me bored and I honestly fell out of love with the series because they just keep redoing the same stuff.
If only Namco would go back and translate all the Tales Games in English and release them on all platforms Tales fans would be very Elated! I didn't realize how many there were!
The west NEEDS Destiny 2 DC. Particularly with people that loved Graces battle system. Gah, it’s criminal that so many still haven’t played a lot of them. They’re classics.
We're in serious need of Destiny PS2/Destiny 2/Rebirth package tbh. If they can bring over symphonia PS2 and Vesperia PS3 there's no reason not to do this. Don't even put english voice acting. Just translate everything into english script wise. This is the reason we never got graces on the Wii cause they knew f would come out and didn't wanna make the same mistake like they did with symphonia ps2 and vesperia ps3. though why we never got innocence R when we got hearts R still mystifies me.
I haven’t played Abyss yet (but I’m under the impression it’s like the FFVII analogue for Tales) but I’m surprised it has never gotten any PSN release as either a PS2 Classic or PS4 emulation yet.
The Tales franchise made me truly appreciate games,music,characters & voice actors. It will forever be a treasure to me. I am curious also how many start with a Tales of game that really was not a good starting point.
In my experience, a lot of people wind up starting with games that few people would recommend as a starting point, but wind up loving the series anyway.
@Theo Aremevano yeah agreed but in this video if you want to taste the gameplay instead of story' first play xillia 2 is very recommended for casual. I know that grinding in the xillia one and two are different but turns out the reason i like xillia 2 better is the quest reward are decently rewarded because we also has to pay debt *spoiler* and some item in shop is way expensive. Finally, chromatus especially playing casually went the mob or boss is too strong. But i don't know.
It's October 12th, 2021, and I just finished Tales of Arise. It's my favorite JRPG since FF9. Considering that I remember playing Final Fantasy 1 when it first came out on the NES in 1989, I can't believe that such a series has been under my nose this entire time. The characters and stories are unforgettable. Alphen, Shionne, Law, Rinwell, Dohalim, and Kisara have become family members over the last four to five weeks. How could I have not heard of this amazing Tales of series before? They need to do translations of the other games.
I constantly fight with myself about which Tales game is my favorite. Eternia and Abyss are super nostalgic for me. Vesperia, Berseria, Graces, and Xillia have amazing combat, in my opinion. In regards to story, Vesperia, Berseria, and Abyss win for me. TL;DR I love basically all of the tales games that I've had the chance to play, so they're all #1 for me.
This is literally one of the most high quality series review videos I’ve ever seen. Absolutely love seeing other people appreciate the finite details of all the individual games, I’ve only just started the series with arise, but I’ve always been a jrpg action rpg nut. Please continue to make more future videos seriously appreciate your content 🙏🙏
Kind of a weird thing but I am incredibly happy that you mentioned the issue of games losing replayability and people having way too many games on their backlog. It seems like people nowadays have such a fixation with just playing as many games as possible without taking the time to truly love the games that have enough content to sustain them for a long time, and tales is a great example of that.
I like all of them Vesperia and every game that came after that. (Mostly because I haven't played the previous ones) Also, my love of Berseria's main protagonist is directly proportional to how much I love Blazblue's main protagonist.
I just started my first Tales game recently, Tales of Vesperia and I absolutely love it. I’m surprised how this series just went under the radar for me.
It really is an amazing game. I still remember seeing it on the shelf at my local GameStop on sale for $24.99 and thinking eh I have nothing else right now that sounds interesting ima give it a shot. Best thing I have ever done
It's October 12th, 2021, and I just finished Tales of Arise. It's my favorite JRPG since FF9. I can't believe that such a series has been under my nose this entire time. Particularly considering that I remember playing Final Fantasy 1 when it first came out on the NES in 1989. How could I have not heard of this amazing series before?
Hi, I just wanted to say I am a newcomer to the Tales franchise, and this is one of the most welcoming and friendly fanbases I've ever seen. It's so refreshing after years of dealing with annoying jerks that seem to plague JRPG fandoms. (Shin megami tensei/Persona, Final fantasy, YS/Trails, etc)
If only Bandai Namco loved selling this series as much as fan love them -_- For Xillia, I stand by the fact that the Milla playthrough should have been locked until you beat the game with Jude at least once. Still, this is a fantastic guide, and hopefully more people can get into the series! A few notes for anyone who watched the video: Tales of Symphonia is also on Steam and goes on sale fairly often! It was also remastered (along with its sequel) for PS3. And Tales of the Abyss is available for 3DS. If you don't mind (or prefer) handhelds, the 3DS version plays just as well as it does on PS2!
Two things; First Xillia is certainly easy, as long as we forget the final boss, which is in my opinion, harder than all the hidden bosses, including the mysterious orb boss. Second, thank you for zooming in on Rollo. Love that little guy.
I'm so glad that Tales series isn't turned based. I just started Symphonia (GameCube), and I'm in love with the gameplay, that's the most important thing for me.
It's so strange how well you timed this, I randomly tried to rewatch your old video yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I couldn't find it. I thought I was going crazy lol
I LOVE these games! I think you summed things up really well. I especially like getting to know the characters and laughing at the skits like "classic Raven!" because you feel like you actually know them! :) Thanks for the video!
I started playing Tales of the Abyss on 3DS recently and I realized it was part of a series. I've heard of Vesperia and Symphonia before so I'm definitely gonna play those ones.
I started with tales of hearts r. I’m currently playing xilla going for 100% grinding out xp and shop lvl on Jude play through. I’m not finished with Jude’s story yet I think I have 2 or 3 chapters left, I have really enjoyed the story so far. As far as hearts r, I’ve beaten the first play through and grinding points for my ng+. I was hooked on the series after my first play through, I own all the titles on ps 3&4 and arise on ps5.
I'm a Japanese Tales player, and I have a completely different perspective than yours since you recommend skipping the games that didn't make it to the west. I got into the Tales series with the spin-off title of tales of Phantasia, the Narikiri Dungeon 2 on the GBA back in the day. The Narikiri Dungeon spin-off series is set in an alternative universe where all Tales characters are living side by side of each other and facing off a greater threat. The main characters in the Narikiri Dungeon spin-off have the ability to play dress up to other established Tales characters, and you can use their moves while you dress up as them(or you can just invite them to your party and play as them). That game made me curious about all the different characters' backstories, so I went back and played Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, and Tales of Destiny 2. Since then, I have played most mainline Tales, and I played all 3 Radiant Mythology games on the PSP since they're the spiritual successors of the Narikiri Dungeons. I beat them for the sake of the story, but I couldn't get into the 3D combat(or you could say I just suck at them). So my main focus was still on the 2D side of the tales games until they stopped making them. But years later, the Tales of Berseria made finally enjoyed a 3D Tales title with the new and improved combat system. Right now I'm playing through the Tales of Arise and loving it so far. My Tales recommendations for the western fans are: Tales of Hearts for the DS, Tales of Phantasia Narikiri Dungeon X(also include a modernized version of Tales of Phantasia with an all-new story), and Tales of VS. for the PSP. I think you can get the western version of Tales of Hearts on the Vita, but please, if you love Tales, try those games by any means you can. Go find fan translations for them if you can. The combat systems of those games are so smooth and fast pace that I don't think any 3D Tale games have surpassed them yet. Ps, sorry for my long and messy writing. Thinking back on all the tales I've played makes my head jumbled up lol
Berseria wasn't my first entry into the Tales series but it does hold a special place in my heart. It was the first video game that me and my son had in common and played together as a team.
