Talk about the recent Tales of the Abyss anime localization announcement, our recommended first Tales titles, and more in the August 2018 edition of AC Weigh-In~
For this edition of AC Weigh-In, we have:
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PanbanRichard Admin, Back-End Support, AC Radio Host |
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Flamzeron News Writer |
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Grace Content Writer |
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8ro News Writer, Mobile Reporter |
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Mura Mobile Reporter |
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Kurani17 Discord Moderator |
What do you remember most about Tales of Vesperia?
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The theme of justice and its parallels/contrasts presented between Yuri, and Flynn. It was refreshing to see this sort of theme tackled in a Tales of game; different from the usual discrimination trope that the franchise plays with. Kinda wished the entire game was focused around this but because of how the story was structured between the multiple writers... It didn't shine as much as it did.
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Yuri's character stands out to me the most from Tales of Vesperia. I laughed at most of his witty dialogue and had fun playing as him. I think having an adult protagonist who isn't in his teens anymore was a nice touch to the story. Tales of Vesperia was also the game that made me want to buy an Xbox 360 back then. I had a lot of fun playing it, like I do with the other Tales game. |
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I never played it, so I can't really say anything about it. The only thing I know about it is "Prepare to die, Eggbear!" |
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Well, not much since I haven't played it yet. So all that I "remember" is the anime-movie-prequel-thing (and that is preeetty good!). |
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Burning Fighting Spirit - Been my favorite Tales battle theme for a long while now. |
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The amount of post-game and new game plus content. |
When playing Tales games with other people, do you prefer to play in the front lines or the back lines?
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I prefer playing back lines because of how often I play in the front during single player campaigns, unless the person who I'm playing with wants to do a tag team solo against a boss or something along those lines.
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I generally play in the front lines. In most cases, I'm playing my own copy with my friends, so I've been the one who has to walk around and stuff. Because of that, I usually end up playing as the protagonist. Though there was the time I first played through Tales of Destiny 2 on the PS2, in which my friend wanted to play as Kyle so I played as Judas. I also first played Tales of Xillia with friends, as my PS3 died on me before the game was released. In this case, I played as Milla while my friend who owned the copy played as Jude and my other friend who joined us was Alvin. Unfortunately, it's been a while since I last played Tales with my friends. I believe the last time was the Tales of Berseria demo, but in that case we just took turns. |
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I play either. It depends on who I am playing with and the character that person wants to play as. |
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Back lines, usually. Because in most Tales playing as the healer/caster is so, so boring. And hey, I don't want people bored! |
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Depends on the game. Generally front line, but I really liked playing as Pascal in the back line in Graces f. |
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We generally get the best results when I play in the front lines. |
What do you think of the Tales of the Abyss anime adaptation and are you buying the Funimation release later this year?
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Besides watching the first episode when working on our fansubs back in 2008, I didn't really give this show much of a chance because I prefer playing games over watching anime. However, I will give buy the Funimation release and give it a watch when I can. It's unfortunate that it isn't dubbed, though. Thank goodness the show is more affordable now compared to the original localization in 2011.
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I enjoyed it! I watched it with some friends a few years ago. The art was pretty and I liked how the story was adapted. I'm considering getting the release by FUNimation, though I'm saddened that there is no English dub. I own the four individual English subtitled DVD volumes released by Bandai back when they produced English versions of anime, but they were closing out by the time the third and fourth volumes came out so they felt rushed and the video quality was not good. It was also never released on Blu-ray so FUNimation's release entices me further. I may wait before buying it though. We'll have to see. |
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I'm thinking about it since I want to write a review about it. |
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It is okay-ish I guess. Not a fan, personally I prefer Production I.G's animation way more than Sunrise's, but maybe I'll buy it for collection. Too bad it's sub-only though. |
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I actually have never watched it. During the anime’s first air date, I was knee deep in WoW: Wrath of the Lich King and fell out of Tales for a bit. Funimation’s release may be a good time to finally watch it! |
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I am not a huge fan of the art style of the anime; I feel the characters look too rounded. I have not watched much of the show, so I don't think I have much interest in buying it, either despite liking the game. |
If you were to introduce someone to the franchise with any Tales game, what game would you choose?
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While not my favourite in the series, my vote goes to Tales of Vesperia. The graphics have aged pretty well and it shows off what to expect of the entire franchise, both in gameplay and cast dynamics.
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My first thought is Symphonia, due to the accessibility of the game since it's on PC, PS3, and GameCube for English speaking territories. So there are a few choices, though to call it multi-platform would not be very accurate. I also think it showcases the strengths of the series very well. Tales of the Abyss is also a good choice, and I think it would work well being played along with Symphonia. Of course, the hardcore fan in me wants to tell all newcomers to just play all of them! |
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Tales of Symphonia--it was my gateway to Tales. |
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Berseria. Just because it's more... "accessible", and more visually-appealing than past titles. (That said, I'd want them to play EVERY SINGLE ONE, hah.) |
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Either Tales or Vesperia or Tales of Berseria. Easily accessible, with no enormous price barrier. They’re also generally well received and easy to get into. Xillia is a personal favorite of mine, but often gets a lot of beef. |
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Tales of Symphonia, or potentially, Tales of Xillia. |
Any suggestions for next month, or anything that you want to respond to? Feel free to share them in the comments below~
Image Credits:
- Lyrrad - Arche, Leon, & Reid Kaodra skit faces.
- cutepresea - Milla skit faces.
- Brilliant Cataclysm - Zelos skit faces.
- CamelieMimika - Eleanor skit faces.
- Liaoriao - Ricardo skit faces.
