Recommend Games similar to Tales of Vesperia? (any current system)

[yoda313]

Well I picked up Tales of Vesparia for the 360 the other week. Once I started to play I actually got into it (I've only recorded 5 hours into the mission with saved time so far). I haven't really played games like this before. Though the overworld map is certainly reminiscent of the old NES DRAGON WARRIOR games. I used to like those.

Are there other types of current gen console like this? Please note I have recently traded in my old playstation 2 and no my playstation 3 does NOT play ps2 games so I can't take any ps2 titles into consideration. However I can do ps3, xbox 360 and backward compatible xbox 1 games, wii games and pc games.

Obvious question here - is this similar in style to the Final Fantasy games? Believe it or not I have never owned a Final Fantasy game. Its just one of those series I never started.

Suggestions are welcome.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Believe it or not I have never owned a Final Fantasy game.

HERESY!!!

FF is THE game if you are into RPG a all.

[Joe The Dude]

Please note I have recently traded in my old playstation 2 and no my playstation 3 does NOT play ps2 games so I can't take any ps2 titles into consideration.

So much for reccomending Tales of the Abyss for PS2... :P

You can get "Tales of Symphonia" for the GameCube (it will work on your Wii).

"Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World" is a new game recently released for the Wii.
It's a sequal to the GC game, and you get some bonuses if you load 'clear game save data' from the GC Game.

The first "Tales of" game was released in Japan for the Super Famicom (SNES) It's called "Tales of Phantasia".
You can get DeJap's English Patch for it, if you are into emulators,
or you can simply get the USA Gameboy Advance Version.

Two "Tales of" games were made for the PSOne, and released in the USA:
Tales of Destiny.
Tales of Destiny II (Tales of Eternia is it's Japanese & European name)
Again, if you have an emulator, you can play em on your PC.

For more information on Tales games, as well as other RPG-Style Games, you can check out http://www.rpgamer.com

[Tearren]

I am not at all familiar with Tales of Vesparia, but if you are looking for RPG style games, I would highly recommend Knights of The old Republic I and II. Very good gameplay and storyline in both.

Tearren

[yoda313]

@medico brujo - yep never bought one......

@joe the dude:

You can get "Tales of Symphonia" for the GameCube (it will work on your Wii).

Ok here's my question if anybody knows - is Tales of Vesperia part of this Tales series as in story line or is it a standalone title?

I had forgot to mention that the WII does play Gamecube games but at least some people knew.

Two "Tales of" games were made for the PSOne, and released in the USA:
Tales of Destiny.
Tales of Destiny II (Tales of Eternia is it's Japanese & European name)
Again, if you have an emulator, you can play em on your PC.

Actually I have a playstation 3 so I can play any ps1 game -ntsc ones obviously - - I just don't have the model that plays ps2 games.

@tearren - you know I'll have to give the Star Wars Knights series another shot. I had played them a little when they first came out. However I was not hooked. I think I was too jaded by the excellent Jedi Knight action series. I think I was expecting another quake type run and gun game. But now that I think of it there was the element that I like in this Tales game.



-----------------------

I also have a NINTENDO DS so I will take suggestions for those also.

Looks like I need to make a run to Blockbuster this weekend

EDIT - Sorry I don't have a PSP....

[Joe The Dude]

Tales of Destiny 2 (J) was never released in the USA.
When they translated Tales of Eternia for the US Market, they re-named it Tales of Destiny 2. -_-
The refrences to ToD2 below refer to the never-released-in-usa game.

~ ~ ~ ~

The storylines of most games in the Tales series are not connected to one another. There are a few games with minor connections, but each game can be appreciated by itself without knowledge of the events of other games in the series, with the possible exceptions of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and Tales of Destiny 2 (J).


Aselian timeline
The games in this timeline take place in the same world but many years apart from each other, with the exception of Tales of Symphonia and its spin-off.

Tales of Symphonia
Takes place at least four thousand years prior to Tales of Phantasia.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Starts 2 years after the events of Tales of Symphonia.

Tales of Phantasia
Takes place in three different time periods, the "present" time being the year 4304 of the Aselian calendar.

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon
Focusing on Mel and Dio 104 years after Tales of Phantasia's "present" time.

Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage
A sequel taking place 411 years after Phantasia's future in the year 4765, with Klarth's descendant Fulein K. Lester as the protagonist.

Destiny timeline
Tales of Destiny 2 is a direct sequel to Tales of Destiny.

Tales of Destiny
Tells the story of Stan Aileron, and the other Swordian Masters.

Tales of Destiny 2
Tells the story of Stan Aileron and Rutee Kartret's son, Kyle Dunamis. Starts 18 years after its predecessor, and takes place in several different time periods, including an altered timeline.