"....with people having hundreds or thousands of games in their backlog for some reason" >Me with over 800 games in my backlog Expendable income can often increase much faster than expendable time :( lol
I just started Symphonia thanks to Fubuki singing the opening. Growing up with the SNES RPGs and then not playing anything of that sort for a long time, I think I'm in for a huge journey.
having played rpgs (even Symphonia) pre-internet, i have to agree on playing the first time blind and just discovering things as you go. it's so easy to find walkthrus and all the secrets spelled out for you now, but really half the fun ultimately of these games is in the discovery. and Tales games are so deep the replay value is tremendous and worth taking your time over several play-thrus rather than maxing out everything the first time. keyword: *play*
I’m about to beat tales of arise and am shocked I’ve never heard of this series before and that Arise isn’t getting the hype it deserves. Divine game. In my top 3. I know it’s different than older entries, and honestly it will probably always be my favorite bc it’s my first, but I’m excited to play some of the other recent games! And to watch some playthroughs of older ones :)
Huge thanks for putting the system list in the description! I've loved the Tales games for years, but because I pretty much only play on Playstation consoles, it's been hard to play them all, for obvious reasons. I don't really care to play games on PC, but am willing to do so if I can use my PS controller, so now I have new access to some of these. The saddest thing ever is seeing that there STILL isn't a way to play Abyss on a current system as it's definitely my favorite of the series that I've played. Thanks for making this video, because this series is still so underappreciated!
The first tales game I played was tales of the abyss, I played many others, but I can't name all of them because it would be a long list, but know that I feel the same way you do about the tales games because they are awesome games.
I've been playing the Tales series since 2004 and played the majority of these titles from Symphonia on and watching this video is making me feel very nostalgic. Each one of these entries brings me back to the time of my life when I was playing them and it's taking me back to memory lane ! Thanks for making this video and oh yeah Tales Of Vesperia is also my favorite RPG of all time !
If anyone's looking at this and going "Well, what about Arise? That's what got my attention." I would say that it should be a very good place to start, but the clause with Berseria and Zestiria does apply here too, in that older games will be pretty different from it. Arise is bringing a lot of changes, but it's also definitely intended to be a viable starting point by the developers.
I started last year with Vesperia. I will play next with Tales of Abyss and then with Symphonia afterwards I think about Phantasia (if it's called like that). Also nice video 👍. Thanks for telling about the artist who made that art.
That's tales of vesperia pro tips is so important. My first playthrough of that game as a 12 year old was don't without any skills because I thought white meant equipped. It was rough but the gameplay and story made it worth it.
I agree with you totally about how Tales handles new game plus. That, along with the difficulty settings, is why I always come back to this series. Abyss remains my fav with like 10 of them tied for 2nd place (Symphonia, Graces, Vesperia, Berseria, Destiny 2 DC etc). That being said, we NEED a Destiny 2 DC high def port! Anyway this is a great video and Tales has been my fav series ever since I got into it in the early 2000s and now I can thankfully say I’ve played them all (minus mobile titles). An incredible series that I’m always happy to give one more play and enjoy the co-op with my partner from time to time.
Graces has the best gameplay. Vesperia has the best side quests. Berseria has the best character casts (imo). Abyss as the best story. Symphonia is very memorable.
@@emeraldwolf3494 BRO. This game has a ton of side quests and a lot of missable ones. I suggest you look up Kouli's Vesperia guide as it is straight to the point
@@knox7945 right now I’m looking for the Krityan city or something after getting Judith back and getting Ba’ul. So I’m not sure how much I’ve missed up until this point.
@@knox7945 the closest thing I’ve gotten to a side quest was when I interacted with Duke early at Daedon Hold. It actually scared me, since I was just exploring the area. I explore quite a lot though and talk to npcs a lot in the towns too, but the only other thing that I actually think is a side quest, which is the giant monster side quest thing. So far I killed a crab thing in a cave for that quest.
Currently playing Vesperia in order to get the platinum, I adore it and I want to show that through getting all the achievements. I absolutely adore the game in every aspect, so much so that I also got it on switch so I can play it again and possible even find things I’ve missed on PlayStation. Naturally once you commented about Vesperia being your favourite, of course I had to subscribe so thank you! Never see the game talked about so very happy I found this video.
This is a fantastic guide! As a Tales of newbie myself, I really wish someone did a guide half as good as this one for SaGa. Picked up Vesperia and first impressions are gleaming with positive takes.
Long time Tales fan - Destiny was my first RPG on PS1 - and your video hits the beats just right. That said, since Life Bottle Productions did the English patch for Destiny Director's Cut on PS2, that makes Destiny more accessible and also gives you a really good, definitive way to play it. If you haven't, check it out, bro. You won't be disappointed.
"Use a guide for hunting down side quests because they're nigh impossible to track on your own... ... especially Vesperia" I felt that. I was halfway through the story and I was wondering when I'd get side quests. Turns out I skipped a bunch already.
After heeding Zaffre's wise words and starting my tales journey with Vesperia DE, I can say without a doubt that it was a fantastic starting point! The world, story, battle system and especially the cast were fantastic! The only gripes I had were essentially boiled down to this game being an older title and not having the quality of life features you'd see in modern JRPGs, but I am absolutely stoked to continue my tales journey which is the biggest compliment I can give!
The first Tales of game I actually played through was Zestiria and I liked it enough to get Vesperia when it first came out on the Ps4. I LOVED playing Vesperia. The characters, story, music, and banter in Vesperia are so amazing that only after playing 1 time that it was already my 2nd favorite game ever. It was after this, I found your channel because I wanted to get more into the series and it is a goal of mine to play all the games in the series. Thank you for all the helpful hints and suggestions you've had by the way! I really enjoy how you love Vesperia as well. I'm currently playing Vesperia a 2nd time now and to be honest, it is even better because I'm much better in combat than the 1st run through and I'm doing all the extras. Only having played it almost twice and I think it is already tied for my favorite game. Anyways, great video and keep up the good work! You've been an inspiration.
I've actually gotten into Tales since like last November starting with Vesperia and it was great. Then went to Berseria next and loved that as well. Good thing I got into this series
as a long time fanatic (started with Radiant Mythology back in 2009) I'm really glad the Tales Of series are getting more recognition as the years go on
Got introduced to the series 16 years ago when a cousin bought Abyss. Very quickly became my favorite series, and the only games that I get really excited for when a new one is announced. Really wish there were proper translations for the earlier titles and Innocence. Great video sir!
I stated with Graces F never beat it beat xillia twice the sequel once. Hearts R I’m at the final boss but stopped to take a break after grinding to 200, Zestetia done twice and bersaria is a Hearts R case without the grinding
I started with the OG Phantasia on the snes, fan translated of course. I was never able to transition to the newer games, specially the 3D ones. (yep, I bought them, gave several hours to them, and they never connected to me the same way Phantasia did) They didn't feel like Tales of Phantasia at all, very different from Final Fantasy where you could easily migrate from FF3, to FF4 to FF5 to FF6, etc, and be familiar with almost everything.
@@ZaffreRevolution thanks! She's also the cutest princess in any sort of media ever and someone that I would love to have as a girlfriend indeed!❤️^-^❤️
Started the franchise with Symphonia back in the day with my brother, we co-oped the entire game then bought Vesperia (and Eternal Sonata which I feel is a cousin to Tales) and co-oped them both together as well, for the longest time, I considered Symphonia to be my favorite of the series and nothing shook that opinion, until I played and beat Tales of Graces F just this past week and... It was a masterpiece. Everything from its combat to its story and lovable cast of characters made me fall in love and even shed a few tears. Tales is such a master class of design and I hope to see Arise bring more people into the fold!
