Ranking all the Mainline Tales Games
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- Опубліковано 16 січ 2024
- Today we finally rank all the mainline Tales games from Tales of Phantasia to Tales of Arise. Where do I put each orignal release of each Tales game compared to one another?
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In regards to Symphonia being the 'most overrated Tales game', that honor now belongs to Vesperia.
Finally someone else says it. I try to be pretty unbiased and fair in most things, ESPECIALLY things I enjoy because I don't want to be blinded by favoritism. I genuinely think Vesperia is just...awful. And I really wanted to love it. For many years always saw the love it got, loved how the combat LOOKED, loved the character designs, and it has one of my favorite openings in Tales, but then Definitive came out, I played it, and...oof. Wow. Wooooow. I had never felt a bigger disconnect from the Tales fandom.
Until Arise released, the fandom collectively heralded it as a masterpiece, and I have taken every possible opportunity to depose that flaming trash heap of a game. I have now effectively entirely alienated myself from the fandom.
THIIIIIIISSSS
Absolute, both of them are extreme overrated
Exactly. Vesperia was a step back from Abyss in many ways
Yeah, while I like Vesperia and think it's a good game, I can say that it's easily the most overrated game in the entire Tales franchise and it's not even close.
Symphonia is only really overrated by Bandai Namco themselves.
And while I fucking hate Arise with a passion, I can at the very least acknowledge that it's a divisive title among the fandom, not really overrated and certainly nowhere near as overrated as Vesperia is.
Your ranking just proves that the Tales of Series is so diverse that no Tier list is the same.
I disagree with some of your placements, but I respect them nonetheless.
It proofs that the games are very different from each other wich is a good thing
I subbed your channel when you were early into your "Tales of" Retrospective series.
So this video was really satisfying to watch.
Calling Symphonia overhyped is the most contrarian thing I have heard today
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As much as I love Vesperia’s art style, I can’t excuse the way the third act drops so freaking horribly, even if Yuri was the protagonist. That, and I really wasn’t a fan of the cast overall (Karol aside).
Abyss was one of the very few Tales that never loses focus of its story and I applaud it tremendously for achieving something very few games in general have done.
Abyss drops the third act horribly as well. I'd rank it much higher if it just ended after Act II instead of going straight into hours of filler before repeating most of the dungeons.
@@ThanhTriet600 It’s nowhere near as Vesperia. You can argue that maybe some things could have been cut out, but certain plot points could only be achieved in the third act (Luke’s final resolve/showdown with Asch, resolution with some of the God Generals, etc).
I bought Berseria just looking for a mindless way to kill time, but it turned out to be much more than that. Definitely deserves S tier, imo
The people hating on Zestiria in a similar fashion you are specifically hating on Arise.
I don't know exactly why but Vesperia just didn't click with me. I never played it when it launched and only got it 3 years ago the switch version, and thought it was so boring I didn't even get to finish it. For me Abyss is one of the best, and I really REALLY enjoyed Eternia on the PSP lol. Also for me Arise was alright, but the battle system got repetitive quite fast. Never got to play the Xillia ones as I never owned a PS3, would be nice if in the future they make remakes/remaster.
Btw, one of Lifebottle's team members, Stewie, has been working on Hearts DS on the text insertion side of things. If you happen to know anyone who is knowledgeable about Hearts DS' story and lore, please send them over. As for Rebirth, look forward to that.
Tales of the Abyss and Vesperia were the peak for me
Awesome seeing the 2 xillia games this high up they're my favs ❤️❤️
As for Vesperia though, I really tried my best to like it. I was 20 hours in but couldn't be bothered to continue playing cuz the combat didn't feel right and the story had no direction.
Combat definetly takes time to get good as all of the cool mechanics are locked behind skills you don't get until the 20+ hour mark. Story is very much just chracters do stuff, if you don't like the characters you will struggle to enjoy it.
I still think based on flaws its still the game with the weakes ones. Its not aged like Symphonia and Phantasia nor does it have massive issues like Berseria's Combat and Xillia's pacing issues.
Sticking to the originals is the kind of hardcore spirit I appreciate
I don't like it when people rank games based on when they came out like, sure game B is better than game A but game A was a better 1998 game than game B was a 2008 game.
Never understood the hate for Tales of Arise, it was my GOTY for 2021 as the story impacted me like nothing else I played that year.
So people keep telling me.
The story wasn't really the problem for me. The combat and characters didn't feel like a tales game. If it was released under a new IP, I think it would have been better received. But a lot of people felt that Bamco released it under the "Tales of" title in order to cash in on an already established fan base.
@@corytanksley7909 For me it was a worthy entry into the franchise, again we have games like tales of tempest. If you've played all the games, you'll notice that it's a varied series. Compare tales of Phantasia to Symphonia to Vesperia, they are all very different, but doesn't mean they are not tales games. The way the story and the world is handled is very much Tales, to be honest and I really enjoyed the changes to the combat too.
My problem with Arise, like with Vesperia is that it drops the ball story wise about a little after the halfway point of the story. The midway twist was eye rolling but not terrible, but the last area was miserable.
