Tales Series

Apparently Valkyrie Profile is supposed to be his best. In fact, a lot of people like his work outside of Tales. Some guy elsewhere put forward the idea that he was just ordered to more or less make the same soundtrack over and over again for Tales and it's other games like BK and VP that he could be a bit more creative.

Oh and Golden Sun. Think he did that and everyone eats up that OST.

He did that right? That's a pretty cool song.

Thanks for the info about Legendia though. I guess I'll pick that up with Abyss off ebay. They should put them on PSN dammit. Symphonia is there after all...

edited 21st Aug '14 10:32:18 PM by Nikkolas

I don't think I like having a Tales silent protagonist. Actually, a lot of the systems in Xillia 2 make wonder if they're trying to cash in on Persona 4's popularity.

Luckily it turns out that he comes as a package deal with Elle and the cat (seriously, she's even part of his portrait), so now I think of him as a robot being controlled by Elle and it works out pretty well.

@Tales Soundtracks: The only ones I like across the board are Phantasia's and Symphonia's (Which the latter has several themes taken from the prior), and that's really about it. Asche and Luke's dual battle in Abyss is also well done, but the melody is not actually from Sakuraba to begin with. As a whole, I'd say he's hit or miss. Most of his stuff isn't bad, but it leaves something to be desired.

EDIT: After stewing on it for a couple seconds, I actually find that his weakest pieces more often then not wind up as the final boss theme's. The only one I ever really liked was Phantasia's, and everything else falls flat. Oh, Xillia 2 has also grown on me, but again, he just made an arrangement and not the song itself.

Been playing around with the silent protagonist concept for Tales in my head for awhile now, and I've reached the conclusion that for the most part, its not for this series. Maybe if dialogue choices were closer to something reminiscent of Dragon Age Origins, but that's sorta pissing in the wind for a JRPG series.

edited 22nd Aug '14 12:45:16 AM by SkormSnow-Strider

@ Saphhire: to get skits you must do special things, I think they are listed in a FAQ somewhere but it's stuff like having a party of all boys/girls, certain pairs in battle, use no magic...

@ Zender: OMG my fave Legendia song! (And it appears twice: en route to Werites Beacon at the start of the game and in a late dungeon, the Earth Monument.)

@ Nikkolas: I will just copypaste Game FAQS forumite Milla_Maxwell's response to that: 'How is it that stuff like Go Diego Go is on PSN while Legendia and/or Abyss are not?'. (I guess because Abyss got a 3DS rerelease and Legendia gives even the official PS 2 emulator trouble.)

@ Kombat: Futa jokes are Ange's territory. (But honestly Beryl, the game has Friendship values, your only chance is for Shing to get the Harem Ending. Geez, I have watched too much To Love Ru.)

@ Lu: Again it's no secret that Kongwai and Galland are part of a conspiracy to make us think they will remake Tempest. (Or that they will star in their own game someday... it would be like Asagi's schtick but played straight.)

@ Clarste: Can you even open up the menu before Elle joins? Is is like Emil who has the Knight of Ratatosk costume in his status screen before he actually gets it? Nah, for Lud to be like Persona 4's Yuu he should make friends instantly, be good at whatever he tries, be a chick magnet and the strongest party member (well, he kinda IS the strongest...)

I have been watching Split's videos up to chapter four... and the heroes still don't know what is going on (but neither does the player, so it's not like Graces) Split has likely used 10x EXP and Inherit Materials, so he is BLAZING through battles and 20 Bear Asses quests. That's a third of the game and we still haven't had Corpse Shell explained to us! (Chromatus Shell? What is this, the SNES during the 90's? We have seen a lot of blood and dead people on that frickin train. Lud impales possesed beings to tear a black gear off them.)

@ Everyone: this is a rant, but... *found link to Vesperia Brady Games guide* *downloads* What the shell is this steaming pile of doodoo? My homemade guide on Notepad >>>>> Brady guide.