I really appreciate this video and I imagine the algorithm fed it to me after I bought up all my missing Tales games from Steam on special (I'd already received Berseria as a gift that I have been meaning to return to) after very recently raving to my friends about the joy of (and here's where the boos start) clearing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with 100% autocombat on easy mode. It was one of the best JRPG adventures of my extensive lifelong experience (I'm old, I played and beat Final fantasy 1-7 on NA release, then eventually got around to 8-12. Loved every Suikoden too.) because as the genre went more action combat it lost my attention... until I could just customize a loadout and watch a light show, which friends have suggested I might be able to do in the Tales series like I did with XC2. It stands to reason that an intentionally complex action RPG with a party of mostly AI-controlled members, dialed down to easy and rendered fully automatic (as I noticed I could indeed do in Berseria) would mimic a new-ish player learning the game and not playing a JRPG for a challenge to their reflexes (a concept which I never associated with JRPGs anyway). I guarantee that the AI in Xenoblade understood what the hell was going on better than I did, and my full autocombat clear of the core story proved this theory true. I'm hoping to bring this ideal to the Tales series titles available on Steam, and am really looking forward to watching the light show because, honestly, I'll be damned if I knew how to fully control Velvet... but the AI will! There's still gameplay in customizing a loadout and exploring the world, but the more complex and automatable the combat gets, the more an easy mode is almost... obligated to turn combat mastery (or even just... base manual participation) into an optional thing! As a story heavy series, I hope to bring my triumphant XC2 approach to bear on the Tales games to see some wonderful worlds, casts and stories! I'll likely start with Vesperia as you recommend!
Been looking into the Tales series as of late because I watched the gameplay preview for Tales of Arise and it seems like a game I could get really into. Never really knew much about it aside from "People want Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia in Smash Bros". But Arise has caught my attention and I see Vesperia Definitive is available on Xbox Game Pass. So it's nice to hear one of the better entries in the franchise be available to easily play. Will definitely be checking it out before Arise comes out. Thanks for the awesome overview of the series.
A very good guide. Hilariously, my first Tales game WAS Tales of Phantasia for the GBA, and I fell in love with it. I still hold it in high regard, but I've played at least HALF of the games you recommended: Xillia 1 and 2, Dawn of the New World, Vesperia (On the 360), Tales of the World (PSP), Tales of Abyss (Haven't finished, working on that), Tales of Graces F (Notoriously schizophrenic difficulty on that one. o.O), Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise. So, so many. I LOVED each one for their mechanics. Vesperia, naturally is at the top of the list, while Dawn of the New World holds second place for the monster collecting, Graces F holds 3rd for its wild yet intuitive new combat system, and Xillia 2 holds 4th for its bridge between the two styles. But I would like to ask for your opinion on Tales of Zestiria. Is that one in particular worth it for the story or is it garbo? o.o
Longtime Tales fan, and I have some recommendations: space out Xillia from Xillia 2 and Vesperia. Xillia 2 reuses several dungeons as is, so it might feel very samey if you play them back to back. Also, Xillia and Vesperia both share some story similarities regarding energy usage. Aspects of Vesperia fell a little flat for me since I'd played Xillia shortly before it, and I feel it would be the same for others the other way around as well. Luckily, those are the only ones that have those issues. Any dungeon you go back to in Symphonia 2 has been altered due to the first game's storyline, and all other games have very different storylines. I also recommend playing other games between Tales games. Despite having similar battle systems and menus, the buttons change between every single game. Muscle memory is not your friend.
I was needing that ❤️ I love the Tales series and always get bashed for it because none of my friends know the series and they think the amount of dialogue is too overwhelming... The Audacity. Anyway, it's always nice to have someone talk about the series in such a passionate way because I literally grew up playing these games. From the old 2D Era when Tales of and Star Ocean was my go to action RPGs, all the way to the modern titles. The story and characters totally shaped who I am today. Thank you for the video! It warms my heart to know there are passionate Tales fans out there like you ❤️ A tip of newcomers or just Tales fans who haven't played Xillia. DON'T play Xillia 2 right after you finished the first game, you'll die of boredom. I jumped into the second the day after i got the platinum on the first and it was painful. I enjoyed the story, combat and new systems but 70% of Xillia 2 will take you to the same places you've seen in the first game and with the same characters. Affinity quests and costumes are nice, but you'll literally be playing the same characters with the same skills from previous games. Trust me, you don't be as motivated as you should to progress through the best parts. If you're not a completionist and just want to go through the story, do whatever you want. You probably won't spend enough time with the cast to grow bored of their combat styles. And listen to what the man says! Pick Jude the first time you play. I played Milla on my first playthrough and I got absolutely lost on the second part of the story. When I played with Jude I was like "Yep, Milla should have been available only after you beat Jude's story".
I grew up with Tales of Phantasia on the GBA, and I never even knew it was just a part of a bigger franchise! It makes me sad that most people overlook it. Sure it's dated, but I fell in love with it, and it was the game that got me into RPGs in the first place.
In what I've learned/discovered from playing Tales games is, you need to find "breadcrumbs" or clues by talking to npc's. Going back on each town or dungeons based from what the npc talked about. Triggering a scene when sleeping at an Inn or camping. This will increase chance of getting sub/side quest. It's basically like all of rpg games are like this anyway.
I actually started with Phantasia and went on to play Symphonia, then Vesperia and finally Berseria. These games are a lot of fun to play, but I haven't tried a NG+ run yet.
As a huge fan of this series, this is an amazing guide to encourage people to get into this series. Also watching this reminds me of why I love the series so much. Strong cast of characters, amazingly fun gameplay and the way the grade shop is used is a great way to encourage subsequent playthroughs. Your content is amazing as always and I look forward future videos.
Thank you for this! I had never heard of this series. I downloaded Tales of Vesperia on a whim with game pass and I absolutely love it! I thought I'd research the series and found your video. I'm sad that I've been missing out on these games for so long.
I'm late to the train as always but I just have to say that this series has a very special place in my heart. While I have gone in and out of other series depending on what my friends are doing, the Tales series has stayed with me since probably the days of Symphonia. I have played all the mobile games, some of the main games, and honestly, just Reve Unitia and Radiant Mythology from the other escort titles. I feel a deep loyalty to this series, it not only helped me as a creator, it bettered me as a person from its messages. I still love Symphonia because of its message of equality and Luke is a favorite of mine because of his growth. I know it sounds weird, but this series means so much to me. And it's latest game (Arise) is no different. I've fallen in love with it all over again.
I started with Tales of Eternia nearly 2 decades ago on the PS1 and I do revisit the game every now and then on my mobile device for the nostalgia. As time progress, the the series get better in their story telling and less complicated on their combat system. I can't wait to lay my hand on the new Tales of Arise.
Crazy thing is I own almost the entire series and haven’t beat or played one for more than 5 hours I always overwhelm myself. I should just start with vesperia
This has been my favorite series since I played Tales of Symphonia when it was released on Gamecube. My overall favorite is Berseria due to the dark theme. I have loved every one I have played though - Symphonia, Abyss, Legendia, Xillia, Xillia 2, Innocense, Hearts, Graces and Zestiria. Also have Phantasia on GBA as well as Eternia and Destiny 2 on PSP which I haven't played. Thanks for the video - great to see another fan of the series.
Lol Ikr? What's wrong with Hearts R? It has a amazing battle system, and hands down the best customize/strategy menu ever meaning you can have your party members do what you want to the littlest details, and this part is subjective but I like the cast and story tbch
@@ZaffreRevolution lol Idk what to say, maybe is not your thing which is completely ok, people are allowed to like or dislike whatever but I don't think the game bad tbch. I do completely agree with you on Xillia 2 tho, Xillia 2 and graces f are my favorite games in the series, and I feel like people only give the game slack because of the debt even though is not even that intrusive imo, plus the story and the Xillia cast are phenomenal.
@@ZaffreRevolution We will have to agree to disagree then but I do think a section mentioning the localisation would have been better than an unfunny joke
You could say to begin with the gameplay styles they origin from. -Eternia for the Classics; -Vesperia/Abyss/Symphonia Chronicles for the modern-classic; -Graces for the most modern style.
Solid video and it makes me feel better having Vesperia being my intro into the series and Xillia being the game that cemented me as a fan. I had to come here after watching Globku's review of the Arise demo and he definitely doesn't know anything about the series. I enjoy his content but he needs to head over here and watch this.
