In the early 90s, Coktel Vision (which later became Sierra On-Line) released a quirky point and click adventure game titled Gobliiins which had players bouncing between three different Goblins to find a cure for good King Angoulafre.
Sometimes when you are browsing the internet for information on how to do something, you stumble upon ideas or projects or even games that people might be working on...
What a meow-gnificent evening it is to send your paw-rcels out to those family and friends! Are mew looking to pick up an item or send something out? Well at Cat Mail Co. we can send and receive all your deliveries!
Have you ever grown up feeling like you don't belong? For our Heroine, that's the feeling she lives with everyday in her small farming village. But it's not her only secret...
STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is just that! Massively co-operative and not an MMO! When you first run the game you are instantly into the tutorial...
Today we’re looking at what has rapidly become an absolute favorite in the open-world RPG genre for me. An interesting story, memorable NPCs, stunning visuals, and a setting absolutely dripping with flavor, Dread Delusion sets its tone immediately and sticks with it.
I enjoy simulation-type games, and I enjoyed the original release of House Flipper, but I never got around to getting the DLC. When the remastered version of the game was released, I figured it would be the best way to experience the DLC while checking out how the base game was upgraded.
GranBlue Fantasy: ReLink released in 2024 bringing the GranBlue universe to an action adventure JRPG format. With a party of up to four members, this band of skyfarers set out for new skies, adventures, and dangers. Two years later, Endless Ragnarok...
70s-Style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a mouthful of a title, but you know what? It’s quite the challenging game to describe as well. At its core, 70s-Style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a shooter...
25 September, London: Watch our new trailer here and get ready to explore the SAND LAND and save the world!
How did this unlikely alliance between humans and demons come to be and what is their goal?
A new trailer of SAND LAND shows more about this world turned into a scorching desert, where the greed of the King makes life impossible for its inhabitants by controlling access to water. Sheriff Rao strongly believes another oasis, capable of ending the terrible drought, is here somewhere…
In order to find this Legendary Spring, Rao knows he cannot undertake this dangerous journey alone and travels to the Demon Village to seek help. With the consent of the King of Demons, Beelzebub the Friend Prince and his chaperone Thief join Sheriff Rao on their thirstiest adventure ever, searching the world for this life-saving spring.
As they progress in their journey, the group realises they shouldn’t let their guard down as heat and thirst are not their only enemies. General Are, accompanied by the Royal Army, will pursue Beelzebub and his companions around the world and try to stop them.
SAND LAND is set to release on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Bandai Namco Europe S.A.S. is a leading global publisher and developer of entertainment content for platforms including, but not limited to, all major video game consoles and PC. Bandai Namco Europe is producing intellectual property for a global audience and is building its reputation with franchises such as LITTLE NIGHTMARES™, PARK BEYOND™, and the upcoming UNKNOWN 9™ Awakening - developed by the recently acquired Reflector Entertainment based in Montreal, QC.
Bandai Namco Europe serves as the Headquarters of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. for mainland Europe, which is known for creating and publishing many of the Toy & Entertainment industry’s top franchises, including PAC-MAN™, TAMAGOTCHI™, GUNDAM™, TEKKEN™, DARK SOULS™ and the recently released ELDEN RING™.
New-York,
New-York, November 2, 2021 - BANDAI NAMCO
Entertainment Inc. would like to announce that the new smartphone game for the
App Store/Google Play, That time I got reincarnated as a slime ISEKAI Memories,
is now available for download.
As the game hit its goal for pre-registering
players, those who download the app will receive awesome rewards as a gift!
The pre-registration campaign rewards
have all sorts of items that will give you a head start as you begin the game,
including the Magicrystals you need to Recruit new characters and the Memory
Stones used to Limit Break them!
●Character: Shuna, Pink Ogre of
Heavenly Light
She will join you when you start the game!
●5★ Guaranteed Recruit Ticket
*3rd-day Login Bonus after creating your account.
●10x Recruit Ticket
●Magicrystals
●Items including, Memory stones,
Stamina recovery items, Character equipment items, Tempest Coins and more!
Celebrating Release Campaign On Now!
●Beginner Boost Login Bonus
The Beginner Boost Login Bonus is on now to celebrate the game's release! Log
in each day to get items that'll help you progress in the game, including
Magicrystals you can use to Recruit new allies!