The above is an excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of.

From what I can tell, Vesperia's world and storyline is seprate from the other Tales games.

[Tearren]

@tearren - you know I'll have to give the Star Wars Knights series another shot. I had played them a little when they first came out. However I was not hooked. I think I was too jaded by the excellent Jedi Knight action series. I think I was expecting another quake type run and gun game. But now that I think of it there was the element that I like in this Tales game.

Yea I kind see why you might not get hooked right away.

In KOTOR I, if I rem correctly, you have to run around all these different planets/places collecting parts and build a lightsaber, also you don't start out as a Jedi right away. These 2 aspects I really didn't like, but once i got past them and further along I enjoyed it.

In KOTOR II, you don't get a lightsaber until later by killing some guy I think. It takes a while into the game. But at least you don't have to build one and you start out as a Jedi.

[yoda313]

@joe the dude - thanks for the background.

@tearren - I'll have to check if the kotor series is backward compatible with the 360. I'd imagine they are.

I have two similar questions now:

For the 360----

Would Fable 2 and Mass Effect be worth checking into?

I wasn't enthralled with them upon launch but now that I think they share traits similar to Vesperia I may give them another look.

[yoda313]

Bump!

Wow I didn't realize it has been this long but I finally picked this game back up again and am going headlong into it. (I've played a LOT of other games and finished many of them in the meantime - still owned it just never picked up it to play - got stuck on one part and FINALLY was determined to charge through it and I finally did that yesterday and can now continue on with the story).

I was looking to get suggestions for similar jrpg games that are like Tales of Vesperia.

I do not have a WII anymore - also I don't have a gamecube either.

I have a xbox 360 and a ps3. The ps3 does not play ps2 games and I do not have a ps2 (nor do I want to buy one).

I have a dual core vista pc and a single core xp pc but I really don't want to do pc gaming for this genre.

I do have a PSP. I have this game for it (along with a few others but this is the only rpg game I have for it)

PSP - Lunar Silver Star Harmony

I do like this game but I just can't sit down for long stretches and play psp games.

FYI I don't plan on getting a VITA anytime soon either.

So there you have it. Please recommend jrpg games for the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PSP (though the psp is a last ditch deal as I don't really want to play games on it anymore - I have it for videos).

Also I'd take recommendations for other rpg game styles aside from the typical jrpg setting.

------------------------------

Note - I have final fantasy 13 (the first one) and I am not ready or neccessarily interested in buying 13-2. I will get back into the game eventually but probably not until I get close to finishing Vesperia.

Thanks.

Oh and I don't have any interest in getting back to fable as I traded in fable 2 and I don't like mass effect.

Edit - oh and I also traded in the Nintendo D so I don't have any nintendo systems anymore except the snes and a nes - though I"m not sure where the nes is right now or if it still works - the snes is in storage [a clear plastic box] and worked the last time I used it).

[handyguy]

Those are JRPGs. You should be able to find plenty of those. gamefaqs.com has tons of info on any game & game lists & walkthroughs for you.

[yoda313]

Thanks handyguy but any suggestions to narrow the list down?

Actually I'm getting to the last third of Vesperia. At least that is the way I see it the way my strategy guide is laid out.

I'm nearly 35 hours in to the game now after a year and a half break (I was 25 or so hours in before I picked it up again - maybe more). I shouldn't be too far away from getting to the end. I don't think I'll be doing any of the side quests though there aren't too many in this particular game.

There was one that I might be interested in. It was STAR OCEAN. I actually owned it for awhile for the 360. However I had so many other games that I hadn't finished I eventually traded it in. I imagine it should be pretty cheap now. Though I might get it for the ps3 instead since the 360 was 3 discs long - I barely played it so I won't miss my saved game.

I think there are a few others out there but I"m not sure how many have that "free run" style of combat systems that Vesperia uses.

Edit - those Dragon quest (used to be dragon warrior during the NES days I believe) are intriquing but are DS only as far as I know. It would be interesting if they made a proper console game that wasn't Nintendo only.

It seems like the WII was more rpg heavy then followed by the ps3 and lastly 360. Though I'm not sure thats true these days. What with more and more multiplatform releases lately.

[Joe The Dude]

Tales of Graces F was released for the PS3, a couple of months ago, in America.
http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Graces-f-sony-playstation3/dp/B002I0K2J4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...8783192&sr=8-1

It's a really cool game, and has a lot of similarities to Vesperia.
You can do the Free-Run thing in Tales of Graces F's battles too.

[yoda313]

Tales of Graces F was released for the PS3, a couple of months ago, in America.
http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Graces-f-sony-playstation3/dp/B002I0K2J4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...8783192&sr=8-1

It's a really cool game, and has a lot of similarities to Vesperia.
You can do the Free-Run thing in Tales of Graces F's battles too.

