I put 5 star because I love this game to bits and it's truly a masterpiece among ARPGs, but it has its flaws, namely:
- At times, gank fights, bullet hells, and some really questionable boss design that feel absolutely terrible to play through.
- Some dungeons are way longer than they should and the second third of the game feels padded as a result (Cloudius to Mikheil is a slog that could understandably make you feel like dropping the game, and that's also where the bosses are terrible).
-Some levels of the post-game super-dungeon are equally a slog and feel really cheap, and it's a shame (read why later in this review)! Also you can't choose levels individually, you have to go through the whole thing in order and that takes hours.
- Annoying handling of titles and having to have a specific character on display for some sidequests. Just stupid.
- Some town music can get really annoying.
- Random encounters. Not only that, but the rate's too high, and as much as I love the gameplay, there are too many fights. It's especially annoying if you're in the middle of a puzzle in a dungeon.
If you are willing to go past these flaws, here's what you will find:
- Incredible action gameplay.
- Some really, really great boss fights.
- Smart yet simple mechanics like Swordian Devices and Rerise, accessible everywhere, making preparation a breeze and a pleasure.
- Mostly great music.
- Some pretty neat core ideas and concepts for the story, even if the narration isn't groundbreaking.
- The character interactions, as always in Tales games!
- Amazing battle graphics and some of the best-looking mystic artes in the series EVEN TODAY.
- My favorite thing in this game: the handling of difficulty modes. Difficulty modes here are the best crafted I've seen in any game. Each difficulty mode feels unique, and higher difficulty not only empowers enemies: it also empowers YOUR PARTY. Yes, you heard! And yet, the game will still feel more difficult on a higher difficulty. It just gives you the tools you need to get over it. The higher the difficulty, the higher your critical hit rate, blast gauge rate, weak spot damage, and experience earned through combos. To put it shortly: the game will constantly reward you for being good at it, and will always compensate for any high risk you're willing to take, so long as you can overcome the challenge. And the challenge, you're free to take it whenever you want, as you can change the difficulty in-game without restrictions. In this game, no stupid experience multiplier like in other Tales games making the challenge of higher difficulties trivial in NG+. You want to reach level 200? Get those combos to work, and challenge the optional dungeon, where regular enemies give A LOT of XP. Honestly though, you might not even need to get to level 200 to overcome most of the toughest fights the game has to offer; that's the magic of this game. In most cases, if you understand how everything works and prepare your party carefully, you will be able to win most bosses while even being underleveled, especially toward the end of the game. The way the devs chose not to include an experience multiplier for NG+ in this game, instead providing options to modify core gameplay elements for a fresh new run, shows just how much care went into crafting those difficulty modes and balancing out all the gameplay elements, and in that regard, no game has done better since. It's simply amazing. If you're curious about how the gameplay works and how each difficulty mode differs from the others and you like numbers, go take a look at the Tales of Destiny Character FAC by Aileron on Gamefaqs. It's sobering.
- The post-game dungeon, despite what I said earlier, is truly incredibly well-designed, as it makes full use of the excellent gameplay elements I just mentioned, and richly, RICHLY rewards you for taking a gamble and winning! It also pushes you to become more familiar with characters that are not Stahn or Leon from a gameplay perspective.
If you're a Tales fan and you haven't played that one yet, please, you have to. There's an english patch for it now!
If you're not a Tales fan but you love action, give it a try. It's not always a fair game, but it sure is charming, challenging and extremely well-tuned. Trust me, I finished it 5 times!
- At times, gank fights, bullet hells, and some really questionable boss design that feel absolutely terrible to play through.
- Some dungeons are way longer than they should and the second third of the game feels padded as a result (Cloudius to Mikheil is a slog that could understandably make you feel like dropping the game, and that's also where the bosses are terrible).
-Some levels of the post-game super-dungeon are equally a slog and feel really cheap, and it's a shame (read why later in this review)! Also you can't choose levels individually, you have to go through the whole thing in order and that takes hours.
- Annoying handling of titles and having to have a specific character on display for some sidequests. Just stupid.
- Some town music can get really annoying.
- Random encounters. Not only that, but the rate's too high, and as much as I love the gameplay, there are too many fights. It's especially annoying if you're in the middle of a puzzle in a dungeon.
If you are willing to go past these flaws, here's what you will find:
- Incredible action gameplay.
- Some really, really great boss fights.
- Smart yet simple mechanics like Swordian Devices and Rerise, accessible everywhere, making preparation a breeze and a pleasure.
- Mostly great music.
- Some pretty neat core ideas and concepts for the story, even if the narration isn't groundbreaking.
- The character interactions, as always in Tales games!
- Amazing battle graphics and some of the best-looking mystic artes in the series EVEN TODAY.
- My favorite thing in this game: the handling of difficulty modes. Difficulty modes here are the best crafted I've seen in any game. Each difficulty mode feels unique, and higher difficulty not only empowers enemies: it also empowers YOUR PARTY. Yes, you heard! And yet, the game will still feel more difficult on a higher difficulty. It just gives you the tools you need to get over it. The higher the difficulty, the higher your critical hit rate, blast gauge rate, weak spot damage, and experience earned through combos. To put it shortly: the game will constantly reward you for being good at it, and will always compensate for any high risk you're willing to take, so long as you can overcome the challenge. And the challenge, you're free to take it whenever you want, as you can change the difficulty in-game without restrictions. In this game, no stupid experience multiplier like in other Tales games making the challenge of higher difficulties trivial in NG+. You want to reach level 200? Get those combos to work, and challenge the optional dungeon, where regular enemies give A LOT of XP. Honestly though, you might not even need to get to level 200 to overcome most of the toughest fights the game has to offer; that's the magic of this game. In most cases, if you understand how everything works and prepare your party carefully, you will be able to win most bosses while even being underleveled, especially toward the end of the game. The way the devs chose not to include an experience multiplier for NG+ in this game, instead providing options to modify core gameplay elements for a fresh new run, shows just how much care went into crafting those difficulty modes and balancing out all the gameplay elements, and in that regard, no game has done better since. It's simply amazing. If you're curious about how the gameplay works and how each difficulty mode differs from the others and you like numbers, go take a look at the Tales of Destiny Character FAC by Aileron on Gamefaqs. It's sobering.
- The post-game dungeon, despite what I said earlier, is truly incredibly well-designed, as it makes full use of the excellent gameplay elements I just mentioned, and richly, RICHLY rewards you for taking a gamble and winning! It also pushes you to become more familiar with characters that are not Stahn or Leon from a gameplay perspective.
If you're a Tales fan and you haven't played that one yet, please, you have to. There's an english patch for it now!
If you're not a Tales fan but you love action, give it a try. It's not always a fair game, but it sure is charming, challenging and extremely well-tuned. Trust me, I finished it 5 times!