You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. 100% agree with most of your points (I believe all copies of Legendia should be buried in a desert landfill, like E.T. for the Atari). I would say it could be confusing to newcomers when you call Eternia by its actual name when the US cover (labeled Destiny 2) is on the screen. Thanks for not skipping over multiplayer/couch co-op. ❤️
I am currently doing a psuedo Tales marathon and replaying Xillia 2. These games are so fantastic and the character work and unveiling of lore is top tier. Yes I think it is better done than FF, which in recent entries lock away the world lore through logs, whereas recent Tales games find ways to seamlessly integrate it through skits and side-quests. One thing I would harsh the games for is that for a new comer, Tales games set up a break-neck pace in most cases and don't out-rightly make it known that you have the liberty to stop and soak in the towns and environments. Its really go go go go. On my replay of these games I forcibly told myself to stop and savor and was plesantly surprised by everything about them.
I'm glad I saw this video in my feed, I lost access to my previous youtube account, for a small list of reason, so I resubbed with my new one and I really enjoy this. I love this series.
When I first started looking into getting into Tales your earlier version of this video was one of the first things I watched on the subject (along with some of your other non-spoiler orientated tales content) and played a key role in my decision to give it a go. I started with Symphonia figuring I'd play the better received Tale entries available to me in chronological order. I didn't love Symphonia but that was partly down to the visuals and some dated gameplay and honestly I was expecting that so it didn't actually disapoint me. In fact because I knew to expect those things I'd liked most about Symphonia (Skits, frequent towns, smaller but frequent dungeons extreme focus on plot and characters, strong narrtive pacing, not super grindy) to be integral to newer entries as well I finished Symphonia feeling optimistic about continuing with the series. I just recently finished my second tales Game: Vesperia (defintive edition). I loved it and am eager to play either Xillia or Berseria next. Vesperia wasn't just a great game in itself but it was the first in something of a JRPG revival for me as since I started it I've also played and finished 2 other great games in Persona 4 Golden and Fire Emblem: Three Houses (only one playthrough completed so far for each) and it had been many years since I'd found a JRPG I love (in fairness it takes me ages to finish them). So yeah thank you very much and keep up the good work.
My first tales of game was Berseria and I love it. It may not have the best combat but the story and characters are top tier. Playing the older games is quite enjoyable IMO. Playing graces rn
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
can i get a tales of graces f for all of the comments and likes i lost from patrons because i had to reupload this T_T
also if you weren't aware, this is a remake of an older video "choosing your first tales game" which is my most viewed video, but no longer public. looking back on it i'm just not proud of it due to a combination of unnecessary and overabundant swearing, trying too hard to be funny imo, and lousy editing. perhaps this is just me being too hard on myself, i think a lot of my videos are trash including ones that are still public, but i just had to remake this. i doubt it'll get the same numbers as last time, but hey, at least i can say that as of now, this is my best video and i undeniably gave it my best effort, so perhaps it'll age better in that aspect. anyway, thanks for watching and reading this comment - if you'd like to watch the original video for some reason, you can view it in my "old videos" playlist, or click the link here: th-cam.com/video/dBuHx-7if44/w-d-xo.html
be warned: the original video is bad lol
I do not mind mild swearing and humor. It is partially what gives the content personality to it. Still great video!
Graces f, because it is my favorite Tales story.
That old video was actually pne of my favourites haha. Glad to see a remake tho
Dont say your videos are trash, none are. You put effort into all of them, they are well scripted and you are a good entertainer.
I actually wanted to watch that video awhile back and was very confused as to why I couldn't find it XD I liked the original, but I really enjoy this version :)
As a longtime Tales fan myself I’m so glad this TH-cam channel exists since this series is so underrated in the West.
west got Zestiria, Xillia, Xilia 2, Berseria, Arise, a remaster of Vesperia and others. wouldnt say its underrated compared to Samurai Shodown RPG (which SNK are still too foolish to not port/localize it to current consoles). Star Ocean would like as many games and profits. Tales is mainstream in the west and much bigger loyal fanbase compared to SaGa. though yea, it should be more widely popular than FF, Persona (which I think Tales is more popular). Tales is definitely more consistently popular and hyped than Dragon Quest in the west.
@@fivefive9514 facts. Id go as far to say its overrated. SO fan here(mostly just second story) but its fucking sad that tales of is more popular then DQ here.... Also kind of a side note but i feel even real tales fan would say Arise is esp overrated.
@@bojangler9685 whats sad is that DQ for the most part doesnt let players main any party members outside battle. and they only have Female MC in DQ3, 4, 9 and 10. Tales is more considerate of players and less strict than DQ.
I remember getting Tales of Phantasia for my 16th birthday. A friend of mine had gone to gamestop with me and i had shown interest in it, but didn't get it. He got it for me and wrapped it in aluminum foil because he didn't have wrapping paper. Good times.
I started with Symphonia, which was great for me because of the characters. They're still my all-time favorite cast as a whole and the deconstruction of the "Chosen One" storyline was amazing and I'm so glad I went in totally blind so nothing was spoiled for me. The gameplay does feel a little clunky compared to Vesperia (the one I played right after) but the characters more than made up for any personal issues I had with combat.
Symphonia was my first game in the series as well. I played it during a time when my dad was against the internet so I barely had a chance to look things up. It took me years to play and collect all of the titles and finish all of the side content back when it first came out. Although, after experiencing that headache I am all for guides. I will say I hate Vesperia though, its my least favorite game in the series hand down for story and fighting. The characters are meh as well.
Symphonia was my first game too, but I'm digging vesperia better.
Symphonia was a masterpiece down to its last detail. Like not in terms of game design but in terms of RPG. I love the fact that they don't advertise how the choices you make impact the game. even down to the food you choose to cook. Also, I love how they allow you to take the story in any direction and it still flows and makes sense. The game is only linear until the fire temple. After that, you can complete the temples in any order you wish. I do love Vesparia I think from a gameplay design, it is better than Symphonia but I personally thought, Lloyd was a better protagonist than yuri. I like yuri but he's this weird blend between edge lord and Go with the Flow. where Lloyd's character I feel is more genuine.
I remember falling in love with Abyss on my 3DS in high school and impulse bought a ton of Tales games without thinking what to play next. You helped me decide, I'll try Vesperia next. Thank you! Great video!
I'm so happy. Literally NOBODY talks about or even KNOWS this series. It's sad when you literally have no one to talk to about it. The series is so damn beautiful and so underrated. I hope more people will know and love it in the future.
yeah, I never knew Vesperia was the 10th title in the franchise. I thought it was the 1st. Lol.
After that, I thought Xillia was the sequel, but come to find out several games released before Xillia.
I thought Berseria was the next game & I never knew until now that Xillia had a sequel & Berseria had a prequel.
& for the 1st time, I know a Tales game is releasing. Can't for Arise. It looks really great!
Right? I wish there was a discord server at least
Tales been getting ports and localization since PS1. its in a much better level of popularity and profits in the west than SaGa, Star Ocean, Yokai Watch, and even Dragon Quest in the west. Style Savvy would like these numbers.
Yeah, I get that. It's so frustrating and sad when you can't find people who even know the series, and you have no one to talk to
When Zaffre remakes his videos but Namco doesnt remake old Tales🙃.
I’d be happy with just HD ports of Phantasia and Destiny 2 DC at this point. Namco, I have a love/hate feeling with them lol.
I need Destiny Remake!!! 😫
I need a Phantasia remake
@@MagisterJake it already exists
Oof, your words wound me. That whole Tales Of 25th going absolutely nowhere for new ports to modern consoles made the whole thing feel almost pointless.
Worry not my friends who also started with Berseria, we are, in fact, still valid
Good to know. I started with Berseria because of the accessibility of the language and with this video I fell in love with the saga. Lack of skill frustrates me in Pvp games, so it's time to play some adventures at my own pace.
Only one I played. Started recently. Almost at the final boss.
I also started with Berseria but it's actually one of my lesser liked titles lol
I technically started with Symphonia, but I was too young to really know what was going on.