Neat! Thanks Joe The Dude.

That looks almost like a sequel to Vesperia. At least the graphical successor to Vesperia. It almost looks like they kept the same engine and used it for a new cast and story.

I'll definitely keep that one in mind. I'm glad it was released for the ps3.

[Joe The Dude]

Tales of Graces F was released for the PS3, a couple of months ago, in America.
http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Graces-f-sony-playstation3/dp/B002I0K2J4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...8783192&sr=8-1

It's a really cool game, and has a lot of similarities to Vesperia.
You can do the Free-Run thing in Tales of Graces F's battles too.

Neat! Thanks Joe The Dude.

That looks almost like a sequel to Vesperia. At least the graphical successor to Vesperia. It almost looks like they kept the same engine and used it for a new cast and story.

I'll definitely keep that one in mind. I'm glad it was released for the ps3.

no problem.

It'd be wise to go ahead and complete Vesperia, before you start playing Graces: F, because it is very addictive.
I finally beat Vesperia (360), earlier this year, in anticipation of the Graces F Release, and I'm glad I did.
I completed Graces:F Last month.
Both games were hella fun to play, had unforgettable, lovable, and unique characters, and I enjoyed the overall story-lines.
I recommend both, to any Tales fan out there.
I can't say much more than than this about those two games, without giving away spoilers.

The only Tales Game, that has had an official English Release, that I haven't completed yet, is
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, for the Nintendo Wii.
IIRC, it should be compatible with the Wii-U, so you can always pick it up later on down the line, if you get that console in the future, and won't need to spend money on the current version of the Wii.
I'm pretty sure Nintendo said the U will be backwards-compatible with Wii Games, but not GC Games.
We may have to wait and see.

Anyway, I haven't beaten Dawn of the New World yet, as I've been holding out until they make a revision of Dolphin, that won't have any quirks during skits, battles, or cut-scenes. Plus, I've been very busy as of late. I'm about halfway through that game (been playing it on my Wii, off and on) since it came out.
I might wind up beating it on the Wii, if the Dolphin devs can't get that game 100% compatible with their emulator, in a reasonable amount of time.

I've seen one or two unofficial English Patches for some DS and/or PSP Tales Games on the web. Can't seem to find them at the moment, though.
I also heard a rumor that either a DS or PSP Tales game, that hasn't got an official English release yet, might get one, and be remade for the Vita, and be released in the UK. It's been a while since I read that, over at rpgamer.com, so I'm not sure if it's true or not.

I recall reading (on the gamefaqs forum, iirc) a while back, that namco-bandai is looking closely at the American sales of Abyss (3DS) and Graces:F (PS3) and will use the data to determine whether or not to continue translating Tales games for our market. I'm pretty sure is just a theory/rumor a board member came up with, though.

[yoda313]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo said the U will be backwards-compatible with Wii Games, but not GC Games.
We may have to wait and see.

Yep that was the way I understood it from there last "official" information. It may change.

I imagine what will happen is a gamecube virtual store will be available for the "privilege" of reacquiring the gamecube games.

It'd be wise to go ahead and complete Vesperia, before you start playing Graces: F, because it is very addictive.
I finally beat Vesperia (360), earlier this year, in anticipation of the Graces F Release, and I'm glad I did.
I completed Graces:F Last month.

I definitely intend to complete it now that I have jumped back into it. Its one of those things that is hard if you lose momentum. The reason I stopped was that Belius fight. I just couldn't get past it. Now that I have I am in the last third of the game from what I can tell.

I'm sure its addictive.....

FYI time for a confession - I have augmented my tales experience. When I was first playing it before my year and a half hiatus I bought the addons from xbox live marketplace. I bought the 300,000 gald and the the level 10 upgrade. I had already utilized the 300,000 gald when I bought it and that is what kept me in the game. It wasn't until I picked it back up that I applied the level 10 upgrade. I believe that is what pushed me over the top for the Belius fight.

I don't consider this cheating as it legitimized by xbox - its not a hack or a cheat. I wouldn't have played it all this time without the "enhancement". I am enjoying the game and that is what counts.

Both games were hella fun to play, had unforgettable, lovable, and unique characters, and I enjoyed the overall story-lines.

I agree with that for Vesperia for sure. Definitely involving and enjoyable.

I'm not sure when I will pick up graces but I will do so eventually. I do have other games to finish and to start so its not a must have since I have other things to play with. But its nice to know there are other options similar to this game I've grown attached to.

Thanks again Joe The Dude for the info and insight.

