Tales of the Abyss discussion

Zidart

WII, PS3 AND 360 FTW (also nintendo DS XD)
i would like to disscuss about this highly underrated game, i think it might be one of the best tales of games i played, and honeslty i somewhat liked this a bit more than symphonia in some points, specially the characters (jade coming to mind).

also if someone has beated the game could you post your theory of the ending? (of course in spoiler tags) because i think is something not very especified at the end of the game

who is Mr ending? i belive what happened is that luke got contaminated by asch fonons and therefore joining them together and keeping all the promises they made...but aparently namco doesn't want to same something especific
 
Well, I can't discuss anything yet since I have not played it. I was just curious what are the differences between this and TOS, like are they the same length, same combat system, same mini games, etc., etc....
 
x2 said:
Well, I can't discuss anything yet since I have not played it. I was just curious what are the differences between this and TOS, like are they the same length, same combat system, same mini games, etc., etc....

well tales of the abyss and symphonia have certain similarities and differences, in fact i like both the same i can't pick which one is better , but here's a list of stuff that is different and similar.

similarities:
-combat is more or less the same, you got your normal attack and special attacks (which are called artes) you got your team mates and you can control their strategies and command them in battle
-you still have the overlimit status.
- spells are cast the same way as tales of symphonia
-cooking is present as well
-grade is still here as well

differences:
- you no longer have a unison attack, instead you got an overlimit meter for each character, once the meter is full you can go into overlimit mode by pressing R2, that's right you won't get overlimit randomly like ToS, and once in overlimit mode you can use these super especial attacks called mystic artes.
- you have free-run during battle, once you get the skill of free-run (very early in the game) you press L2 and you can move around the stage, that gives more freedom than ToS
-there is no T or S type anymore characters will always learn the same abilites at certain levels or by doing side-quests, however you have no capacity cores that develop AD skills (that add more combat abilities like free-run or faster spellcasting, they are similar to the gems in symphonia) and change the stats of the character (trust me it changes dramatically after a while)
- the newest addition to the series is the fields of fonon, let me try to explain if you use one elemental attack more than once, it will create a circle on the stage, if you use a arte compatible to an especific element on that circle, it will change to a stronger arte (example: if you create a electric field of fonon and you use the arte lighting spear it will change to lighting tempest and will do more damage)
- characters in tales of the abyss are also more balanced.... there are some characters that even though are spellcasters they can be very good in close combat.
- you can equip up to 4 cooking recipes to battle
-some save points heal you and others let you go back to the beggining of the dungeon (if you have a wing bottle)

the game took me 76 hours to beat and that was without doing all sidequests, and also the game offers more mystic artes and sidequests on the second playthrough, and once again grade shop is back so you can take some stuff from the first playthrough... honestly i think this game was very underrated and had poor sales becuase of his close release date with FFXII, but if you liked tales of symphonia you must play tales of the abyss, is really great and you might like one more than the other, but to me both are fantastic.
 
Zidart said:
well tales of the abyss and symphonia have certain similarities and differences, in fact i like both the same i can't pick which one is better , but here's a list of stuff that is different and similar.

similarities:
-combat is more or less the same, you got your normal attack and special attacks (which are called artes) you got your team mates and you can control their strategies and command them in battle
-you still have the overlimit status.
- spells are cast the same way as tales of symphonia
-cooking is present as well
-grade is still here as well

differences:
- you no longer have a unison attack, instead you got an overlimit meter for each character, once the meter is full you can go into overlimit mode by pressing R2, that's right you won't get overlimit randomly like ToS, and once in overlimit mode you can use these super especial attacks called mystic artes.
- you have free-run during battle, once you get the skill of free-run (very early in the game) you press L2 and you can move around the stage, that gives more freedom than ToS
-there is no T or S type anymore characters will always learn the same abilites at certain levels or by doing side-quests, however you have no capacity cores that develop AD skills (that add more combat abilities like free-run or faster spellcasting, they are similar to the gems in symphonia) and change the stats of the character (trust me it changes dramatically after a while)
- the newest addition to the series is the fields of fonon, let me try to explain if you use one elemental attack more than once, it will create a circle on the stage, if you use a arte compatible to an especific element on that circle, it will change to a stronger arte (example: if you create a electric field of fonon and you use the arte lighting spear it will change to lighting tempest and will do more damage)
- characters in tales of the abyss are also more balanced.... there are some characters that even though are spellcasters they can be very good in close combat.
- you can equip up to 4 cooking recipes to battle
-some save points heal you and others let you go back to the beggining of the dungeon (if you have a wing bottle)

the game took me 76 hours to beat and that was without doing all sidequests, and also the game offers more mystic artes and sidequests on the second playthrough, and once again grade shop is back so you can take some stuff from the first playthrough... honestly i think this game was very underrated and had poor sales becuase of his close release date with FFXII, but if you liked tales of symphonia you must play tales of the abyss, is really great and you might like one more than the other, but to me both are fantastic.

