Tales of the Abyss

How is a franchise not a franchise? The “Tales” series is another long-running franchise that has been around for years that some of you probably never knew existed. It’s not so much as continuing the story of the same character(s) in each game as it is building a brand name for gamers to connect with. In Japan this has worked but in America the Tales series is still relatively new to U.S. gamers. But this hasn’t stopped Bandai Namco Games (that’s still weird to say/print) from releasing the newest edition in the series, Tales of the Abyss.  

For hardcore RPG fans you can stop reading now and just go ahead with the purchase, you will enjoy it. Tales of the Abyss (TOA) hits all of the right notes when it comes to a Japanese-style RPG. You have the standard big eyed/spiky hair characters, animation style visuals and campy/unusual storyline usually only found in anime. But for gamers not huge fans of anime or haven’t played a Japanese-style RPG in some time this game has some issues holding it back. I should even mention that I personally felt the storyline and main character in the game were terrible. But that’s just a personal opinion that you shouldn’t let interfere with your gaming decision.

The plot of the game centers on the main character in the game, Luke Fon Fabre. Luke is a 17-year old swordsman and a son of the Duke of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear Kingdom. Since losing all of his childhood memory after being kidnapped as a young child Luke has been kept within the confines of the castle. Luke’s only release has been training with his friend Guy Cecil, a son of a servant in the Fabre house, and his teacher. One day, during a training session with his master, intruders invade the castle and soon Luke finds himself miles away from the castle for the first time in years.  

Now, don’t let that short summary fool you into thinking that’s it. Not at all, in fact the plot is a convoluted mix of moral questions, teen-age obnoxious behavior and ancient magical spells. The game tells the stories in two different ways; one is during the regular game with the standard cutscenes popping up before and after battles. The other way the plot unfolds is through a function called the Skit mode. You will see a phrase appearing in the left hand corner of your screen and you can hit the select button to bring up a conversation between the characters. The skits can range from talking about a previous cutscene to developing side stories about the various characters you encounter in the game.

The storyline just reeks of an anime that you’ve probably seen before with a plot that is so crazy with twist and turns that you start to question what’s happening. I thought to myself “If the storyline is this crazy, why should I even bother watching the skits.”  I gave up on the skits after a while because I spent more time reading the story than I did playing the game. In my opinion you appreciation for the plot all depends on how much you’re willing to tolerate. If you love Japanese RPG’s with absurd plots and crazy twists than you won’t have any issues with TOA. If you appreciate a more logical and laid out plot development than you will probably starting cringing like I did after a few minutes. Now don’t get me wrong there are several developments in the plot that are very entertaining and engaging. I just had to put up with what I thought was a ridiculous story for 60% of the game to get to the 40% of the story that made sense. Even Luke made fun about how confusing the story was when another character was explaining certain parts of the story.

The combat system in the game is rather unique by presenting a mixture of real-time combat and strategy elements. You can see the enemies when you’re out in the field and you can run away to avoid the combat if you like. Once you’re in combat all of the battles are performed in real time with you hacking and slashing away at the enemies by controlling Luke. During combat you can also use artes moves, which will unleash a more powerful attack. You will learn additional artes moves as you level up in the game. The game even allows you to set battle positions for your various party members to promote stronger characters to the front and weaker characters to the back.

Most of the combat has you target locked into one specific enemy during a battle. Once that enemy is destroyed then you target the closest enemy near you to attack. You can select a different enemy by pressing the R1 button. The Free Run option allows you to run anywhere on the battle screen by holding down the L2 button. Most of the combat has you controlling Luke but the game offers you the ability to control other party members during combat by selecting different party member in the Battle Menu. There are a ton of options available for changing in the Battle Menu that should give picky games plenty to adjust.

One mode available in the game, seen in other Tales game, is the cooking mode. The cooking mode allows you to purchase groceries and make meals to raise certain stats for your characters. You first have to find the recipe for the item you want to cook and then find the necessary ingredients. Once you have all of the ingredients you can then select a character to cook the dish. As your characters cook more dishes their cooking level increases. The higher their cooking level the better quality and variety of dishes they can prepare. The cooking option is even available immediately after combat in case you need a quick boost of hit points or magic points (called Technical Points). Besides the multiple options available for combat and cooking the game has a plethora of options to choose to modify your characters, create shortcuts or change other aspects of the game.

The graphics in the game seem to have an identity crisis. During certain segments the game looks breathtaking with incredible details in the locations and with the characters. But during other locations the game presents a plain-looking environment with single colors and hardly any detail in the buildings and items. The same is true when it comes to the character graphics. During the majority of the game all of the characters look great by making it appear you’re watching a cartoon instead of a game. But when the camera zooms in up close to the characters you get to see way too much of the characters with choppy lines and bland textures. This usually only happens when the camera angle is zoomed too close but it happens more than it should. The camera angle is another issue since you only have control over the camera while in the field, such as moving from town to town. When you’re inside a town or dungeon the camera angle is locked to whatever angle (usually an over-the-top third-person viewpoint) that will be presented for the room. An adjustable camera would have been a welcomed addition for the entire game.

For me TOA was a game that I really wanted to enjoy but couldn’t find satisfaction with the entire game. I guess I’ve grown too weary of the classic Japanese-style RPG formula after playing Morrowind and other American style RPGs. This isn’t an indication that TOA isn’t a good game, because it is a game that will please a certain segment of the gaming population. If you have to own and play all of the RPG’s similar to TOA, than you won’t find anything that will turn you away. As I mentioned earlier TOA has all of the necessary ingredients but some of those ingredients will taste sour to certain gamers.

Gameplay: 8.0
The combat in the game feels rushed at times especially when you have a full party fighting a group of monsters. The plot is really a matter of opinion, some will loath it while others will ravish it with flowers.

Graphics: 7.9
At times this looks like an anime you would buy at your local retailer but then during other occasions it looks like a badly made anime you bought.

Sound: 7.8
The voice acting in the game is admirable with hardly any major flaws showing up. Reportedly the Japanese version had voice acting in the Skit mode but no voices in our version. The music and sound effects are a combination of hard rock and orchestral arrangements.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The game always moved along at a steady, consistent pace regardless of the number of levels I went up. Most of my experience points and level rising was done without hardly any combat outside of the normal plot.

Concept: 7.5
The premise of the game is one that we’ve seen a thousand times. Angst stricken teenager tells everyone around him to shut up but slowly develops into the hero he’s supposed to be. This isn’t the exact plot but it follows some similar branching found in countless other RPGs.

Overall: 7.8
Tales of the Abyss is a game that will find its audience regardless of the score. Heck the score I gave it proves that TOA is a good game, just not the latest RPG masterpiece. If can tolerate the plot then you won’t have any issues with the rest of the game. Tales of the Abyss is another solid entry in the ever growing list of RPG titles available for the PS2.