• Too many pages! A guide should be compact, yet precise and informative.
• The titles / artes / skills section lists names, but not how or where you EARN them.
• The Character section explains Raven's entire backstory. Geez, thanks for the spoilers.
• The walkthrough is a series of text walls with just VAGUE hints as to how to progress (as to avoid spoilers... yet they already spoiled Raven) Too few screenshots and not a single, poorly drawn MAP to aid us in dungeon crawling. Boss strategies are 'use this button to attack, this one to Freerun if you are getting wasted'. (At least they mention Secret Missions...)
• The item / monster lists are too BIG. The chart format means a lot of wasted space. Why would they feel the need to put pictures to everything? I know what a sword looks like, thanks. (It's worse for monsters, since half of them are more or less recolors.)
• And WORST of all is the sidequests: 'Yeah, talk to everyone, backtrack after any major plot point, etc. We aren't listing 90% of them, only the longer / more complex ones. What is that Lost Forever stuff? A new music band?'.

TLDR: Are Brady guides that awful? The Dragon Quest VIII one I found pretty helpful, at least.

edited 22nd Aug '14 3:10:09 AM by FlightMaster

He does instantly befriend the entire main cast of the previous game for no particular reason. They even have Social Links with him. Frankly it's bizarre watching alternate Milla be tsundere towards him.

Mostly though he has no personality and only speaks in single words like "huh".

Read the synopsis, it gives him some personality. Though I don't think silent protagonists mesh well with this series' direction. I find it even more awkward and artificial when he voices his choices in NG+.

Galland's involvement with the Triverse is actually a twist. There is only one other hint you get and it's when you first recruit him . You're facing a Reaper monster and your attacks don't work on it until Gall does something. Kongwai did the same thing in Innocence R. But I didn't expect to see foreshadowing in spell animations. It was a cool touch.

Regarding music: Come on guys, give Sakuraba credit! Destiny 2 and Hearts have incredibly atmospheric tracks. Dazzling Darkness, Water's Memory, Wheel of Fortune ~ Last Judgement, Scarlet-haired Demon King, Crystal World, Bonded Wings, City Turned White, all three Spir Maze tracks...Abyss and Symphonia have great battle themes, and Vesperia has some incredible tunes in its town themes.

Have some Richea singing.

I honestly think Motoi Sakuraba needs to take a short break from making game music and get some new inspiration since his music does start to sound a little similar after 2010. I like to think he could easily accomplish alot if he found some new inspiration or something.

edited 22nd Aug '14 4:22:17 AM by DamascaRamza

Yeah, Bradygames sucks rather hard from everything I've heard about them, heh.

I'm not too fond of the silent protagonist stuff either, kinda disappointed me.

edited 22nd Aug '14 5:09:09 AM by Niitris

Yeah, this series isn't really the best place for a silent protagonist, given how character-focused it tends to be. I've seen some games do a good job giving a character personality without using dialogue, but it's pretty uncommon to see it pulled off well.

On the soundtrack topic, the Baten Kaitos games have excellent soundtracks. I'm kinda biased, since they're my favorite games, but still - Sakuraba did great work on those.

Anyway, I just finished the Ruins of Frozen Light in Legendia, meaning I'm at the beginning of Chapter 4. The plot so far is a bit standard (I hear it gets better during the character quests), but things are starting to get interesting. I'm getting pretty curious about certain characters' backstories, since I've only gotten hints of it so far.

Something that's been bugging me - everyone keeps referring to Senel as an "Alliance marine," but no one's mentioned what the Alliance is. I'm assuming it's another country or faction besides the two that have been mentioned. It'll come up eventually, I'm sure.

edited 22nd Aug '14 8:55:44 AM by SapphireBlue

On the topic of tales soundtracks (at least for games I've played), I've found Symphonia and Abyss the most enjoyable, Vesperia's were often very same-y but were still enjoyable, Graces had a few interesting pieces but most were kinda bland, and Xillia was solid but not too standout. Symphonia's was good both due to relation to Phantasia, which had good songs, as well as the original pieces being quite nice. Abyss featured a lot of nice ambient tracks, but the battle themes never stood out to me too much, with the exception of Meaning of Birth (not Sakuraba, but very good), Awkward Justice, and the three final boss tracks, Time to Raise the Cross, A Place in the Sun, and Finish the Promise (courtesy links for those who haven't played Abyss).

I also only just recently noticed the reference to the Grand Fonic Hymn in Finish the Promise.

I remember racking up a huge arte usage for Grand Cross because it's my favourite part of the hymn.

It's a really easy song to play too, cus she sings the notes.

edited 22nd Aug '14 10:06:37 AM by asterism

I liked Phantasia's music. Especially then original version of the OP theme. Oh and the prologue fight theme.