Im not a fan of Beseria’s combat system, but the story was so great, Im willing to take an L in the combat for a story that genuinely moved me to my core. Arise’s story wasnt good enough in its later half to compensate for a kinda lame combat system.
Its a shame too! Cause Arise has has a really strong cast. Definately top 5 for me, but idk what happened the writers just didn’t know what to do with them after the mid way point. Its a damn shame. I really want to love Arise, I really do
So you only played tales of arise in the entirety of 2021?
Honestly kinda agree with most opinions on the games I have experienced this far.
As I probably mentioned in that retrospective I didn't really like vesperia that much so I would't put it so high, but besides of that I kinda agree with everything and this shows you really tried to enjoy the unique aspects of each game too.
Overall an enjoyable series of videos to watch, will enjoy videos on the remakes if they ever come out
Interesting list, because I don't really agree with the placement of several titles from later C tier and onward, but I can understand your reasoning behind each game you ranked, since the kind of stuff you value in a Tales game is slightly different from mine (and plenty of others.) I did find myself caring less about the actual ranking, and more on what you had to actually say about the titles after you ranked them, which I think is a good thing. You straight up said anything from B tier on higher is good, and I think a lot of people gloss over that and usually go in with the mindset of "A/S are the only games worth playing."
If you have the time I have done full retrospectives on each of the games mentioned here. So check them out if you want to hear my full opinions.
What's your personal ranking?
Zesteria was honestly the breaking point for me. I managed to clear it somehow. but I had absolutely no clue what the story was about. combat was annoying with a bunch of unfair game overs for attacks being straight up NULLIFIED in bossfights especially the final battle. I spend a great deal of time trying to upgrade my strongest equipment but it felt like it did NOT get stronger at all. Xillia, Xillia 2 and Graces F are my favourite go to tales games to play.
i had similar experience. No part of zestiria clicked with me. Story was bad and badly told. Combat was messy and repetitive. The character development system too complex to be worth engaging with.
I was rushing in the end just to get it over with. I remember the world being way too big, the combat system being unusual and till this day I still don't know what the story was about. Also having 1 party member die forever and the other one that leaves you for most of the game. I was afraid to try any 'Tales of' game after that, but then I got Arise and enjoyed it.
I've only currently played Tales of the Abyss, and I loved it. As you've put it towards the top I will listen to your words and play Vesperia next 👍
@@leecoll78 Abyss is a weird one to start with these days as it's really inaccessible these days.
@@xenosanctum2531 not if you have homebrew installed on your 3ds. I do buy new games too, but my 3ds xl lives on.
@@xenosanctum2531 I have homebrew installed on my 3ds, so I have it on there. Vesperia is cheap on the Switch so will pick up a copy next. P.s long live the 3ds via homebrew, it's the best!
@@xenosanctum2531I have it on my 3ds, picked it up as I read it had a great story, and it does! Vesperia is pretty cheap to pick up as a Physical copy on Switch so will get that soon 👍
Tales of Phantasia really good game in SNES and PS1. I'm still impress on the many complex dungeons. And many dialogues so good, so fun to read and play through.
My only disagreement is your take on Eternia. I played it and Symphonia pretty much at the same time, and I was much more invested in Eternia personally (i do like Symphonia too, just not as much). I also really like the story and cast, I think the core 4 are brilliant and while the extra members are of course less of a focus, it just was what the series did at the time for those first 3 games. I find it a pretty charming aspect of that era, and Eternia imo came out with the best ones in making them feel relevant still, moreso than Phantasia's and Destiny's (though i enjoy those characters still too).
Edit: also the anime was weird but damn if I didn't enjoy looking at it lol.
I need to play more. I played part of Symphonia back in the GameCube day and never finished it and decided to pick up Arise randomly when it came out. It got me through having Covid as no other game could hold my interest at that time. Sad to see it at a C, but agree with that you said. I liked what I played of Beseria and don’t know why I stopped because I liked it.
I recommend putting the list in the comments section, in order. Thanks for the recommendation
Did Eternia extremely dirty and dotnw really dirty putting it under Tempest especially. Still, I respect the grind and the list. I dont think we will get to Hearts DS any time soon since Phantasia X and Eternia with skits are our next big projects after Rebirth, but one day we will probably get to it.
Just watched this. I found it really nice for someone who finally played and gave some love the Japanese only PS2 games! I might of disagree on the top spots( I love Destiny 2 and Rebirth), I loved how you focus on gameplay and story!
Tales of Berseria and Tales of Symphonia both vy for my top spot. Stories are what stick with me most in jrpgs and these two games have the best stories in the series imo. Berseria has the better cast but Symphonia has the better setting.
Ppl hate my top 5 list
Tales of Symphonia : Dawn of the new world
Tales of Arise
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of Berseria
Tales of Vesperia
What's wrong with Tales of Hearts R remake?
Its artstyle is really lame, the combat lacks the polish of the core entries also the game has a very poor translation which makes the characters sound really dumb.
I agree with this list largely. I like the tier system. Perhaps I'll have to shift to this one in my own reviews.
I only played Tales of Zestiria, Berseria, Symphonia and beat Vesperia yesterday (all on Steam).
For now Berseria takes my top spot. Great Characters, more Casual friendly Combat System, good Story.
