Tales of the Abyss takes RPGs above and beyond due to the focus on characters and their development.
Graphics --------- 8.0
Gameplay ------- 9.0
Sound ------------ 9.0
Story ------------- 9.0
Tilt/Value ------- 8.0
Tales of the Abyss takes place Auldrant formed by fonons, which is a matter which composes all things. However, the world is ruled by the Score which is a set future carved in stone. By having the future set in front of you, do you have free will? Luke is a young boy who lives inside his manor, locked up in his own house, due to a horrific kidnapping that happened 7 years prior. A strange intruder infiltrates his manor one day and the wheel for a new future in the world begins to turn.
Tales of the Abyss's story is a decent story but it is not an extravagant story compared to some RPGs out on the market. As amazing the journey to save the world is, the story is very linear with not many twists and turns. However, what makes Tales of the Abyss have such an impacting aftereffect to the player are the characters. Every character has a very distinct personality and it shines. These characters are a marvel to listen to converse. Jade, who is a Malkuth Colonel, is very sarcastic and jokingly and it continues to carry on through the story. Tales of the Abyss may seem like a story of an epic journey at first but it is a story of a young boy who learns how to stand on his own with the help of his friends.
The graphics on the game are very crisp at times and very sharp, at times, but at other times the graphics look like mush and horrible. When your party is in battle the graphics try to look the best as it can be which is very good and everything seems to be fluid. At times when you are traveling in cities or in the over-world the quality seems to cut down and it is most likely the fact that the developers failed to implement the graphics properly. Other than that the gameplay graphics look fine and looks good. To even throw in a fan feature they have anime cutscenes.
The sound in this game phenomenal. The voice acting is very well done and each voice actor fits every single character. The whining vocals of Luke to the cruel and sarcastic commentary from Jade, Tales of the Abyss definitely exceeds in voicing. Now some voices might very well tick you off, most likely Mieu, but other than some minor annoying characters, the character voices are very well done. Once again, props to Jade. The music for the game has the "Tales" feeling to many Tales gamers. The battle theme changes various times, the world music changes also, and the town theme songs fit. Overall there isn't anything bad to say about the music score overall.
The gameplay of the game follows the simplistic style of linear battle system of previous Tales games with more words added to add more gimmicks. The new system is called the Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System, or FR-LMBS. The characters in battle move left and right in perspective to the enemy target. However, the creators added another dimension to the battle system that allows free-movement. As well as adding the horizontal movement of characters, much like on flat ground, the characters can now freely roam around the battlefield to any angle they want to view the enemy. The perspective of the left and right movement can be changed to any perspective you want with free-movement. With the battle system evolving the general game mechanics remain familiar to previous Tales gamers. The character moves around the battlefield hacking and slashing away at the enemy using standard attacks and chain up special attacks, called Artes, with a single button and the directional analog stick. Each direction with the Artes button unleashes a different Arte and by pulling off a certain order you can link up your standard attacks with Artes. The battle system is very engaging and very fun to play.
The battle system aside, the gameplay outside of the battles is something not pleasant to look at, sometimes. The over-world battles take forever to load once you run into an enemy and take forever to exit. The loading time in the over-world just takes too long and is a major technical setback in the game. The loading issue is not only present in the over-world but overall in the game. For some reason the game takes too long to load bits of map in such. By no means is the loading a 30 second load but it is a bit much. Buying items and equipping weapons and armors work the same way as other RPGs and is a no-brainer. Like other RPGs, there are tons of side-quests. The side quests are plentiful and will keep you going for an additional 20+ hours. The overall gameplay of Tales of the Abyss isn't as deep as one would expect overall but the satisfying battles that it offers and the bountiful side-quests gives a rewarding feeling.
Overall Tales of the Abyss isn't a spectacle but it is a game that every RPG fan should look in to. The intriguing characters that the game offers heightens the story, the very simple yet complicated battle system allows for a fun experience, and the side-quests that take a very lengthy amount of time gives Tales of the Abyss a great time to behold for the players. This lengthy game is one to expect from the Tales series and will make you think beyond and make you look beyond the horizon.