Misaimed Fandom / Tales Series

• For a series wide one: some people criticize the Tales Series for being "cliché" and playing a lot of the tropes absolutely straight. While the Cliché Storm criticism may not be too far from the truth of a few games, part of the reason that the games have a fanbase is that, even from the start, the Tales series has been known as a Deconstructor Fleet — starting almost every game as an absolute Cliché Storm, and then starting to turn around deconstructing all the clichés that they just played straight. Unfortunately, sometimes people don't get the message and only judge the game based on the initial premise.
• Tales of the Abyss:
  • There's quite a sizable amount of people that got turned away from the game for having an unlikable protagonist in Luke. The problem here is that you're not supposed to like him at first. He's a brat, and the game spares no expense in letting you know it, and also showing how much he irks the other characters. Then comes the Wham Episode — wherein it's revealed that he is actually seven years old due to being a clone. After that? He goes through Character Development at a turning point where almost nobody in the game has any sort of sympathy left for him and resolves to become a better person, losing every one of the traits that many players found bothersome. It's hard to know if a certain character is static or dynamic at first glance, so many players end up missing out on this, and even if you did know, you still have to put up with an intolerable character for some hours, but the game still makes it clear early on that there is more to Luke and his story than what is initially presented.
  • On the flip side, there are many fans that actually played through the game and heavily sympathize with Asch, and like him more or even state that he deserved to live more than Luke did. The problem is that Luke is intended to be seen as more worthy, as while Asch also got the short end of the stick, he also heavily contrasts Luke by being a static character that does not undergo character development. He remains an unapologetic asshole through and through, and even some of his more well-intended actions that people may like Asch for are the same things that the game goes at length to explain are not good ideas — at least when it's Luke attempting it.
• Tales of Vesperia: The game's discussion of morality and justice regarding Yuri and Flynn's views is often boiled down to saying one is right and the other is wrong, despite the game criticizing this mindset several times, and ends with both deciding to help each other instead of disagreeing and arguing about it. A major point of the game is showing that without the other's role in their life, both Yuri and Flynn could end up Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, which is regularly overlooked by some players. The two biggest antagonists in the game intentionally mirror the two to make this explicit.
• Tales of Berseria: There's a large number of players who see Velvet as an unstoppable and edgy protagonist along the same lines as Guts. While Velvet is these things, like Guts, you aren't supposed to see her an awesome Anti-Hero; she's really a young woman broken by how much she's lost and is so fueled by hate that she is on her way to becoming both a monster, and the thing that took her loved ones away from her. Later in the game, she breaks down into tears about how much she just wants to be normal and misses her family, and softens up considerably. Despite this, she's commonly depicted by the community as essentially "Female Guts", which misses much of her nuance.
• Tales of Arise:
  • During the scene where Migal sacrifices himself to show Dohalim the truth regarding The Conspiracy, and the outcome of the fight with Dohalim that follows, some players criticized Kisara for her Broken Pedestal reaction towards Dohalim, thinking it was dumb or out-of-character to feel so strongly simply because Dolahim wasn't as perfect as she thought. This misses the point of Kisara's rage and the main issue at play: it was that Dolahim was essentially trying to deny what Migal was saying and his sacrifice, on top of how Migal — who had been nothing but a loving older brother — had been wrongly accused of being a traitor and Kisara had accepted it because she believed in Dohalim. In that moment, seeing her brother die to prove a point to Dohalim, only for him to just shut down and not only seemingly deny it, but also reveal he was more selfish then he let on, causes her to react so strongly because she felt the tragedy might've been All for Nothing.
  • When Almeidrea crosses the Moral Event Horizon, a lot of people saw Law trying to stop Rinwell from getting her revenge (at that particular point) was stupid; even going to consider Law playing devil's advocate for no apparent reason, or saying he is a hypocrite because he got his revenge on Ganabelt earlier. Meanwhile, a lot of Law's defenders claim that it's because he felt empty after killing Ganabelt and was trying to save Rinwell from experiencing the same motions he went through, or that Rinwell was becoming embroiled in the Cycle of Revenge. Neither assessment is correct. The real point is that Law sensed Rinwell was being consumed by her hatred, and in her fragile mental state, was susceptible to irrational actions that could lead to A Tragedy of Impulsiveness, similar to what Almeidrea did to Dedyme and the people of Niez when she turned their hatred against her to her advantage.
  • There are people who insist that Rinwell's hatred towards Almeidrea was alluding to a Cycle of Revenge situation, that she was becoming just like Dedyme, and that was the "true" reason why Law stopped her. This ignores the fact that Rinwell, even at her most prejudiced, never demonstrated the kind of extremist mindset Dedyme had, nor is there corroborating evidence to suggest that she would've gone down a similar dark path just from spitefully ending her arch-nemesis' life, making this a case of Slippery Slope Fallacy. Law himself admitted he wasn't even sure if preventing Rinwell was the correct course of action, only that he felt he had to step in because Rinwell was being too consumed with anger to think rationally, which could've resulted in her making a fatal mistake. The point of the Mahag Saar storyline is that seeking vengeance against monsters is not inherently wrong, but one must still keep their hatred in check lest it leads them to commit A Tragedy of Impulsiveness and seal their own destruction, like what happened to Dedyme and the people of Niez when, in their overzealous drive to make Almeidrea pay for her crimes, ultimately fell victim to the villain's trap.
  • Alphen's Forgiveness of Vholran has also received backlash from some players who don't understand why he would forgive a Complete Monster who has shown no remorse for his actions or show any kind of desire of changing for the better. He does this because Vholran was also a Dahnan slave who was oppressed by the Renans and manipulated by the Helganquil, but unlike Alphen who had Naori, Doc, and Zephyr who cared for and helped him, Vholran had no one to support him, and Alphen himself has gone through Character Development to be more sympathetic and understanding towards his enemies instead of just acting purely on his righteous anger. Alphen never states he forgives him either, and it is shown to be a difficult thing for him to offer, but he does so anyway. What's more is that Alphen killing Vholran would have served a purpose (i.e. to put an end to the conflict), while Vholran blowing himself up to keep Alphen from saving Shionne, only for Alphen to save her anyway, means he died for absolutely nothing — a fitting end for a nihilist like him. To complicate matters, Beyond the Dawn has Alphen reflect on this moment and realize that simply offering forgiveness was a flawed idea from the start, since he never considered how Vholran actually feels, making his offer come off as Condescending Compassion.

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