Zesteria was a little bit all over the place, Vesperia's Combat was a huge step down and focusses more on doing insane combos by manual set up and cancelling, or you will die. Symphonia was really grind heavy and the combat was not fun at all.
I still have both the Xillias and Graces F, left on my PS3 to play.
As for Arise. I don't know if I want to play it.
I've only played about a 1/3rd of the Tales games, but I know whose advice to take when they rank Arise as low as I do. xD
God I wish I saw in Vesperia what everyone else does. There's some very interesting character moments, and the mechanics are really strong, but the story just... can't hold me. Both times I think I dropped the game around the big meeting/reveal at the colosseum (or maybe I played some more past that?), and I felt like I was forcing myself to keep reading.
Maybe I'll check it out again someday, hopefully I can pick up where I left off.
To me as a game I will always judge a game based on its gameplay 1st and formost. Although I frequently find JRPG players who don't seem to agree with me on that.
The games dosnt have a cohesive story. More of a series of loosely connected episodes, making it feel like an anime, whitch some people like but i dont.
Also, the main character has a huge following solely based on his charisma- read looking and acting as a bad ass. While he is cool he is also a murderer and not a great character.
@@goncaloferreira6429 Every JRPG character is a murderer at least Vesperia has the balls to admitt it. I like Yuri as the grey role model protagonist. I find he is morally comlex and intresting as to why he does the things he does.
@@xenosanctum2531 i know you dont think to must about story but still that reply is poor.
sure jrpgs have battles but murdering people in cold blood?
in narrative context/presentation is everything. A protagonist that does justice by his own hands? a role model?
@@goncaloferreira6429 I do think highly of story, a JRPG with a really bad plot can bore me out of finishing it.
Yuri is a role model to Karol due to his confidence and combat skill. However, Yuri doesn't want Karol to become a cold blooded killer like him so isn't super keen on being the role model. I think its a good dynamic.
Vesperia at S?
Nah man you're tripping
@@reinsama2.09 Care to elaborate? IMO it has one of the best combat systems, artstyles and characters.
@@xenosanctum2531 Not the same guy, but something about the combat always felt a bit clunky to me, maybe because how long some of the moves are but I don't know, not bad but not on the top tier of tales gameplay for me.
The artstyle and graphics are pretty nice for sure, but the cast is weak me honestly.
I never liked Yuri that much compared to some other tales protagonists, Repede is a cool dog but that's about it, Rita is insanely annoying, then Estelle/Judith/Patty are just kinda there, the first two being more important to the story but not memorable in the slightest for me.
Flynn doesn't do anything for most of the story, and I liked Karol but everytime he appears Rita is there to be annoying so it kinda ruined it for me.
The story is also pretty meh all things considered and the end drags out way too much for me to like it, kinda felt the same with Arise where at some point I was begging for it to end.
Maybe I should give it another go some day as I played it years ago and my opinion could change, but I usually go for NG+ on tales of games and I just couldn't with this one. I'd still put it in a solid A tier though.
Man, I understand the love for Vesperia, but to me Vesperia was a game with a lot of promise and I love Yuri, but that last quarter of the game feels so lame to me. It really droped the ball imo. Plus, the story can sometimes wank Yuri way too much. I know he’s cool, but goddamn, you arrive and immediately the guild leader is like: I like this kid that I just met so much I want him to be my successor.
Idk. I still think Vesperia is in the top 5 for sure, but above Beseria? Eeeeeeeeh
Gameplay is what gives Vesperia the edge for me. Games before it where all 3 hits->arte->arcane arte. And games after where all, "you have 5 attacks do whatever you want". Vespeira was the only game to keep the classic attack hiracy and yet allow unique combo paths and styles.
@@xenosanctum2531 Absolutely valid. I also prefer this style too and to be clear. I love Beseria to bits, I do. But I disliked the actual gameplay. However the story was so good, I didn’t mind the subpar battle system. I just like to put a bit more stock into the actual story since it sticks with me so much.
But yeah. If this was in terms of gameplay I would absolutely rank Vesperia high. Definately.
@@kyrudo TBH if we where ranking Berseria puerly of gameplay it would be just above Hearts in B tier. The fact the story was able to carry the game up to 2nd on my list should be considered a big deal.
@@xenosanctum2531 I remember just holding my controler with one hand and watching sowm youtube on the side while I grinded a bit in Beseria. Not only is the system not engaging but Velvet might be imo the most overpowered MC in Tales. She’s an absolute unit, the others are just there for moral support haha
@xenosanctum2531 Vesperia does kinda shoot itself in the foot though early game, stripping back a ton of combat options for the sake of creating progression in the skill system as they slowly dole them out. Without learning manual cancelling, Yuri has no moves early game that won't leave him wide open for an eon after every attack.
It makes combat feel too sluggish early even if it opens up wide when we get mid to late game.
I have to say rating Tales of Phantasia D-tier is just criminal. That game is a classic that I will always be able to come back to.
No arguments here that it is a classic. I just like most of the later games more.
@@xenosanctum2531 completely valid. I’m a sucker for retro rpgs.
When Eternia is ranked low I know this is some B.S
Its got one of the wekest stories in the series and some really bad voice acting. I like the combat but I prefer the later games combat systems.
