Tales of the Abyss

"An engaging tale, ten years in the making..."

Tales of the Abyss is Namco's latest entry into the long-running 'Tales of' series. Infact, Abyss marks the series 10th anniversary (It was even released 10 years, to the exact day after Tales of Phantasia, Super Famicom.) and proves that after a decade of great games, Namco still has what it takes to make each installment truly great. The thing that threw most people off is that Abyss was announced about a week before Tales of Legendia was even out in Japan, so many wondered just how good it could be, coming out less than 4 months after the previous installment. Fears were quickly cast aside when it was stated that two separate teams were working on Legendia and Abyss. Legendia got Namco's Soul Calibur team, while Abyss got the team that worked on previous Tales titles. (most notably, Symphonia, which Abyss is very similar to.) The end result was a product that definitely didn't disappoint on any level.

Graphics - 8/10

Originally, I was disappointed that Namco was veering it's Tales series toward the side of 3-dimensions. Personally, I think one of the things that defines the series is it's highly detailed, sprite-based, 2-D graphics. ToS made me question if this graphical direction was right for the series, because it might feel like it was losing one of those defining principals that actually makes the series what it is. But when it came down to it, Symphonia's Cel-shaded characters didn't detract at all from the overall feel. I got the same feeling when Legendia introduced these sort of 'limbo' character models. Not 2-D, of course, but Namco didn't opt for super-realistic characters, like a lot of recent games. When I saw early screens for ToA, I was questioning Namco's decision yet again, as to whether or not this graphical style was really the right choice....

Yet, somehow, Namco still managed to pull of such a great environment, such nice looking character models, that my worries were again cast aside. I think after three games that I wasn't graphically sure about, I can banish my fears that the graphics will ruin or break these games.

Graphically, everything is a step up from Legendia. Character models look better, and seem to have more animation and fluidity. The models themselves almost remind me of some of the ones used in the newer Suikoden games. While I wasn't particularly fond of those, ToA's character designs seem so much better. I'm certain that it's because Namco has once again attached characters we actually care about to these models, and none of them really seem like 'just another face.'

Areas look somewhat like a mix between Symphonia's and Legendia's, but are overall more detailed and colorful than both. You'll go through caves, and imperial castles, and just these massive buildings and places. I actually found myself somewhat awestruck at the architecture of some of these areas. I mean, it's a VIDEO GAME, and I found myself being quite satisfied with the way the interiors of some of these areas looked. Even simple things like hallways had detailed walls, and carpeting, and such, that just makes the places seem almost realistic. Of course the series has been known for implementing many neat little graphical touches that make even the smallest things like puddles or shadows stand out. Things that might not even be important become more than just 'scenery.' They actually become a part of this world.

Of course, it wouldn't even be a Tales game without the somewhat unique colorful character designs. As one would expect, the Face chats/skits are back, and we're again treated to characters that display several different emotions during the time they interact with eachother, and we're treated to several different character portraits and poses as the characters converse with one another. Maybe I seem like I'm making a big deal out of it, especially since the chats are a mainstay of the series, but I think it's just something that Namco has done well time and time again. And it works so well, with the diverse, colorful casts we're introduced to.

there are, however, a few....problems with the graphics. First off, the world map really quite boring. Which is a shame, considering all of the beauty that lies in each individual area. Aside from the occasional tree, mountain, or enemy that seems to warp out of nowhere, you'll be seeing a lot of grass, dirt, and water, and that's about it. Towns and areas almost look like pop-up book pages on the map as well.

One other thing that needs to be pointed out is....the loading time. Some people can, but I don't think I can ever get used to ToA's horrendous load-times. You can expect an average of about 5-10 seconds of black screen every time you enter a town, go to battle, win a battle, cut to a different scene, go to a boss fight.....you can see where this is going. Also, maybe this problem is just sort of unrelated, but it seems that if you push too many buttons while on this black screen, when things get loaded up right you get this weird lag occasionally. It's not unbearable, just really, really annoying, and tends to do nothing but get on your nerves when you're in a hurry, or something.

Story - 8/10

As the game opens, we're introduced to Luke Fone Fabre, a rather bored, somewhat bone-headed noble, who is rather naive, and tends to not do a lot of thinking. He also has a tendency to hear these strange voices sometimes.... We are also introduced to Van, another noble, and adept fighter. The two attempt a practice duel, but are suddenly stopped as a young girl named tear attacks them. Tear touches Luke, and the two literally vanish into thin air. The story goes on to show us that there is apparently a war on the verge of beginning. We learn of a past prophecy, which involves the world possibly being destroyed....

Control - 10/10

Once again, Namco stays true to the series roots, and gives us a game with a very easy interface. As with previous installments, you assign skills to certain buttons, and execute them by pressing the button along with a certain direction on the D-pad. Attacking and defending are easy to use, as are the menus both in and out of battle. Exploration doesn't feel like a chore, which is another great point about the series as a whole. Everything is very comfortable, and you don't have to worry about overly complex or clumsy button setups, or more menus than you'd care to see.