●Free Once Per Day Release
Recruit powerful allies to help you on your adventure! Until: November 9,2021
5:59 a.m. UTC
●First Encount Recruit
You'll be able to scout for one of the ★5 Battle characters in the tutorial!
*Campaign period and content subject to
change without notice.
*For details, please check the in-game
notice.
New
Anime Promo Video Available Now!
Catch a glimpse of the original storyline
in this New Anime Promo Video, available now on our YouTube channel!
The video features the new characters
Shinsha and Izis! Don't miss it!
That
time I got reincarnated as a slime ISEKAI Memories?
That time I got reincarnated as a slime
ISEKAI Memories is a nation-building RPG with 3D command-based battles!
●Highlight 1: Establish your own
nation of Tempest. The player gets to build their own, personalized Tempest and
become its leader! As you progress through the story, develop Tempest from a
village into a town, then into a bustling nation's capital! Walk around town
and interact with characters to strengthen your bonds, and they'll give you
gifts!
●Highlight 2: 3D battles fought
with spectacular skills. Rich, unique characters are faithfully rendered in 3D!
Pull off a plethora of different skills and finishing moves from the original
series with simple, easy-to-master controls!
●Highlight 3: Voiced dialog will
drop players into the anime world. Retrace Rimuru's steps through the Slime Isekai
anime with characters brought to life by the talented vocal cast!
●Highlight 4: Game-exclusive story
supervised by the original Slime Isekai author. Lose yourself in brand new
story arcs, written under the supervision of Fuse, author of the original light
novels. You won't find these stories anywhere else! That's not all! You can
expect original characters, costumes, and lots more. A whole new Slime Isekai
world in the palm of your hand!
Summer Games Fest began in 2020 as
the brainchild of Geoff Keighley. The free digital event is allowed to be
co-streamed and it includes world premieres, dev interviews, and more! This
year, viewers were able to see announcements and world premieres by a number of
The Summer Games Fest partners including Annapurna Interactive, Capcom,
Devolver Digital, Epic Games, Gearbox Publishing, Finji, Frontier, Koch Media,
Bandai Namco, Netflix, Psyonix, Raw Fury, and Square Enix. However, there are
multiple other partners that I didn’t list, but suffice it to say, the audience
was able to experience some amazing announcements.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
For the purposes of simplicity, I’ve
categorized the games under Indie, Triple-A, and Unclassified. Sometimes a
publisher is quite large but a developer is an indie. Other times, a studio
might be rather small in size but have a huge reputation. Basically, what I’m
saying is that readers may not agree with the overall category of these titles.
My article here is just to talk about some of the announcements I’m excited
about, so don’t fly off the deep end yeah?
Indie
Games
In the indie category are some
amazing titles that I’m super excited about for different reasons. The first
one is Two Point Campus for me. See, I wanted Two
Point Hospital without it being Two Point Hospital. I wanted the same style of
game but a different backdrop or setting. As in, something that doesn’t revolve
around the medical profession. Now, we finally have that and I want the game.
True story.
Once again Raw Fury impresses me
with their titles. The studio announced Sable, a beautifully illustrated
open-world exploration game where players float, glide, and parkour their way
around an alien planet. Players will learn the history of the inhabitants by
checking out ancient ruins and monuments. What happened here and what will we
learn? Frankly, I have no idea but I really want to know. The game will be
available on Steam in late September and I am excited about it!
Another title that I almost missed
by virtue of the fact that I wasn’t able to watch the entirety of Summer Games
Fest because of the simultaneous E3 announcements is OXENFREE II: Lost Signals.
Some of you may know that Epic Games often releases games for free each week.
One of those titles was OXENFREE and originally I was hesitant on it.
Thankfully, my amazing other half recommended I grab it and I’m so glad I did.
While it’s a bit of a spooky title because of how the supernatural elements are
presented, it is a worthwhile story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Originally,
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals was announced during the Nintendo Indie World
showcase back in April, but I saw it mentioned again. Needless to say, I’m
quite happy and intrigued to find out more secrets about that place.
Some awesome announcements that I’m
interested to see more about like the new Hide and Seek mode in Among Us that I’ve
seen as mods for the game (It still confuses me sometimes), Solar Ash which has a graphics style similar
to Risk of Rain and looks like an interesting action-adventure and platform
game, Sky Children of Light – a neat open-world
adventure game that will be released for the Nintendo Switch, and Planet of Lana which is a hand-painted
cinematic puzzle adventure game where players follow a young girl and her pet
friend. All of these titles look really interesting and spectacular so I may
get my hands on some of them.
