Tales Series

Oh, I'm not saying that others didn't have their own tedious or weird sidequests, just that Vesperia takes the cake in the wonky sidequest market. Abyss's worst stuff is just the catalysts and the other quests needed to get to Nebilim, and Symphonia is just generally odd in timing for most of them, alongside the aforementioned Niflheim sidequest.

edited 8th Oct '12 8:48:09 AM by Alfric

Just to add something to the conversation: Eternia has a lot of sidequests that, if you are not told they are there, you would never know. When you get back from Celestia some half a dozen sidequests open up, and they don't even give tangible rewards (just stuff for the Collector Book, Bragging Rights Reward if I have ever seen one) Also, back on Graces: seems like its sidequests are not of the 'annoying to find' type, but the 'annoying to actually complete':

Daily Medicine: Either I die or the enemy falls before I can steal the friggin 6% chance item.

Sandshroud Ruins: *first puzzle, two colors* Okay, that was a bit hard... but a good mental exercise. *three color puzzle* WTF is this? Maybe if I turn it that way... *puzzle resets* AAAAAARG, I almost had it this time! Screw it. To Game FAQS!

Magic Carta: No comments. (Either way, mine is the Wii version and I don't know a lick of Japanese. I could play it because of these guys.

edited 8th Oct '12 1:06:05 PM by FlightMaster

Finished the main story of Tales Of Graces. Lambda Angelus is nowhere as hard as the Chroma Dragons. And I think I have to complete Lineage and Legacies first before taking on the Zhonecage, since Lambda Theos is theoretically harder than Fodra Queen.

edited 13th Oct '12 10:55:35 PM by MoonlightBomber

Finished the prologue of Tales Of Graces F. Nooooooooooooooo, why did Sophie d-hey wait a minute, she's on the bloody boxart as a p[arty member. No way she's dead.

The gameplay is giving me Star Ocean flashbacks.

IIRC, Tri-Ace, the makers of Star Ocean, was founded by members of the first game's (Tales Of Phantasia) dev team who quit Namco after that game was released. Hence the similar battle systems.

Or you can do as many Zhonecage floors as you want, then go to the Future Arc. Those levels and items will come in handy for the more pesky enemies there.

Glad to hear there's still people experiencing Tales of Graces months after release. But don't jump to conclusions, young grasshoper. There actually is a party member featured in the box art that will be unavailable for a long time. *tease* (nah, just kidding, in the PS 3 version s/he comes back alright)

You know, Sophie's fight style gave me Generator Rex vibes... the way she's able to build daggers, a boomerang and a pair of wings for her artes. And when her past is revealed you may feel the same.

edited 22nd Oct '12 1:32:26 AM by FlightMaster

Hmmmm...are costumes DLC only?

Yay, Sophie's back!

Each character has a formal and a bathing suit in-game, but the Magic Carta minigame also gives you Asbel's Yuri, Cheria's Rita and Sophie's Patty suits. Everything else you have to buy.

Yes, Sophie is adorable. Should have had a DLC Meredy dress...

Sophie is a miracle of the universe.

"The Rockgagong is cute? "

Just faced my first real boss! A giant, ugly, poison-spewing green thingy. Beat it on the second try. Just had to juggle around guarding.

Hubert is now a jerk! Voiced by Steve Staley.

I hated that boss. So much. After learning Poisonproof for Asbel and equipping Poison Charms on the girls, however, I quickly made short work of the Queen Slime.

Oooh boy. If that slime gave you trouble, there is a couple of bosses (one halfways through the story, the other just before the last dungeon) that you are gonna love... love to hate, I mean.

Friend advice: in this game, your titles are your stat growth, so levels are never as much an issue as skills learned. The max stat for everything except HP is 1999, so every bit counts. And don't jump at the marvelous world of Dualizing until you have unlocked the Chaos difficulty and have access to lots of money making methods (the Stuffed Doll or the Frying Pan are enough for the main game)

Oh, I'm long passed that. I'm just about to head to the Lastalia Shaft in Lineage and Legacies! It's just that the mention of that boss brought back bad memories...

edited 26th Oct '12 3:14:06 PM by KoujiTamino

Pascal is nuts! I like it! And Sophie's royal crablets is hilarious.

Time to get into Wallbridge...

I'm currently at the Eleth Research Lab. Man, those enemies are a bit tougher than usual; I might even consider putting Cheria and Sophie in the party to augment Hubert's healing.

What. The. Hell. Cheria and Sophie helping Hubert at healing duty? You got it totally backwards. These girls should be in your party at ALL FRACKING TIMES. Hubert's healing is at best a last resort. Compare Symphonia's Regal: both these guys are combo kings with high strengh and a piss poor heal art to round them up. Then again Hubert should NEVER be left in the AI's hands unless set to B-heavy/B-only.

Okay, TL:DR version: Your party should ALWAYS be Asbel/Hubert, Sophie, Cheria and Pascal/Malik/AI-Asbel depending on current situation, bosses or mooks. You will have less of a hard time.

Finished Wallbridge. Thankfully managed it without pulling my hair out. Now heading to Strahta.

Maaan, Sophie kicking Richard's ass was great. I suspect he is possessed by that thing that attacked him in the prologue. The opening made it obvious he'd end up as an enemy of sorts.

Got through the Rockganggon and the Amarcian ruins. I faced Richard's creatures with Pascal, Asbel, Sophie and Malik. A bit of a toughie, but Malik's Ice Sprites did the trick.

I'm going to resurrect this thread because Xillia is coming out next year and I very suddenly got super excited about it yesterday.

Wow, Emeraude is a bitch. Glad I fried her.

I finished Lineage and Legacies last night. The Fodra Queen was ridiculous, and the ending was the most adorable and heartwarming thing ever. I'm going to miss these characters.

I haven't finished Graces yet because ummm I guess I have no real excuse. D:

Xillia, tho. Xillia 2, in particular.◊ I wonder what◊ the context of this◊ scene is.◊

Yeah that's the sort of thing you really need context for.

I can't tell if that was sarcastic or not but I love it with or without context.

Probably more without, to be honest.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!!!

WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!!

DAMN YOU JAPAN!!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!

...you could have at least used the girls.

edited 3rd Nov '12 8:37:10 PM by HandsomeRob