Which is a petty way of saying I have a crap memory. Lol
I actually really appreciate the amount of characters shown in gameplay footage, you don't really see more than MCs played in stock clips talking about Tales. Especially don't see characters like Elize and Presea getting any attention. Idk just thought that was a nice thing to see.
i try to have that sort of variety not just in tales but all games i cover with multiple playable characters. glad the effort doesn't go unnoticed
thats because of individual bias and selfserving selfishness. would say the protagonist label should be abolished and condemned and developers should encourage seeing all characters as equals and the party as an ensemble cast instead of labeling someone the MC. giving a character on a MC/protagonist badge promotes arrogance and narcissism and self centered mentalities. the story should write and treat each party member as equal in importance and stay away from chosen one nonsense. its a shame devs and some people defend the traditional hierarchy of character importance which serves selfish political agendas and panders often to one demographic for the most part.
I have searched for a great tales franchise review before and couldnt find one. Now I am super glad you made this. You made me hyped once more for the franchise.
12:30 Yeah I think we're a little late for that. Berseria has become the second Symphonia of the series for the amount of newcomers. If Symphonia is the FFVII than Berseria is the FFX.
Especially since it got greatest hits status om PS4
Tales of arise joins the chat
Berseria is a great start bevause it's a good game that's easy to get into. Zaffre seems to want to recommend based on the assumption that you WILL become a mega fan, which is risky.
@@yemmohater2796 should i start with berseria then?
@@juns_bf2 I started with arise and now I’m playing vesperia. I have to say I’m officially a tales fan
"Whenever I say anything remotely negative about that game people get on my ass"
*laughs in Abyss dominance*
I'll always be on his ass for how he treats Hearts r
@@sometwithtoomuchfreetim3842 honestly I had way more fun with hearts than berseria. The characters were actually interesting and had good development and the battle was fun without being severely overdone by that point.
@@alexanderluna4598 Berseria's combat was a dumpster fire so I agree
@@sometwithtoomuchfreetim3842 I never liked the graces combat so honestly all these countless games still using it were never that fun to me. I will say xillia was the best combat we’ve seen recently. The rest of them were so similar it kept me bored and I honestly fell out of love with the series because they just keep redoing the same stuff.
@@alexanderluna4598 I don't care much for X1 due to the awful bosses but honestly aside from how bosses ignore combos Graces was pretty well made
If only Namco would go back and translate all the Tales Games in English and release them on all platforms Tales fans would be very Elated! I didn't realize how many there were!
The west NEEDS Destiny 2 DC. Particularly with people that loved Graces battle system. Gah, it’s criminal that so many still haven’t played a lot of them. They’re classics.
We're in serious need of Destiny PS2/Destiny 2/Rebirth package tbh. If they can bring over symphonia PS2 and Vesperia PS3 there's no reason not to do this. Don't even put english voice acting. Just translate everything into english script wise. This is the reason we never got graces on the Wii cause they knew f would come out and didn't wanna make the same mistake like they did with symphonia ps2 and vesperia ps3.
though why we never got innocence R when we got hearts R still mystifies me.
I haven’t played Abyss yet (but I’m under the impression it’s like the FFVII analogue for Tales) but I’m surprised it has never gotten any PSN release as either a PS2 Classic or PS4 emulation yet.
Tales of Eternia is my favorite by far. The story, the nostalgia, the characters and everything else is perfect. Thanks for recommending it.
The Tales franchise made me truly appreciate games,music,characters & voice actors.
It will forever be a treasure to me.
I am curious also how many start with a Tales of game that really was not a good starting point.
In my experience, a lot of people wind up starting with games that few people would recommend as a starting point, but wind up loving the series anyway.
@Theo Aremevano yeah agreed but in this video if you want to taste the gameplay instead of story' first play xillia 2 is very recommended for casual. I know that grinding in the xillia one and two are different but turns out the reason i like xillia 2 better is the quest reward are decently rewarded because we also has to pay debt *spoiler* and some item in shop is way expensive. Finally, chromatus especially playing casually went the mob or boss is too strong. But i don't know.
Tales of Phantasia on the GBA was my introduction to the series. I still love it. xD
It's October 12th, 2021, and I just finished Tales of Arise. It's my favorite JRPG since FF9. Considering that I remember playing Final Fantasy 1 when it first came out on the NES in 1989, I can't believe that such a series has been under my nose this entire time.
The characters and stories are unforgettable. Alphen, Shionne, Law, Rinwell, Dohalim, and Kisara have become family members over the last four to five weeks.
How could I have not heard of this amazing Tales of series before? They need to do translations of the other games.
I constantly fight with myself about which Tales game is my favorite. Eternia and Abyss are super nostalgic for me. Vesperia, Berseria, Graces, and Xillia have amazing combat, in my opinion. In regards to story, Vesperia, Berseria, and Abyss win for me.
TL;DR I love basically all of the tales games that I've had the chance to play, so they're all #1 for me.
This is literally one of the most high quality series review videos I’ve ever seen. Absolutely love seeing other people appreciate the finite details of all the individual games, I’ve only just started the series with arise, but I’ve always been a jrpg action rpg nut. Please continue to make more future videos seriously appreciate your content 🙏🙏
Kind of a weird thing but I am incredibly happy that you mentioned the issue of games losing replayability and people having way too many games on their backlog. It seems like people nowadays have such a fixation with just playing as many games as possible without taking the time to truly love the games that have enough content to sustain them for a long time, and tales is a great example of that.
I like all of them Vesperia and every game that came after that. (Mostly because I haven't played the previous ones)
Also, my love of Berseria's main protagonist is directly proportional to how much I love Blazblue's main protagonist.
I just started my first Tales game recently, Tales of Vesperia and I absolutely love it. I’m surprised how this series just went under the radar for me.
Awesome game
Me too! I just snagged the ones from the Steam sale too for when I am finished with Vesperia
It really is an amazing game. I still remember seeing it on the shelf at my local GameStop on sale for $24.99 and thinking eh I have nothing else right now that sounds interesting ima give it a shot. Best thing I have ever done
It's October 12th, 2021, and I just finished Tales of Arise. It's my favorite JRPG since FF9. I can't believe that such a series has been under my nose this entire time. Particularly considering that I remember playing Final Fantasy 1 when it first came out on the NES in 1989.
How could I have not heard of this amazing series before?
Hi, I just wanted to say I am a newcomer to the Tales franchise, and this is one of the most welcoming and friendly fanbases I've ever seen. It's so refreshing after years of dealing with annoying jerks that seem to plague JRPG fandoms. (Shin megami tensei/Persona, Final fantasy, YS/Trails, etc)
Well then. With that I say: Welcome to Tales!
Enjoy your stay!
If only Bandai Namco loved selling this series as much as fan love them -_-
For Xillia, I stand by the fact that the Milla playthrough should have been locked until you beat the game with Jude at least once.
Still, this is a fantastic guide, and hopefully more people can get into the series!
A few notes for anyone who watched the video: Tales of Symphonia is also on Steam and goes on sale fairly often! It was also remastered (along with its sequel) for PS3.
And Tales of the Abyss is available for 3DS. If you don't mind (or prefer) handhelds, the 3DS version plays just as well as it does on PS2!
Two things;
First Xillia is certainly easy, as long as we forget the final boss, which is in my opinion, harder than all the hidden bosses, including the mysterious orb boss.
Second, thank you for zooming in on Rollo. Love that little guy.
I love how helpful the description is. The consoles games are on, the time stamps, and the music used! Awesome video and awesome description
*"Crawls out of trash"*
Who has summoned me??
...More tales content from Zaffe?
YES!
I started with The abyss
I really like this series now.
Now I need to do a sidequests
@@openinginawe5518 omg same i rlly likef the abyss now im hooked to any tales game
I'm so glad that Tales series isn't turned based. I just started Symphonia (GameCube), and I'm in love with the gameplay, that's the most important thing for me.