Other games announced that I
qualified as indie are:
Some of the Triple-A games this year
have some announcements I’m excited about starting with Jurassic World
Evolution 2. Players get to continue designing a dinosaur zoo and splice the
genes of different dinosaurs with others. As in, you can create new species of
dinosaurs! Yeah. I’m all about zoo and park building games, so this is
definitely on my list of titles to get!
Epic Games and Psyonix announced
their partnership once again with the Fast & Furious franchise presumably
because F9 is now officially in Theaters. This means that Rocket League has a
DLC pack for the Dodge Charger and the Nissan Skyline that was released a
couple of years back to promote the Fast & Furious series. However, because
of the latest installment of the movie a new car has been added to the pack
which is the Pontiac Fiero. Since I already own the first two cars, I won’t be
rebuying the DLC for the Fiero, but people who missed out the first time around
will be able to play with these smexy cars!
Two more games grabbed my attention
during the Summer Games Fest and they are Tribes of Midgard – a Norse survival
adventure RPG where players have to build up to defend against giants – and Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart which is a
third-person shooter platformer and a sequel to Ratchet & Clank! Both these
titles look amazing and I definitely want to give them a go.
Of course, it’s no secret that I’m a
D&D fan as I have been playing for years and have kept up with a couple of
shows like Critical Role on Twitch, so it stands to reason that the new action
RPG D&D Dark Alliance is on my list of games
to look at. It is a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and I’m
interested to take a stab at this game.
Another title that I’m curious about
is Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. While my introduction to the
Monster Hunter series is World, I strangely enjoy the game. Besides, what’s not
to love about Palico cat chefs! Yes. I am aware that Stories and World are
completely different, but I am very interested to give this one a go. I may
suck horribly at it, but why not? I’ve heard lots of good things from Monster
Hunter fans.
Sharkmob announced a new game called
Bloodhunt which is a free-to-play battle royale title where players are
vampires, and I’m excited. People who are interested in this sort of game can
sign up for the closed beta on the website. Normally battle royales aren’t my
thing, but this is vampires and it looks really awesome. I shall come for your
blood!
Amazon Games finally showcased New World and Lostark that are both RPG games. I knew
about New World coming out quite a long time ago. However, Lostark was not on
my radar. It is a Korean-based MMORPG that is coming to North America. I’m a
little hesitant on that one because the last Korean MMO did not leave a good
taste in my mouth due to reasons… Anyways, maybe it’ll do well because it looks
really awesome, but I’m not holding my breath.
At Summer Games Fest 2021 a new
developer called Deviation Games announced their presence as
did new publisher Finji. Neither studio has a lot of information to
report, but I’m glad that we have the potential for new and exciting games in
the future.
Koch Media announced a new
publishing label Prime Matter that will be home to well-known
franchises like Gun Grave G.O.R.E, Kingdom Come Deliverance, and Mount and
Blade. The label will also have Dolmen, Encased, and Scars Above, just to name
a few. More details can be found on their website or you can see the showcase here.
Summer
Games Fest Thoughts
Between the two showcases of E3’s
yearly event versus Summer Games Fest, I felt more enamored by the games
presented in this list. While it’s not as extensive of a lineup, my interest is
much higher for a lot of these games. I was even more hyped up about Elden Ring
because I knew that people would be excited about the title, and I don’t care
about souls games! On top of that, we did get to see some new shows and a movie
featured at the event, and I’m all about movies. Besides, Ryan Reynolds is
awesome. (You can check out that trailer here.)
Anyways, I can’t wait to get my
hands on a bunch of these titles. How about you? What games are you hyped about
this year?
Gamescom 2019 Announcements: August 20th, 2019 from Bandai Namco
HAVE A ‘WHOLE CAKE ISLAND’…AND EAT IT TOO IN THE NEWEST ONE PIECE PIRATE:
WARRIORS 4 TRAILER!
Step into the sickly-sweet world of Whole Cake Island as the newest ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 trailer from Gamescom introduces the Whole Cake Island Arc! Join Luffy and the rest of the Sanji Retrieval team as they traverse through Whole Cake Island to save Sanji from a political marriage arranged by Big Mom! This trailer also features newly added “Titan Mode” where enemies become larger than life, pushing players to execute calculate attacks and dodges.
