Tales of...

[KageSora]

You can preorder them at Namco's site here!

Bear in mind that if you do so, your card will be charged immediately the FULL price as an authorization. It should be refunded to you and then later charged for real when it ships.

 

Assuming, of course, that it's not a repeat of the Ni no Kuni fiasco since Digital River--the people who screwed that up--are handling this, too.

 

I, and many others, are too wary of them to order from there. If you feel the same, though, don't worry!

 

The Tales Series FB page has confirmed that other retailers will be able to take pre-orders on it. So as soon as I know more on that(and have my copy ordered, lol), I'll post where else you can--assuming that others don't beat me to it!

 

 

(For those who aren't aware of the NNK incident... Digital River re-opened pre-orders for the special edition of the game even when there was no stock (and at that point, printing more and shipping them just wasn't happening). Then, they started canceling orders randomly--including people who'd ordered during the initial run when stock wasn't an issue, then shipping out products to those who ordered during the wrongfully re-opened orders. Several people also reported being charged for two or more copies of a game they were no longer even getting a single copy of. At least one person reported getting theirs but missing part of the bundle.)

Edited October 15, 2013 by KageSora

[AAurion]

Oh, woah, didn't know about that. I was about to place my order, then thought to check back here and ask if there were any store-exclusive preorder bonuses going on with the game itself and whether I should wait till Gamestop has theirs up. In that case, I guess I'll wait. Thanks for the heads up!

[KageSora]

I don't think there's any exclusive bonuses from them.

 

You're welcome, though! I mean, at the VERY LEAST the "charge you the full amount as an authorization" thing is something that people have been concerned about and should know about. But man, they apparently screwed up another CE before NNK, too.

 

I'd just hate for anything to screw up and for somebody to not get their CE. Hopefully, though, everything will go smoothly for those who do order with them.

 

 

It's available for order from GameStop (both in-store) and Amazon.

Edited October 15, 2013 by KageSora

[AAurion]

Just ordered one from Gamestop's site I don't see the CE on Amazon, though?

[Ryuu2]

Hhhm, I'll be asking my buddies at gamestop about it then! That's so exciting! I love the little Lloyd and Emil statues, but Tenebrae looks too much like a cat. I feel like he was more dog-like in appearance in the video game.

[KageSora]

Hhhm, I'll be asking my buddies at gamestop about it then! That's so exciting! I love the little Lloyd and Emil statues, but Tenebrae looks too much like a cat. I feel like he was more dog-like in appearance in the video game.

I always felt he looked more cat-like than dog-like, personally.

 

The amazon CE is here

[pika7]

I'm sort of excited for the pack since I haven't gotten the chance to play Symphonia in any form. I started with Destiny, although quite recently. I even ended up stumbling through it's proper sequel with that awkward translation guide floating around. (Harooooooooold <3) Still haven't finished Xillia but I'm working on it.

[KageSora]

Tales of Xillia 2 is available for preorder in GameStop!

 

Keep in mind that the July date given is a PLACEHOLDER date only, not a release date. The actual release date may be sooner or later (and the date given will be changed to reflect that when it's announced).

[KageSora]

Tales of Zestiria has been announced

• Four character designers! (Kosuke Fujishima, Mutsumi Inomata, Daigo Okumura and Minoru Iwamoto)
• Hero's named Slay, described as gentle
• Heroine is named Alicia
• Battle system similar to Graces, but that's all that's known
• Greenwood is the world name, Kingdom of Highlands and Empire of Lowlands in conflict
• MOTHER FREAKIN' DRAGONS
• For the PS3

Source

 

Trailer here

 

No official word on localization yet, which is understandable since it was just announced. There is, apparently, a line in the press release about wanting to sell it to the world, which hints at them wanting to release it globally. Mind you, however, that WANTING to do so and having the resources to actually do so can be two very different things. Still, assuming Tales doesn't tank again outside of Japan, there's probably a decent chance it'll leave Japan eventually! (Hopefully sooner!)

Edited December 12, 2013 by KageSora

[Ryuu2]

I was so excited to the live stream that I didn't sleep last night. >.> Hideo Baba(I think that's his name) was actually really nervous looking, and it was cute.

KageSora, did you see the backup stream that I added to your post on tumblr?

[KageSora]

Yep!

 

I'm so excited~ It's been confirmed to have a global release, too! (source)

 

Hopefully this means that it'll be released not terribly long after the JP release. Though I'd rather have a delay in the release then them pull a ToV again and release a superior version JP only...

Edited December 13, 2013 by KageSora

[edwardelricfreak]

oh wow so there is a thread for this. Awesome.

