On
a whim, I purchased Tales of the Abyss for the PS2 near the end of sophomore
year of high school. What I didn’t know was that this game wasn’t your average
RPG in terms of plot. And after getting past the first major plot twists, I
couldn’t put the game down. However, most people can’t make it past the early
parts due to the protagonist Luke. I’ll be blunt here: he starts off as an
unbearable selfish asshole who’s spoiled. But that all changes. If you can bear
with it for the first bit of the game, you’ll go on to see some of the best
character development in an RPG.
Story
During
a typical day in the House of Fabre, Luke gets a chance to train with his sword
instructor Van one last time before he has to depart to take care of some
political matters. In the middle of the training session, however, a mysterious
woman infiltrates the mansion, attempting to murder Van. Luke tries to stop
her, and manages to trigger a strange power that transports them halfway across
the world. Luke soon finds himself wrapped up in political strife regarding the
Score, a prophecy that predicts the future.
To
be honest, the plot does start out a little slow at first. But this game
tackles darker issues later on, such as the ethics of cloning living beings, or
the purpose of one’s life. On top of that, the characters all get really good
development throughout the game, especially Luke. I’m going to be honest here:
even on my second playthrough (which I just finished recently), I found myself
tearing up during some of the game’s more emotional scenes, and found myself
understanding the characters much better than on my first playthrough. Again,
like I said before, GIVE THE GAME A CHANCE! Once Luke’s character development
starts, he becomes a much better person.
Gameplay
Tales
of the Abyss builds on the battle system introduced in Tales of Symphonia,
adding new features such as Free Run. Although I’ve already mentioned Free Run
in my Xillia review, this game was where it was introduced, and it’s where it’s
the most useful. The battle system is fun, but when placed side-by-side with
Tales of Graces or Tales of Xillia, seems a little outdated. However, I found
this game’s battle system to be the most fluid.
Similar
to how titles in Symphonia would boost certain stats, the Capacity Core system
allows you to somewhat customize your stat bonuses upon leveling up. I say
“somewhat” because while you can boost the F. Attack of a melee character, they
won’t be getting much use out of that stat if they don’t know any spells.
However, the Capacity Cores are also what you use to learn new AD Skills, which
provide benefits in battle. Each AD Skill requires a certain amount of bonus
points in certain stats. For example, “Super Chain” requires you to have at
least 60 extra points in Physical Attack as well as Agility. While it’s neat in
concept, it can be sometimes tedious to grind for better AD Skills, especially
if you lack the most effective Capacity Cores.
Soundtrack/Voice
While
I didn’t really like the game’s music at first, it’s grown on me over the
years. I’ve found more and more memorable and emotional tracks. As for the
voice acting, it’s probably the best in the series, though the skits remain
unvoiced like in Symphonia. Yuri Lowenthal really does a good job as Luke, and
Guy was my first exposure to Johnny Yong Bosch’s voicework. My only real
complaint with the voices is that Tear sounds a bit too old for her age; she’s
stated to be 16, but sounds like she’s in her 20’s to me.
Length
Tales
of the Abyss is the longest game in the series, and one of the longest games
I’ve played in general, clocking in at roughly 52 hours and above. Of course,
doing sidequests will drive that number up even farther, and that’s not even
getting to New Game Plus. You’ll have a lot to do. Heck, on my second playthrough,
I was still in it for the plot; it was something I enjoyed despite knowing the
twists and turns of the story already. In short, this game’s long and has
really good re-playability.
The
Jump from PS2 to 3DS
I
first got the game on the PS2, and bought the 3DS version somewhere over a year
after its release in 2012. I’m not too sure on the exact details of the changes
in between versions, but I know at least one title had its requirements changed
up, and that the sidequest deadlines were reported to have been altered. The
biggest changes are the load times and battle framerate. The load times were
drastically shortened, fixing a problem from the PS2 version. However, the
framerate in battles was reduced from the PS2 version. It’s noticeable if you
come from the PS2 version, but it didn’t bother me in the end. Your arte
shortcuts are also now placed on the bottom screen. Furthermore, the amount of
save slots was reduced to 4. Other than these minor reductions, however, I’m
impressed that Namco smoothly ported such a grand adventure onto a portable
system.
Verdict:
9/10
Luke’s
early game personality alone will turn off a lot of potential players, but his
character development and the overall plot make the game worth playing through.
The battle system has since been improved by the modern titles, but it can
still be very enjoyable to play. However, the main point here is the plot and
character development. If you’re looking for a good story, this game just might
be the one for you.
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