To check out the newest trailer for ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4:
**
ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS GAMESCOM TRAILER NOW AVAILABLE!
The newest ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS trailer shown at Gamescom 2019 introduces the distinctive Hero Arrival System!
ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS features up to 3 vs 3 tag battles, where players can choose their favorite characters to form powerful teams. However, if a player decides to pick Saitama, they must survive a gauntlet of battles long enough for him to finally arrive! By selecting Saitama players must first enter battle with only two characters, a timer then shows when Saitama
will appear. When the timer hits zero, Saitama will arrive and annihilate enemies with one punch! Players can shorten the time that it takes Saitama to arrive by performing combos or perfectly guarding from enemy attacks.
The trailer also features S-class heroes Terrible Tornado, Silverfang, and Atomic Samurai who will be playable in ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS!
Check out the ONE PUNCH MAN: A HERO NOBODY KNOWS Gamescom 2019 trailer here:
**
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT TO INCLUDE CELL ARC!
DRAGON BALL Z: Kakarot will be the most detailed and truest retelling of the DRAGON BALL Z story and today we’re excited to announce that the Cell Arc will be included in the game. As one of the most popular and tensest arcs within the DRAGON BALL Z franchise, players will have a new way to experience the tension, action, and ultimate resolution to this fan-favorite storyline.
Hop on your Nimbus Cloud and fly over to the following YouTube link to see today’s new Gamescom DRAGON BALL Z: Kakarot trailer featuring action from the Cell Arc:
DRAGON BALL Z: Kakarot is slated for an early 2020 release in the Americas for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PCs via STEAM.
**
CODE VEIN DEMO COMING SEPTEMBER 3RD
A demo for CODE VEIN will be announced September 3, 2019 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One. The demo gives players access to the game’s character creation tool, explore the beginning of the game, and dive into The Depths, a challenging dungeon that will test any Revenant’s mettle. CODE VEIN will be available on the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC via STEAM® on September 27, 2019.
Having not quite grown up in the eighties, as I was born in them and only really grew up in the nineties, I’ll never quite understand the fascination of the 80s. It had decent music, loads of neon, spawned Dungeon & Dragons, some crazy hairdos but right now between Ready Player One and Stranger Things, it’s almost back with a vengeance. Taking another sort of vengeance is Double Fine’s latest project, RAD, a roguelike that puts the 80s back in the spotlight even if it after the second apocalypse.
Because surviving one apocalypse was clearly not enough, humanity somehow survived a second one. Barely. Taking place after that second catastrophic event, this group of survivors are running low on power in order to keep things running. Needing to find a new source of power, one of several teenagers must undergo a transformation to be able to survive the outlands where they are to search for that source of power. Corrupted and poisonous, this transformation will allow you to survive and even thrive as to save what is left of humanity, they’re going to need to give it up their own even if that means growing a few tentacles or becoming a snake head.
In your standard mode, it really doesn’t matter who you choose as any character is really just a teen with a baseball bat. But this bat isn’t just any bat, it’s a magical one that will make its way back even if you don’t. Yeah I thought that was pretty reassuring too. So setting off towards a most certain death, you pick up your bat and head through a portal to crazy town.
Visually, RAD is well… rad. It’s flashy, it has vibrant neon colours, the lands whether on the surface with mutated vegetation or below in the steel tunnels built years back are pretty to look at. Actually the part that impressed me the most is how a good deal of enemies are blended into the environment until you come up on them. See an oil drum in the distance? It could be one or it could be the helmet of some mutated creatures just waiting for you to get closer. Others can be hiding in the vegetation or just flying out of sight. It’s neat as they don’t feel tacked on.
Moving around the environment is pretty easy, you run around, you jump, and you hit things. Even the controls are fairly simple though that is a bit of a deception. Run around. Check. Jump. Check. Hit things? How? You can swing normally, you can hold up for a charge, you can jump and then hit, you can jump smack for more damage and then turn it into a combo chain. One button with many different functions before moving into the twin stick controls for shooting at your enemies if you have the powers to do so. It’s easy to pick up which is nice but the depth is what makes it stand out and not get boring after the first few mobs.
