#also tales of phantasia is an amazing rpg too

[mcalhenwrites]

I have a lot to do, but I’ve been sick, and between replaying Xillia and Vesperia, and chatting about Tales with a few people, my love of the series feels much like it did ten years ago. So I’m sliding off my semi-hiatus to chatter about my love for it~ I’ve played quite a few. There are some I didn’t finish or finished watching the endings elsewhere, some I barely touched, and then a ton of them I’ve finished. I plan to play them all in this lifetime, somehow!  My favorites are Eternia, Xillia, and Rebirth comes in close after those two! I also really love Destiny, Abyss, and Graces. (There’s not a Tales game I don’t like, though some of them I couldn’t get into as well - Phantasia’s dungeons quickly drained my patience, for instance. The original Destiny did that as well, it’s why I’ve been stuck in the same dungeon at the end for nine years or so now!)

Favorite characters from the games I’m familiar enough with to know the characters well: Destiny - Mary, Phillia Eternia - Meredy, Reid, Farah, Keele, Ras Symphonia - Zelos, Colette, Sheena Rebirth - Mao Legendia - Chloe, Norma, Grune Abyss - Anise is fucking great and people who blame her for Ion are terrible, Jade, Noelle, Guy, Tear Vesperia - Flynn, Judith, Estelle, Duke Symphonia 2 - Aster Xillia - Jude, Leia, Milla, Rowen, Alvin, Elize, Gaius, the Chimeriad Xillia 2 - the cats you collect Zestiria - LAILAH, Alisha Graces - Pascal, Sophie, Malik Berseria - Eleanor, Eizen And between different crossovers, gummi skits/events, and the little exposure I’ve had to their games, here are some that stand out as probable favorites: Innocence - Spada, Ruca Hearts - Beryl, Hisui Phantasia - Chester, Arche Destiny 2 - Harold My favorite battle system is Graces, it’s so much fun. Sophie is a ton of fun to play, I always have a blast.  My favorite characters to main are usually melee, especially characters like Mao, Jude, Farah, and Sophie~ (in other words, tonfas and fists? Guess I like the personal touch in combat!) Oh! But I do like Judith and Eleanor, too... I guess I also like spears? (Maybe not so personal...) Favorite Tales openings are ‘Follow the Nightingale’ for Tales of Innocence, closely followed by ‘Flying’ for Tales of Eternia  My favorite mystic artes are Jade’s ‘Indignation’, Keele/Meredy’s ‘Indignation’, Milla’s ‘Elemental Mastery’, and for the humor factor, Max/Fog’s ‘Elemental Master’ - at least in English, as cringey as the dub for the game is - always cracks me up I have too many ships, but I think it’s fair to say that Arujumilla (Alvin/Jude/Milla) is the one I focus on most of all. I also have a lot of ‘not ships’ like...Graces... I feel like I don’t ship anything from that? I joke that my pairing for that is Asbel x Dadisms because...Asbel doing dad things and making bad puns and wearing socks with his sandals makes me laugh so hard for no justifiable reason. :’D BEST WEAPONS ARE LEGENDIA WEAPONS (I blame Shadow Hearts for my love of unusual weapons, because yes, you have Norma using straws and Grune using pots...it’s amazing.) I really love the music in Zestiria and Innocence, and there are some solid tracks in each game in my opinion (that make up for the bland or even downright annoying tracks) - I love Phantasia’s, actually, too. It has a nice classic RPG feel to it! Xillia had some nice music, too, that was kind of a break from the typical Tales OSTs. Well, unless you’ve played through the game like seven times, and then field music goes from ‘this is nice’ to GRATING kinda quickly...  I love the easter eggs in these games. Vesperia yesterday involved eggbears, which immediately makes me think of Eternia. For others, it just makes them think of Vesperia.  PREPARE TO DIE, EGGBEAR Okay, listen, Halure even has a shop called ‘Regulus’; if you combine that with the eggbear stuff, it’s clearly referring to Eternia I am really distraught that I seem to have tons of costumes from the beginning, including the hell-to-earn True Knight costume for Yuri, but apparently Rita’s Mao costume isn’t among them...? I’ll weep forever. She’s stuck as Walter for now. I’m bitter that Karol’s outfits are all pretty ugly, and of all the cameo outfits, they give him Milhaust? (Then again, Yuri has Creed’s. I don’t even know who Creed is tbh, I’ve never played more than a few hours of Hearts, but that outfit is UGLY.)  Fun fact: while looking at outfits before the game’s release with my mom, I said, “Oh wow, Yuri also has a Yuri costu - oh wait.” That’s what happens when Jude, Sorey, and Asbel all get Yuri cameo outfits. You forget that it’s originally Yuri’s.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not to mention, I watched First Strike prior to the game’s release, and Yuri doesn’t wear his game outfit until the very end. I guess it slipped my mind that it’s, well, his.  I’m going to either nap off this yucky feeling or go attempt something semi-productive now, before I ramble about things that I’d prefer not to? Depending on where you fandom with your Tales, nice people are abundant, but so are the vicious ones who want to chase you down to tell you how much Abyss is the worst and all the MCs aren’t deep enough, only the ones who KILL are worth their salt, etc etc. I’ve already said enough that in the wrong hands, this information would be enough for someone to tell me to eat a doormat and choke on the grains of petrified dog shit that were scraped on it 2 years ago. SO I WILL JUST GO AND BE DONE HERE (Not that I’m unwilling to talk about it, I just...like talking to people who are like ‘yeah not a fan of Arujumilla but that’s okay, there’s other stuff to talk about’ ‘cos that’s literally...all my Tales friends, you’re all fantastic and I’m glad we’ve been friends for so many years now, even as I put Alvin/Jude/Milla content all over your dashes. I mean, I tag it so that helps, but still, thanks <3)

