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Tales of Zestiria Impressions

Started by PsychoYoshi, November 19, 2015, 04:59:56 PM

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PsychoYoshi

For those were fans of Symphonia and are curious about the game:

The good:
-Battle system is fun, but really complex. Most skill-ups are tied to your equipment rather than leveling up. Easy to pick up, hard to master, like Tetris.
-A lot of difficulty levels to accommodate people from faceroll easy to eye-claw-out hard.
-Game looked nice even at 30 FPS, and there's now a fan patch to get rid of the 30 FPS cap for PC.
-The transitions from overworld maps and cutscenes into battles are incredibly smooth, probably the smoothest I've ever seen in a game.
-For the most part, likable party characters. Sorey and Mikleo are (I think?) the first male same-sex couple in a AAA JRPG, yet Bandai made the relationship more three-dimensional than intercourse ing Bioware and their "LGBT RELATIONSHIPS MUST HAVE ANGST AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY" bullpoop. No one gives a intercourse  other than party members occasionally shipping/teasing them, and it's present without being overbearing. Edna is a chan-tier troll.
-Skits, the filler voice conversations between characters, are good.

The meh:
-Dungeon design is kind of uninspired, but not as bad as the press is making it out to be. There's more variety than, say, Persona.
-Music. Couple standout tracks like the water trial and earth trial, but most of it falls into the "pleasant but ultimately forgettable" category.
-Story. Traditional JRPG fare thus far, with all the good and bad cliches that implies.
-Had some game-breaking bugs such as 7.1 audio causing CTDs upon release, but Bandai responded quickly.
-The difference in difficulty between trash and bosses is jarring, with most trash taking 30s or less to kill and hitting like wet noodles, while bosses can one or twoshot with standard attacks. You really feel like bosses are bosses, but sometimes it's kind of intense. Symphonia was, for the most part, like this, too.

The bad:
-Battle system is fun, but really complex. Most skill-ups are tied to your equipment rather than leveling up. There's no "training dummy" or the like where you can really sit down and practice mechanics.
-AI can be charitably described as "dumb" and uncharitably described as "suicidal." It's not like Symphonia where Raine is always there to clutch you with heals after big hits, and your party members have problems staying the intercourse  away from hard-hitting bosses that will wreck their face.
-One character, Rose, is a blatant writer's pet.

Overall:
B/B- game; strong recommendation to JRPG fans, recommendation with reservations to general audience. Worth about $30.

Silverhawk79

Quote from: IhsoyOhcysp on November 19, 2015, 04:59:56 PM
For those were fans of Symphonia and are curious about the game:

The good:
-Battle system is fun, but really complex. Most skill-ups are tied to your equipment rather than leveling up. Easy to pick up, hard to master, like Tetris.
-A lot of difficulty levels to accommodate people from faceroll easy to eye-claw-out hard.
-Game looked nice even at 30 FPS, and there's now a fan patch to get rid of the 30 FPS cap for PC.
-The transitions from overworld maps and cutscenes into battles are incredibly smooth, probably the smoothest I've ever seen in a game.
-For the most part, likable party characters. Sorey and Mikleo are (I think?) the first male same-sex couple in a AAA JRPG, yet Bandai made the relationship more three-dimensional than intercourse ing Bioware and their "LGBT RELATIONSHIPS MUST HAVE ANGST AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY" bullpoop. No one gives a intercourse  other than party members occasionally shipping/teasing them, and it's present without being overbearing. Edna is a chan-tier troll.
-Skits, the filler voice conversations between characters, are good.

The meh:
-Dungeon design is kind of uninspired, but not as bad as the press is making it out to be. There's more variety than, say, Persona.
-Music. Couple standout tracks like the water trial and earth trial, but most of it falls into the "pleasant but ultimately forgettable" category.
-Story. Traditional JRPG fare thus far, with all the good and bad cliches that implies.
-Had some game-breaking bugs such as 7.1 audio causing CTDs upon release, but Bandai responded quickly.
-The difference in difficulty between trash and bosses is jarring, with most trash taking 30s or less to kill and hitting like wet noodles, while bosses can one or twoshot with standard attacks. You really feel like bosses are bosses, but sometimes it's kind of intense. Symphonia was, for the most part, like this, too.

