Tales of Legendia

The Core Video Games Forum
1

I bought this game last week and I’ve been enjoying it a lot. However, I’m not sure I understand how the Eres-developing system works (I bought a used copy with no manual). I’ve been allowing the characters to fight by themselves with the auto options (since I don’t care for Real Time Fighter-Game type combat) but now I’m wondering if I’m not developing Eres fast enough. The Worm boss almost wiped me out! So, I welcome any advice anyone familiar with the game wants to give me.

Other than that, I must say I’m really enjoying the game, especially the characters. Their design is good, their interactions are a hoot to watch, the dialog is sharp and the voice acting is great. Oh, and I love the synopsis book idea… it adds a further layer to the story to read how the characters themselves summarize the events!
:hahaha;

I’m about 17 hours in; I just reached the (real) Orensoren village. (They’re a blatant Moogle rip-off, but they ARE funny. Ors Ors! :stuck_out_tongue: )

2

So, and I’m just curious, you bought a game and are basically allowing it to play itself? So in essence, you’re watching a really long video game movie?

Dude, whats the fun in that? Besides, don’t you buy strategy guides for all your games?

3

Perhaps he’s more of a tactician. I know I’d love an autokill option when the enemies are weaker than my party.

4

Man, if you played Tales of Legendia, you’d set it on Auto Battle, too; it’s like a Tales battle system (i.e mash fest), but even SLOWER. I couldn’t play this game longer than an hour. Augh!

5

Sorc: I don’t like real-time combat, especially where you have to push button combinations ALL THE TIME. My knuckles end up hurting too much. Plus, the battles here are BORING. The rate encounter is too high, each area only has like three monster types, and those types are repeated in other areas with minor changes. Seriously, if the story wasn’t so good, I would’ve given up on it quickly as well!

And if I’d found a strategy guide, I would’ve bought it first. But, my local Gamestop purged itself of old guides recently, so I couldn’t find one. :frowning: I’m using Gamefaqs for help, but I don’t enjoy reading those walkthroughs as much as I do the printed ones- too long, too talky, no pictures. So I only check when I’m stuck.

And yeah, I definitely prefer tactical games. The only fun thing about the battles here is that you can mess around with the auto-settings to meet different circumstances, such as using specific spells, keeping distance for enemies with short-range attacks, etc. Not enough to make me really enjoy the combat system, but it helps.

Again, my only real problem is that I worry about how to learn certain Eres (skills); some are gained by level-up, others have to be used in battle, others have to be mixed… it’s quite complex. And there’s stuff like acquiring Character Titles, some subquests that require special triggers, etc. I just want some easy explanations, instead of having to read every Gamefaqs specialized faq first.

I’m now 35 hours into the game, and I’ve found… a fake ending? How about that, I beat all the bad guys and the story is STILL going on! Ohh, my interest is definitely picked. :wink:

6

Wait, how is the Tales system slow?

7

ToL is the shitty child of the series, but it doesn’t help that he plays in Auto. In manual it’s all about Senel pinning down the mob and punching it in a corner, occasionally using the special throws if and when applicable.

I loathed the game, the 2nd part of the story made me despise Senel and his worthless fleshsack of a non-blood related incest minded sister.

8

I didn’t realize that anything that says “Tales” is a Tales of… game. I played one on the SNES and one on the Playstation and they were both pretty awful. The SNES one was pretty though.

9

Heh yeah, if you’ve played one, you’ve played em all. I tried Tales of LEgendia only because it wasn’t made by the same dev team, so I thought “Oh, maybe it’ll be different enough that I like it.” Hell no it wasn’t.

10

Heh yeah, if you’ve played one, you’ve played em all.

I’ve only played one other game in the series (Tales of Destiny) before. THAT game I found really boring. Legendia is MUCH better, so far.

ToL is the shitty child of the series, but it doesn’t help that he plays in Auto.
Hello, have you read my posts? So far I LOVE the game, I’m just worried that I might miss stuff for playing without a manual.

So… anybody got any REAL advice?

11

I see…I dunno. I’ve played most of them, cos my best friend has a hard-on for the Tales series, but I haven’t liked a single one yet.

12

I did, and I don’t know how you do it. A Tales game for me is all about real time action combat, so to keep everything in auto…it’s like watching FF12 play itself IMO. And I didn’t finish that one either.

I prefer Symphonia and Abyss to it by a mile.

But as for real advice: You need Eres stones to unlock certain Eres. They’re dropped randomly and associated to enemy families. The stronger the mob, the more he drops (Early ones drop 1-2, endgame they drop in shots of over 100.)

You need either the proper level or a spell scroll + the number of Eres Stones to learn a spell. So essencially: IF you got a greyed unusable spell, grind stones until you can use it. Grinding is unavoidable.

13

To me, the story has always been more important than the gameplay- though I enjoy that part, as well. And there’s plenty to do here, besides fighting.