So in a way, RAD is a bit of an RPG, but just kind of? You don’t have experience per say but everytime that you defeat an enemy you get essence that accumulates into new mutations. Fill up the bar? Start throwing fireballs. Fill up the bar again? Grow a tentacle to smack things, or get an extra pair of legs, or have your head turn into that of a cobra to bite enemies and poison them. You never really know what you’re going to get so as an added bonus to these, there are shrines of sorts that will bestow even more mutations to you for the cost of nothing. You should up, you take the mutation, you continue marching on your merry way. That’s why it’s an RPG, but just kind of, because you don’t even need to kill most enemies to complete a stage and get mutations. It helps, and you’ll want to, because bosses are big, bad, and “alphas”.
Bosses are big versions of the mobs that can be found while exploring each location to find the other types of shrines that unlock the actual boss room. Once you get into this room there’s no way out but forward. It’s you, the boss, and more often than not it’s super annoying minions that you’ll have to lay a beat down for. Once they’ve been taken out? It’s a bit of Legend of Zelda in here as you get an extra heart, or well your heart mutates for more health. If you’ve succeeded, you can move forward. If you’ve lost, well you’re basically dead and game over.
Winning the boss fight grants you two paths. The left will bring you back to town while the right will bring you over to the next stage if you will. Going back to town has a few bonuses such as being able to drop off any currency you have rattling in your pockets or buying some much needed items to help you survive. Sticking with the theme, your currency are cassette tapes that you can exchange for goods. Dropping these into a robot’s ATM service, and you can safely store them so that even if you die? They’ll still be around like the baseball bat. Once you’ve gone from being a basic teenager into a platinum member, you can do more with the ATM service in the wild than simply being told you aren’t good enough to use the service.
And that’s it really, you choose a character, you go out, and you see how far you can make it while also uncovering what actually happened through the scraps of information that find. The gameplay is pretty solid, the visual effects are nice even to the point of there being a CRT option to curve your screen’s edges into an old school television style. Adding in a challenge mode with a leaderboard letting you go about the adventure but with modifiers such as Glass Cannon in which you do double damage but also take it, and there’s more than enough to keep Roguelike lovers going for a while.
The only part that didn’t jive for me, and it was a bit part, was how the visuals could lag a bit and the view always seemed too zoomed in. It’s a bit hard to see what’s in front of you and when you are dealing with ledges that you can fall off of? That lag is enough at times to send you right over the ledge with how fast your characters can move. It may not sound like much but over time it can be quite annoying especially when you have to truly slow down to not die by running over a ledge while looking for health.
Overall though, RAD is a very well designed Roguelike. From pounding music tracks, to the bright neon visuals, the enemy designs and the crazy mutations truly switching up gameplay for every run, and there’s loads for a lover of the style to keep coming back to for a long while.
Game Information
Platform:
PC Developer(s):
Double Fine Games Publisher(s):
Bandai Namco Entertainment America Genre(s):
Action, Adventure, Roguelike Mode(s):
Single Player Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, PC
The Tales series of games has always been a forerunner in the list of “things I want to pick up when they come out”, and when Tales of Vesperia was first announced, of course it made my list. Until I found out it was a 360 exclusive. Now finally available on systems that I own, I can finally rejoice at having my Tales collection come back together, instead of me being forced to borrow my friends Xbox.
Since Vesperia has been reviewed earlier by Robert, I’m not going to go in-depth into review, rather just point out things I liked/didn’t, and some aspects that stuck with me. First of which is the characters. I personally find that the main qualifier of whether I enjoy a Tales game more or less is all about who the recurring cast is, whether it be bland “justice junkies” like Flynn or Sorey, or the sassy quipping characters like Raven and Edna, what really makes a Tales game pop is the interactions between the characters. I can honestly say that Tales of Vesperia, while not actually having any of my favorite characters, definitely had my favorite cast. Apart from Karol, all the characters were interesting or unique in their own right, and their interactions and skits were really fun to watch.
Even though the newly added Patty doesn’t have a lot of leeway, since she was basically slapped in as an “append”, I loved the way she was introduced. Best pirate ninja move. And you keep the substitution doll, I loved it. Also, the only Tales game I know where you can beat people up using a dog with a dagger. Repeede is best doggo, and the fact that he now has actual costumes and can be the party leader is even better.
