With a longstanding franchise as the Tales games, the base is bound to be broken. Be aware of potentially unmarked Spoilers!
open/close all folders
General
- Whether games created by Team Symphonia note or by Team Destiny note are the better ones. Fans of the Symphonia games prefer the TP and base + altered artes system and the emphasis on more free movement during combat, while Destiny fans prefer the CC chain system allowing for a great deal of combo creativity and less emphasis on movement and dodging. Hardcore fans of either base are unlikely to admit liking games created by the other teams, whereas people who like all the games tend to be ignored. And heaven forbid you if you say Tales of Legendia, which was developed by neither, is your favorite. This debate began to cool as the teams were merged together as of Tales of Xillia and later Arise was developed completely independently of the old guard.
- The base has begun to break at how the games in the Tales series consistently start off as a Cliché Storm but become a Deconstructor Fleet. Some think the games still have good stories and characters, others think that the Deconstruction formula has become stale and has lost its appeal. Others simply think that its formerly fresh premise of deconstructing cliches has lost its novelty due to how many other games have similarly become deconstructor fleets.
- More recently, there has been a been a bit of a divide between fans who like the darker stories and bittersweet or even downer endings that more recent games have had, and fans who feel that the series is getting too dark to be enjoyable and that the unhappy endings make the stories feel pointless, and would prefer the series go back to having lighter stories and unambiguously happy endings.
- Due to just how many different versions of the Linear Motion Battle system there has been, there are of course a lot of debates over which ones were better:
- Should the series have even "gone" 3D? Despite the Tales Series being one of the "best" transitions from 2D to 3D, some feel that the game series should have remained on a 2D plane since being able to flank enemies was cheap, while others feel that Destiny and later Hearts's battle systems focusing on aerial combat was a little too cheap.
- Finally, Berseria and Arise not even featuring any "lines" and just letting the playable characters just run all over.
- Whether or not it should reward offensive of defensive play - some games make it fairly easy to punching-bag enemies, while others make comboing difficult.
- Should the series use "HP&TP" (Usually seen in Symphonia), or "HP&Capacity core/gauge" (Usually seen in Destiny titles)? The nature of this broken base isn't so much that people like one and hate the other so much as debate "Which of these should be the norm?" Some feel the HP&TP system works because it would allow players to look at values to string together attacks and spells, while others like capacity core/gauge better because of the "Hit-and-run" style of play. Of course, Tales of Arise Took a Third Option and used TP and an "Arte gauge" system.
Original Titles
Tales of Legendia
- Is this a worthy Tales Game that should get a remake? Or should it stay as an Oddball in the Series (Due to being developed by neither Team Destiny or Team Symphonia) and never be moved on?
Tales of the Abyss
- This game was overall the most polarizing game of the franchise when it initially released. Depending on how you feel about the story, it's either wildly melodramatic and overblown, or it's the high-water mark of the entire Tales franchise and one of the highest in the entire Eastern RPG genre, and relatedly, either a game its successors learned a lot from to improve themselves, or a game which its successors have never really managed to properly follow up on or surpass. Not many people take a middle ground. It's worth noting that in Japan, it was voted the most popular game in the Tales series in a Famitsu poll.
Tales of Graces
- The base had another fracture when Tales Of Graces F was announced, mostly because owners of the Wii version essentially purchased a beta version. In all honesty, people didn't know what to think, since normally, it's the "Beta version" that gets released overseas. Many people were simply happy just that they got the game period, among those are people who cite that the original version on the Wii was filled with so many Game Breaking Bugs that game owners had to mail in their copies to fix them. Combined with the PS3 having more of a presence in the JRPG genre, it was probably for the best that the rest of the world got F instead.
