"Now this is the PS2's swan song"

Yulia's Score -- a prophecy that holds the world of Auldrant together. Two men of high position -- Dorian General Van Grants, and Grand Maestro Mohs, with extreme world ideals revolving around the Score. And two separate nations -- Kimlasca and Malkuth, which the Score says will go to work. And on top of all this, an ideal known as fomicry -- creating replicas of things, and the controversy involved. Indeed, cliches are involved in all that mess, but it certainly isn't a world I would like to live in, were I a 17 year old noble with only seven years of memories, confined to a manor, unable to leave for three more years. Not to mention constantly hearing weird voices in my head, that would just make it worse.

But I digress. Enter Luke fon Fabre, the embodiment of all that's mentioned above. You may have had a firm grasp on background, but I might add the personality. Try whiny, annoying, self-centered, arrogant... you get the point. You have your protagonist before you. And the only pleasure he takes in a life of such ignorance is sword training with his mentor and father figure, Van Grants. But that all ends on one fateful day, when a girl named Tear who claims to be 16 but in my eyes, at least, looks at least 18, breaks in an attempt of assassination, and in the process accidentally thrusts Luke into the world, much against his own will, obviously.

And from there, you see and learn about the world through Luke's eyes, starting with absolutely no knowledge and gradually progressing to deeper problems, such as the fear of killing others, and the ever-present entity known as guilt. I could keep going on and on, but you'll catch onto everything eventually. You have before you a game that feels extremely long. And it isn't necessarily extremely long; I did a speed run which included several side quests and managed to finish the game in 23 hours, but to enjoy this game's depth (that's why it's called 'Tales of the ABYSS') to its fullest, that will take a bare minimum of 50 hours. Simply put, it has a ton of plot in an incredibly screwed up world, and in the late game you'll barely even remember that you seriously went to the Fubras River and the Tower of Rem in the same game.

Of course, the game is rife with incredible characters, especially our main hero and heroine, Luke and Tear, who through altogether different ways undergo an amazing amount of development. And we're rife with all sorts of personalities: Jade Curtiss, the god of comedy who happens to be a Malkuth colonel; Guy Cecil, a young noble seeking revenge for his parents' death; Anise Tatlin, a young teenager who seems to just want to follow Luke around because of his status; and Natalia L.K. Lanvaldear, the princess of Kimlasca. And with that we also have the game's main enemies, the Six God-Generals, who an equally diverse group of personalities, who most of which undergo a fair share of development themselves, even if it's merely limited to becoming even more emo than they already were. And obviously we have a villain on top of everything with an incredible plan for the world, topped off with clear motive.

Walking hand in hand with that incredible amount of plot is equally incredible gameplay, the highlight of which is one of the best battle systems I have ever had the pleasure of utilizing. It's classic Tales combat, but with a twist. Very early in the game you'll get a skill called Free Run, which will allow you to run in three dimensions across the battlefield. That is one of many additional skills conveniently called AD Skills, which give you everything from 7 hits in a combo instead of 3, to automatic resurrection. And how do you learn these? Through items called Capacity Cores, which raise stats a certain amount after leveling up. Yet of course, the group is well in their ability to learn techniques, be they Luke and Guy's sword techniques, or classic Tales magic from everyone else, coupled with their own share of melee skills.

It doesn't end there either. When an elemental skill is used, it'll create what's known as a "Field of Fonons", which has a completeness depending on the strength of the skill used. And if it's strong enough, you can use a skill compatible with the element (shadow including water and earth with light including fire and wind), and it'll become a much more kickass version of that skill. Example: fighting a boss that's weak against earth? Just have Jade cast Stalagmite and Tear her Nightmare skill with the shadow element, and then Luke's normally weak Raging Blast will be replaced with the much more useful Frigid Blast. Neat, eh? It doesn't end there either -- a little into the game, after landing some hits you can go into Overlimit, and unleash extremely scarce yet valuable techniques called Mystic Artes. Of course, major bosses have those as well, but that's part of why they're so awesome.

