So, yet another JRPG hits the 360, and who thought we'd be able to say that? It's also another one that had a thoroughly rubbish demo (fight this massive boss please. Tutorial? What?) but the final product is about a million times better.
It does feel an awful lot like Eternal Sonata. The cities have that same feel, the colours are very similar (those lush greens) and the cel-shaded cartoony characters are awesome, a style Namco Bandai seems to do so much better than everyone else. The music too, very reminiscent of Eternal Sonata. Oh, and the main character's voice is that of Alegretto, so that too. And most of the rest of the cast are back from Eternal Sonata, I recognise them from Persona 3 too. Is there only one set of voice actors in America? The actual script is nice though, there are loads of NPCs, and they have tons of stuff to say, and there are some lol moments too. One particular facial expression Yuri pulls is amaze.
Storywise - fairly typical so far. Yuri gets arrested trying to be a good guy, escapes prison trying to do what's best, meets a mysterious girl with clear issues, runs off with her, events spiral, adventure begins. I trust the Tales games to get epic as hell though, I love them for it. As for the world these characters are in, it's humans vs. monsters. The humans cower in towns because the monsters are just too strong, and the towns are covered in barriers, powered by Blastia. Then someone starts hoarding blastia cores... Oh yeah, it's gonna get good.
Then basic RPG stuff. Explore towns, talk to people, gather info, go into dungeons, explore the world map, see monsters walking around, touch monsters, FIGHT MONSTERS
I can't remember a great deal about Symphonia or the Abyss, but if you're familiar with their battle systems you'll feel pretty much at home here, there's no massive overhaul I can see. You select an enemy and are then effectively fixed on a 2D plane with that enemy. Press B to attack, A to use artes, X to block (and jump with up), and Y to open the menu and item the hell out of it. If you hold the left trigger you stop targetting an enemy and are ripped from the 2D plane you were on and you can run around freely, then the next enemy you hit is your new target. It's easier to change target with the RB button though, I've not really found any need for the freerun, I imagine it'll be helpful later on in bosses
It's Tales, it's sidequesttastic. There're recipes to collect, a monster encyclopedia to fill in (don't forget to use Lenses on every boss, every time, in every form, because they're a one shot deal), item synthesis (DO NOT SELL OLD WEAPONS), I'm sure there's loads more to come, too. These are all introduced gradually over the first few hours, it takes a while to get going but it's good in a way, because there's a lot of stuff to keep track of and it'd probably be overwhelming if it were all there from the off.
There's an awesome stats screen (I love this stuff) with stuff like highest combo (32!), escapes (you suck!) quickest battle time (5.25 seconds!), and loads more. There are leaderboards for a few too, though these appear to be ballsed up by hackers already. Achievements are going to take an aaaaaage and a guide (not until your second playthrough, children.)
I'm sure there's more to be covered.
It does feel an awful lot like Eternal Sonata. The cities have that same feel, the colours are very similar (those lush greens) and the cel-shaded cartoony characters are awesome, a style Namco Bandai seems to do so much better than everyone else. The music too, very reminiscent of Eternal Sonata. Oh, and the main character's voice is that of Alegretto, so that too. And most of the rest of the cast are back from Eternal Sonata, I recognise them from Persona 3 too. Is there only one set of voice actors in America? The actual script is nice though, there are loads of NPCs, and they have tons of stuff to say, and there are some lol moments too. One particular facial expression Yuri pulls is amaze.
Storywise - fairly typical so far. Yuri gets arrested trying to be a good guy, escapes prison trying to do what's best, meets a mysterious girl with clear issues, runs off with her, events spiral, adventure begins. I trust the Tales games to get epic as hell though, I love them for it. As for the world these characters are in, it's humans vs. monsters. The humans cower in towns because the monsters are just too strong, and the towns are covered in barriers, powered by Blastia. Then someone starts hoarding blastia cores... Oh yeah, it's gonna get good.
Then basic RPG stuff. Explore towns, talk to people, gather info, go into dungeons, explore the world map, see monsters walking around, touch monsters, FIGHT MONSTERS
I can't remember a great deal about Symphonia or the Abyss, but if you're familiar with their battle systems you'll feel pretty much at home here, there's no massive overhaul I can see. You select an enemy and are then effectively fixed on a 2D plane with that enemy. Press B to attack, A to use artes, X to block (and jump with up), and Y to open the menu and item the hell out of it. If you hold the left trigger you stop targetting an enemy and are ripped from the 2D plane you were on and you can run around freely, then the next enemy you hit is your new target. It's easier to change target with the RB button though, I've not really found any need for the freerun, I imagine it'll be helpful later on in bosses
It's Tales, it's sidequesttastic. There're recipes to collect, a monster encyclopedia to fill in (don't forget to use Lenses on every boss, every time, in every form, because they're a one shot deal), item synthesis (DO NOT SELL OLD WEAPONS), I'm sure there's loads more to come, too. These are all introduced gradually over the first few hours, it takes a while to get going but it's good in a way, because there's a lot of stuff to keep track of and it'd probably be overwhelming if it were all there from the off.
There's an awesome stats screen (I love this stuff) with stuff like highest combo (32!), escapes (you suck!) quickest battle time (5.25 seconds!), and loads more. There are leaderboards for a few too, though these appear to be ballsed up by hackers already. Achievements are going to take an aaaaaage and a guide (not until your second playthrough, children.)
I'm sure there's more to be covered.
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