Battles - 10/10

It's odd, really. I almost prefer the single-line battle system over the one found in Abyss, yet there really aren't any flaws with ToA's battle system. ToA's battle system is, in a sense, Symphonia's battle system, but with every aspect improved. As I mentioned before, skills and such are set up exactly how they are in previous Tales games, but everything is layed out so that Veterans and newcomers to the series will both feel right at home. Battle takes place in real-time, on a 3-D field, much like ToS, and surprisingly enough, a lot of the new features seem like takes on features from previous installments in the series. Whether this was intentional, or coincidence doesn't matter, but I think it really adds to the way battles play out, and gives you a great deal of variety when deciding what skills to use, and how to react to enemy attacks and such.

Aside from the standard skill system, we're given a slew of new skills and abilities to execute and use in battle. One of these new features is the 'Field of Fonim.' What happens with this is a small area will temporarily appear on the battle field. These circular fields are elemental-based, and depending on what skills or spells you execute inside of the FoF, you may create new, more powerful skills and spells. It's fun to experiment around with this, and eventually, you'll find chambers which allow you to control the FoFs a bit more. (More on 'chambers' later)

Another new feature is the 'AD Skills.' These actually work somewhat like the EX Skills in Symphonia, in the fact that they're passive skills. Once you learn them, they remain activated however. These abilities usually range from giving you more guarding options, to allowing you to run freely, to allowing you to use the 'Item throw' skill. There are a number of these skills you can learn, and they'll help you immensely during battle.

There are also these things called 'Fonslot chambers.' What you do with this is 'equip' the chamber to a skill or Ougi. There are 4 types of chambers, and depending on what skills you attach them to, they may do different things, which range from increasing your TP recovery rate, to stealing items when you execute the skills, to raising your ATK power. These FS skills function somewhat like the Action Enchants from Tales of Destiny 2, in the fact that they give your skills little added benefits like I already listed.

Also, after taking a hiatus from Legendia, the Himitsu-ougis have returned. These super powerful, flashy attacks can only be executed after you learn a certain AD skill, and are in 'overlimit' mode. You can activate overlimit mode at any time by pressing the R2 button, as long as the overlimit bar is full. And while in overlimit, you can then activate the Hi-ougi. If you've played previous games, you'll know that these showy (Complete with character portrait break-in) attacks usually hit dozens of times for massive damage. It's nice to see them back, and even nicer that most characters have a couple of them.

Like Symphonia, there are no random battles in this game. You see enemies on the map, and (for the most part) can choose to avoid them or not. However, unlike in Symphonia, some enemies are just too fast to outrun, so there will be plenty of battles that are inevitable anyway. Also, instead of just appearing on the map, enemies tend to just warp in out of nowhere, which is kind of strange. On the flip side, there are several different enemy sprites on the maps this time, instead of just black tadpoles, and black tadpoles with legs....Another new feature is that if you are attacked from behind/surprised attacked, your battle party will be randomized (except for your lead character.) This means that you may have to make due with what you've got on the fly if you get ambushed. It is, however, pretty easy to avoid these surprise attacks, so it's nothing to worry about too much.

Music - 9/10

The music is actually very nice, and I almost swear that some of the songs are remixes of BGMs in some of the older titles. Even if they aren't, some of them so closely resemble past BGMs that it gives you a feeling of nostalgia anyway, if you happened to have played those earlier titles. Either way, the visuals of the areas, coupled with the music make for some really neat areas, exploration, and battles.

Replay - 9/10

Once again, this game has the Grade shop, which allows you to buy various things for your next playthrough. There are also some skills and spells and such that you can only unlock after your first playthough, so that might be incentive enough to go through the game multiple times. There are also plenty of side-quests, including battles against some rather familiar friends and foes...There are a lot of extra things to do as well, such as obtaining all the characters ougis, Hi-ougis, spells, equips, etc. There's really plenty to do in the game, and playing through the game multiple times shouldn't be any sort of problem at all.

Overall - 9/10

Tales of the Abyss is nothing short of a great game, and Namco proves that after a decade, they still have plenty of new ideas to throw at us, but can maintain a familiar atmosphere that keeps the game strongly to it's roots. Many people already wonder if this game will ever see a release outside of Japan, and logic says that they're probably holding off to see how well Legendia does over here. There is nothing wrong with ToL, but I think Abyss would have been a wiser choice to bring over here, as it not only appeals to people who are familiar to the series, but also to people who want to explore the series more, or who are just now discovering it. After ten years, Namco still does have what it takes to make a truly great Tales game. None of the games ever feel like they're 'just another installment' to the series, but Abyss truly does show us what defines the Tales titles, and everything about it tells why this series has preservered for over a decade.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/30/05