Edit - now that I"m back in the flow of things with vesperia I may forgo the "enhancements" when I do pickup graces. You know go for it as it was intended without supplements. Though I would at least get a strategy guide for it like I have for Vesperia. My main gripe is I have no idea where to go if I don't. There aren't enough arrows pointing you where to go.

[yoda313]

@joe the dude - I picked up Graces today.

I haven't finished Vesperia yet but I have churned ahead and am in the final stretch. I'm at the battle between Yuri and Estelle.

I had a 20% coupon from Gamestop for my birthday and used it on the used game that was available. I haven't popped it in yet but I will definitely get a feel for the story. I want to experience it a little before diving back into Vesperia.

Thanks again Joe The Dude.

[yoda313]

Well I did finally beat Tales of Vesperia awhile ago. Great game and I'm glad I stuck with it. (only took me four years to beat it - that is with about three years off between playing sessions ).

Since then I took a break from rpgs and played and finished Halo 2 - yep never finished that game either. So now I am FINALLY onto Tales of Graces F in full.

I'm about 11 hours into it. I am still in chapter 2 apparently (haven't gotten a new trophy yet so I am assuming that is where I'm at).

I checked out the game faqs and stuff and there are 8 main chapters and something called a future arc. I was interested so I checked it out and they say its about 40-60 hours to finish just the main story arc without all the side missions. I think I hit near 60 hours with Tales of Vesperia so that would make sense.

I am gonna push pretty to hard to finish this game. I want to TRY to finish it before Assassins Creed 3 comes out at the end of the month (Oct 30). There is also going to be Halo 4 the following week. I think I will be buying AC3 first and try to finish that before getting Halo 4. I won't be doing much if any multiplayer in AC3 but obviously I will in Halo 4.

I still have quite a few backlogged games. I have 3d dot game heroes, Red Dead Undead Nightmare (as dlc - finished the main game), Final Fantasy 13 part 1 - (I did get about 10 hours into that one I think, I have the strategy guide and I'll probably get into that too), I also picked up RAGE for the ps3 but I haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet.

I have fallout 3 also which I got this year and put a few hours into it. That will be on the back burner for awhile. I may end up passing on it. Bought used anyway so not a large investment. Plus I have Gears of War 1 and 2 but I'm not sure I'll bother with the main story much, just occasional mulitplayer on those, though not much at all.

I also have Halo Wars which I put some time into but I just didn't get hooked. I guess thats an RTS and I never really played those so I'm not gung ho to dive into it much.

I think it might be a stretch for me to finish Tales of Graces F before the end of the month. If I get close I might hold off on AC3 to finish it. Though if I'm only half way through by then I might shelve it to tackle Assassins Creed 3. That is definitely looking to be a top notch game that should be worth throwing hours and hours into.



Good times to be a gamer

[Joe The Dude]

It took me a little over 170 hours to beat Graces F (that's what is says on the Game Save that I made after completing the Future Arc); but I took my time with that game.

If you plan on skipping most of the the side quests, I'd recommend ya at least do
Cheria's Hide and Seek game in Wall bridge,
the sidequest with the seeds,
and most definitely the one with the Dolls.
Some of the dolls you get only through synthesis (the item creation thing in the game; I forget what they call it).

I have forgotten what the prizes were for doing them, but the extra stories/skits you get while doing them (at least, to me) were very worthwhile.

Edited to Add:
Another PS3 Tales game is coming to the states sometime next year.
There's no specific release date set yet, but they have confirmed that it is currently in the process of being localized.
It's called Tales of Xillia.
http://youtu.be/7kMTYCSFJgU

[yoda313]

It took me a little over 170 hours to beat Graces F (that's what is says on the Game Save that I made after completing the Future Arc); but I took my time with that game.

I guess you really did take your time with it. Wow. Impressive.

If I didn't have so many other games lined up I would dive deeper into it. I am definitely liking the game.

Oh and I had beaten chapter 2 when I wrote that I didn't realize it though. I finished chapter 3 now and am about 14 hours into it. Its weird I want to make a mad dash to the end to find out what happens but I would like to stroll through it a bit. It is very well done.

I'm a little disappointed with the combat. Its pretty easy on normal. The only thing is though I'm torn. I want to do moderate or harder but I also want to finish the game in a reasonable amount of time. I know if I make the battles more difficult it will take that much longer to finish the game.

Also I'm not getting into the artes and battle system quite as much as I did with Vesperia. Its still very good but I just haven't found the desire to go totally all in on this one. I sort of do but I like the faster pace I'm taking with this one.

I think it might be that I had gone so deep with Vesperia that I find myself wanting to ease off a little on Graces. Its just as good but my intensity is different. I want to know all the ins and outs and little stuff but I also just want to get caught up in the story and see it to the end.