From the video i can make out one clear red line going throught all the reviews:
"If i cant stagger the enemies for 5 minutes with combos i hate the game" 😂
If I master the combat I should be rewarded with 5 minute combo's. Whats wrong with that? BTW I never got that good in any Tales game but knowing I could alway play better kept me invested to improve.
@@xenosanctum2531 comboing an enemy for 5 minutes doing 5 million damage makes every fight trivial and boring to me.
I hate when i see others play tales of games having their charakters overleveled, their gear overleveled and staggering a Boss till hes dead with zero fight back of the enemy. Especially on games i cant play because i Lack the console or its japanese only
Maybe because im a dark souls Player, but i want bosses to be a challenge. Something i just whipe away like a fly will not stay in my memory.
When i replay a JRPG, no matter what game, i allways play it like i would when i first did. Even though i exactly know how i could overlevel myself Quick.
But especially at the Finale, i battle a god with a group of mostly humans, so i dont want to stagger him into oblivion or oneshot him and if he uses a Skill that looks like it would destroy a batrle Tank i want my Party to be hurt if they get Hit by it.
@@RealEvilLordExdeath Again, its not trivial becuse you can only combo lock the boss by doing every move perfectly. Vesperia is a great exsample as your limited in how many attacks you can make and you need to know which attcks will move the enermy away vs cause you to jump ect.
Its like those Dark Souls videos of people causally beating a boss by perfectly walking 2 pixels outside of the bosses hit box.
BTW overlevleing makes any Tales boss easy regardless of staggering or not. What staggering does do is allow a really good player the chance to beat a boss way above them if they can master the game mechanics.
Again emphasis in on the tearm MASTER. Games which make combos easy are not a good, hence why I have issues with games like Hearts and Xillia.
The Vesperia remaster was the first Tales game I played, deciding to try out a series I had a pretty negative opinion of. My bias created from having a game mag that reviewed a lot of Tales games on systems I didn't own. Between the graphics (on a magazine's page), often short reviews and just the sheer quantity of them that seemed to be coming out, I got it in my head that these were just shovelware titles. Yeah, that's a crap opinion and it was totally wrong. I then picked up every Tales game on PS3/PS4 and Abyss on the 3DS. I played Berseria next and its still my favorite in the series... then I played Zesteria, not knowing they were related. That was interesting since the twists and turns all landed very different.
Tales of Syphonia DotnW is S teir for me and you cant take it away from me.
I’m sad that abyss didn’t make it to top 3 but I’m happy it made it to top 5
I cannot stand Arise. After my most recent game being Berseria, being forced to sit with Shionne's surly ass and Aphen's bland personality in a plot that is essentially "baby's first racism is bad" was absolutely unbearable. Velvet is just as much of a thorny, surly person as Shionne, but Berseria does an absolutely INCREDIBLE job of exploring why Velvet is the way she is, and gives her a beautiful character arc in her evolving relationship with Laphi. As for the combat system, I honestly didn't dislike it as much as lots of people do, but I definitely agree that the boss fights were a little ridiculous.
Edit: AND ONE MORE THING!! What really busts my balls is that Shionne as a character has incredible potential. She has a literal curse placed on her that shoots out thorns of electricity on anyone who touches her, making her necessarily very emotionally isolated. That shit is prime real estate for tragedy writing. Yet in the time I got to play Arise before giving up (got up to Dohalim having a breakdown over killing a person), it never felt like they delved deep enough into who Shionne is, what makes her tick, etc. Maybe I just missed some skits that helped characterize her or something, but I never managed to feel emotionally invested in her the same way I was in Velvet from the very first hour of the game. I can only assume it was a pacing issue, and not giving us enough time to explore her before moving on to other characters, or just having her be under Alphen's (very boring) shadow as The Protagonist Guy and thus not getting as much of a spotlight as Velvet.
Zestiria's issues often boil down to Rose, and the series feeling like it wasn't evolving or getting time to release a full, uncompromised game.
Xillia was notably compromised in development, and Xillia 2 was crunched enough to get slapped with it's debt mechanic.
Honestly, considering how Rose is despised in both Japan and NA, I... can understand a bit. It's a very C-Tier for me personally.
Anything it does that I actually DO like about it... I could probably just play another one, y'know?
I just got into Tales in 2023. Out of the five entries I’ve played, my ranking of them from best to worst:
1. Tales of Arise
2. Tales of Vesperia
3. Tales of Berseria
4. Tales of Symphonia
5. Tales of Zestiria
i played some of tales series but my fav one is berseria. Idk probably I like more darker themes type of story.
Graces does have the best combat system in seres. I might need to play Xillia 1 and 2. That might be better. I totally want a fighting game off Graces system
Def play Xillia 2 it's the peak of combat in the franchise
@@Seph4096 I would agree if Xillia 2 didn't use Graces weakness system. They should have used Innocence R's guard counter mechanic to allow for longer combos instead of using Graces weakness system to completely sideline Xillia 1's counter system. I still think X2 combat is top 3 for sure though.
There are currently only 5 Tales games on Steam, I'd love for the rest to be remade, remastered or whatever and put there and on modern consoles. I'd love to be able to play Eternia and a few others without having to spend hundreds of dollars or find a rom. Bandai Namco, I'd like to give you some money, how about you make that easy for me?