It's so strange how well you timed this, I randomly tried to rewatch your old video yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I couldn't find it. I thought I was going crazy lol
I LOVE these games! I think you summed things up really well. I especially like getting to know the characters and laughing at the skits like "classic Raven!" because you feel like you actually know them! :) Thanks for the video!
I started playing Tales of the Abyss on 3DS recently and I realized it was part of a series. I've heard of Vesperia and Symphonia before so I'm definitely gonna play those ones.
I started with tales of hearts r. I’m currently playing xilla going for 100% grinding out xp and shop lvl on Jude play through. I’m not finished with Jude’s story yet I think I have 2 or 3 chapters left, I have really enjoyed the story so far. As far as hearts r, I’ve beaten the first play through and grinding points for my ng+. I was hooked on the series after my first play through, I own all the titles on ps 3&4 and arise on ps5.
I'm a Japanese Tales player, and I have a completely different perspective than yours since you recommend skipping the games that didn't make it to the west. I got into the Tales series with the spin-off title of tales of Phantasia, the Narikiri Dungeon 2 on the GBA back in the day.
The Narikiri Dungeon spin-off series is set in an alternative universe where all Tales characters are living side by side of each other and facing off a greater threat. The main characters in the Narikiri Dungeon spin-off have the ability to play dress up to other established Tales characters, and you can use their moves while you dress up as them(or you can just invite them to your party and play as them). That game made me curious about all the different characters' backstories, so I went back and played Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, and Tales of Destiny 2.
Since then, I have played most mainline Tales, and I played all 3 Radiant Mythology games on the PSP since they're the spiritual successors of the Narikiri Dungeons. I beat them for the sake of the story, but I couldn't get into the 3D combat(or you could say I just suck at them). So my main focus was still on the 2D side of the tales games until they stopped making them. But years later, the Tales of Berseria made finally enjoyed a 3D Tales title with the new and improved combat system. Right now I'm playing through the Tales of Arise and loving it so far.
My Tales recommendations for the western fans are: Tales of Hearts for the DS, Tales of Phantasia Narikiri Dungeon X(also include a modernized version of Tales of Phantasia with an all-new story), and Tales of VS. for the PSP. I think you can get the western version of Tales of Hearts on the Vita, but please, if you love Tales, try those games by any means you can. Go find fan translations for them if you can. The combat systems of those games are so smooth and fast pace that I don't think any 3D Tale games have surpassed them yet.
Ps, sorry for my long and messy writing. Thinking back on all the tales I've played makes my head jumbled up lol
Thank you for sharing this interesting perspective!
Hearts DS and Narikiri Dungeon X are amazing! Hearts R on the Vita is a different experience though, but the combat is pretty good still.
Arise news and a new Zaffre video in the same week 😩👌
Berseria wasn't my first entry into the Tales series but it does hold a special place in my heart. It was the first video game that me and my son had in common and played together as a team.
"....with people having hundreds or thousands of games in their backlog for some reason"
>Me with over 800 games in my backlog
Expendable income can often increase much faster than expendable time :( lol
This channel is such a hidden gem
I just started Symphonia thanks to Fubuki singing the opening. Growing up with the SNES RPGs and then not playing anything of that sort for a long time, I think I'm in for a huge journey.
Fubuki sang Starry Heavens?
Fubuki sang Starry Heavens?
having played rpgs (even Symphonia) pre-internet, i have to agree on playing the first time blind and just discovering things as you go. it's so easy to find walkthrus and all the secrets spelled out for you now, but really half the fun ultimately of these games is in the discovery. and Tales games are so deep the replay value is tremendous and worth taking your time over several play-thrus rather than maxing out everything the first time. keyword: *play*
I’m about to beat tales of arise and am shocked I’ve never heard of this series before and that Arise isn’t getting the hype it deserves. Divine game. In my top 3. I know it’s different than older entries, and honestly it will probably always be my favorite bc it’s my first, but I’m excited to play some of the other recent games! And to watch some playthroughs of older ones :)
Huge thanks for putting the system list in the description! I've loved the Tales games for years, but because I pretty much only play on Playstation consoles, it's been hard to play them all, for obvious reasons. I don't really care to play games on PC, but am willing to do so if I can use my PS controller, so now I have new access to some of these. The saddest thing ever is seeing that there STILL isn't a way to play Abyss on a current system as it's definitely my favorite of the series that I've played. Thanks for making this video, because this series is still so underappreciated!
The first tales game I played was tales of the abyss, I played many others, but I can't name all of them because it would be a long list, but know that I feel the same way you do about the tales games because they are awesome games.
Tales of Arise not having multiplayer is so sad 😭😭😭😭
I've been playing the Tales series since 2004 and played the majority of these titles from Symphonia on and watching this video is making me feel very nostalgic. Each one of these entries brings me back to the time of my life when I was playing them and it's taking me back to memory lane ! Thanks for making this video and oh yeah Tales Of Vesperia is also my favorite RPG of all time !
If anyone's looking at this and going "Well, what about Arise? That's what got my attention." I would say that it should be a very good place to start, but the clause with Berseria and Zestiria does apply here too, in that older games will be pretty different from it. Arise is bringing a lot of changes, but it's also definitely intended to be a viable starting point by the developers.
Another soul who loves xillia 2 as much as me? My MAN
I started last year with Vesperia.
I will play next with Tales of Abyss and then with Symphonia afterwards I think about Phantasia (if it's called like that). Also nice video 👍. Thanks for telling about the artist who made that art.
That's tales of vesperia pro tips is so important. My first playthrough of that game as a 12 year old was don't without any skills because I thought white meant equipped. It was rough but the gameplay and story made it worth it.
I agree with you totally about how Tales handles new game plus. That, along with the difficulty settings, is why I always come back to this series. Abyss remains my fav with like 10 of them tied for 2nd place (Symphonia, Graces, Vesperia, Berseria, Destiny 2 DC etc). That being said, we NEED a Destiny 2 DC high def port!
Anyway this is a great video and Tales has been my fav series ever since I got into it in the early 2000s and now I can thankfully say I’ve played them all (minus mobile titles). An incredible series that I’m always happy to give one more play and enjoy the co-op with my partner from time to time.
Graces has the best gameplay. Vesperia has the best side quests. Berseria has the best character casts (imo). Abyss as the best story. Symphonia is very memorable.
As someone playing through Vesperia as my first Tales game. There’s side quests?
@@emeraldwolf3494 BRO. This game has a ton of side quests and a lot of missable ones. I suggest you look up Kouli's Vesperia guide as it is straight to the point
@@knox7945 right now I’m looking for the Krityan city or something after getting Judith back and getting Ba’ul. So I’m not sure how much I’ve missed up until this point.
@@emeraldwolf3494 you've missed quite a bit if you're just going straight for the main game.
@@knox7945 the closest thing I’ve gotten to a side quest was when I interacted with Duke early at Daedon Hold. It actually scared me, since I was just exploring the area. I explore quite a lot though and talk to npcs a lot in the towns too, but the only other thing that I actually think is a side quest, which is the giant monster side quest thing. So far I killed a crab thing in a cave for that quest.
I'm so glad that you remade this video! I was looking for it a few weeks ago.
Currently playing Vesperia in order to get the platinum, I adore it and I want to show that through getting all the achievements.
I absolutely adore the game in every aspect, so much so that I also got it on switch so I can play it again and possible even find things I’ve missed on PlayStation. Naturally once you commented about Vesperia being your favourite, of course I had to subscribe so thank you! Never see the game talked about so very happy I found this video.
Just starting vesperia. Watching some tales videos. Thanks for your video
This is a fantastic guide! As a Tales of newbie myself, I really wish someone did a guide half as good as this one for SaGa. Picked up Vesperia and first impressions are gleaming with positive takes.
