Out of the 3 in the series ive played, this one wins, hands down.
Game Play:9.7
The battle system on this game is that of any current games system (Dawn of the new world or vesperia) and has some added twists that will keep the tales fan entertained. The biggest keen difference from this battle system to many other in the series is a new mechanic know as FoF, or field of fonons. In these you can turn regular attacks into heavy hitting elemental attacks with their own prettied up animation. The only loss of the battle system is the Lack of unions, but this is a minor issue in my opinion and is overshadowed by the fun new overlimit and mystic arte system.
Graphics: 9.5
This is a pretty stupid category in my opinion but i can honestly say TotA kept me satisfied with its graphics. With the occasional cut-in of an anime type cut scene and the a step up from the chi-bi looking characters in ToS, there is hardly much to complain about. The battle system has wonderful display of a background, foreground, and the fighters.
Sounds: 10
Everything in this game, from the fire of an arrow, to the killing of an enemy, to the entrance of a battle, fits the scene perfectly. The game never passes of some cheesy sharpening of a knife for a stabbing sound or anything like that.
Even the elemental attacks fit just fine.
Story: 9.6
The story in this game rivals that of ToS, thus combing the good elements of Both ToS games. The story always leaves you guessing about the characters or the enemies true intention. All the characters were given a full purpose unlike ToS, where i felt that Regal and Presea were just thrown in there just to take up slots. The biggest problem i see with the story is the annoyances that luke shows at the begging of the game.
Replay Value: 9.6
Due to the 4 difficulties, short game, and grade shop, this game is pretty nice to want to go through again. I felt that ToS2 was just a bit short for me to want to go through it (That, and the game feels comparitavley easy). ToS was such a long game that it is intimidating to try to play through it again but TotA goes on to the perfect length, some fair challenges to revisit, a story worth a second or third annalasis, and a battle system to keep you entertained the whole time.
Fun Level: 10
This game was just in general a lot of fun to play through and watch as the game developed. everything was alot more loose then that of ToS and it feels less restricted to a straight line path. The battle system, giving you all the free movement to do as you please, and the range of different characters to try.
Overall
So, after all is said and done, TotA is a great game worth any RPG fans time Especially if they have enjoyed any other game in the series.
Pros:
Great battle system
Great story
Easy access to sea, land and air from the world map
Cons:
Skits get old
World map can be confusing at times