I'm also not the biggest fan of Dawn of the New World, but last place seems a bit harsh. Yes, it stumbles in a lot of ways, but I've played at least 3 Tales of games I liked less than Dawn (Innocence R, Hearts R and Destiny PS1).
Haven’t finished arise yet but I agree symphonia is overrated but I don’t think it should be that low. Out of the ones I played as of now I rank that one 2nd. Vesparia I remember trying it and I instantly returned it. Could not beat the first boss and it’s not that I’m bad. The game for me has such input delay that I couldn’t even react to anything. Xilia is next my list to try
Phantasia being in D tier has to be bait.
I like your taste man vesperia was the first tales of game I never beat and got in to tales of in the first place 🥇
I feel like I’m the one person in the world who doesn’t hate dawn of the new world. As someone who found the first Symphonia’s story and characters incredibly boring and generic, I actually found Emil and Marta a big improvement in terms of their journey. Emil especially is a far better protagonist than Lloyd, actually having significant character development with fighting against his Ratatoskr persona and becoming a stronger person. Though of course I do admit it’s very lacking in terms of the overall gameplay and content. It’s not perfect, but I’d hardly call it the worst thing in the entire world.
Tales of Eternia is one of the bests
Tales of Zestiria is good game .
combat is hard to learn, but system really works.
music is very great.
story is weak,but i love The brotherhood between Sorey and Mikleo
HOW tf Zestiria made it this high 💀
Also whats up with the Arise hate, the combat aint that bad unless you fighting bosses
At least we can all agree that Graces has the best combat system in the series
Boss fights are the highlight of the combat system. Regular fights are basically pratice for the battle systems mechanics. The boss fights are the test to see how well you mastered said mechanics. Hence why I very much hold Arise to account becuse of its failure to make enjoyable boss fights.
Zesteria isn't that bad, it dose quite abit in the presentation department and the combat has unique ideas. Also I am getting nosalgic for it becuse its the last classic Tales plot before the series went all edgy with Berseria and Arise.
Sucks to see my fav Tales of game (Symphonia 2) so low
It's somewhat comforting to know that, even in 2024, Xenosanctum will hate on Arise viciously
In the wise words of George Lucas "I may of gone a bit too far in some places."
It's deserved
It's not a tales game anymore.
@@jamalstar4243 nah not really
@@yogirajmore63 that sentence makes no sense
I'd of put Arise in C as well. I didn't like the level like structure to the story. I actally liked the last part of the game because it broke away from feeling structured. I view level structures kinda like the part in Final Fantasy VII where you have to get the huge materia and then I try imagine what if it wasn't just a small part of the game but instead half of the game and you had one huge section getting the first one and so on. If it was like that the game would have not been anywhere near as good and the story would have felt slow.
What, dawn of the new world was my intro into the series back on wii. Emil is my fav character. I dont see why everybody hates it. Tales of Arise was good gameplay wise but half way through when his mask came off I was underwhelmed. I was left thinking after all that build up bc of his mask, thats it? The story got so boring and tedious.
Tales of the Abyss is S Tier… best in the series still
Haha arise c tier you funny. 😂 abyss had way to much go back to a town you visted million times to talk to one person. Honestly took me years to beat because of that. It sooooo slow.
Agree on vesperia and and xillia being great tho
Completely disagree with everything you said about dawn of the new world. It's not S tier but still good for story, characters, and combat. I loved marta and she was voiced by my fave voice actor too Laura Bailey. It's A tier for me
That being said you at least put Xillia in S rank. My S rank is the holy trinity of Xillia, Xillia 2, Graces F
Out of the games I've played I rank them as follows:
1. Tales of Symphonia
2. Tales of Vesperia
3. Tales of Xillia
4. Tales of the Abyss
5. Tales of Xillia 2
6. Tales of Phantasia
I know ToS has ages a bit, but to me its gameplay is still tight enough and a good base for the following games without too many bells and whistles. Its story though is still unmatched, the way it hits on xenophobia, the world(s)building, the characters; I love it all so much.
Currently playing Tales of Eternia on an old PSP. Planning on buying a PS5 this year and playing Tales of Arise, Berseria and Zestiria!
Ranking all Tales of games I played so far based on how much I enjoyed their combat system
1.Tales of Graces F
2. Tales of Xillia 2
3. Tales of Berseria
4. Tales of Vesperia
5. Tales of Xillia
6. Tales of Arise
7. Tales of Symphonia
8. Tales of Zestiria
Tales of Vesperia deserves top tier, its my favorite tales game... I would place phantasia much higher though... its not THAT outdated.
As I said in a comment: To those getting annoyed at my Phantasia ranking I ask you to tell me which Tales games it ranks better than?
@@xenosanctum2531 I cant really make tier list because I have only played like 5-6 out of all the tales titles but Id place it above symphonia lol
@@Jubanen12 ot?
@@xenosanctum2531 edited..
@@Jubanen12 Okay, what do you like about Phatasia to put it over Symphonia. To me Symphonia has a more robust combat system, more intresting plot, better visuals and has more voice acting.
