Tales of PlayStation(s) revealed

[Aeolus]

White Knight Chronicles is one of those rare instances where the "English" instrumental version of the opening is actually superior to the original lyrical version.

That's probably due to not having to deal with Level 5's writer/director/producer/CEO/etc. Akihiro Hino writing. Now if only there were a way to not have to deal with said writing for the remaining 99.9999% of the duology (or any other Level 5 game for that matter).

Yo dawg, Level 5's got Dark Cloud and Layton, so they have really good reasons to exist.  Especially Dark Cloud 2.  The EXACT SECOND they finally come out and say "We will never ever do Dark Cloud 3, guaranteed" then they can disappear from the universe.

Dark Cloud 2's writing sucks (and the mechanics are poorly balanced to boot; monster transformations are a complete waste of time), and Layton's writing is handled by somebody else (though the gameplay is basically the same as going through one of those children's puzzle books).

[Tomara]

Yes, copyright was likely the problem (at least, I hope it was, because the alternative is infinitely more frustrating). They would still have had to acquire and pay for the rights to the song in order to use the instrumental version (which they would then have to modify by adding the guitar solo). Perhaps Superfly or whoever holds copyright for them (possibly the label) didn't give permission to use the vocals or was asking more for the full song than Bamco wanted to pay?

I heard Japanese record companies can be real stubborn when it comes to international rights. They basically want to have full control over a band's international debut, thinking the artists could actually make it big if they did things properly (and not, you know, enter the big world outside of Japan through the intro of some random videogame). It's a pipe dream, of course. But just in case they'll make other releases extremely difficult by demanding the impossible.

[Arvis]

Dark Cloud 2's writing sucks (and the mechanics are poorly balanced to boot; monster transformations are a complete waste of time)

Welcome to Wrongville, Population: YOU!

Dark Cloud 2's writing is amazing... -ly cheesy and bad.  But I wouldn't say it "sucks".  The plot's not the best, but the two leads are interesting enough to carry it off and keep a player interested (and really, anything is better than the Silent Protagonist sin).

And citing one optional, and completely unnecessary, mechanic does not in any way prove that DC2's mechanics are "poorly balanced".  The level progression, upgrading, battling, and inventing in that title are so perfectly tuned for addictive gameplay that I could probably replay it for a 4th time and still enjoy it.

I'll be honest though.  Objectively, the writing is pretty bad and the Monster Transformations aren't necessary and bring very little benefit to the user experience.  So... not exactly Wrongville, I guess.

[Klutz64]

Also, Spheda is a dangerous mixture of mind-altering addiction and console-smashing frustration

[Alisha]

Gamespot has a 15 minute English Preview for ToZ
https://youtu.be/mmU01WU7Y1c

As well as the English Opening!  And by English it's an 'instrumental version'.
https://youtu.be/kJDRa0kLnQU

i wonder if characters wear different outfits in town or if it's just an early point in the story.

[divingfalcons]

I've not played Dark Cloud 2 for so long, but I remember nothing of the plot, apart from it being a bit cheesy, so what everyone else is saying. I preferred Dark Cloud, but that didn't have the best plot either.

I think the different outfits are just the beginning of the game? I'm not sure though.

[Aeolus]

I know that Torey can take off and put on his Poncho, but aside from that and the symmetrical docking, you're stuck with paying out the ass for costume DLC.

Dark Cloud 2's writing sucks (and the mechanics are poorly balanced to boot; monster transformations are a complete waste of time)

Welcome to Wrongville, Population: YOU!

Dark Cloud 2's writing is amazing... -ly cheesy and bad.  But I wouldn't say it "sucks".  The plot's not the best, but the two leads are interesting enough to carry it off and keep a player interested (and really, anything is better than the Silent Protagonist sin).

And citing one optional, and completely unnecessary, mechanic does not in any way prove that DC2's mechanics are "poorly balanced".  The level progression, upgrading, battling, and inventing in that title are so perfectly tuned for addictive gameplay that I could probably replay it for a 4th time and still enjoy it.

I'll be honest though.  Objectively, the writing is pretty bad and the Monster Transformations aren't necessary and bring very little benefit to the user experience.  So... not exactly Wrongville, I guess.

"Dear Mother, I met this magical time traveling shape shifting princess from the far future at a killer circus today. She has this really weird habit of shouting 'Griffith' and dressing up in outfits of decreasing size. I also spent an ungodly amount of time in a sewer dungeon trying to not launch my Spheda balls into one of the wall-lining water hazards. Hopefully one day I can meet you in the far future so you can see how much I've grown. Do you think I've grown? Have I grown? Tell me Mother! I NEED validation!!! -Love Max. P.S. I got to ride this psychedelic time train today, its like my old one but this one has the Disco Fever. P.P.S. I met this other orphan today named Griffith. Seems he was bullied at school and was possessed by some non-descript evil or something when his mother died. My companions Steve the amazing talking robot and that magical time traveling princess both feel bad for him. P.P.P.S. Apparently that non-descript evil that possessed sir Griffith was himself possessed by a non-descript evil because he wasn't loved enough by his mother. LOVE ME MOTHER!!! DON'T LET ME BE POSSESSED BY A WORLD/TIME THREATENING NON-DESCRIPT EVIL!!!!! GIVE ME VALIDATION!!!!!1!1!1...."

