tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post7021955914779093868..comments2024-02-26T20:52:27.680-08:00Comments on Thinking Inside the Box: Tales of Eternia's SkitsThe RPGeniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-61747194310260669122019-02-26T21:51:43.963-08:002019-02-26T21:51:43.963-08:00This is a monumentally stupid moment in the series...This is a monumentally stupid moment in the series of shortcomings that make up this franchise.<br /><br />Skits are where characters are explored, where they interact, and where you develop something resembling an investment for them. Not only are you missing out on content, you are missing out on the content that was explicitly set aside and designed for this.Ecclesiastesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-70277981419575688182019-01-20T15:36:45.794-08:002019-01-20T15:36:45.794-08:00Sure!
So, Tales of Legendia is VERY odd, and my l...Sure!<br /><br />So, Tales of Legendia is VERY odd, and my liking it best of the to Tales of titles I've played almost doesn't make any sense at all. Cuz, see, it's sort of 2 games in 1. The first half of ToL is what you'd think of as the "main" adventure, which is focused on the protagonist and his obvious love interest, with the others in the cast just kind of coming in to work towards the story and protagonist's benefit. I wouldn't call it BAD, exactly, but it's closer to bad than good, that's for sure.<br /><br />But the thing is, once you've completed the main adventure, the second half of the game starts, which is a series of adventures that are each focused on 1 of the party members besides the protagonist, all of which tie together into a single story. And THAT is actually really good! In my opinion, at least. Each of these stories is interesting, and develops its central character in a gripping, dynamic fashion. Additionally, while the main story formed them into an RPG party, this second half of connected vignettes develop this cast's connections with one another until you're watching a diverse but really genuine family dynamic--it's like the sort of unusual yet undeniable familial ties you get from the boarding house tenants in Hey Arnold. You come to really enjoy seeing these characters together as a group, and can't really imagine them living apart from one another. I also think that the overall story behind the character quests is a good one, which ties itself well to the powerful human draw of this second half.<br /><br />Of course, I'll again admit, getting to the good part of Tales of Legendia is unfortunately going to require you to sit through an entire standard RPG adventure that quite frankly just won't have a lot to interest you. But if the first half of the game's got a bad case of Love Hina Syndrome, then the second half, at least, seems determined to completely make up for that and then some.<br /><br />With all that said, if you want a good Tales of game that's more consistent with its quality, and, for that matter, has a stronger plot concept with more of a message to convey, you probably should go with Tales of the Abyss, instead.<br /><br />Ah, cool! I'll go check it out sometime in the next few days, whenever I've got a moment. I look forward to it!The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-20967777511736230062019-01-20T09:15:50.863-08:002019-01-20T09:15:50.863-08:00This has always been the one thing holding me back...This has always been the one thing holding me back from playing Eternia. Even rom hacks for are a doomed endevour as there are none with the skits translated or patched in, which is a shame since skits are a major source of intrigue for these games, especially some of the duller entries in the series (which are a good chunk of them in my experience). Well, knowing that the skits have been translated on YouTube makes it a tad better, and the undub rom hack does replace the bad voice acting with the Japanese original, so I might actually give Eternia a shot sometime.<br /><br />On a related note, I recall you mentioning that Legendia is your favourite entry in the series. If it’s not too much trouble, could you go into depth why that’s the case? Looking up reviews online hasn’t been fruitful since all of them merely state that Legendia’s story and characters are bad without explaining why.<br /><br />Also, my Year In Review for 2018 is up on my blog. Go check it out whenever you get the chance.The Dango Witchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03997695084371152526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-31614203875765276262019-01-19T18:18:04.645-08:002019-01-19T18:18:04.645-08:00I would contend that Symphonia's skits were du...I would contend that Symphonia's skits were dull not so much for the fact that they weren't voiced than for the fact that they were skits about Tales of Symphonia, but voice acting probably would have at least helped a little.<br /><br />I actually already own Berseria, and I'm planning to play it sometime this year (it might even be my next title). I can deal with some boring and repetitive hallways; I got through Zestiria and Dragon Age 2 just fine, and I actually LIKE the early Shin Megami Tenseis, after all. Vesperia's on my Switch Wishlist, so once that goes on a good sale (assuming I actually catch it; Nintendo does not seem to understand that the crucial component of a wishlist is the email notifications for sales), I'll be acquiring that one, too. Thanks for reading, and the recommendations!The RPGeniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752937839502693108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268660459652553228.post-86317748283323474432019-01-19T08:20:01.336-08:002019-01-19T08:20:01.336-08:00I was wondering why you hadn't made any posts ...I was wondering why you hadn't made any posts this year and felt stupid when I realized that my bookmark for this page was set specifically for 2018 entries. Duh.<br /><br />I played through Eternia twice, so I probably should check out its skits, although the game's Reid problem isn't making me rush over to check them out. It should be noted that Namco's localizers have a history of screwing up the skits that goes beyond Tales of Eternia, even if Eternia is the worst example. Symphonia's English skits are dull to watch since they are not voiced, whereas the Japanese ones are fully voiced, and the English text appears at the rate as if they were voiced, which is much, much slower than my reading speed (when I replayed Symphonia on the PS3 release, I switched to Japanese audio so the skits would be more enjoyable). Legendia's English release, meanwhile, suffers from the terrible decision to not provide voice acting for the second half of the game, which is a shame since everything is voiced in the first half so the absence is sorely felt after the game's midpoint (the voice acting is pretty decent in the game, too, as I recall). Besides the real-time combat, the skits are the Tales of games' selling point, usually the one thing that makes their typically-generic stories stand out, so any failure to properly include the skits is especially egregious.<br /><br />Also, I recommend checking out Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Berseria. Vesperia recently got a Definitive Edition re-release, and it's basically the last game in the series to enjoy a high budget and have a lot of content; this new release is especially heavy in content since it includes all the features added to a version of the game not previously released in North America. I think the game is slightly overrated (which is not to say I don't think it's excellent), but it does have one of the better protagonists in the series. I never bothered with Tales of Zestiria since I read too many negative reviews, but Berseria, a prequel to that game, apparently manages to help improve Zestiria's story while telling a good narrative of its own. I personally think it has the best Tales protagonist yet (she's interesting and not yet another dull male character), although the game feels a bit cheap since Bandai Namco cut some corners in development; a lot of areas and dungeons are boring hallways that are way too similar. But, like I said, the story is good and doesn't suffer, as a result of this cheapness. The Vesperia re-release is new and still expensive, but Berseria is regularly available for reasonable prices if you're looking for something new to play.Adam E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15301656119538410691noreply@blogger.com