Always thought symphonia was slow and boring honestly. I get why Its loved but I always preferred abyss and vesperia.
I stopped playing xillia 2 bc i hated the debt system. It was so annoying
This year I bought Vesperia and Arise for PS4 and never played any Tales of game before. Loved both, did all the side quests, got best weapons etc, just because wanted to spend more time in these worlds. But when I hear from some that Arise is 2/10 and Vesperia is 9/10 games I am surprised, because if looking at any other competition, like Dragon Quest VIII, XI or Xenoblade Chronicles (1st) both games feels unpolished in comparison. Looks like only true fan of series can tell difference by such margin, since series as a whole is mediocrity lacking in at least some aspects in every iteration. Vesperia is far from perfect, even far from really good, and Arise is a tad weaker. There is not that much difference to celebrate one or banish the other.
Tales of vesperia story was lackluster
Good list.
They hate him because he said the truth about Arise
Yikes... You lost me at Tales of Phantasia... The GBA port, sure - but the SNES original?
Have you played it? Sure for a SNES game its great but in the modern era I don't find its combat or story that intresting.
@@xenosanctum2531Video games do not "age". Tales of Phantasia is still the fantastic game it was 20 years ago, and implying that standards for games have increased over the years is foolish.
@@LezardDesu If video games didn't "age" we wouldn't have console genrations now would we.
@@LezardDesu they do age. Chrono trigger released back then s tier. If they released it now b tier.
@@xenosanctum2531 Just curious, did you play Phantasia on emulator?
Your Tales of tastes differ a lot from mine lol like, I genuinely believe that Berseria and Vesperia are not that good.
Yeah same I genuinely loved the characters but the story... not so much and the gameplay it sucks to the point where i just start spamming break soul to just get abit of fun in the game
my rank is :
1- Zestiria
2- Berseria
3- Vesperia.
Zestiria world is amazing and is the reason why i started to love this games.
I only have played Tales of Xillia. Only thing I remember was the word Bozongas. I dont really care for action combat so I guess this series never really did it for me. The stories seem good, wish I could stomach the combat. Funny enough the Tales series actually led me to the Trails series, which I love.
I hate to say this, but this list is shot to hell...
I shall respect the fact that this list is opinon based and not be an ass, Arise in C and Symphonia in B is a little insulting...
Great list honestly, I think I was surprised to see Vesperia this high considering that among newer fans it doesn't seem to be that good in favor for Berseria, same goes for Xillia, I like it a lot but honestly the dual protag thing got me messed up I never could replay this game to save my life lol in that regard I vastly prefer Xillia 2 even if its 80% recycled assets but what it brought was great I really want Bamco to give us a duology remastered.
It is surprising to see Hearts Ds so high I didn't think it would be this good but i don't hear much about it in general
When it comes to Arise but I think my opinion as gotten slightly worse as i've played this game again, even the story barely is competent during the first act but as soon as that second act drops it just completely loses me and that's a bit of a shame considering I kinda like the cast I just think they're underdevelopped for the moost part
I have such a visceral disdain for Tales of Arise
To those getting annoyed at my Phantasia ranking I ask you to tell me which Tales games it ranks better than?
It holds a very captivating story for a first to the series. The combat being old and all still introduced real time combat in a jrpg instead of turn based. The characters are really unique. Name a character like Clause F Lester who can summon spirits? I haven’t seen a game like that in a while with such unique abilities like spirits. It hurts seeing the classics marked down so low, but nonetheless I respect ur opinion. Great video!
@@tac0flipp3r2 Sheena, Meredy and Keele can all summon spirits and have the advantage of not beening total creeps.
@@xenosanctum2531 It again falls into the art style and retro feel of the game. I should’ve done more research before using that statement. I didn’t realize tales series had so many other summoners.
@@tac0flipp3r2 Suprise you didn't know about Sheena as Shymphonia is the most played game in the series. Again I don't use legacy as a factor when judging raw qulity.
@@xenosanctum2531 I know about Sheena Fujibayashi
Maaan I hated tales of hearts r but it's good to hear that the ds original is better
In gameplay, it's still the same story and characters.
I could overlook Arise's repetitive combat and generic story if only the characters had interesting personality and good synergy with each other. Going from likable cast of Vesperia to Arise was so disappointing
My top 5 has to be:
1) Tales of the Abyss
2) Tales of Symphonia
3) Tales of Vesperia
4) Tales of Arise
5) Tales of Eternia
clicked away when you had the audacity to say zestiria is better than symphonia. so unserious
Immediately I saw you put tales of Graces in A tier I immediately stopped listening
Does it not have one of the best battle systems in the series along being a really pretty game? Also the story is pretty unitentionally funny.
I liked this list till Vesperia was #1.. for me it was garbage.. rita was the only saving grace
Calling tales of symphonia overrated is so wild to me lol
It's not bad. Its just been outdone by most its sucsessors. After Abyss and Vesperia do you really want to go back to a pre-free run game?
@@xenosanctum2531 theres a reason why symphonia had so many remasters than any of the tales of games. It's loved for its story, characters, world building, and its gameplay (yes, there's people who still like the combat in the game aka me and a lot of other people lol) so no, i dont think it's overrated. It's the game that introduced a lot of people to the series.