Wow, cool! Thanks man! I am only a little ways into TOS and I really like it. The battle system seems very fast and confusing right now, but I'm sure it's really awesome once you understand it. Oh, how about the soundtrack, does TOA have a good one, too? {I really love a good soundtrack in my RPG's}.
 
x2 said:
Wow, cool! Thanks man! I am only a little ways into TOS and I really like it. The battle system seems very fast and confusing right now, but I'm sure it's really awesome once you understand it. Oh, how about the soundtrack, does TOA have a good one, too? {I really love a good soundtrack in my RPG's}.

well honestly the songs of the events are annoying but battle music and some others are really great.
 
Zidart said:
who is Mr ending? i belive what happened is that luke got contaminated by asch fonons and therefore joining them together and keeping all the promises they made...but aparently namco doesn't want to same something especific

Namco made it so that it could be either Asche or Luke, depending on what people wanted. But if you look at the way his sword is on his back, that's the way Luke always wore it. Also, if it had been Asche, I think Natalia would have been the one to run to him instead of Tear.

x2 said:
Wow, cool! Thanks man! I am only a little ways into TOS and I really like it. The battle system seems very fast and confusing right now, but I'm sure it's really awesome once you understand it. Oh, how about the soundtrack, does TOA have a good one, too? {I really love a good soundtrack in my RPG's}.

Tales of the Abyss has a fantastic soundtrack. It's another four disc one, just like Tales of Symphonia. And actually, my favorite Tales song ever is from Abyss. It's this song called mirrors, it's like song 11 on disc 4, and it's absolutely beautiful. It might not have as much resonance if you haven't played the game, because it's played at a key part of the story, but it's still gorgeous. ^_^
 
Mai Valentine said:
Namco made it so that it could be either Asche or Luke, depending on what people wanted. But if you look at the way his sword is on his back, that's the way Luke always wore it. Also, if it had been Asche, I think Natalia would have been the one to run to him instead of Tear.

Tales of the Abyss has a fantastic soundtrack. It's another four disc one, just like Tales of Symphonia. And actually, my favorite Tales song ever is from Abyss. It's this song called mirrors, it's like song 11 on disc 4, and it's absolutely beautiful. It might not have as much resonance if you haven't played the game, because it's played at a key part of the story, but it's still gorgeous. ^_^

well i belive is both just luke with the contamination effect (i thought this also because of jade's expression of the end)...but this was a good open ended ending...and now i wish even more for a sequel

my favorite song ever is on abysss too, is called karma and there's also the gran fonic hymn
 
I lve the Battle System in Tales of the Abyss, virtually the same as the Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, The Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System.

But that aside, I love most of the characters attacks (the ToA exhibition video seems to remain on my youtube account which I cant access), as well as the face off against Nibilim (sp), which is an amazing boss, she looked so hot! (there was also another youtube video that lasted nearly 20 minutes with this boss, but sadly the video was removed!!!)

I love how Indignation looks as well as a few other moves. Its the only reason I would get the backwards compatible PS3.
 
I just got this. *cries happy tears* It's so good. >_< I played 7 hours already and I got it last night it. XD I wanna play more.

Just got to the part where you first meet Natalia.

Poor Guy. I love his phobia of women. It's hilarious. XD And Mieu....soooo cute!! :D
 
Finally finished ... 106 hours later. Phew! (and I didn't even finish all the side quests)

My thoughts on ending...

*sigh* I got the feeling it's Asch. Because of what that moogle said. When the original died, then the replica died, the original came back to life. Or something along those lines. I think that everyone moved hesitantly because they were just as unsure as we were about who was coming forward. But I kinda hope it was Luke, and Asch was hiding under his cape. Yep thats it. I refuse to believe otherwise.
:p
 
hikari said:
Finally finished ... 106 hours later. Phew! (and I didn't even finish all the side quests)

My thoughts on ending...

*sigh* I got the feeling it's Asch. Because of what that moogle said. When the original died, then the replica died, the original came back to life. Or something along those lines. I think that everyone moved hesitantly because they were just as unsure as we were about who was coming forward. But I kinda hope it was Luke, and Asch was hiding under his cape. Yep thats it. I refuse to believe otherwise.
:p

in my opinion is luke and Asch combined by the contamination effect, if you think about it it makes sense
 
hikari said:
I don't really understand the contamination effect. Can you explain please?

you know how jade hides his spear inside his arm? well that is part of the contamination effect, where fonons kinda fuse together, and at the final scene when luke holds asch's body there's a light similar to the one it appears when jade takes his spear in and out, and i think that what happened is that luke and asch got fused together
 
:huh

Wow. How did I miss that whole spear thing? Ok, now that you mention it, I never did see him carrying it. I have to say that this game was surprisingly complex. Very enjoyable. But I was somewhat confused by the Fonons at times. But then I didn't have the opportunity to really focus on the game so much. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!
 
hikari said:
:huh

Wow. How did I miss that whole spear thing? Ok, now that you mention it, I never did see him carrying it. I have to say that this game was surprisingly complex. Very enjoyable. But I was somewhat confused by the Fonons at times. But then I didn't have the opportunity to really focus on the game so much. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

well if you go to gamefaqs and look for jade's contamination effect sidequests you'll find how to trigger these events and ultimately understand a bit better (i don't put it in spoiler because i recommend other people to do this)
 
I really wish I could spend more time with this game. I had to return it after I found out of a glitch for the game that's ONLY on the 80 GB PS3's. :-\
 
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