Analog Addiction writes: "No JRPG is completely immune to the common trappings of the genre, and Tales of Xillia is no different in that regard. Establishing its plot quickly, Xillia uses the age old “save the world from its own destruction” scenario – I can’t even begin to count how many of those stories I have played out. Yet, something special between the beginning and the end occurred that made me forgive its rather contrived plot. Critical to a JRPG’s success is its ability to tap into a player’s sense of pathos, by means of character development. And its something that Xillia does with grand fashion. Over the course of 30 or so hours, I began to care about the small group of characters that the game presented me with. Damn the improved battles system! Damn, colorful world of Rieze Maxia! Between the thoughtful characterizations and integrated storytelling design, my time with Xillia has been wonderful. To be only stymied by some framerate issues, and generic music is acceptable, if only because the sums of its parts far outweighs everything else."
Today it was announced that the gaming and anime industry has lost another beloved artist and creator. Mutsumi Inomata has passed away.
The Tales Of series are some of the best RPGs I've ever played, and the characters are a big reason for that. I don't think I played a single game in the series that I didn't enjoy. Rest in peace.
Wow she was the character designer for Tales of Destiny one of my favorites of all time =(
I love the Tales games. Phantasia will always be my favorite. Ironically I felt like as the series progressed the character design became too “anime cliche.”
There's a surprising amount of overlap between Marvel's Mad Titan and a lesser-known Tales villains -- but which is the better baddie?
The Tales games may be less recognizable than the Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy games, but that doesn't mean that they aren't worth playing!
“Tales series is considered one of the top three Japanese RPG series next to RPG giants like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.”
How you gonna talk about the top three JRPG franchises and not mention Pokémon, the top selling series in the genre?
This is how the top JRPG series stack up
1. Pokémon - 340M
2. Final Fantasy - 144M
3. Dragon Quest - 78M
4. Monster Hunter - 52M
5. Kingdom Hearts - 30M
6. Souls - 25M
7. Tales of - 20M