 

It seems they're releasing a lot of Tales games recently and that makes me really happy.

 

I have to say my favorite is Tales of the Abyss so far. I love Symphonia (1 and 2, though I wish they did more with Dawn of the New World :c) and Legendia a lot, too. I've only just started playing Vesperia. I still need to get Graces F and Xillia and now I'm going to need to get ANOTHER one too.

Edited December 13, 2013 by edwardelricfreak

[KageSora]

Yeah, they managed to revive interest in the series in the West--and the fans helped, too. I'm just glad the series is doing better outside of Japan again.

 

Graces F has a great battle system, IMO, so I'm excited that Zestiria will be similar! And Xillia is really just all kinds of fun. Second favorite Tales game!

[edwardelricfreak]

I honestly never really knew of Tales being a whole series until like...a couple years ago. My mom had Tales of Destiny for the longest time, and at some point picked up Phantasia (for GBA) and thought they had some oddly similar features but we never really looked into it.

 

And then she found Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology and I think she noticed Stahn was in it so she decided to get it.

 

...and basically ever since then we went on a Tales search, trying to find all of the games we could.

 

I love Destiny. It was my childhood, along with other games my mom played. I would sit and watch and be doing homework or just watching. omg I can still remember a lot of the music and all of the things the characters said in Japanese that I couldn't understand. She hasn't played it in so long, though.

 

I've heard complaints about Graces F, probably over its battle system, I would imagine. But I don't care. I'm going to get it anyway. You make me look forward to getting Xillia.

 

I can barely play Vesperia because I don't have a 360. I know there's a PS3 version but I believe it's Japan-only? The ONE time I got to start playing Vesperia was when I asked my boyfriend to bring over his 360. My mom won't let me take the game out of the house. x3

 

I REALLY wish Dawn of the New World had more to it. Anything that involves having monsters on your team and training them and having them change form is a win in my book (that's probably why I adore Pokemon, Digimon, and Spectrobes, as well). It had such a great plot going for it, but I feel like they rushed the game too much (I think I actually read that it WAS a rush job). Most of meat of the game is really only filled with Katz Guild missions, very few actual sidequests. There are like the Richter sidequests and that's...pretty much it. And both are optional, like any sidequest is, but then the rest of the game is so terribly short! I wish they had pulled more stuff from the first game, too. It would have been nice to have had interaction between the Summon Spirits and Centurions (and to have actually SEEN the rest of the Centurions!). I would have liked it if you could have trained the human characters, too. In my mind, since they do leave a lot, it would have been best to have them enter at whatever level, then you would be able to level them up to a certain point (where they would enter the next time you meet). For example, I think you first get Colette when she's level 10. I don't remember the next time, but let's say it's 20. Well, you could then have Colette with you and get her up to level 20, but it stops. THEN at the end of the game when all of the human characters join, you should be able to get them to level 200 with you. :c

 

I get that it's supposed to be oriented around the monsters, but I feel like the monsters were still very detached from what was actually happening in the story. I think they should have been a LITTLE more tied into what was going on. The human characters (apart from Marta and Emil, and Tenebrae though he's not a human) didn't even really pay attention to them or really acknowledge that you were recruiting them.

 

I LOVE that game, though, don't get me wrong. I kind of like it more than the first, probably because I actually played it before the first one.

 

Marta is freaking amazing after she gets speed cast, and even more amazing when you get her armor that causes all spells to only cost 1 TP, including her Special. Once she has significant amounts of speed casts, I actually stop using Emil for the most part and just use Marta.

[KageSora]

Graces does get some complaints due to the battle system (which I loved, I adore the CC battle system rather than just the TP one relying on attack attack attack). But also for the story, which I admit wasn't as strong as in other games. but it's still really fun!

 

Yeah, the PS3 version is JP only. ;_; It's pretty fun too, though--especially when you can exploit mechanics to basically spam Tidal Wave and murder literally everything on the field super quickly with near-endless usage of it back-to-back-to-back god Rita is just so broken once you can do that.

 

Personally, I would have loved to be able to play the monsters as well as the human characters. But yeah, it was rushed. IT's also a side game. IIRC, Vesperia was the main series game that was being worked on at the time, and ultimately both games suffered for it.

 

I actually adore it more than the first even though I played the first... First. But I do agree that, while it's my favorite game of all time, it could have been better. Still, for what it is, it's not bad. It could have been worse. But it would have been nice if it was better.

 

 

...I actually never really bothered much with Marta--mostly because I like Emil more. I just use Emil and destroy everything with my Fenrir and my Orion. Those two never let me down!

