After a long (long wait), Tales of Berseria is finally out in the West. And while the jury is still out on if this newest installment of this storied franchise will, in fact, be the best game in the series, we can definitely talk about the games of the Tales of series that truly stand apart from the rest. So, if you haven’t played Tales of Berseria yet (for whatever reason), here are some of the best games the franchise has to offer — and that you can play right now.
Tales of Zesteria
Okay so this one isn’t exactly a good one that deserves your attention. I like playing a sequel game before a prequel if they were released in reverse order. Like Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 being released before 3. That kind of stuff really tickles my fancy. The only problem is that Zesteria isn’t actually a good game really. It’s filled with bad mechanics, obvious cut content and a largely unlikable cast of characters. I’m only putting it here because it’s the most directly related to Berseria.
So my suggestion is either just try to blaze through it, ignoring side content trying to make the experience as short as possible. Or if you have a Let’s Player you enjoy who did a run of it, check that out before jumping in to Berseria. All of this is a moot point if you like chronology though and want to see the story from the beginning.
Tales of Symphonia
The first 3D Tales of game and one of the best in my opinion. This is for many people the Final Fantasy VII of Tales games. Do you like vast over worlds, action rpg combat with a slightly turn-based feel, a large cast of enjoyable and all uniquely important characters and a story just as good to go with them? This game has all of that. Plus it’s on multiple consoles and was recently ported to PC. So it’s easy to get hold of.
This is probably one of the best ones to play if you haven’t. Many things you learn in this game will carry over to the others. That’s not entirely a good thing though. It can make successive games feel a bit stale though. So take this opinion with a grain of salt.
Tales of Vesperia
Vesperia is a more “mature,” Tales of game. This is the one I’ve put the most hours in to. This is because of the game play alone. It’s easily the most solid in the series. I’m going to be completely honest though, the major aspects of the story are very disappointing. Minor stories, characters and the like are very solid. The problems is with how obvious the true villain of the story is. It kind of destroys any sense of surprise when you meet him in the second town like area and the first thing he says is something along the lines of,
“Humans are such filthy creatures.”
Okay Badguy McLastBoss, chill. Oh also one of the playable characters is a wolf(?) who smokes a pipe and uses a sword. How cool is that?
Tales of Graces
I haven’t actually played this one myself. I do have a friend who put about 250 hours into it though. I trust the guy so this one’s probably pretty good.
All of the others
I haven’t played all of the Tales of games. Nor do I actually plan on playing all of them. Some just don’t interest me, simple as that. But who am I to say you shouldn’t play them? Go check out some of them yourself. Finding them is only a Google search away!
What’s your favorite Tales of game? Why do you think it’s the best? Let me know in the comments!