Speaking of Phantasia, I managed to come across a GBA copy of the game. Any advice I should take before I delve into it later?

Vesperia's battle themes may be a bit meh (apart from Restless Blade), but its town themes are amazing. Halure, Dahngrest and Yormgen in particular are probably the best ones.

Not really. But hey Phantasia's still a neat game even if the GBA version is a bit naff.

Bah, Figting of the Spirit is meh. Best Symphonia theme is Fatalize. Good thing it's in Xillia 2. Speaking of which, that huge box from the Collection's edition arrived at the store today, but I'm not sure if I'll pick it up. Not enough money to splurge.

Mwahahaahaaaaaaaa, finally unlocked Twinkle Star. Oh Kunzite, your Soma Link took forever. Now more links for Mix Master...and Princess of Mermaid...Beryl, you're killing me. When will I unlock those silly air -> ground artes for her. ;_;

Oh, and Hisui and Amber talking in Norquin's incomprehensible dialect is hilarious.

My fav song from Symphonia will always be Beat the Angel.

My day one editions metal case had a dent in it and one of the hinges was brocken but well I don't care enoiugh about these things to wait for a refound. Played about 3 hours of Xillia 2 and so far my impression is good, playing as ludger is rather fun, his sledgehammer reminds me of Presea :3

Found an Xillia 2 MA exhibition in English. Obviously, spoiling spoilers all the way to the final boss, so don't watch if you don't wanna be spoiled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXWKG6UfDMo

Rebirth Crusader is now Heavenly Crusader.

Heresy.

Dual Final Fury is the greatest.

edited 22nd Aug '14 4:06:46 PM by lu127

Why'd they change Tiro Sforzando? It was fine the way it was.

Expendable Pride all over again, ffs.

Well I have Elize and Alvin in the party in Tales of Xillia 2. I like the Allium Orb system, reminds me of Capacity Cores from Tales of the Abyss.

edited 22nd Aug '14 10:02:31 PM by DamascaRamza

Apparently Valkyrie Profile is supposed to be his best. In fact, a lot of people like his work outside of Tales. Some guy elsewhere put forward the idea that he was just ordered to more or less make the same soundtrack over and over again for Tales and it's other games like BK and VP that he could be a bit more creative.

Can attest to Valkyrie Profile having really strong music.

Also for some reason Dark Souls rarely comes up in discussions about Sakuraba (i'm guessing because it's not really a JRPG), but IMO it's one of his best works. It's a shame that his work for Dark Souls 2 was terrible in comparison.

I started Phantasia again. I played through the gba version years ago but never got very far. this series isn't really my cup of tea in general but phantasia is old so i can cut it some slack. plus the visuals are lovely. it's a pretty damn impressive achievement for a snes game.

edited 22nd Aug '14 11:32:53 PM by wehrmacht

Tales of Graces F is only £19.99 on PSN holy shit I should get it

It's true that Namco doesn't let Sakuraba score Tales his way. The most unmemorable music of his especially comes from post-2011 when the Tales studio merged with Namco Bandai and the series started going in questionable directions (Xillia's awfully rushed release, Xillia 2 basically recycling 90% of the first game's code and shamelessly throwing palette swaps left and right, the Vita remakes that are very good but obviously have terrible budgets, etc.). I just hope they actually put some solid effort in Zesty.

• Hah, Hearts has a stage play! It gives me Amber's Red Riding Hood costume. Wait, why does it have bloomers? o_O
• Chalcedony learned to cook! I'm not sure if this skit can be trigerred later, since it's voiced and contains Byrocks and Peridot, who won't survive the volcano. Hmm. Oh well, he's a good cook now. The same cannot be said for Innes or Miss I-put-miso-in-everything.
• A skit triggers if Innes, Beryl, Kunzite and Shing all have 4 Soma Link levels with each other. Shing wonders what his occupation could be, but according to Kunzite's Career Search function (yes. he has that -_-) the possible jobs proper for Shing are...zero. The only result Kunzite obtained was the inconclusive..."hero". He has no idea what it means.
• There's a really cute skit at Soma Link level 4 with Chal and Gallando praising Amber's smile.
• There's a hidden event where Richea finds a collection of Zerom production records facilitated by the sacrifice of Cellrades. Quartzians were assholes.
• If you confess your sins to the church a certain number of times, the game calls you out on it and you get an attachment .