[7Deadly$ins]

I really really wish that they had taken the core of DotNW's story and separated it from Symphonia.

[edwardelricfreak]

...I actually never really bothered much with Marta--mostly because I like Emil more.  I just use Emil and destroy everything with my Fenrir and my Orion.  Those two never let me down!

I used to not bother with Marta, either. But then I felt like going through the Colosseum with just her and oh my god I never went back. I try to get off of being Emil asap. Marta destroys EVERYTHING with Prism Sword. I got really good at keeping track of HP, too, so I can heal everyone when necessary. Of course, I ALWAYS make sure to give every single one of my monsters First Aid and Heal when I can. Not that I hate using Emil, though. I love using him. He's strong and rips through everything and his best weapon isn't a pain in the butt to get. My usual moveset for his is B - Demon Fang (I don't like Tenebrae equipped due to Demon Fang losing the shockwave), side B - Heavenly Tempest, up B - Phoenix Rush (+ Ventus equipped), and down B - IT CHANGES. It's usually Converging Fury, Swallow Fury, Roaring Tiger, or Quake Assault. Most commonly I think I use either Converging Fury or Roaring Tiger.

 

Basically my Marta attack set is B - Heal, side B - Roaring Phoenix (I needed a thief and Marta was the only one capable), up B - either Resurrection or Revive (usually Resurrection, but for Bosses I put on Revive and use it on everyone, then switch to Resurrection), and down B - Prism Sword. You can also use Divine Saber instead of Prism Sword, but for some reason I like Prism Sword more. Divine Saber IS stronger, but if you want more hits for combos, Prism Sword is 4 hits more.

 

It's a whole lot of fun letting your monsters and Emil rip through enemies as you sit in the back and spam Prism Sword/Divine Saber over and over. Even better is Marta's Special, which Emil's PALES SEVERELY in comparison to. Radiant Roar is AMAZING. It hits all enemies, dealing more damage the closer they are, and it heals all allies for 50% of their total HP. Once I found that out I was like "Emil, I'm sorry, but Devil's Hellfire is super lame now." Besides, you end up losing Ain Soph Aur so... x3

 

I LOVE everything the Wolf turns into. The Orion form is my favorite, mainly due to the skills it learns. You get Resurrect which means sometimes when it dies it just picks itself back up again.

 

For the other monsters I liked a lot, I LOVED the Wolf Heddin that the Bear turns into. omigosh is it awesome. My team of choice is the Wolf Heddin and Orion usually. The Vroom is wicked cool. Some other good ones are the Sword Dancer, the Lailah (I think that's the name?), Ruby Dear, Fenia, Ravenous, like any of the dragons, and the Kitty Kat. My backup team is usually either Vroom/Fenia or Sword Dancer/Ravenous.

 

I always hated that whenever all human characters die, it's game over. My monsters are totally strong enough to save us and I think one of them was even able to revive others but I can't remember.

 

I really really wish that they had taken the core of DotNW's story and separated it from Symphonia.

I thought that originally, but I actually kind of like still having the same temples and the Summon Spirits. I suppose those could have been in their own game, but still...

Edited December 13, 2013 by edwardelricfreak

[KageSora]

It's been so long since my last play, I can't remember my movesets. I just never managed to master playing as Marta, and since I dislike her as a character (for personal reasons), I never really wanted to. Emil works great for my purposes, swapping to Marta if needed for Radiant Roar~

 

But OH MAN I HAVE SUCH A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT STUPID REVIVING SKILL. When it's on my monsters, it's awesome. But I have bad memories of battles with Phoenixes who just would not die, haha.

 

I actually always liked the way it was a sequel--probably because I wouldn't have tried it if it wasn't since I loved ToS originally.

[edwardelricfreak]

I haven't played ever since the data for the game was moved to an SD card and then my mom started a new game so I need a new SD to move THAT data over so I can move MY data back and...ugh it's confusing. I'm just chillin' in Gladsheim, shooting for Marta's ultimate weapon. I brought monsters with me that have that skill that increases item drop rates, so hopefully I'll get it off of the boss.

 

No yeah, I thought I would NEVER used Marta because I thought she was crazy annoying. I really really didn't want her and Emil together like ever. I shipped Emil and Richter

 

But really she's crazy fun to use. You should try using her some time. I actually preferred using her in the Colosseum instead of Emil, as she could heal herself and stand back to attack enemies.

 

Phoenixes are ANNOYING. The rare Orion in Gladsheim is also annoying. But it's absolutely wonderful on my monsters so I don't mind. I just keep attacking till they eventually die. I think there was a Phoenix that revived like...5-7 times or so before it FINALLY DIED UGH.