As for dungeon design, that brings me back to the plot -- there are ten "vital points of the planet" in the game called the Sephiroth (that's right), which serve as a huge portion of this game's dungeons, and you go to nine of them. Three of them are quite special, but the other six are pretty much the same. But that's okay; sometimes you'll go to a dungeon, then revisit it later and one of those Sephiroth is actually deeper in that same dungeon. They do get a little repetitive, but that's only a little in the middle of the game, it's not a major problem. As for everything else, there's tons and tons of dungeons, each unique in their own way, with a perfect medium between Symphonia and Legendia -- not completely littered with impossible puzzles, but not just a straight path with a few things on the side here and there. And no, there aren't random encounters, either.

But most importantly, for me at least, is the abundance of side quests. Unlike Legendia which was extremely disappointing in this regard, Abyss is littered with side quests, some if not most of which are directly relevant to the plot. We've got the typical collect the strongest weapons in the game and then fight an extremely hard boss thing, optional dungeons and little powerups and extra technique sort of thing, plus there's tons of things unlocked in the second playthrough only, be they extra titles for the character, a second Mystic Arte for everyone, or one new extremely large dungeon. Plus you can't forget the standard Grade Shop so that you can carry bonuses to your second playthrough, and four difficulties instead of two. That's a ton, and I could replay this game at least four times without getting tired of it. And yes, I fully acknowledge the game's length.

The graphics are everything and more that you would expect from a game coming out this late in the PS2's lifespan. Everything is detailed, colorful, and the graphic style is once again different from Symphonia and Legendia, but you get used to it. There's anime cutscenes all over the place which are incredible as always, but even without them you often see close up views of the characters with their facial expressions and whatnot. Character designs are believable if not a couple rather commonplace (Guy's, anyone), even if there's once again the issue of Tear's age. As for battle graphics, those are awesome as well. Spell animations are the standard thing we've come to know and love from Tales games, but of course the highlight is Mystic Artes, with their diverse range. I mean, you never grow sick of watching Luke glow in blue, hazardous light, then charge up a sphere of energy in front of him, yell out "NOW DIE!" as you see his character portrait, and then create a damaging explosion.

Any flaws in this department? Well, yes, the framerate and load time. It takes a full ten seconds to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees around your character on the world map, plus it takes a good few annoying seconds to load up a dungeon or town from said world map. Plus considerable lag can be produced when you're like me and try to use a Mystic Arte on a dying enemy while everyone else is also slashing the poor fool to pieces. But whatever. Sound effects are awesome too, with your typical breeze, sword slashes, etc. But I must add that the voice acting in this game is one of the least annoying I've ever seen. We've got Luke and Tear who go through a lot of development and of course have to convey a wide range of emotion, plus Jade's and Anise's who fit their personalities perfectly. The only lame moment is when Asch or Guy in all of their melodrama, but that's forgivable. Plus we have the annoying brat type voices such as Arietta's, but that's because her character was intended to be, well... an annoying brat.

The music in this game is absolutely incredible; you can really tell that Motoi Sakuraba has come a long way while still recognizing his style right off the bat. We've got great boss themes, plus since the game is so long yet easily divisible into three parts, the game is kind enough to grace us with three battle themes. The first and third are good stuff, but the second one, The Edge of a Decision, is probably the best battle theme I have ever heard in my life, dwarving almost all boss themes in RPG history without a question too. That's how great that track is. Dungeon themes are no slouch either. I especially like how in the Absorption Gate, a long and important dungeon, there are three themes depending on how far in you are, each one a remix of the same theme, but louder and more dramatic. Plus you've got two haunted type places in this game, each with dark, spine chilling yet calming tracks in the background. Sure, a few themes in this game are annoying as all hell, such as that vile mini game theme, but there's so much good in there you'll overlook it.

So far I've given this game an incredible amount of praise, and that's because it deserves it. Of course there are flaws; the story can be a bit slow at times, plus it does drag on for a long time with one thing after another happening, but it works in its own way. Some of the late game bosses are too easy of course, and there are a few graphic flaws, but in my opinion this is the PS2's last game that was totally and utterly incredible. In this game you've got hours of plot, great characters that will tug on your heart strings and attach you to their stories after awhile, one of the finest battle systems I've ever played, classic Tales humor, and plenty of side quests. And whether you're a casual gamer or a hardcore RPG fan, you can find your place with Tales of the Abyss.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/07