Man, I need to play more Tales games. Anyway, this game was a fun ride! I've been wanting to play it for a long time, but it was never on a system I actually owned. I'm glad the Switch keeps getting a million ports of old games.
Anyway, playable cast is great, with only one I don't particularly like, and the gameplay's really fun. It's kind of like playing Super Smash Bros. as a JRPG. Yuri is a pretty unique main character for a JRPG, and it's really fun to see him do his thing. Even the plucky kid Karol is a really great character with a great arc!
I can't really compare it to the original release since I didn't play it, but while I did like Patty, she did feel kind of shoehorned in... on the other hand, it's kind of baffling that Flynn wasn't originally playable. Also as much as I enjoyed the start of the story, it really goes off the rails in the third act. I will just say that you would actually die if you make a drinking game out of every time someone says "Blastia." This is a spoiler-free review so I won't go into it, but man! Also it feels like a lot of setting and character stuff is hidden away in really easy to miss sidequests, which I'm told is a pretty common thing in Tales games, but as someone who's been more interested in trying to complete games without guides these days it's a real bummer to miss so much.
With that said, it's a good enough experience that I would be open to doing a more detailed playthrough with a guide at some point... when I have time. Oh God, there are so many games. Holy crap.
Anyway, playable cast is great, with only one I don't particularly like, and the gameplay's really fun. It's kind of like playing Super Smash Bros. as a JRPG. Yuri is a pretty unique main character for a JRPG, and it's really fun to see him do his thing. Even the plucky kid Karol is a really great character with a great arc!
I can't really compare it to the original release since I didn't play it, but while I did like Patty, she did feel kind of shoehorned in... on the other hand, it's kind of baffling that Flynn wasn't originally playable. Also as much as I enjoyed the start of the story, it really goes off the rails in the third act. I will just say that you would actually die if you make a drinking game out of every time someone says "Blastia." This is a spoiler-free review so I won't go into it, but man! Also it feels like a lot of setting and character stuff is hidden away in really easy to miss sidequests, which I'm told is a pretty common thing in Tales games, but as someone who's been more interested in trying to complete games without guides these days it's a real bummer to miss so much.
With that said, it's a good enough experience that I would be open to doing a more detailed playthrough with a guide at some point... when I have time. Oh God, there are so many games. Holy crap.