While its flaws are hard to miss, an outstanding narrative and lively characters makes the game truly shine.
Tales of the Abyss is set in Auldrant, a planet composed of Fonons, elemental particles that represent the elements of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Light, and Shadow. Approximately 2,000 years before the main events of the game, a new Seventh Fonon controlling Sound was discovered, allowing the distinctive ability to see into the future. A well-known Seventh Fonist named Yulia Jue used this Fonon to look into the future, which promised an infinite period of peace and prosperity at the end of global turmoil that would last for thousands of years. This set path became known as the "Score" and is written on "Fonstones" scattered throughout Auldrant. Eventually, Yulia's prophecies begin to manifest, with the kingdoms of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Malkuth fighting over these stones, and most notably, the entire island of Hod destroyed in an instant. Enter amnesiac Luke fon Fabre, who resides in the Kimlascan Kingdom. His past memories were erased when he was kidnapped from his home seven years ago, and has been getting headaches ever since the incident. In the prophecy, Luke is the 'Light of the Sacred Flame,' destined to bring the promised eternal prosperity to the world, or would live to see it destroyed. Thus, Luke's journey begins.
The dynamic character progression of Luke fon Fabre, is one of the most noteworthy aspects of the entire storyline. You'll watch as Luke develops from a childish, spoiled brat ignorant to his surroundings, to a mature individual who deeply cares about the world and those very close to him. He learns the harsh reality of the world around him, eventually accepting his flaws and past mistakes, and resolving to make up for it by starting what he can do. I found Luke's path to redemption the most impressive in the overall plot, exhibiting one of the most realistic personality traits I've seen in a video game character. His numerous shortcomings all the more show that Luke is as human as any of us, which I know many people can relate to in some way or another.
Tales of the Abyss is pretty much your typical save-the-world-from-evil narration, but a story as strong as this is very much engaging. The game's twists and turns are well enough to appreciate, and keeps you involved in the story most of the time. While Tales of the Abyss can often jump between fast/slow-paced storytelling, the game's characters are very much the focal point in keeping things going, actually making you care about what's going on in their world. From the beginning to the end you'll appreciate and relate to the main cast, making the world of Auldrant worth being concerned about. Tales of the Abyss is also a lengthy game, which will take the average gamer about 60-70 hours' worth of playing time. Once you finish the game, you can add in about 5-10 more hours of side quest action, in which you can carry over certain skills, stat bonuses, and even double experience points on a second play through.
Abyss makes use of its "Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System," fairly similar to other games of the Tales series, but increases flexibility on the battlefield significantly. Players can attack, defend, and bring up a battle menu to switch between playable characters or use health items towards your allies. I could very well compare Tales of the Abyss, and even the Tales series as a whole, fairly close to how a fighting game would function, much like Castlevania Judgement. Then throw in some button-mashing aspects to the table to make things a bit more interesting. While this could get repetitive over a surprisingly long period of time, the satisfaction of successful special attacks and mystic artes dealt to the enemy is always fun to admire.
But wait--hold on now. It's more than just bashing on monsters and people in the face every single time. Familiarizing yourself with the game's battle system takes some strategy to beat your enemies more effectively. Field of Fonons is a beneficial part of that minimal strategy you might otherwise need from time to time. Basically when a character casts a magic spell during battle, an FOF circle appears on the field. When these circles emit a certain color for their assigned element, you can then perform more powerful attacks, dealing massive damage to the enemies slowing you down. AD Skills are essential as well; as they range from helping you quickly recover from attacks to absorb less damage from enemies. You can learn more of these skills as characters level up. Also, by equipping different capacity cores a character's base stats are enhanced in diverse ways and determine what kind of abilities they will learn.
There are plenty of helpful in-game tutorials for all these unique features and more during play, but you might feel that combining all these together right away can sometimes get overwhelming. It does take time and patience to get used to and fully understand the game's battle mechanics; probably even more so than trying to just simply master it. But it seems like the game tries hard to make all of its game play aspects highly sophisticated that I ended up frequently relying on just straight-up physical attacks and special combos in the end. Granted, you don't have to utilize every single aspect during combat, and Tales of the Abyss's game play system would probably appeal to the hardcore role-playing fans more than average players anyway. But despite the game play's complications, Abyss is still an enjoyable, quasi-action role-playing game that can be somewhat satisfying, and enormously rewarding on the long run.
Tales of the Abyss has some puzzle-solving elements, but nothing to be intimidated of. Most of them are fairly easy to get through; some parts would require the power of the Sorcerer's Ring in order to open secret passageways throughout the countless dungeons in the game. Additional extras include titles for characters that enhance certain stats, or a cooking mechanic in which you feed the entire party for different effects, such as recovering health points (HP) and Technical Points (TP), or getting rid of a status ailment.
Interestingly, the game has an economic system that is affected by events primarily crucial to the main storyline. During times of war, some items in shops won't be available for purchase, and prices might even rise or decline depending on the current situation at hand. Auldrant's economy can also be modified when the player completes certain side quests, giving you discounts and even gain access to new items, stronger weapons, etc. throughout the game.
While the game's stronger points reside in its notable storyline and somewhat complex game play, Tales of the Abyss falls apart in its uninspired graphics. Character models look a bit iffy, and their movements just seemed stiff and awkward on many occasions. Tales of the Abyss's anime-style cut scenes and designs do make up for the game's polygonal awkwardness, but this visual aspect seems dated to say the least. The game's various animations attempt to make things more colorful, but most of them end up just creating unnecessary distractions that I would classify as annoying more than eye-candy.
To add more insult to injury, the game's frame rate all the more makes it an unpleasant sight to see; it just doesn't hold up for majority of the time. The frame rate issue can get really annoying, and at times disorienting. Loading issues are an extreme pain in the you-know-what when in the overworld map, that I am much obliged to say that it just isn't worth your time to get some level-grinding done in this area; you're much better off doing that kind of thing in the game's inner dungeons. Though most of the game's visuals are pretty much a wreck, Tales of the Abyss somewhat redeems itself with the fact that many of the cities, towns, and scenery you visit throughout the game are reasonably comprehensive, well enough for your eyes to appreciate.
The game's blend of progressive rock and classical tracks sound remarkable, adding more emotion and vibrancy to every part of the game you visit. Battle themes are quite ambitious, further expanding on just the intense, hectic, and fast-paced feel the boss battles demonstrate. Sound effects are passable, and the game's voice acting and dialogue is solid overall. However, their efforts could have been better recognized if the game's North American localization team would have just gotten off their lazy behinds and actually applied much deserved voice-overs within the game's skits. If they would have done that, it would take away a big chunk of tedious value and convert it to an entertaining one at most, making the game a much better RPG in my book.
While the game's flaws are hard to neglect, Tales of the Abyss makes up for it with a combat system that is fully functional and enjoyable at best. Though it isn't the best Tales game overall, fans of the series will still be pretty grateful that this game's inadequacies hasn't brought it down completely. Though that is the case, everything else the game offers is enough to keep you going until you're satisfied with it. Namco Bandai has indeed successfully created a great role-playing experience that has since lost its graphic luster, but an incredibly intriguing storyline and compelling characters makes the game truly shine.