Extremely popular on the side of the Japanese archipelago, the saga of the Tales of celebration in 2005 its tenth anniversary with Tales of the Abyss on PS2. Full, rich, offering a combat system with onions, the more the game should be released a year later, in 2006, the United States, unlike many other games in the series who remained stationed in Japan. Europe, however, remains the third wheel, unjustly deprived of a game that fans of Tales easily consider one of the best if not the best game in the series from Namco. Small tour to see what it is.
Tales of the Abyss, stamped eighth game "Tales of", and play anniversary to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the series. In this sense, there are old friends, little hidden references here and there, and even many homages to other games from Namco. But despite its label gaming anniversary, Tales of the Abyss manages to build one without the support of his predecessors, a rich and searched, a mythology and a complex culture in place. And we feel the efforts that have been provided in the realization of this title that manages to lead the player into a lengthy search, he does not answer before the final outcome, a heavy heart to leave so soon Luke and his companions .
From the first seconds, the game we eyeful. Here the intro.
Indeed, the player is Luke Fon Fabre, head slaps spoiled, incidentally the son of a duke of the Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, betrothed to the princess and direct heir to the throne, who lives a quiet life in his mansion and monotonous ... Until an assassin, Tear, seeps into the house, and that contact with one another, both are beamed across the world. Lost in a world he knows nothing, with a girl cold and silent, Luke will therefore for ... go home. For it is the purpose of Tales of the Abyss, return to the family estate in one piece. Pretty ridiculous at first, we finally took the game, especially since the story is more complex and will ultimately challenge for the perennial rescue the human race. The story is punctuated by numerous meetings, which will grow and mature the protagonist, to the delight of the player, which will see each member of his small group evolve into contact with each other.
A Mystic Arte, or "light effects, it snaps! "
In terms of fighting, we find the dynamic LMBS for Linear Motion Battle System, used in each Tales of before. Abyss but adds his two cents, a grain size of a house, which, seemingly innocuous, actually changes the whole situation. This is the Free Run, a skill that is learned early on which, still pressing L1, to move freely throughout the battlespace. Previously, the fighting took place on a single straight line. Now the player can walk when he wants in the whole space. This little technique is essential capital and quickly, even if only to dodge, and you wonder why Namco did not think ahead. The other big addition of Tales of the Abyss, which will unfortunately not be included in the album following is the Field of Fonons (FoF is shorter). The FoF are circles that appear on the field after an elemental attack of fire, wind, water or land. If the correct character performs the correct technique in the right circle, then the technique will be "improved", becoming devastating to the enemy and sublime to the eyes. A very rich and original, forcing the player to make intelligent techniques and to observe the actions of his teammates if he wants to take full advantage of FoF.
Chesedonia, sublime border between two countries.
Finally, the icing on the cake, Abyss is beautiful. Sure, the world map is not especially successful, of course, the game is aliased ... But it all and one can only marvel at the greatness of Baticul, the tranquility of Grand Chokmah or landscapes Winter Keterburg. The environments are still very diverse and varied, from the valley flowers on the edge of the volcano eruption, it goes through all the sets, all as successful as each other. Musically too, the game is doing remarkably well (for a game that revolves around music, this would be a shame otherwise!) And features music Sakuraba sometimes calm and serene, sometimes nervous and motivating for end in epic tones and music striking beauty. In the end, that's how we can define Tales of the Abyss: A game great, beautiful, striking in its humanity and that moves by touching characters immersed in a cruel world. A success.