Also, you do know that people can value other things about the game rather than just combat? I'm so tired of people saying "symphonia is trash vesperia and abyss are so much better" just because of free run 😭 lmao. I didn't know that one single aspect of abyss and vesperia suddenly makes it better than everything else symphonia has to offer lol. And im saying this as someone who loved all three games
@@reversingmemory I never said Symphonia was trash. Again its a great game. I just think its overated becuse people played it first and have rose tinitted glasses when comparing it to later entries.
Its not just the lack of free run I have an issue with. The game has pacing issues, most party members are not fun to play as. The GCN version lacks a dynamic camera. Combo's are very basic. The soundtrack and vocie acting can get really rough. The dungeon puzzles can get very tedious and often defult to block pushing minigames.
Again I don't think Symphonia is a bad game but its fans sure look over a lot of its weaker aspects when prasing the game.
it always amazes me how different people opinions can be lol. I wont go into my complete list but my tops 3 are (not in any order) symphonia abyss and vesperia. my least favorites on the other hand are legendia, tempest and zestiria. I also think Arise was a good game just not a good tales game, i now they wanted to mix tales and western style games like dark souls but i think they went to far to the latter. I liked the story (though i felt like it was more of a star ocean story) but combat while cool looking and flashy was not very good for a tales game.
Come on, Zesteria is better than the OG games. Same with Legendia.
@@xenosanctum2531 I should probably say I never played the originals of many of the early titles just later releases (if they had on). But yeah sorry I just didnt enjoy zestiria the combat was meh and I never could retain anything about the story. Legendia to be fair was most likely not do to the game itself and more to do with the game crashing every 5-10 mins for me. and tempest well because tempest is bad lol.
@@Mikebtheawsome Yeah, I only kept Tempest off the very bottom becuse I have a soft spot for it despite all its issues. Have you played Symphonia 2?
@@xenosanctum2531 i have and yes I agree its not very good it would probably be 4th worst for me
Seeing the horrible Xillia so high and the forever fantastic Phantasia and Symphonia so low made me want to throw up.
(jk, I respect your ranking but mine would be -completely- different)
Make your case cause I will defend my rankings.
Horrible Xillia? Bossman, whatever psychedelics you're taking, I'd personally request a refund from your local dealer.
Jk though, can't argue with tastes, but c'mon, Xillia was stellar. Especially Jude's story.
stoped watching at 1:23
First of all symphonia is really and highly overrated.
Second arise actually a good jrpg game yes it’s not a traditional tales game and that’s why it’s great and if I wasn’t mistaken it’s the best selling tales game of all time.
Third: Berseria and zestiria are in my opinion the best the tales game had to offer so far however players need to play Berseria first in order to understand zestiria I played zestiria back when it was released and I didn’t get the story years later I played berseria first than I played zestiria and it was a different experience a much better experience
And I know it’s your list but seriously vesperia is your top 1 ???
Okay Symphonia is not highly underated as pretty much everyone I know has it ranked higher than me. If Arise is good becuse its not a traditional tales game then how exsactlly are you a fan of the series? Finally, you don't need to play Berseria to get Zesteira as outside of being in the same world they are only losely related. Don't take easter eggs for critical story detail.
Yes Vesperia is the best overall Tales package. A true fighting game combat system (unlike the button mashy moder games and the sluggish retro games), solid cast of characters, one of the best art styles and really solid progession system with the game adding in new mechanics for the player to use in combat via skills.
Very good list and reasonable. All our discrepancies are a matter of taste but I agree with you on the quality of the titles. I could sign to make this ranking official for all I care.
The tuff I very strongly agree w/:
-Arise, down the list.
-Zestiria, being high up
-Graces over or as good as Abyss
-The DS version of Hearts being treated fairly. One of the bigger productions on DS and a good ass Tales of. Vita Remake butchered it hard for me...
Some stuff I would do differently:
-I consider Vesperia the most overrated, I would never put it on top (ToR or ToDDC for me, but remakes are excluded so not a super fair observation...)
-I really like Xillia 2 much more than 1 -a very deflating game imo. But since your S and A tiers are kinda defined by your preference I can live with it
-Eternia holds up as well as ToS or ToD 2 imo, I would put it higher
But it's your list!
Thanks a lot for the retrospective, It felt soo good see someone reach the same-ish conclusions as I when ALL the games in the series are played. Shame about not including TODDC for consistency because I would be very interested in knowing how it would place on your list.
Yeah, currently outside of the mainline games I have played:
- Narikiri Dungeon (GBC)
- Destiny DC
- Radiant Mythology 1
- Hearts R
- Link
And I have dabbled a tad into:
- Rays, Lumeria, Radiant Mythology 2 and Narikiri Dungeon X
However before I do a bigger ranking list I want to properly play the spin off and remakes so i can make a fully definative list.
I'd love to know what your personal ranking is, including remakes.
Just want to said one thing
I don't like your list 😢😢😢😢
Symphonia 2 worse then Xillia 2?
Delusional.