The bad:
-Battle system is fun, but really complex. Most skill-ups are tied to your equipment rather than leveling up. There's no "training dummy" or the like where you can really sit down and practice mechanics.
-AI can be charitably described as "dumb" and uncharitably described as "suicidal." It's not like Symphonia where Raine is always there to clutch you with heals after big hits, and your party members have problems staying the intercourse  away from hard-hitting bosses that will wreck their face.
-One character, Rose, is a blatant writer's pet.

Overall:
B/B- game; strong recommendation to JRPG fans, recommendation with reservations to general audience. Worth about $30.
I'm a huge fan of Symphonia, it sounds like this is a nice return to form. Might pick it up eventually.

Spud

The camera can really intercourse  you over sometimes. I can't fight anywhere near walls without the camera pointing directly at the ground. Other than that though, I'm really enjoying it. It's a shame what happened to Alisha though.

viewtifulboy

Isn't this the game they let internet serial abusers into to act?
Quote from: Flying Chickens on February 27, 2013, 06:31:42 PM
Very clever of him, but hacker forgot the key difference.

私は肥満女だ

PsychoYoshi

#4
Quote from: Spud on November 19, 2015, 09:19:46 PM
The camera can really intercourse  you over sometimes. I can't fight anywhere near walls without the camera pointing directly at the ground. Other than that though, I'm really enjoying it. It's a shame what happened to Alisha though.

Yeah, forgot to mention the camera. As for Alisha, SILENCE, PLEB, YOU WILL WELCOME ROSE INTO YOUR PARTY NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OF HER BECAUSE ALL THE SERAPHIM THINK IT'S A GREAT FUCKING IDEA FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

Quote from: viewtifulboy on November 19, 2015, 10:02:51 PM
Isn't this the game they let internet serial abusers into to act?

wut

Super

I planned on getting this but didn't have the cashflow. Still gonna get it at some point.

MoS

I wasn't really that impressed with the game. The combat is pretty good, but the item management in this game is out of control. It's really confusing, and I felt like I was just spending ages swapping equipment around. I liked most of the party members, but the overall story was bleh. Thank god for Japanese voices, I heard the English stuff and I don't think I would have made it through the game listening to that poop.

I preordered it so I got Symphonia already, can't wait for that to release, hopefully it's as good as I remember it.

Def not the best Tales game, not the worst though.

viewtifulboy

Worst is Vesperia, right?  I completely forgot about that game because I moved on to better, more interesting ones.
Quote from: Flying Chickens on February 27, 2013, 06:31:42 PM
Very clever of him, but hacker forgot the key difference.

私は肥満女だ

Zero

Quote from: viewtifulboy on November 23, 2015, 02:41:33 PM
Worst is Vesperia, right?  I completely forgot about that game because I moved on to better, more interesting ones.

Shit opinion alert.

Vesperia has arguably the best MC, the gameplay is just a refined Abyss without the foton stuff, the music is pretty good(though not Uematsu level or anything), and the story is fine.

My vote for the worst tales game goes to Graces. I don't know why people begged for this piece of poop. The combat is actually really nice(despite TP being absent as a resource, it actually isnt much of an issue), but the characters, settings, music, and plot are just awful. The game's world felt so small and the game overall felt, well, small. It felt smaller that Tales of Phantasia, and that's a Super Famicom/GBA game. No excuses.

Basically, the rule of thumb is that the Symphonia team is great and the B team is crap. They dissolved and cannibalized those development teams from what I've been told, so theres no rule of thumb for new Tales games. I haven't played Zestiria yet. Can't decide if I want it on PS4 or PC.

viewtifulboy

Fine?  Characters have almost no character and nothing ever seems to happen outside of random events that have nothing to do with each other and what plot points there are are mostly forced.  I keep asking myself "Remember when Tales of Symphonia did this better?"  I keep asking myself that through THE WHOLE GAME!  That and "why the hell should I care?"  So much feels padded and pushed aside.  Symphonia had so many memorable villains and other parties, but Vesperia's opposition are uninteresting and dull.  Shit, the MAIN villain barely gets any screentime, so the big reveal doesn't make me say "oh my god!  It was him!"  It makes me say "who the intercourse  is this?"