One of my complaints about Vesperia was that it was really a much larger story than I had really been involved in before with a video game. Also the world was much larger. Going from point a to point b was its own chore. It was fun and all but Graces is much narrower and more focused in that sense. At least to that point I am in the story. Its actually refreshing to have it more focused and a bit tighter. I like to get more done in a shorter time frame. Again this is without doing all of the side stuff.

If I had taken more time between the two games I think I'd be more fully vested in Graces. Don't get me wrong I am into the story definitely. But all of the extras and the menus and artes and all that I guess I over indulged on Vesperia to the point that I don't want to go that deep into this one. It cheapens it a bit for me in that I'm turning it into just a hack and slash game really by not utilizing all the artes and items and what not but I am still having fun with it.

I will definitely be keeping this game and not turning it in for another. I am still keeping Vesperia in case I want to go into the plus mode or whatever that is after the main game is finished. I will hold onto Graces for the same reason. So I could revisit it at some point to more fully enjoy it at some later time.

All in all I'm glad you recommended it Joe the Dude. I'm also glad I finally dug in and finished Vesperia. Both have been worth it.

Oh and one thing I do like about Graces versus Vesperia is the save points seem to be more logically placed. More or less. They are closer to main events so you don't have to run back to some previous spot to save and go back to keep going.

And at least so far the mazes and dungeons layouts are a lot simpler than Vesperia. Though that may change later.

It might also be that without my time on Vesperia I might have the same issues with Graces. Meaning I know what to except more out of this type of game than when I was playing Vesperia. So maybe its a thing about being jaded or something where its a not a novelty anymore. I'm understanding the layout and structure of this type of game better. Vesperia was kind of my first modern rpg compared to something like 16 bit zelda and dragon warrior games (the original 8 bit dragon warriors, not the ds versions).

So I do enjoy it but I don't think I'll be putting in tons of time into it. Though I have been judicously saving at various spots. I have about 10 different save slots already so I could go back at various spots should I so choose.

One last thing, I have kept true and not gone into the psn store to buy any extra money or items. I may indulge myself for some character modeling if there are any costumes or something like that but I will not be altering the game play. I will stay true to that.

Edit - one other thing about the fighting. I think what it is with Graces is there haven't been any true TUTORIALS on the fighting. In Vesperia you had the various sparring matches with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (the pathetic knights who were always chasing Yuri). ALthough tedious to a point they were what got me interested in the different artes and the timing of everything.

With Graces you are flying blind mostly. They do have the pop up dialog boxes after battles and the flashing text before a new battle on what to attack with but its not the same as an interactive tutorial battle is.

Edit 2 - Oh and Joe the dude - its DUALIZING in Graces. It was Synthesizing in Vesperia if I remember right. I have started to get into that a bit.

[yoda313]

Just an update - mostly for Joe the Dude.

I'm over 30 hours in now. Very good game

I was hell bent on plowing through the story and hit a brick wall with that Kurt battle at the valkines. I was at level 37 and he was at 50. I tried several times but kept getting blown apart all the time. So I bit the bullet and went on to level grinding. Long story short after a few hours of grinding I got up to 45 and was able to move past that point.

I'm now on the way to the shuttle for the aquasphere part. I'm at 20% on trophies already. I'm not shooting for any specific number but its nice to them as they come, mostly the title trophies.

I do have the completed chapter 5 trophy. It seems a bit odd where the have the chapter markers. Its not at the end of a big battle like I'd expect.

But I"m definitely looking forward to finishing the game. I think I should definitely be close to finishing the game by the time Assassins Creed 3 comes out. I think I'll be finishing Tales of Graces F first before tackling AC3. This is a very satisfying game.

I've been putting about an hour into the game every time I pick it up (sometimes two or three on the weekends). I'm actually getting more into the battle mechanics too. Its making it more enjoyable. I finally figured out that mixer thing. And now I'm putting those "books" that are collected onto it for more enhancements.

I stumbled onto a "gald farming" situation when I was grinding Friday night. It was the glacier plains on the way to the ruins before the Kurt battle. There are the little items on the road and there is one that is over a 1000 gald almost every time. I had gone back into the city (zavhert I think) and back out to the road and it reset the items. Ka-ching! It wasn't the same amount everytime but it was frequent enough I racked up the count. I also got the dualizing bonus of the golden bough and feathers to make the arrow to sell for 2000 gald.

With that I was able to buy the plantinum tunics for each of the group. I also maxed out all my health items. I was up to a 120,000 before my spending spree. I was down but now back up to 90,000 or so - all this without buying the addon packs like I did for Vesperia. This was all my work

Anyhow, I am making good progress now. I hate it when I get stuck in a game. THats why it took me so long to get through Vesperia. I just got frustrated and didn't take the time to punch through the parts that got me. Once I did I enjoyed it and was able to finish it. I certainly didn't want to wait a couple years again to finish this game. Hopefully I won't run into many more stumbling blocks along the way. I like challenges but nothing that impedes the flow of the game.

