Favorite "Tales of" Game and why?

[Farron]

The only one I played to completion was my first Tales game: Vesperia. I was surprised it was that good and I enjoyed it a lot. So after it I decided to give some other game of the franchiser a shot, so I decided to play Abyss.
It wasn't bad but I got the feeling that playing it right after Vesperia they were way too similar so in the end I dropped it. Possibily when I finish (if I ever do) Xenoblade I'll give Graces f a shot.

[Aertea]

I'm a relative late-comer to the Tales series*  but I'd go with Abyss.

As far as story/characters go I'd have a hard time making a decision, however i feel FoFs gave Abyss the most interesting combat system.  I actually wish they would have gone a little further with them.

*Started with Symphonia, completed that Graces, Abyss, Vesperia and Legendia.  I've attempted some of the classics (Phantasia and Eternia) but failed to get drawn into them.

[beLIEve?]

the only tales game i own is abyss and it hasn't left my backlog pile yet i'm not sure if it's the best entry point but i got it cheap. i'll reread this thread a couple times for suggestions.

[Prime Mover]

It's abyss, and always has been abyss. However, I'm currently playing through Tales of Graces now, with my girlfriend, and though I'm only about 10 hours in, I'm stunned by how good it is, and could become a real competitor for Abyss in my mind. I also enjoyed Symphonia, though it got a little ridiculous at times. Vesperia was a low point, as far as I'm concerned. A few really amazing characters, but the rest were some of the most obnoxious I've ever seen, the battle system was broken, and the pacing was piss poor. Too bad, Yuri, Flynn, and Judy were amazing characters, but the rest and the plot destroyed it.

Can't wait to play Xillia when it comes out.

[Akanbe-]

Once again, I'd love to hear your explanation of why Vesperia's battle system is broken. 

[Mickeymac92]

Once again, I'd love to hear your explanation of why Vesperia's battle system is broken. 

Me too, man. I played the game front to back with almost zero problems, and the only problems I did have were due to the AI that I didn't know how to change at the time.

[Judas]

It's hard for me to pick any one Tales game as a favorite. Me personally, I think this series just keeps getting better and though I may look back at one fondly, I'm always blown away by the next one when it comes out.

It's tough, Vesperia and Symphonia are both up there high, but I recently replayed Abyss on 3DS, and fell in love with that all over again. I did play Legendia and though not nearly as memorable, I also don't think it's as bad as it is made out to be.

Graces F did so many things right, so it's like - is that my new favorite? I dunno.

I'm copping out entirely. I love them all? ;)

[Tomara]

Once again, I'd love to hear your explanation of why Vesperia's battle system is broken. 

Me too, man. I played the game front to back with almost zero problems, and the only problems I did have were due to the AI that I didn't know how to change at the time.

Yuri's one of the most powerful protagonists in the series, if not the most powerful, but that's all I can think of... Oh and you can do this crazy chain thing with Rita, but it doesn't work very well when it really counts (though boss battles). Most Tales games have one or two tricks you can exploit, but those never really destroyed the battle system.

Anyway, my favourite is Abyss. Really liked the characters. Luke may be an annoying/depressed idiot, but it's hard not the sympathise with him. Second favourite is Vesperia, I think. For similar reasons. And it reminds me of Lunar, which is a good thing, because I love Lunar.

[Monsoon]

The most powerful character in the series is Cless, by about eight longshots.  When another character can perform teleportation combos and equip three types of heavy weapons, then it's up for discussion again. 

I'm surprised at all the Abyss love.  I guess I wasn't as enchanted by the cast as much as the rest of you guys.  I do think it's better than Symphonia, but not as good as Phantasia PS1, Destiny PS2, or Vesperia. 

[Annubis]

It's a close match between Vesperia and Graces F =/

Graces F was a much better game overall than Vesperia but it also has many small things that just grind my gears... like the overall childish approach or them dungeon designs (it's like a guy ate cheerios, drank milk + vinegar + coke, then barfed on the floor and drew the dungeon according to that)

The most powerful character in the series is Cless, by about eight longshots.  When another character can perform teleportation combos and equip three types of heavy weapons, then it's up for discussion again.

Yuri destroying everyone in the game without breaking a sweat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBO7BjPegoA

[Akanbe-]

Once again, I'd love to hear your explanation of why Vesperia's battle system is broken. 

Me too, man. I played the game front to back with almost zero problems, and the only problems I did have were due to the AI that I didn't know how to change at the time.

Yuri's one of the most powerful protagonists in the series, if not the most powerful, but that's all I can think of... Oh and you can do this crazy chain thing with Rita, but it doesn't work very well when it really counts (though boss battles). Most Tales games have one or two tricks you can exploit, but those never really destroyed the battle system.

I figure he's talking about Rita, but that definitely doesn't break the game.  You can play through Normal difficulty and the step up difficulty completely fine without it.  iirc, the Rita thing also requires setup (bars on the side) and it's pretty optional.  There's a pretty high chance that most people wouldn't even figure it out unless they heard about it on gamefaqs, forums, or saw it on youtube.

SF2: ST Akuma is broken.
Marvel vs Capcom 2 is arguably broken (but in a good way that makes things interesting).
Tales of Vesperia is not.

[Alisha]

easily tales of the abyss. sure the characters have issues,but you know what i have issues so characters like those found in vesperia really bore me. next i would go radiant mythology 3. its got charcters from pretty much every tales game except xillia. after that id put dawn of the new world. then tales of eternia. tear and natallia both trump estelle and jade >yuri.

[Spoony Mage]

Tales of Phantasia for me and always will be.  Sure, the character setup is pretty damn standard, but then again maybe that's why I like it.  It's also the only other Tales game I've played to completion besides Symphonia and Symphonia felt like a bit of a slog towards the end.  That's probably because I was power gaming the hell out of it, though.  I've played Destiny (been a long time, I need to pick that up again), Legendia (never finished, but might try it again.  I liked Chloe), Eternia (got sort of bleh in the middle, so I quit), Abyss (the less said about that, the better.  It's sad when I consider Jade and MIEU the most tolerable characters in that game.), and currently Graces f (this one is a lot of fun, really enjoying the characters and banter in this one). 

From what I have seen of Vesperia, I dearly want to play that, too, but I'm not willing to pick up a XBox for it so I'll likely import the PS3 verson from Japan.  Kind of a shame, because I liked what I heard of the english voice acting.

[Tomara]

Yuri destroying everyone in the game without breaking a sweat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBO7BjPegoA

I can't believe I had forgotten how handsome Captain Schwann is <3

[GuardianBoi]

after that id put dawn of the new world

You are one of the first people I know to have actually admitted to liking Dawn of the New World! I know it wasn't the greatest games in the world, but I really liked Marta as a character and the story was pretty good. I just wasn't thrilled with the whole monster system. I used human characters whenever I could to make it feel like a normal Tales game. haha. :)