[KageSora]

I don't remember if I did Gladsheim, but I do remember doing Twilight Palace like 8 times until I FINALLY beat that stupid boss. I was stubborn and refused to level up for a while each time I lost hahahah.

 

Mostly I just find her really creepy and annoying (much less at the end of the game once she's settled down a bit). She reminds me of a really creepy dude I used to know. :/ (RICHTER AND EMIL IS MY SHIP MAN. The subtext is great. I LOVE the skit where Emil's like "wait not like I love Richter! I mean I like him a lot but...!" But oh man I could just write a freakin' mini-essay on why I think it'd be a healthier ship than Emil/Marta lol)

 

I'll probably end up giving her a shot next time I get around to playing again--though that'll prooobably not be until the HD collection comes out, I can't really justify replaying that when I've so many other games to beat ahahah..

 

I KNOW RIGHT. It's like "I've killed you 10 times! STAY DEAD ALREADY!" Man, it's horrible when you have more than one in a battle, and they both constantly auto-revive. D:

[edwardelricfreak]

Oh really? I usually did pretty well in Twilight Palace. Though I guess I've only done it twice (one time first playthrough, one time on second playthrough). I guess it's because I would grind in the Colosseum to fill out my monster gallery and level up and stuff. OH MY GOSH did I have a TON of grade after my first playthrough! I had legitimately over 9000 grade points and I bought all of the goodies, including the 10x? experience points.

 

And on my second playthrough I ran away from Lloyd and kept using Life Bottles on Marta as my monsters kicked his butt. We became level 15-20ish from all of the experience points!

 

I don't know why, but for any game I have this "level 10" philosophy- that is, before the first boss, be AT LEAST level 10. That goes for Pokemon for the first gym as well as several other games. For this particular one, it was for that guy in that one place. Not Lloyd, but the first official boss battle. Though I think for that I needed to be level 15 at least, but whatever.

 

I just love everything with Emil and Richter. When I first had THAT skit come up though, my mom and I DIED from laughter! Richter's a good guy. I've always liked him. Ratatosk was a jerk to him. D: I'm glad they became sort-of buddies at the end.

 

It's such a short game, though. You could probably beat it in a week, and that's including doing sidequests and significant grinding. But I know what you mean. I really need to finish up Twilight Princess and I'm just dawdling on it! I play it like once a year, during the winter break. This will be my third year of dealing with it. I don't do it on purpose, it's just that I get back into school and I suddenly don't have the time.

[KageSora]

My problem was I was underleveled for it, but refused to get myself to appropriate levels. But eventually my sheer stubbornness won out and I managed victory! But it's kinda funny, because by the time I got to the final battles, I was way overpowered. Ending battles spoilers (since the HD versions are coming out and some people haven't had a chance to play them yet):I wanted the good ending, and I literally just had to go do something else for a while because Lloyd and Marta were doing like practically no damage against me. Then, when I was curious what would happen if you lost to Ratatosk, it was the same story. Man, that was kind of a pain haha.

 

Haaa... Yeah. I mean, they're just great. And there's honestly so much more to all three of them than the fandom really likes to give them credit for, IMO. I just... God I love all three of them so much and all three of them break my heart. And then you toss Aster in there, and he's my favorite character out of the whole damn game and I'm so freakin' excited to be able to get more info on him with the light novel that comes with the ToSC CE. (Also there's a manga about Richter slowly being released in Japan, and apparently one of the pages shows Aster with a GUN?!)

 

Yeah, I know it's short, but even short games tend to turn into long things with me--I like to just run around and waste time haha. And I have other short games, too, I should put first...

Edited December 14, 2013 by KageSora

[7Deadly$ins]

I just feel like it was so tacked on to Symphonia. Some information about the Centurions would've been great, since they apparently hang out in the exact same places as the summon spirits, which in some cases you already have to visit multiple times just in one game. And then, as far as reputation wise, I really don't like what they chose to do to Lloyd. I felt the entire time that the original cast was just fanservice and that half the time they didn't even have good reasons to be where they showed up at. They should've just made a game with the characters from the sequel on their own. I like Emil/Richter/Aster and all, but ultimately I consider the sequel non-canon.

[KageSora]

You can consider it non-canon all you like, though it doesn't change the fact that it is canon.

 

I do get being annoyed with how they handled the characters, since it was really just fanservice I agree. I think it woulda been better if they didn't really join your party, personally.

[7Deadly$ins]

Hence the "I consider."

 

I don't think it would've helped all that much if they didn't join. They're still handled so poorly. They basically took characters that are very close to my heart and did a rather poor job of them so I was never too happy.