Also the only thing worse than Spheda in a dungeon lined with water hazards was having to go through an area that required using Monica's Monster Transformation.

[Dice]

^ lol! C'mon, he wasn't that bad. xD  I actually enjoyed Spheda... maybe because I hate myself or something.  I didn't obsses over it, but I damn well tried hard every single time!!  And that stupid song that played.

I'm sad Monica never actually meets Max's levels of awesome...at all.  Monster Transformations were useless.  It doesn't help you can basically assemble most of the best parts for...*sigh* Steve the Robot by Chapter 3.  The game is charming but a bit of an unbalanced affair.

It still does get special mention for that AWESOME city customizing bit (seriously we need someone to "Castlevania>Bloodborne" this idea if Level 5 won't touch it again), and it's probably the only dungeon crawler I ever beat to completion.

[Aeolus]

^ lol! C'mon, he wasn't that bad. xD  I actually enjoyed Spheda... maybe because I hate myself or something.  I didn't obsses over it, but I damn well tried hard every single time!!  And that stupid song that played.

I'm sad Monica never actually meets Max's levels of awesome...at all.  Monster Transformations were useless.  It doesn't help you can basically assemble most of the best parts for...*sigh* Steve the Robot by Chapter 3.  The game is charming but a bit of an unbalanced affair.

It still does get special mention for that AWESOME city customizing bit (seriously we need someone to "Castlevania>Bloodborne" this idea if Level 5 won't touch it again), and it's probably the only dungeon crawler I ever beat to completion.

I admittedly exaggerated a bit for humor's sake.

As for the Geocites, isn't that essentially what Fantasy Life was? You don't quite have the same level of control, but you do have 10x the grind to get anywhere.

[Dice]

^ lol! C'mon, he wasn't that bad. xD  I actually enjoyed Spheda... maybe because I hate myself or something.  I didn't obsses over it, but I damn well tried hard every single time!!  And that stupid song that played.

I'm sad Monica never actually meets Max's levels of awesome...at all.  Monster Transformations were useless.  It doesn't help you can basically assemble most of the best parts for...*sigh* Steve the Robot by Chapter 3.  The game is charming but a bit of an unbalanced affair.

It still does get special mention for that AWESOME city customizing bit (seriously we need someone to "Castlevania>Bloodborne" this idea if Level 5 won't touch it again), and it's probably the only dungeon crawler I ever beat to completion.

I admittedly exaggerated a bit for humor's sake.

As for the Geocites, isn't that essentially what Fantasy Life was? You don't quite have the same level of control, but you do have 10x the grind to get anywhere.

Your humour slays me every time. x)
Keep at it!

And...was it?  Because, shit, I'd be a lot more interested in playing it, but my sort of ambiguity for Level-5 has kinda kept me away.

[Aeolus]

^ lol! C'mon, he wasn't that bad. xD  I actually enjoyed Spheda... maybe because I hate myself or something.  I didn't obsses over it, but I damn well tried hard every single time!!  And that stupid song that played.

I'm sad Monica never actually meets Max's levels of awesome...at all.  Monster Transformations were useless.  It doesn't help you can basically assemble most of the best parts for...*sigh* Steve the Robot by Chapter 3.  The game is charming but a bit of an unbalanced affair.

It still does get special mention for that AWESOME city customizing bit (seriously we need someone to "Castlevania>Bloodborne" this idea if Level 5 won't touch it again), and it's probably the only dungeon crawler I ever beat to completion.

I admittedly exaggerated a bit for humor's sake.

As for the Geocites, isn't that essentially what Fantasy Life was? You don't quite have the same level of control, but you do have 10x the grind to get anywhere.

Your humour slays me every time. x)
Keep at it!

And...was it?  Because, shit, I'd be a lot more interested in playing it, but my sort of ambiguity for Level-5 has kinda kept me away.

Well you don't get to build a town per say, so much as decorate your room and self with items/accessories each made from dozens upon dozens of pieces of material that you had to farm in three separate jobs, refine in two more jobs, and put together in one other job to use to improve the performance of a completely separate job enough to have an adequate shot at getting enough raw material to make that piece of material that you really wanted all along. It really just takes the Geocites model, scales it down, while having almost the same amount of grind from WKC's version of Geocites (where you had to pay real life $$$ for materials to make one instance of a particular color of paint for one of your giant robot's pallet; or grind like a motherfucker on one of six potential online quests; not that you can realistically do either anymore due to the online elements of that particular duology ceasing to exist).

TL;DR: Fantasy Life; MMO Grind for MMO Vanity but without the MMO Audience.

[Arvis]

And that stupid song that played.

But.... "Peace of the World" is one of my all-time favorite tracks from any VG OST!  T___T

[Dice]

And that stupid song that played.

But.... "Peace of the World" is one of my all-time favorite tracks from any VG OST!  T___T

(old) I actually meant this in a good way. I loved whistling it... D:

http://gematsu.com/2015/10/bandai-namco-trademarks-tales-best
Tales of the....!!!

...Best.

[Wild Armor]

And that stupid song that played.

But.... "Peace of the World" is one of my all-time favorite tracks from any VG OST!  T___T

(old) I actually meant this in a good way. I loved whistling it... D:

http://gematsu.com/2015/10/bandai-namco-trademarks-tales-best
Tales of the....!!!

...Best.

Have you heard it's main theme yet?