The second qualifier for me about Tales quality is the battle system. Is it fun? Annoying? Did they overextend trying something new? Did they turn a 4 player possible game into a soft cap 2 player *cough*Zesteria*cough* ? While the button placement has been swapped up a bit, and the “downtime” between combos is disgustingly long, the skill learning was fun, and I’ll be damned if me and two of my friends didn’t sit down to abuse the hell out of the bonus skills. “Blah Blah Blah meteor storm” comes to mind. Pro tip, on the Xbox version you could crash the game if you had too many meteor storms going at the same time. Rita is now an ascended meme mage amongst my friends. Speaking of battling, screw the dog at Emmead Hill. Y’all know what I’m talking about if you’ve played the game before. Hardest boss in the game, and he’s like, what, the third? So dumb.
So. The story. Well, the second half got better? I mean, the first half of the game is basically “I’m going the complete opposite direction from you, but I’ll join you anyway”, and felt super forced. At least you get a decent sized team for couch multiplayer rather fast.
If you weren’t aware, you now know that the original voice actor for Yuri did not come back to voice the swathe of extra scenes/voices added for the definitive edition. On the plus side, you don’t really notice unless you’re aware and looking for it, barring a few minor exceptions.
Last line of complaint: GLOWING. SKY. ORB.
Please, Namco Bandai, we aren’t three. We can handle big boy puzzles.
As a general whole, while Vesperia definitely won’t hit my number one favorite Tales installment, it’s pretty solid in at number three or four, which is a big thing considering how much less I had to play it when it originally came out. Backed by a swell cast of characters, some solid voice acting, a great opening theme, and a swell soundtrack, not to mention the character customization through the use of skills, Tales of Vesperia is definitely a title to get your friends into the series, and to leave series veterans pleased. It also looks and runs really nicely on the PS4 which I'm happy to own.
Game Information
Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4 Developer(s):
Namco Tales Studio Publisher(s):
Bandai Namco Genre(s):
RPG Mode(s):
Single Player
4-Player Battle coop Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
PC
I’ve been playing the Tales of Series since that fateful day that I saw Tales of Destiny on the shelf at the local video store. Renting it, falling in love with it, it wasn’t long until I grew sad that it was damned near impossible to buy and it would be years before I owned both Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2 for the PS1 in which “2” is actually Tales of Eternia. They did the whole Final Fantasy naming thing as well.
Moving years down the line, I own just about every instance that I could get my hands on and only as of last week due to a wonderful woman in my life, have Tales of Vesperia’s HD treatment on my Switch. So who did I go ahead and crown as favorites? Check it out below!
Rollo
While my actual #1 is Judith because she’s such a badass, I’m going with my other #1 as I've already written about Judith. So instead of the gushing over the badass spear wielder, I’m going to go ahead and gush about this cat.
Rollo is a cat. Plain and simple. Well… that’s not quite true as he’s a fat and adorable cat. And that’s it.
Now while that should be enough, because cat, it’s the fact that Rollo is just a plain old cat that makes him absolutely fantastic. He follows Lugar in Tales of Xillia 2 out the door and hangs around for the entire adventure. Why would he stay at home where there’s no chance of him being fed when he can follow along and be dotted on? So many times I worried about this cat but he’s just amazing and spoilers or not, survives the whole ordeal and the near end of the world as many a cat would.
- PY
Cheria Barnes
From the moment I met the sickly young girl in Tales of Graces F I was hooked. Here she was in poor health but still focused on protecting her childhood friends. Enter Cheria a number of years later, as she is tasked with bringing Asbel back from the big city for important family business, and she is this steel-y strong, yet pristine and delicate; a series of traits she adequately maintains throughout the entirety of the game. In fact she stays very true to her core, only growing to be slightly more flexible as her feelings for others are nurtured throughout the rest of the playthrough. That really stuck with me …
-Robert
Moses
I had to think long and hard as to who my actual second favorite character was. There’s obvious choices like Alvin from Tales of Xillia, Yuri from Tales of Vesperia, Jade covered by Natasha from Tales of the Abyss. But if I go back far enough, as much as I enjoyed Stahn from Tales of Destiny, I realized that I freaking love Moses from Tales of Legendia which was the first Tales of that I owned. This crazy assed bandit was not only fun throughout the story, but his ending lines were some of the best with my personal all time favorite “Moses Happy Dance! Yeehaw”
- PY
Rowen Ilbert
I'd like to preface this one with the fact that this is regarding the Tales of Xillia appearance, not the Tales of Xillia 2 appearance. The cast of Xillia is generally … not horrific, but Rowen really stuck with me throughout the game. He has an aloof attitude, is wholly devoted to his charge, and far more capable than his quiet demeanor belies. Plus he is hiding a secret that he thought defined him (which didn't). That is a very human-like behavior and outlook, and seeing the revelation of it throughout the course of the game is great. Plus he has some of the best quips in the game.
