Tales of Symphonia or Tales of Vesperia? Which is better?

Which of these two popular tales games OUT OF THESE do you consider better? Which of these two Action-Adventure Novel games do you find to be better?

I am torn between both, but I am replaying both, just beat Sym and am now half-way through Vesperia, and when i beat it again I may have a new fresh decision.

Tales of Symphonia, though I might be biased given that's the first Tales of I've ever played. Though I like Tales of Xillia a lot, can't wait for 2.

I really couldn't get into Vesperia all that much. I missed Symphonia's title system, which seemed underdeveloped in Vesperia, and the whole...blastia (?) plot wasn't doing anything for me.

Perhaps I should go back and give it another shot sometime.

Symphonia... I couldn't even finish Vesperia, the internal story just kept doing circles. Though I should finish it to get a better idea..

Same. I feel ike Vesperia did some things better though, but personally I much preferred the story and most characters in Symphonia. Symphonia just grabbed me and never let go. Vesperia wasn't far behind though.

What Tales games have you played? I have beaten Symphonia and Vesperia. And have played a good small chunk (15%?) of Abyss on 3DS. I own Graces F and have not played it yet. I am worried about it's linearity (or so I hear), and apparently Xillia 1 and 2 are the same way?

I've only played Tales of the Abyss. I loved it though. The cast was excellent, the story great (overall) and the battle system was lots of fun. I really want to play both Symphonia and Vesperia.

Vesperia is my favourite Tales game. Right now I'm playing Xillia and really enjoying it. I'll probably rank that my 2nd favourite. Symphonia was pretty good and that one I'd put 3rd. Played Graces f and found it kind of 'meh' to be honest. I guess that'd be 4th for me. Never did play Abyss though.

The story in Vesperia is actually really deep and connects to the world lore in other Tales games including Symphonia. It's an amazing game but still isn't better than Symphonia.

Can you explain to me the pros and cons (mainly the world design and linearity / openness) of Xillia and Graces F when comparing them to eachother and Symphonia / Vesperia? I hear Graces F is very linear and Xillia is no different?

Vesperia is my favorite Tales game of all time. I loved the characters, music and setting. I also enjoyed Symphonia a lot, but I'd rank it @ 4 behind Xillia and Abyss.

1. Tales of Vesperia

2. Tales of Xillia

3. Tales of the Abyss

4. Tales of Symphonia

5. Tales of Graces f

6. Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of the New World

7. Tales of Eternia

8. Tales of Legendia

tales of vesperia the best for me

Xillia is the most linear feeling Tales game as it has no large over-world where you traverse. You still have all these areas that pretty much join up with one another so I didn't really mind it. There is a "fast travel" system which I liked and found extremely convienent at times. I didn't really find Graces f to be all that different linearity wise to Vesperia or Symphonia to be honest but it has been awhile since I've played those two.

I haven't played even half of them, but here's what I have played

Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Vesperia, and Tales of Xillia. I'll be getting Xillia 2 when it comes out.

No over-world is the one thing I really didn't like about Xillia, the world just felt so much smaller than the others.

I've played Symphonia, Vesperia, Graces F, Eternia and Xillia and I consider Symphonia to be the best in the series by a distance. Thats not to say the other games are bad, but Tales Of Symphonia is one of my favorite games of all time, I loved the story and characters, Kratos and Zelos being my two favorites. I played through it multiple times without getting bored, and I cant wait for the release of Tales Of Symphonia Chronicles next year.

Of the other tales games I enjoyed Vesperia, but remember very little about the story. It had a decent cast, but I remember Karol and Estelle both annoyed me as the game went on and the antagonists werent very good. Graces F was the worst of the ones I've played, as the cast was awful and the story goes downhill when you pass the halfway point of the game, as well as all the talk of freindship being cringe-worthy. The most recent Tales game I played was Xillia, and while I enjoyed it there was a lot of wasted potential there. The story and cast were both good but there were huge pacing issues, the game itself was too short and alot of potentially interesting characters were severely under-developed.

So far, I've completed Vesperia and Abyss, which are two of my favorite games within the series. The stories and cast was decent enough for me to go through and I loved the fighting system for each game, respectively. Also, it doesn't hurt to point out how awesome the soundtracks are for each. The Aspio theme is amazing...

As for Symphonia, I couldn't tell you, since I have limited time with it, so I'll go with Vesperia for now. But I will say this - some of the achievements in Vesperia are very time-consuming to get. I recently had my Xbox 360 on for ten hours straight while getting my thumb stick wrapped around with a book, so that it can be pushed up as Baul was flying for the To Points Unknown achievement. Not easy!