Fyi I'm still on normal for battles. I figure if it gets to a point where it really is too easy for me I'll bump it up a notch. But I like progressing more than grinding it out so for now I'll leave it on normal.

[Joe The Dude]

Thanks for the update.
I'm glad you are enjoying Tales of Graces: F.
You still have a lot of plot twists ahead of ya; that game is a blast.
Kudos on the item farming for Gald trick.
There's a couple of other places that you can do that with, but the exact spots slip my mind.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Comes out for PS3 on January 22'nd, 2013.
It's not a Tales Game, but it is a LEVEL-5 RPG that being brought stateside by NamcoBandai.
The artwork is done by Studio Ghibli, and you can watch a trailer for it on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/Xsu5dRJjQF4
HD 720p is one of the streaming options.

It looks like it's going to be an interesting game; and will come out before Tales of Xillia.

[Noahtuck]

Just an FYI, all Wii's do NOT play Gamecube games.

They stopped making them backwards compatible a couple of years ago.

I can't recall the exact year, but at some point they also made them so they won't play DVDR media.

Nintendo decided to pull the same crap $ony pulled with the PS3.

After removing features you would think Nintendo would have at least added an HDMI port or made the system HD

[yoda313]

You still have a lot of plot twists ahead of ya; that game is a blast.

?Really?

I'm already in chapter 8 - I'm in the cocoon gunning for Richard. I'm knocking on the door to finishing the main story line, its 9 chapters isn't it?

I'm glad you are enjoying Tales of Graces: F.

Definitely. Its similarities to Vesperia helps out a lot but also its different enough its not a clone.

Kudos on the item farming for Gald trick.
There's a couple of other places that you can do that with, but the exact spots slip my mind.

Really? Well I wasn't out looking for the tricks but it was a happy coincedence while I was level grinding. I'm sure there are other spots but I'm in the 70-80k range right now so I'm pretty stocked up.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Comes out for PS3 on January 22'nd, 2013

Well assuming we survive 2012 and assuming I get through some more games that I have backlogged (not to mention AC3 and Halo 4 forthcoming) That will probably be on my list. I intend to try to get back into Final Fantasy 13 again and assuming I do that will naturally lead to 13x2.

Just an FYI, all Wii's do NOT play Gamecube games.

They stopped making them backwards compatible a couple of years ago.

You're kidding? I didn't know that. When I owned a Wii I had bought it brand new the second week after the launch.

made them so they won't play DVDR media.

Nintendo decided to pull the same crap $ony pulled with the PS3.

Anything to screw with ya of course.

quote="noahtuck"]After removing features you would think Nintendo would have at least added an HDMI port or made the system HD[/quote]

Nope instead we get WII U. Which is just an underpowered xbox 360 or ps3 with a tablet for a controller. Now if they had actually done that two or three or years ago it might have made a difference. But nooo they wanted to milk the cheap to produce Wii for all it was worth.

At least they are getting more involved with third parties this time. I mean a REAL version of Call of Duty. THey even have an exclusive for Bayonetta 2, its Wii U only from what I heard.

[yoda313]

I finally finished it! I got to the credits last night. Excellent game all around

I haven't done chapter 9 yet so I don't have a game clear trophy yet. I will get to it but I"m just getting into assassins creed 3 and halo 4 is just about to come out so I'm not sure when I'll finish the whole Graces game in total.

I hit just over 50 hours upon completion. I think I was at level 63 or so give or take a level.

I wish I had known this sooner or bothered to look it up. I didn't realize that weird syrup bottle was what aided in preventing knock out blows from the enemy mystic artes strikes. If I had known that in Vesperia I either forgot about it or never knew in that game either.

Basically when I faced the final Richard battle for the first time I barely made it through but burned all my life bottles so I got trashed against Lambda. Once I keyed into using the syrup bottles early and often I got through Richard again pretty easily then I could do Lambda with my Life bottles mostly intact. I had to do it about three times. One time I got down to about 1600 hp against Lambda but everybody was dying and I ran out of life bottles . Anyway next round I got it

Really nice ending too. I look forward to the future arc ending once I dive into the final final ending of the game.

I don't know about anyone else but the ending was kind of like the end of Return Of The King where it kept going. It all needed to be there but was a bit much - all good but was wondering when the credits would start.

Also I know its probably a spoiler but was the lady at the end of the credits who was talking to the kid Sophie as a grown up? She had purple hair so I'm guessing thats who it was. I'm sure I'll find out in chapter 9.