-Robert
Worst?
Cumore. He’s an ass. An entitled, obnoxious ass. And while I have my issues with Luke from Tales of the Abyss, who happens to be the protagonist, Cumore just has it coming in Tales of Vesperia and I am so, SO, happy that Yuri gives it to him. SO HAPPY. It was in that moment in which my respect for Yuri increased more than it already was because he was ready to do what needed to be done to keep others safe even if it meant getting his hands dirty.
The only, and I mean ONLY good thing about Cumore in English? Is that he’s voiced by Liam O’Brien. That’s it. Glad he’s gone. Ugh I had him and his purple jockstrap that he keeps on the outside of his pants.
- PY
"Least favorite"
Literally any one of the "moe" characters (Elise from Xillia, Beryl from Hearts, Magilou from Berseria, etc… in fact, about the only "moe" character I like is Edna from Zestiria). These characters are thrown in for some ridiculous reason and I have no idea why; they tend to detract from the overall feel and emotional aesthetic of the game.
A close second, if not a tie, to that "class" of character would be the "I'm an immature turd but it's all an act because I'm fake as all hell" group (Hisui from Hearts, literally the entire cast of Berseria minus Eleanor, Alvin from Xillia, Raven from Vesperia, Malik from Graces, etc.).
Both of these groups do nothing for the overall story, show extremely little by way of character development, and more often than not are eye-rollingly embarrassing. I cannot stand either and to see their roles in Tales to be refined would be a massive step in the right direction.
With the recent re-release of Tales of Vesperia, we started talking about which characters we liked above all else. From there, we also started talking about which characters we didn't like. So kicking off our lists are Richard and Natasha with their entries into our lists.
So, my favorite tales characters, eh? There have been a lot of characters that I’ve liked over the years, some with a clear dividing line between personalities and playstyles (Zaveid needs a nap!). Sometimes I barely liked ANY of the characters (Xillia, I’m looking at you. Teepo can stay). Really, it’s pretty had to choose a favorite character from the party members I’ve had over the years, so I’m going to do a little something different: favorite NPCs in tales games. Most of the others are going to be focusing on the main playable characters, so I figure this will give some light to those minor characters that may not receive the attention they deserve.
Sword Dancer(s)
Yes, my first pick is an optional boss, and no, I’m not helping you beat him. The sword dancer has appeared in quite a few tales games, and each time he appears, I love challenging him. He’s tough, pretty badass looking, and he gives some really nice things if you beat him. The sword dancer in Tales of Symphonia was probably one of the first optional bosses I’ve ever really fought in a game before, and that just grew my love for bonus/post-game content. If a game doesn’t have a post-game, bonus optional content, or a new game plus feature, I’m now a little annoyed, all because of Tales of Symphonia and this many armed marauder right here.
- Richard
Jade Curtiss (Tales of the Abyss)
One of the biggest TEASES in Tales history is this man right here. Jade is both sarcastic and witty towards everyone around him, and will always find a way to make fun of you. He was a prodigal genius at a young age, which didn't boast well with the people around him in his youth. He was cold and almost cruel towards everyone, until he met the right people who shaped him into the man he is today. To me, Jade comes off as someone playful, but hides it behind a sense of pride and duty. But piss him off and he will bend you over and well... Use your imagination. He is one of the most powerful casters (fonist) in tales games. And if you dare try to fight him one on one, even with a fon-slot seal on him, he'd still beat you mercilessly with his spear.
Men like him could easily bring me to my knees with his hidden bad boy attitude and piercing eyes, masked behind sharp looking spectacles, with a smile that screams mischief and deviance. DO NOT TRUST THE SMILE OR THE VELVETY SOMBER VOICE THAT COMES FROM THIS MAN. He will drag you down an alleyway and do God-Knows-What with you. We've seen how that worked with Dist the Runny *Ahem* I mean Rose. But overall Jade will put his life on the line to save the people he cares about even if he calls you a fool... With love. And lastly, nothing shouts NERD better than the Pac-Man belt he sports throughout the game.