- The handling of Asbel and Cheria's romantic relationship. In the main arc, Cheria's unrequited feelings for Asbel made her eventually decide to move on and do things on her own, knowing that Asbel was too oblivious to ever realize things. Some people thought this was a lovely way to show their budding romance, leaving it subtle and not taking over the plot, with most romantic moments being relegated to optional side-quests; others thought this left their random hook up in the final cutscene that depicted one of their descendants being read to by an adult Sophie to be out of nowhere. Come the Lineage and Legacies arc, Asbel now stutters and blushes around Cheria and the entire party has nothing better to do than to tease the two about their obvious feelings. Contrary to appeasing the fans, this led both camps to discuss now whether it was necessary, saying that this arc was now too in-your-face about their romance and ruining the subtlely in the main arc and others felt it was finally showing what they had expected to see before.
- The suddenly sprouting romance between Hubert and Pascal, again in the Lineage and Legacies arc. Similar to Asbel's ramped up acting around Cheria, Hubert now stutters around Pascal and generally acts like a typical Tsundere around the person they like. And the ending has Pascal's sister basically tell Hubert that he has her on his hands now. One part of the fanbase thought it was a quirky, funny romance compared to the sappy one Asbel and Cheria had in this arc, others felt like it was an Ass Pull of unnecessarily shoving two characters, who had no actual romantic relation in the main arc, together.
Tales of Vesperia
- Arguably one for the whole franchise. Some people declare it the best game in the series and think the plot and gameplay are near-perfect. Others utterly despise its story for not focusing on Character Development as much as past titles and savagely despise how the vigilante arc is shunted to one side to make room for a global warming plot.
- The PS3 version for being launched a year later, for having some additional content (although the story still the same) and for not being released outside of Japan (the only Tales of of 7th generation for PS3 to stay at Japan). Also, datamining revealed that some PS3-only features are on the 360 version's disc. Thankfully the 10th anniversary Definite Edition will include all PS3 contents and be available worldwide for all platforms.
Tales of Hearts
- The quality of the western localization. The state of the PS Vita market meant that the only feasible way to release the game in the west was to do it on a reduced budget, hence the lack of dub. Yet many other decisions around the localisation have also raised eyebrows, from the quality of the translation, to the character names (which sound particularly odd given the unchanged vocal track), to the choice of release date (which will have the game competing against a number of much more high-profile releases). Generally, fans have fallen into three categories: Those who are overall happy with the release (some of whom actually prefer the sub-only approach), those who have issues with one or more aspect of the release but still think it's better than nothing, and those who feel like they didn't put any effort into it.
- The change from 2D to 3D. Some feel that the game lost its identity and plays more like a Symphonia game, when it was a "Team Destiny" production. Others at least appreciate that it performs significantly better on the Vita than it did on the DS, where it was prone to chugging even with only a party of three. Additionally, others have pointed out that it at least tries to maintain the aerial combat style in a Vesperia fashion, since the DS version could be easily cheaped by spamming items.
Tales of Xillia
- Milla's English voice acting. Several fans and reviewers labelled it as genuinely poor, while others found it to be an in-character quirk of hers, including the apparently purposefully-done lisp in her voice which is not natural to Minae Noji's normal speaking voice. There are also those who thought her voice acting started off fairly poorly, but improved as the game went on. Then there are those who simply don't like Minae Noji's voice acting, because she is not as good as Miyuki Sawashiro - or because she simply isn't Miyuki Sawashiro.
- Jude and Milla's relationship in the game. It's disliked because it leads to Jude ignoring Leia; neither he or Milla openly admitting their feelings for each other or the fact that it's implied that Everyone Can See It along with the Shipteasing, that doesn't actually happen. Others enjoyed it, because it was a romance that did not take over majority of the plot or was shoved into the player's face. The relationship is especially breaking the base in the English version, as there's an apparent lack of chemistry between the two voice actors (Sam Riegel and Minae Noji) and translation issues that left some of the dialogue lacking the more romantic or emotional notion in Japanese. Add this to the higher level of disdain for Milla already...
- The high amount of shilling Milla gets throughout the game. Several players found it annoying to listen to and not deserved, others didn't mind and felt it was appropriate for the party to react to Milla, who is a God in Human Form, after all.