#mcalhen rambles #Cal plays Tales #(mainly Vespy right now tho)

[yggdrasil-mith0s]

Story wise which tales of games do you think are in the top 3? I have xilla 2, berseria, and symphonia 2

That's an interesting list. Most people wouldn't pick Symphonia 2. I love it, too though. Honestly this is hard to choose for me. I love all the games! Story wize, though, I would propably choose Xillia 2 as well. I don't know about it being the top game. I also really love Phantasia. That story is amazing and I adore Norse mythology. I'm a sucker for Norse. I think I would put Phantasia over Xillia 2. Honestly if they redid Phantasia with the berseria engine it would be super popular, I think. I think the age of the game and all hurts its current popularity. People forget jusg how good the story was because they can't get last the graphics and gameplay , which I still love btw. Xillia 2 had a great story and ventured outaide the tradition RPG story of a villian you defeat and save the world. I mean, yeah you do that but ypur choices throughout the game matters. Then there is the side story lf spirites and creating a better world besides just saving it from a power hungry villian. There is good character development in tox2 as well. Not to mention there isn't really a winning situation, a sacrifice has to be made. Berseria and Symphonia are on the list. I know that's 4 but I can't choose between the two. They have amazing stories and both are amazing in their own ways. Tos2 also has a great story but falls short to me on the list. It does have a great story, though. I still think TOS1 is better story wise but that might be because it had more to do with Norse mythology lol. I hope you enjoyed my reply! Thank you for asking!

[raichana]

caramel frappe, iced coffee, herbal tea?

Caramel Frappe : Favorite video game?

I…. I can only pick one? uh….. Well… I love the Ys Series, it’s an action RPG made by falcom with amazing music and it makes me smile…. but there is also Fire Emblem, a strategy RPG i’ve enjoyed since they started translating them into english…. oh but persona…. AH there are too many! Tales of Phantasia…. Radiant Historia… Avalon code…. and thats not even going into VNs like the zero escape series, dangan ronpa and Ace attorney……. i’m…. a little bad at this… 

Iced Coffee : Do you like reading? If so, what’s your favorite book?

*Internal screaming* Yes, i adore reading, I actually just bought like 9 books to read while in transit on a trip i’m taking in the near future and i know thats not going to be enough. My fav cause it’s the series that got me to love reading is “The Belgariad” by David Eddings… i’m not entirely sure why my father made me read it when i was so young but i’m glad he did cause it gripped me far more then other books aimed at kids. I also love Brent Weeks worksand Aaron Pogue (who is a self published kindle author who has wonderful world building) But yeah reading is like drinking water to me… if you have any recommendations throw them at me! 

Herbal Tea : You’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

I’m actually really sensitive to perfumes and scents so i would probably go with Vanilla or Lilac

*bounce* this was fun! sorry about the rambling! 

#ballerinaduck #tea asks #rai rambles #like i ramble a lot