Long time Tales fan - Destiny was my first RPG on PS1 - and your video hits the beats just right. That said, since Life Bottle Productions did the English patch for Destiny Director's Cut on PS2, that makes Destiny more accessible and also gives you a really good, definitive way to play it. If you haven't, check it out, bro. You won't be disappointed.
"Use a guide for hunting down side quests because they're nigh impossible to track on your own...
... especially Vesperia"
I felt that. I was halfway through the story and I was wondering when I'd get side quests. Turns out I skipped a bunch already.
I'm glad I still have the guide to the Xbox 360 version, as it goes for hundreds of dollars now.
After heeding Zaffre's wise words and starting my tales journey with Vesperia DE, I can say without a doubt that it was a fantastic starting point!
The world, story, battle system and especially the cast were fantastic! The only gripes I had were essentially boiled down to this game being an older title and not having the quality of life features you'd see in modern JRPGs, but I am absolutely stoked to continue my tales journey which is the biggest compliment I can give!
I wanted to start playing the tales series, and here we are a fresh guide video
hope i could help!
The first Tales of game I actually played through was Zestiria and I liked it enough to get Vesperia when it first came out on the Ps4. I LOVED playing Vesperia. The characters, story, music, and banter in Vesperia are so amazing that only after playing 1 time that it was already my 2nd favorite game ever. It was after this, I found your channel because I wanted to get more into the series and it is a goal of mine to play all the games in the series. Thank you for all the helpful hints and suggestions you've had by the way! I really enjoy how you love Vesperia as well. I'm currently playing Vesperia a 2nd time now and to be honest, it is even better because I'm much better in combat than the 1st run through and I'm doing all the extras. Only having played it almost twice and I think it is already tied for my favorite game. Anyways, great video and keep up the good work! You've been an inspiration.
I've actually gotten into Tales since like last November starting with Vesperia and it was great. Then went to Berseria next and loved that as well. Good thing I got into this series
as a long time fanatic (started with Radiant Mythology back in 2009) I'm really glad the Tales Of series are getting more recognition as the years go on
Got introduced to the series 16 years ago when a cousin bought Abyss. Very quickly became my favorite series, and the only games that I get really excited for when a new one is announced. Really wish there were proper translations for the earlier titles and Innocence. Great video sir!
I stated with Graces F never beat it beat xillia twice the sequel once. Hearts R I’m at the final boss but stopped to take a break after grinding to 200, Zestetia done twice and bersaria is a Hearts R case without the grinding
I started with the OG Phantasia on the snes, fan translated of course.
I was never able to transition to the newer games, specially the 3D ones. (yep, I bought them, gave several hours to them, and they never connected to me the same way Phantasia did)
They didn't feel like Tales of Phantasia at all, very different from Final Fantasy where you could easily migrate from FF3, to FF4 to FF5 to FF6, etc, and be familiar with almost everything.
That picture of Estelle on the thumbnail that person made is way beautiful.
true!!!
@@ZaffreRevolution thanks! She's also the cutest princess in any sort of media ever and someone that I would love to have as a girlfriend indeed!❤️^-^❤️
Started the franchise with Symphonia back in the day with my brother, we co-oped the entire game then bought Vesperia (and Eternal Sonata which I feel is a cousin to Tales) and co-oped them both together as well, for the longest time, I considered Symphonia to be my favorite of the series and nothing shook that opinion, until I played and beat Tales of Graces F just this past week and... It was a masterpiece. Everything from its combat to its story and lovable cast of characters made me fall in love and even shed a few tears. Tales is such a master class of design and I hope to see Arise bring more people into the fold!
I know it’s a good day when finally see the tales of arise trailer and Zaffre comes with a new vid well new old
Trying to get into this series is super intimidating, thanks for breaking it down like this!
counch co-op isn't that cool?
arise: I'm about to make it not cool.
I've only played symphonia and vesperia but I can't wait to start playing more of the series(abyss is up next)
I really appreciate this video and I imagine the algorithm fed it to me after I bought up all my missing Tales games from Steam on special (I'd already received Berseria as a gift that I have been meaning to return to) after very recently raving to my friends about the joy of (and here's where the boos start) clearing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with 100% autocombat on easy mode. It was one of the best JRPG adventures of my extensive lifelong experience (I'm old, I played and beat Final fantasy 1-7 on NA release, then eventually got around to 8-12. Loved every Suikoden too.) because as the genre went more action combat it lost my attention... until I could just customize a loadout and watch a light show, which friends have suggested I might be able to do in the Tales series like I did with XC2.
It stands to reason that an intentionally complex action RPG with a party of mostly AI-controlled members, dialed down to easy and rendered fully automatic (as I noticed I could indeed do in Berseria) would mimic a new-ish player learning the game and not playing a JRPG for a challenge to their reflexes (a concept which I never associated with JRPGs anyway). I guarantee that the AI in Xenoblade understood what the hell was going on better than I did, and my full autocombat clear of the core story proved this theory true. I'm hoping to bring this ideal to the Tales series titles available on Steam, and am really looking forward to watching the light show because, honestly, I'll be damned if I knew how to fully control Velvet... but the AI will! There's still gameplay in customizing a loadout and exploring the world, but the more complex and automatable the combat gets, the more an easy mode is almost... obligated to turn combat mastery (or even just... base manual participation) into an optional thing!
As a story heavy series, I hope to bring my triumphant XC2 approach to bear on the Tales games to see some wonderful worlds, casts and stories! I'll likely start with Vesperia as you recommend!
Been looking into the Tales series as of late because I watched the gameplay preview for Tales of Arise and it seems like a game I could get really into. Never really knew much about it aside from "People want Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia in Smash Bros".
But Arise has caught my attention and I see Vesperia Definitive is available on Xbox Game Pass. So it's nice to hear one of the better entries in the franchise be available to easily play. Will definitely be checking it out before Arise comes out.
Thanks for the awesome overview of the series.
Man I love watching your videos their always so well done. Your the reason I got into the tales games. Keep up the good work.
yes, character progression and learning their quirks and lores are one of the highlights for tales of series
A very good guide. Hilariously, my first Tales game WAS Tales of Phantasia for the GBA, and I fell in love with it. I still hold it in high regard, but I've played at least HALF of the games you recommended: Xillia 1 and 2, Dawn of the New World, Vesperia (On the 360), Tales of the World (PSP), Tales of Abyss (Haven't finished, working on that), Tales of Graces F (Notoriously schizophrenic difficulty on that one. o.O), Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise. So, so many. I LOVED each one for their mechanics. Vesperia, naturally is at the top of the list, while Dawn of the New World holds second place for the monster collecting, Graces F holds 3rd for its wild yet intuitive new combat system, and Xillia 2 holds 4th for its bridge between the two styles.
But I would like to ask for your opinion on Tales of Zestiria. Is that one in particular worth it for the story or is it garbo? o.o
Longtime Tales fan, and I have some recommendations: space out Xillia from Xillia 2 and Vesperia. Xillia 2 reuses several dungeons as is, so it might feel very samey if you play them back to back. Also, Xillia and Vesperia both share some story similarities regarding energy usage. Aspects of Vesperia fell a little flat for me since I'd played Xillia shortly before it, and I feel it would be the same for others the other way around as well.
Luckily, those are the only ones that have those issues. Any dungeon you go back to in Symphonia 2 has been altered due to the first game's storyline, and all other games have very different storylines.
I also recommend playing other games between Tales games. Despite having similar battle systems and menus, the buttons change between every single game. Muscle memory is not your friend.