- Natasha
Georg Heldalf
For a game that was incredibly mediocre at best, I really liked the villain from Tales of Zesteria. Apart from Edna and occasionally Zaveid, the game was generally full of lackluster, annoying, or just all-around uninspiring characters. And what the hell was up with the “quasi-four player” battle system?!? That was so dumb. But the Lord of Calamity struck quite the imposing presence, when you finally meet him, anyway. Heldalf, or “Kittybeard” as Edna calls him, isn’t just the major villain, but he also PLAYS the villain. This is a man who was battered and beaten, suffered and anguished, and then decided “screw it, if the world needs a villain so badly, than I’ll show you exactly what I can do”, and I really loved that aspect of him. Most Tales Villains fall into two categories: doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, or “kick the dog” level self-important villainy. Heldalf was neither, and it was rather refreshing to be honest.
- Richard
Velvet Crowe
I know what you're thinking... Another bad ass? (I guess I'm just into bad ass characters) Yuppers, Velvet is one of my favourite female leads in the Tales franchise. After the terrible failure that was Milla Maxwell in Xillia I was scared to see what the company was going to give us as the next female protagonist. Lo and behold, I was blessed with this sexy minx. She is what I wish most female protags strive to be, beautiful and strong. Right off the bat I was blown away by her design and dark back story. The more I played as her the more I could see myself in her, minus the demon arm... Doubt I could get through security with that thing hidden under a poncho. Velvet isn't just about strength, though. She also has a tender underbelly that she tries to hide from everyone. I don't blame her, she's gone through enough pain and betrayal, but when I see it slip from time to time, especially when she's with Laphicet, I tend to get the warm and fuzzies.
Her fighting style is fast and rugged, which makes it fun to tear the enemies apart. And her arm blade only makes her stand out as an individual. Don't irritate this black crow or she might *Coo, coo-ya* to the darkest folds of the earth.
- Natasha
Most Hated Tales Characters
Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World cast
Yes, not least liked. For this category I choose: the entire non-returning cast in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. The game was bad and the developers should feel bad. EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. SUCKED. Except the fact you could “pokemon” up your party with monsters. Woot more sword dancer. But seriously, every character was awful, the game was disappointing, and the main character has all the allure of a wet sponge soaked in sewer sludge. AND THE FREAKING UNNECESSARY FLASHBACKS EVERY TWENTY SECONDS. FOR GODS SAKE EMIL, HOW MUCH OF A MORON DO YOU HAVE TO BE, AND HOW EASILY INFLUENCED THAT AFTER A SINGLE SHITTY LINE THAT SOUNDS LIKE A REJECT FORTUNE COOKIE SLOGAN YOU SUDDENLY HAVE A MORE OUTSPOKEN AND UPFRONT PERSONALITY?!? SO DUMB. AND YES THIS IS CAPS LOCK BECAUSE I’M YELLING.
- Richard
Kratos Aurion and Flynn Scifo
I couldn't just choose one since I equally dislike both of these characters.
Starting off with Flynn, his sense of justice is smothering. Always doing everything to the book and walks around like he has a stick up his ass. Nipping at Yuri's feet about "the law" from start to finish of the journey is a constant nag. I get it, I killed people, but only because your precious "Laws" allowed multiple crocks to walk free with minor punishments, so E-X-C-U-S-E me if I decided to do the dirty work for YOU since you were too much of a puss to sully your hands. Plus... He's a knock off of Guy Cecil from TotA. Guy was a much better short hair blonde swordsman then Flynn. Could fight circles around him in his Sigmund style.
As for why I hate Kratos, well actually there's a long story to it, but to put it short... I had a good friend who actually introduced me to the Tales Series with Tales of Symphonia. I was excited to play through this JRPG I've never even heard off and right of the bat she started hounding me about how Kratos was the best character and that I wasn't allowed to play or crush on him. (Don't laugh I was younger and anime guys were... Still, are hot) Throughout are play through she kept going on and on about him being "wonderful", but the more I played the more I noticed how awful he was to our party members. He's got this everything-I-say-goes attitude and treats everyone with a grain of salt. By the time I got to fully know his reasons behind his actions I was too far gone in the hate pool that he couldn't redeem himself with the little bit of good deeds he did in the end. Thanks, but no, thanks. Crotch-Toast Oreo is what I've come to address him as.