Tales of Symphonia did the villain twist SO much better!  Fucking twice, in fact!  And there I go again.
Quote from: Flying Chickens on February 27, 2013, 06:31:42 PM
Very clever of him, but hacker forgot the key difference.

私は肥満女だ

PsychoYoshi

Quote from: Zero on November 23, 2015, 06:33:19 PM
Can't decide if I want it on PS4 or PC.

-Get it on PC if you a) want to encourage Bandai to make more PC ports and b) aren't afraid of jumping through a few additional hoops to get the optimal play experience. The controls feel much better on a PS controller than kb/mouse, and if you want to use a PS controller, you'll need to download some custom drivers. You also have to install a fanmod to get rid of the FPS cap. Neither of these are particularly difficult to do, but some people want an experience that Just Works™.

-Get on console if neither of the above points apply.

Zero

#11
Quote from: viewtifulboy on November 23, 2015, 07:47:10 PM
Fine?  Characters have almost no character and nothing ever seems to happen outside of random events that have nothing to do with each other and what plot points there are are mostly forced.  WAH I WANT SYMPHONIA

Stopped reading your post after this. No point in doing so. You're flat out incorrect. I'm sorry that you didn't seem to give the story much of a chance, but that's exactly what it sounds like happened. You wanted Symphonia 2 when we already had that game, and lets be honest, its awful.

If you truly believe that Yuri, Raven, or Judith have "no character" then you really just didn't pay attention.

Quote from: IhsoyOhcysp on November 23, 2015, 09:04:26 PM
-Get it on PC if you a) want to encourage Bandai to make more PC ports and b) aren't afraid of jumping through a few additional hoops to get the optimal play experience. The controls feel much better on a PS controller than kb/mouse, and if you want to use a PS controller, you'll need to download some custom drivers. You also have to install a fanmod to get rid of the FPS cap. Neither of these are particularly difficult to do, but some people want an experience that Just Works™.

-Get on console if neither of the above points apply.

Yeah, I actually use a PS4 controller for the bulk of my Steam games that allow me to. To me, its a matter if I want the game physical because I have every other Tales game on physical media. On one hand I get the gimped modern physical crud with no manual if I don't nab the special edition. On the other I get a FPS mod and a slightly better looking game, but its digital only.

It's not exactly the toughest decision, but seeing as I'm more interested in Berseria and I still haven't finished Phantom Pain its hard to justify purchasing the game right now. If it goes on sale during the Winter sale I'll probably get it, I guess.

viewtifulboy

Dawn of the New World was more of a spin-off.  I didn't want a sequel I wanted a game that was as good.  Yuri and Judith are pretty well developed, kind of, but Raven seems one-note through the whole thing and anytime he changes that note it's only brief.
Quote from: Flying Chickens on February 27, 2013, 06:31:42 PM
Very clever of him, but hacker forgot the key difference.

私は肥満女だ

Zero

Quote from: viewtifulboy on November 25, 2015, 09:11:14 PM
Dawn of the New World was more of a spin-off.  I didn't want a sequel I wanted a game that was as good.  Yuri and Judith are pretty well developed, kind of, but Raven seems one-note through the whole thing and anytime he changes that note it's only brief.

It was a sequel you dunce.

Continue to be wrong. It doesn't really affect me.

viewtifulboy

Oh yeah and I hate how nobody strikes Rita back for being an abusive ninny, and I REALLY intercourse ing hate it when a boss that took 4 people to beat suddenly loses all their powers and abilities just because they joined your party!  There is NO EXPLANATION!  Even Sheena was at least pretty darn powerful for a party member when she joins, but here they act like nothing ever happened!  What a intercourse ing load! >:(
Quote from: Flying Chickens on February 27, 2013, 06:31:42 PM
Very clever of him, but hacker forgot the key difference.

私は肥満女だ