I was needing that ❤️ I love the Tales series and always get bashed for it because none of my friends know the series and they think the amount of dialogue is too overwhelming... The Audacity. Anyway, it's always nice to have someone talk about the series in such a passionate way because I literally grew up playing these games. From the old 2D Era when Tales of and Star Ocean was my go to action RPGs, all the way to the modern titles. The story and characters totally shaped who I am today. Thank you for the video! It warms my heart to know there are passionate Tales fans out there like you ❤️
A tip of newcomers or just Tales fans who haven't played Xillia. DON'T play Xillia 2 right after you finished the first game, you'll die of boredom. I jumped into the second the day after i got the platinum on the first and it was painful. I enjoyed the story, combat and new systems but 70% of Xillia 2 will take you to the same places you've seen in the first game and with the same characters. Affinity quests and costumes are nice, but you'll literally be playing the same characters with the same skills from previous games. Trust me, you don't be as motivated as you should to progress through the best parts. If you're not a completionist and just want to go through the story, do whatever you want. You probably won't spend enough time with the cast to grow bored of their combat styles.
And listen to what the man says! Pick Jude the first time you play. I played Milla on my first playthrough and I got absolutely lost on the second part of the story. When I played with Jude I was like "Yep, Milla should have been available only after you beat Jude's story".
Aw, cool! I just wanted to show my friend more of the series, because his favorite game is Zestiria. He is an odd one.
I grew up with Tales of Phantasia on the GBA, and I never even knew it was just a part of a bigger franchise!
It makes me sad that most people overlook it. Sure it's dated, but I fell in love with it, and it was the game that got me into RPGs in the first place.
In what I've learned/discovered from playing Tales games is, you need to find "breadcrumbs" or clues by talking to npc's. Going back on each town or dungeons based from what the npc talked about. Triggering a scene when sleeping at an Inn or camping. This will increase chance of getting sub/side quest. It's basically like all of rpg games are like this anyway.
I actually started with Phantasia and went on to play Symphonia, then Vesperia and finally Berseria. These games are a lot of fun to play, but I haven't tried a NG+ run yet.
Fellow Phantasia starter, but I haven’t been able to get I to any of the 3D games yet.
As a huge fan of this series, this is an amazing guide to encourage people to get into this series. Also watching this reminds me of why I love the series so much. Strong cast of characters, amazingly fun gameplay and the way the grade shop is used is a great way to encourage subsequent playthroughs. Your content is amazing as always and I look forward future videos.
I learned about this series because of Tales of the Abyss anime. But Tales of Zestiria is my first tales game.
Thank you for this! I had never heard of this series. I downloaded Tales of Vesperia on a whim with game pass and I absolutely love it! I thought I'd research the series and found your video. I'm sad that I've been missing out on these games for so long.
I'm late to the train as always but I just have to say that this series has a very special place in my heart. While I have gone in and out of other series depending on what my friends are doing, the Tales series has stayed with me since probably the days of Symphonia. I have played all the mobile games, some of the main games, and honestly, just Reve Unitia and Radiant Mythology from the other escort titles.
I feel a deep loyalty to this series, it not only helped me as a creator, it bettered me as a person from its messages. I still love Symphonia because of its message of equality and Luke is a favorite of mine because of his growth. I know it sounds weird, but this series means so much to me. And it's latest game (Arise) is no different. I've fallen in love with it all over again.
I started with Tales of Eternia nearly 2 decades ago on the PS1 and I do revisit the game every now and then on my mobile device for the nostalgia. As time progress, the the series get better in their story telling and less complicated on their combat system. I can't wait to lay my hand on the new Tales of Arise.
Crazy thing is I own almost the entire series and haven’t beat or played one for more than 5 hours I always overwhelm myself. I should just start with vesperia
This has been my favorite series since I played Tales of Symphonia when it was released on Gamecube. My overall favorite is Berseria due to the dark theme. I have loved every one I have played though - Symphonia, Abyss, Legendia, Xillia, Xillia 2, Innocense, Hearts, Graces and Zestiria. Also have Phantasia on GBA as well as Eternia and Destiny 2 on PSP which I haven't played. Thanks for the video - great to see another fan of the series.
11:34 i will not tolerate Hearts R slander is this house
Lol Ikr? What's wrong with Hearts R? It has a amazing battle system, and hands down the best customize/strategy menu ever meaning you can have your party members do what you want to the littlest details, and this part is subjective but I like the cast and story tbch
Same here
LMAO listen i've tried playing that game twice and every time? zzz
@@ZaffreRevolution lol Idk what to say, maybe is not your thing which is completely ok, people are allowed to like or dislike whatever but I don't think the game bad tbch.
I do completely agree with you on Xillia 2 tho, Xillia 2 and graces f are my favorite games in the series, and I feel like people only give the game slack because of the debt even though is not even that intrusive imo, plus the story and the Xillia cast are phenomenal.
@@ZaffreRevolution We will have to agree to disagree then but I do think a section mentioning the localisation would have been better than an unfunny joke
You could say to begin with the gameplay styles they origin from.
-Eternia for the Classics;
-Vesperia/Abyss/Symphonia Chronicles for the modern-classic;
-Graces for the most modern style.
Awesome video! I'm playing Vesperia for the first time and i'm loving it so much. Can't wait to play other Tales games later!
Solid video and it makes me feel better having Vesperia being my intro into the series and Xillia being the game that cemented me as a fan. I had to come here after watching Globku's review of the Arise demo and he definitely doesn't know anything about the series. I enjoy his content but he needs to head over here and watch this.
You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. 100% agree with most of your points (I believe all copies of Legendia should be buried in a desert landfill, like E.T. for the Atari). I would say it could be confusing to newcomers when you call Eternia by its actual name when the US cover (labeled Destiny 2) is on the screen. Thanks for not skipping over multiplayer/couch co-op. ❤️
Xillia 2 is incredible. Teepo is my cell’s ringtone, and my husband uses Ludger’s ringtone.
Legendia isn't THAT bad.
My first Tales game, was Tales of Graces F. Loved it, and I have been a fan ever since. I really enjoy playing the games more than once. 🙂
I am currently doing a psuedo Tales marathon and replaying Xillia 2. These games are so fantastic and the character work and unveiling of lore is top tier. Yes I think it is better done than FF, which in recent entries lock away the world lore through logs, whereas recent Tales games find ways to seamlessly integrate it through skits and side-quests. One thing I would harsh the games for is that for a new comer, Tales games set up a break-neck pace in most cases and don't out-rightly make it known that you have the liberty to stop and soak in the towns and environments. Its really go go go go. On my replay of these games I forcibly told myself to stop and savor and was plesantly surprised by everything about them.
I NEEDED this! Thank you! Started at Vesperia, loved it, and was wondering where to go from there. Now I know!
I'm glad I saw this video in my feed, I lost access to my previous youtube account, for a small list of reason, so I resubbed with my new one and I really enjoy this. I love this series.
When I first started looking into getting into Tales your earlier version of this video was one of the first things I watched on the subject (along with some of your other non-spoiler orientated tales content) and played a key role in my decision to give it a go. I started with Symphonia figuring I'd play the better received Tale entries available to me in chronological order.
I didn't love Symphonia but that was partly down to the visuals and some dated gameplay and honestly I was expecting that so it didn't actually disapoint me. In fact because I knew to expect those things I'd liked most about Symphonia (Skits, frequent towns, smaller but frequent dungeons extreme focus on plot and characters, strong narrtive pacing, not super grindy) to be integral to newer entries as well I finished Symphonia feeling optimistic about continuing with the series.
I just recently finished my second tales Game: Vesperia (defintive edition). I loved it and am eager to play either Xillia or Berseria next. Vesperia wasn't just a great game in itself but it was the first in something of a JRPG revival for me as since I started it I've also played and finished 2 other great games in Persona 4 Golden and Fire Emblem: Three Houses (only one playthrough completed so far for each) and it had been many years since I'd found a JRPG I love (in fairness it takes me ages to finish them). So yeah thank you very much and keep up the good work.
I am simple man. I see Estelle in thumbnail, I click.
Estelle is precious.
@@misterpayah7723 yes
My first tales of game was Berseria and I love it. It may not have the best combat but the story and characters are top tier. Playing the older games is quite enjoyable IMO. Playing graces rn
I started playing Vesperia a few days ago (my first Switch Game and my first Tales of Game). And i'm loving it.
Good video^^