Excellent game again.

I chalked another game completion to boot I have found it ever so satisfying to actually see the credits roll in a video game. Especially with these really long rpg games.

FYI I did resort to online guides in two instances, both in the last chapter in the Lastallia. It was for that one platform that you had to go across those colored pathways in a certain order. For the life of me I couldn't figure out a pattern until I found it online. Is there any way to know it in the game itself? Is there some book or map that is in a treasure chest somewhere to find the path? It seems like a total cheat to have something that has no apparent solution without total random testing.

The other use was aligning all the power crystals after you get past that color grid level. I think if I put a few hours into it and bothered to do any mapping or whatever on my own I could have cracked it. But I was so frustrated with the game after the color pattern puzzle that I wanted to get to the end of the game at any cost.

But I did tackle Richard and Lambda on my own without any guides so that was something at least.

Definitely a worthy game and worth the time and effort.

I am debating about getting a ps2 or gamecube to get more tales games. However I still have plenty of current gen games to go through. I still also have Lunar Silver Star Harmony on the PSP if I need the rpg urge. Though its turn based not realtime like Vesperia and Graces it is still intriguing.

I do see that they are putting ps2 games on the psn store. However I don't think any tales games are part of it and I am not sure I'll have the harddrive space to do it. I only have a 40gb ps3 but I do have some things I can uninstall since a few of those games I'm not playing all the time - though obviously I'd save the saved game files just uninstall the game data.

At any rate thanks Joe The Dude for the excellent suggestion. I probably would have found it later on but it fit my gaming schedule perfectly and if I remember right I was ready to play it after taking an rpg break.

[Joe The Dude]

You're welcome.

At the end of the Future Arc, you'll find out who that purple haired woman is, that sorta looked like Sophie, as well as the identity of the kid.

You could import "Tales of Eternia" from England, for the PSP, if your PSP can read UMDs.
it's a widescreen enhanced version of the PSOne Game.
It was called Tales of Destiny II in the states, witch was a bad idea, since it is not a sequal to ToD,
and on top of that, Bandai/Namco Japan made a proper sequel to ToD and called it Tales of Destiny II, but it never came stateside...

But yeah, I see that ya have a lot of other games to get through, before ya tackle another Tales Game. XD

Anyway, here's a shopping list for ya, in case ya come across a good deal:

--PlayStation One--
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II (Tales of Eternia Europe/Japan)

--PlayStation Two--
Tales of Legendia (I really hated this one, but YMMV)
Tales of the Abyss (Starts slow, ends GREAT)

--GameCube / Wii--
Tales of Symphonia (Great story, Two Worlds, Loooong game) GameCube
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Direct Sequel to ToS, Can load Clear Data form GC Game if your Wii supports GC Mem Cards) Wii

--Xbox 360--
Tales of Vesperia. Check!

--PlayStation 3--
Tales of Graces: F. Almost Check! (Future Arc Beckons...)
Tales of Xillia (USA ETA: 2013)
Tales of Xillia 2 (USA ETA Unknown)

--Some Unreleased (in the States) Tales Games--
Tales of Phantasia (PSOne) English Patch
Yeah, first on SFC, then PS1, then on GBA, and even on the PSP. XDAFIK, the PSP Version is the only one to not get an English Patch; officially or otherwise.

Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut (PS2) English Patch WIP www.tales-cless.org
Tales of Destiny 2 (PS2) English Patch WIP www.tales-cless.org

Tales of Rebirth (PS2) English Patch WIP www.talesofrebirth.altervista.org

Tales of Innocence (DS) English Patch I didn't like this game, but YMMV.

Tales of Hearts (DS) English Patch WIP www.blade2187.com/projects/tales-of-hearts/

Of the remaining Tales Games, that ya haven't played yet, Both Symphonias (GC/Wii), and the Abyss (PS2) game, have battle systems most similar to Vesperia/Graces.

You could skip the PSOne version of Tales of Destiny, and wait for the translation patch for the PS2 Version...

[yoda313]

At the end of the Future Arc, you'll find out who that purple haired woman is, that sorta looked like Sophie, as well as the identity of the kid.

I kind of have an inkling about that but I don't want to mention it for fear of being wrong and spoiling it even more - two possiblilities in mind since one OBVIOUS thread in the game wasn't closed in the finale before the credits prior to chapter 9. This is all getting a bit "soap opera" ish for me but heck its kind of fun trying to figure it out.

You could import "Tales of Eternia" from England, for the PSP, if your PSP can read UMDs.
it's a widescreen enhanced version of the PSOne Game.

