• Posted April 30th, 2012 at 19:52 EDT by Timothy Nunes
• 1 Comments

(continued from previous page) ...anyone who loves, even craves, the old style of gaming or anything Japanese-influenced.

This game pulled on me nostalgically, but my modern mentality pushed right back. When the story piqued, it piqued, but it didn't last for much longer than a half an hour before the story spread itself across some elongated, labyrinth-like area that didn't have any hint of proper direction. Maps in certain areas can be convoluted, and, as I experienced a few times, these areas tended to slow down the plot pace even more. I appreciated the lack of hand-holding in this game more than I liked it. Point being: I like any game willing to make players make their own decisions instead of telling them where to go, but I didn't like the fact that areas pinned to major plot points would almost hinder the experience.

The old style of role-playing games shines through in this Tales outing, but it doesn't give modern gamers a reason to pick it up, which is unfortunate. With a little work, and some extra effort, the Tales franchise could become the one that really brings Western gamers into the Japanese style, but it needs some giddyup. Faster pace is the name of the game nowadays. Because the industry has such a diversity of games, smaller IPs like Tales need to create a unique experience that can't be found anywhere else. The combat and title systems can take the candy from any baby, but the rest of the game fights back like a nagging mother. This game requires more, but it has what it could take to become something substantial—with a little more work, that is.