Tales of Xillia 2
- The fans of this game can be separated into three bases: One part is quite happy that Namco decided to go darker with the game, compared to some of the previous games. The second part is the opposite, thinking Namco went too far with going dark and caused Too Bleak, Stopped Caring. And the third considers the game to be an unnecessary stand-alone game that is filled with things that should have been in the previous game, making it feel like overpriced DLC.
- The translation altering certain interactions, especially between Jude and Alternate Milla. In the Japanese version, Jude refers to her as 'Milla-san' which indicates a subtle, but still distinct barrier between the two and how Jude does not consider Alternate Milla as close as he did with regular Milla. The honorific was dropped in the English version, naturally, but Jude also became much more easily accepting of Alternate Milla.
- Milla's voice acting, again, now separated into Alternate Milla and regular Milla's work. Alternate Milla is more open, brash and filled with emotions, which some disliked as it felt so different from how Milla originally was, despite Alternate Milla not being the same Milla. Others enjoyed it, as it showed what Minae Noji could do. Regular Milla lost her forced lisp, which some thought was a good change and others disliked it, thinking it took a unique characteristic from her. Then there is a third camp that prefers Alternate Milla's voice to regular Milla's, due to the aforementioned increase of emotions. Regular Milla still retains a rather stoic way of talking in comparison.
Tales of Zestiria
- Does the plot match the effectiveness of previous Tales games or is it just a stereotypical RPG with the Tales logo slapped on it? The skits and party interaction says the former, while the Lighter and Softer plot elements, predictable questline, and forgettable villains suggest the latter.
Tales of Berseria
- Not even a week after the game's announcement, the fandom started fighting over Velvet's design. Some think she looks to be a badass female heroine unashamed to show some skin. Others say it's a creepy oversexualized attempt at winning back the crowd after Tales of Zestiria received so many complaints over how they handled Alisha and Rose. Also, there had been fighting over whether Velvet's design is an edgy new direction for female characters considering most other designs depict female characters in bright or cute outfits or a lazy rehash of the Gilchrist/Katrea siblings or a dark-haired Milla Maxwell with a terrible impractical outfit reminiscent of a '90s Anti-Hero.
- The ending is showing signs of becoming this. While a Bittersweet Ending is nothing new to the Tales series, several fans have expressed how they're sick of them and just want a truly happy ending for once. The biggest point of contention is Velvet's final fate. Is it a fitting end to her tale and a symbolic redemption of all the morally dubious actions she's committed throughout the story, or a needlessly cruel act of spite that goes out of its way to shoot down the notion that she may one day return like Luke or Sorey did? Others believe that after the sheer hell she's endured, Velvet deserved a happy ending instead of what she got.
Tales of Arise
- The scene of Law stopping Rinwell from attacking Almeidrea in blind hatred has become the most divisive moment in the Tales fandom's recent memory. One side of the argument defends Law's actions, understanding that Rinwell wasn't in a good emotional and mental state, and that if she had struck Almeidrea she would end up emotionally empty afterwards, and could even end up becoming twisted by her anger and hatred like what happened with Dedyme. The opposite side believes that Law was in the wrong for stopping Rinwell, accusing him of being a hypocrite because he killed Ganabelt and avenged his father but wouldn't allow Rinwell the chance to avenge her clan by killing Almeidrea while also projecting his own issues onto her, and failing to consider that Rinwell's situation is very different from his own. Overall reception is divided between three camps: those who approve of the scene and its message, those who disagree with the whole thing, and those who at least agree with the intent of the message but not its execution.
Crossover Titles
Tales of Link
- The fact that the game heavily promotes the newer games like Zestiria and Berseria attracted the ire of several fans who derided the game as a glorified ad campaign for those games, and think that using the game that way will lead to resentment from fans of older Tales games that get ignored in favor of newer games. However, there are also others who see it as natural that Bandai would want to use the game to advertise the newer games in comparison to games that were released for older game systems.
- Characters like Yuri and Leon tend to get more units than other characters due to Popularity Power also has the fandom split on whether or not the game could be used to garner more attention to lesser known games and characters in the franchise.