I can do psp umd discs but importing sounds pricey and since I can play ps1 games on my ps3 it might just be easier to get a ps1 copy of it. On the other hand has it come out on the psn store yet? I haven't checked for that one.

But yeah, I see that ya have a lot of other games to get through, before ya tackle another Tales Game. XD

Yes unfortunately. But the way its worked out I have a little finale left over for Graces so I'm not totally done but mostly satisfied to be able to get into other games and hold off on a full on completion.

Of the remaining Tales Games, that ya haven't played yet, Both Symphonias (GC/Wii), and the Abyss (PS2) game, have battle systems most similar to Vesperia/Graces.

That sounds good. I think I actually had symphonia for a bit when I still had my Wii. But I wasn't really into the jrpgs at the time. I hadn't completed Vesperia yet so I wasn't fully versed in the universe of jrpgs to appreciate. And since I traded it in that was that.

I'll have to check out if any of the sony tales games have hit the psn store yet. If they have its probably cheapest and easiest to buy it digitally.

For the gamecube tales games I think gamestop sells used gamecubes for under 50.00 if they have any left. As for getting the games that will have to be an ebay type thing. Not too bad of challenge I hope to acquire them when I'm ready to.

Well here's to happy gaming for all of us

I will definitely be finishing the main story of Graces in the near future.

As for any other Tales games only time will tell. It shouldn't be too hard to get a hold of the older versions. The cheapest route would be a psn release for the ps1 and 2 Tales games. Then it shouldn't be too pricey to get the Gamecube games when and if I go that route.

Many thanks again Joe the Dude.

By the way, they didn't have any other full length or even serialized animes for other Tales games did they? I did pickup Tales of Vesperia First Strike on bluray which was quite good albeit a sort of prequel/slightly alternate universe type story line.

One last thing - is it me or did the voice of Pascal in the animated clips not seem like the same voice actor of the cg in game actress? It might just be the way they mixed the volume and music in the anime clips versus the game but the voice seemed different to me.

[Joe The Dude]

Tales of Phantasia: The Animation OVA

Wiki Article that explains differences between the Anime and the Game:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Phantasia:_The_Animation

It's four episodes long.
They have am all on Youtube; can select 720p.

Episode 1 (English Dub): http://youtu.be/CsULnhql6O4

Episode 2 (English Dub): http://youtu.be/pHtrZzD6LQ0

Episode 3 (English Dub): http://youtu.be/4H6e5wnDVL0

Episode 4 (English Dub): http://youtu.be/BGj11NpK4kQ

It'll take about two hours to watch them all, as each ep is about 30 min long.

They also made an Anime (OAV) for Tales of Symphonia, but it hasn't been dubbed into English.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5720

I'm not sure what was with Pascal's voice in the animated cutscenes.
I think it's like you suggested, that something weird went on in the mixing booth.

[yoda313]

They also made an Anime (OAV) for Tales of Symphonia, but it hasn't been dubbed into English.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ency...me.php?id=5720

Thanks for the info on the animated links. Its ok if its not dubbed. I've been watching a lot of anime lately that aren't dubbed. Subs are ok for me.

I"m not sure when I'll get to the tales ones you linked to. I'll add them to my list for sure

I'm not sure what was with Pascal's voice in the animated cutscenes.
I think it's like you suggested, that something weird went on in the mixing booth.

Yeah it was a bit weird. Though she didn't have much of a part in the animated sequences so it might just have been different from the more toned down game sequences. Anyway at least somebody else noticed it and it wasn't just me

By the way I still intend to finish the last chapter in Graces. But I'm well into Assassins Creed 3 now and I just started Halo 4 (the campaign that is, haven't played multiplayer yet). So I will get to it but not right away.

That might be one of my goals for the Thanksgiving weekend (in between football and shopping that is ).

[yoda313]

Well I splurged a little and picked up a gamecube and a ps2 today. Good prices though.

I bought em at different stores but neither had any of the tales games there. Looks like I'll probably have to go online to get them.

----------------

By the way I'm at sequence 10 of 12 in assassins creed 3 (with two "real world" sections remaining). I'm definitely in to this one a lot. Though I"m speeding through it right now to get to the end of the game. I'll be exploring the full package later as I did buy the strategy guide for it for all the little side missions and stuff.

I also finished the first level of halo 4 and haven't started multiplayer yet.

Edit - ok I went on ebay and bought tales of legendia and abyss together for 50.00. I also bought tales of symphonia for 25 plus s+h. I'll probably get them at the end of the week. I also bought a 8mb memory card for the gamecube (also bought a 8mb ps2 memory card when I picked that up today).

I have an ign account so time to download the pdfs so I can use them on my tablet for gaming .

[handyguy]

You should shop @ glyde.com save yourself a ton of money. I love shopping there.