You need either the proper level or a spell scroll + the number of Eres Stones to learn a spell. So essencially: IF you got a greyed unusable spell, grind stones until you can use it. Grinding is unavoidable.
Got it. Considering how much combat there is here -especially in the “Chaotic Zones” that you have to pass thru if you want certain treasures- I don’t think that will be a problem.

But can anybody tell me how the combined Eres system works? I know you have to wait until you have “mastered” two or more, but is there a way to tell how the combination will work? I don’t want to experiment randomly.

14

How can anything be more important than gameplay in a video game? If a game isn’t fun to play, aka has shitty game play, then it’s a shitty video game. It’s like watching a bad movie and thinking “I could be reading a book”. (“You don’t want to do it randomly”… man, I’m sorry, but it just seems like you don’t like to play video games.)

15

Sorc, it’s an RPG videogame. Having a story IS part of the deal. If I just wanted mindless battles I’d play fighters or shooters. Different strokes, you know?

It’s like watching a bad movie and thinking “I could be reading a book”.

More like watching a movie where you don’t like the action scenes but enjoy the acting.

Got it now?

16

Not at all. Why buy a video game if you’re not gonna play it? Why go see an action movie for the acting?

17

I disagree to an extent. I’ve played through RPGs with terrible gameplay before and enjoyed them thoroughly. However, if a RPG’s gameplay sucks, it damn well has to be a masterpiece in every other respect. My favorite example of this is Okage: Shadow King.

18

I’m kinda like Wil. A good story can really get me into a rpg. I mean if I dislike the gameplay like I did in Xenosaga 2, then, the story can’t save it, but the story can really make a game better. To clarify: I enjoy Tales of Symphonia’s battle system. I could play it for hours, but after 20 hours or so I’d probably be like “eh . . . I’m a little tired of just fighting battles”. But because I also like the storyline, I enjoyed the game more and wanted to get farther in the game. So I beat the 50 hour game in 2 weeks instead of playing for 20 hours and then quiting for a month or 2.

Also rpgs are Role Playing Games. Liking the roles I play (aka the story) makes the game more fun. I really like a rpg with a good story because it is like playing a movie. I could just watch a movie, but I’d rather get the fun of a video game and the greatness of a good story. I mean a good rpg throws you into the story more than a movie does. You just watch a movie, you “live” a rpg.

A good example of how good storylines are important is Knights of the Old Republic. Would choosing the fate of the galaxy be so much fun if the story was boring? If the storyline is just a unimportant side part of the game, then, why are there so many different conversations that can take place in the game? Would the game be nearly as good if it didn’t make you feel like you were in the Star Wars universe?

RPGs can have hours of storyline in them. In games like Xenosaga, the storyline isn’t a side order–it is apart of the main course.

Anyway, my point is that having a good role to play can make role playing much more fun. A good battle system is important, but an rpg isn’t just battles. An important aspect of rpgs is role playing and a storyline is needed to make the player feel like he is playing a role in a story, not just fighting random battles.

Edit: It has been awhile since I read the first post so I forgot that Wil was playing on auto. My argument was how storyline is more than just a side thing in an rpg.
Anyways, remember how I said Xenosaga 2’s story couldn’t make up for its bad gameplay? I watched the remainder of the storyline on youtube. A video game’s story can be good enough on its own to merit enjoying it alone. I mean that is why there are some manga books and anime shows that are based on Tales rpgs.

19

I can handle bad gameplay to an extent. Unlimited Saga remains a point of referral to me: I love the cocnept of the game, from what I can see. I jsut can;t get past the second town. Ever. it’s too boring, and I don;t understand why I’m still up and fighting despite being at 0 HP.

And yes, Tales of Symphonia was my favorite of the series. Granted, I only played Phantasia and Destiny besides it. But Symphonia was the first RPG I ever played with 2-player that was really, seriously fun. …Well, besides Secret of mana. But this game did it better.

20

@Wil: I’d reccomend Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss after your done with TOL. I’ll admit TOL is my least favorite tales of game, but I can understand why some people like it. I just didn’t like the Senel/Shirly relationship which was the focus of the first 30 hours of the game. Also, TOS is my favorite and first tales of game and TOL is my second tales of game so I kept on thinking about how TOS did this and that better. Anyways, TOA has a ton of sidequests, the very witty Jade and a long and entertaining story so it is great. TOS has onscreen enemies and a ring that freezes onscreen enemies so you can avoid all nonboss battles without too much difficulty.

Comparing battle systems:
TOA > TOS > TOL
TOS was the first of the 3 to come out. TOL came out next and took a few steps backward. It lacked multiplayer and everyone ran back and forward on only one line. TOS only allowed running back and forward, but the characters were on a 3d plain so which direction they ran depended on which enemy they targeted. So there were different lines the characters could run back and forward on. TOA came out and improved upon the TOS battle system.

Also, not all tales of games are made by the same people, so it is important to keep track of who made what tales of game. Both of my favorite tales of games, TOS and TOA, are made by Team Symphonia.

As for TOL tips, I can’t quite remember any good tips. Well except to buy one of those HP up by __% accessories in one of the main city shops. Those are great.