While Both add only 3 New maps and 5 New charakters, Xillia 2 feels like an addon not like a real sequel, especially with this cheap alternate Dimension crap,
Symphonia 2 on the other Hand also has the same maps and only adds a few New charakters but those added are much better then 60% of the original cast, also it adds a complete New and better engine, while Xillia 2 just uses the same battlesystem and doesnt even add new Magic.
If anything its not that symphonia gets draged down by symphonia 2 but rather that symphonia 2 suffers because its Set in the symphonia World.
Would be a much better if it was set in its own World.
But its still lightyears ahead of Xillia 2, whos just a scam.
I thought i would get a large map of elympius and instead i visit the same places with zero difference to Xillia 1.
At least in Symphonia 2 despite the new bettwr engine they added new rooms and puzzles to the old dungeons.
Xillia 2 could of been an identical game to Xillia 1 and I would put it above the mess that was Symphonia 2. I have more indepth videos on this channal, which explain my possitions on both games. At the end of the improvments to the graphics mean nothing when the story and combat arn't fun.
@@xenosanctum2531 you didnt enjoy the combat of symphonia 2?
I really had a lot of fun with it, thinking its much better then the battlesystem of the original. Especially the Air combat is much improved, also i like the Monster mechanic.
In the end it depends on ones taste, but u have to admit, no matter if u liked it or not, the Monsters where a different style of battle while Xillia 2 just did the same as 1.
I was never that big Fan of Symphonia 1 maybe thats why I have less of a Problem with Symphonia 2.
But what they did with Xillia 2 was mindblowingly bad.
Not just made it everything that happened in Part 1 meaningless, it also introduced the idea that your "Hero" destroys whole dinensions and kills Billion of lifes, because he decides "they are not meant to be alive in the first place" so instead of trying to find an alternative way to save them, like a JRPG heroe would usually do, he killes all this people amd everyone is "hey cool, lets go find the next Dimension and kill em all"
And then when u have this Milan from that alternate universe one thinks oh hey now it gets interesting they sacrifice her to get "the real" Mila because hey fk alternate Mila she wasnt meant to exist in the first place.
And all comes down to a idiotic Showdown on an idiotic fetus like zone because 2 Ghosts had a bet or something.
This game is just pure tras to me and the only disappointment i ever had inside the tales of series
Tales of Arise ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I love the tales series and even watched every retrospective. But im still baffled why you think arise is so bad. The combat was different yes but it felt faster snappier and eliminated the limitations of the earlier entries. If anything the battle system evolved. The story was great the characters were fun and had well fleshed out motivations. Also i feel like you were just bad at the boss fights. They arent hard. Nothing personal but spot dodging and using break arts on enemies was satisfying. So to call it bad just means you cant adapt to change and refuse to see a good series evolve.
The boss fights arnt hard as they are tedious. There is no way to deal more damage to the bosses outside of upping you stats. Once you break Arises combat down its extremly shallow compared to past entries.
Also those limitations is what gives Tales its charm. Graces has a lot of limitations with its CC system but that in turn makes the battles fun as you fight within those limitations.
And on the characters and story. Can you tell me what purpose Rin, Law and Kisara have in the plot post the 30% mark? Unlike the other characters they lack story elemtes relvent to them outside of their base area.
Game looked great, I thought the combat was fun but their were difficulty spikes with the bosses imo and I thought the story was alright but kind of dragged at the end. I wish their was more to do in the world as well. 8/10 but i would have ranked it higher then he had on his list even though i hadnt played half of these games.
Wow, the hate this man has on Arise is as big as Sukuna hating Itadori.
I have pending a lot of Tales games, including Symphonia, Vesperia, Berseria and Xillia, but at least I got some basics like Abyss and Phantasia, I liked both of them.
Xillia 2 > all
Tales of Arise was not that bad, you’re really exaggerating that one
Check my full retrospective to see why I have it so low.
@@xenosanctum2531 sure, I’ll give it a watch some point soon
why not saying it Xillia (Exzilia)? the Japanese called it so, and they're the one who made it. don't tall me you're the kind of people who called South American man's name Jose and not Jose (Hoze)....
My thoughts
That musical Number in Legendia was cringe AF
Arise is exactly where it belongs (horrible story and couldnt stand Shionne)
You are dead wrong for calling Symphonia overrated. That game is stil God tier for me. The story, characters, and music were flawless
Zestiria took me two tries to get through (thanks a lot, Water trial!!). The story was okay and the God Eater costumes (mainly the music you get when you wear it) was so good
Vesperia is overrated (Yuri carries that game, but even he cant blind me to disjointed storyline. Exactly how does the Blastia story mesh with the feud between Knights and Guilds?)
Berseria is the best Tales Of game
I disagree with about 50% of your takes...
Like... Berseria was so much of a slumpf to finish... Maggielou was OBNOXIOUS to the point where I didn't wan't to play the game anymore. If you asked me RIGHT NOW the characters in that game... I COULD NOT tell you. All I remember was demon hand girl lost her brother, found someone that looked like her brother and eventually fought some notion of a God-Like being (who also resembled her dead brother?) DON'T CARE, DON'T @ ME.
Abyss is super overrated
I cant take you seriously if you have Tales of Vesperia as your absolute favourite. Tales of Vesperia fans are so cringe lmao
most overrated tales game by far