Collection essentials #509: Tales of the Abyss (PS2)

Here’s the fifth of the five new Tales games released in the series’ most prolific period of 37 months. This time we get another fully-3D game, with not only graphics in 3D but combat taking place in a 3D area as well.

(By the way, after that prolific period, there would even be ANOTHER Tales game released a year later, a full remake of Tales of Destiny made for the PS2…but that one won’t be making this list, as in my opinion it’s just not very good)

The protagonist this time is a teenage boy named Luke, and he’s a little different than you might expect from a JRPG like this. Luke comes from a royal family, the nephew of the current king. He’s a sheltered and pampered kid, so he initially comes off as a real brat. At the start of the game, Luke is with his teacher who is embarking on a mission when a woman shows up who tries to kill the teacher. Her attempt is unsuccessful, and some mysterious power flings Luke and the woman into the distance. The two of them aim to venture back so Luke can return home, but they begin meeting important characters along the way and learn of a potential war brewing. And thus the game’s plot is set in motion.

Tales games are known for having strong casts of characters as I’ve already mentioned, and Abyss has one of the strongest in my opinion. You’ve got fun personalities such as the witty and sarcastic Jade, Luke’s best friend Guy who has a serious phobia of women, and a hilarious young girl named Anise. There’s some wonderful character development as the game unfolds too, which I’m not going to spoil. The voice acting is very well-done for a mid-2000s game, thanks to the work of talented actors like Yuri Lowenthal, Johnny Yong Bosch, Kirk Thornton, and more. But sadly, unlike Tales of Legendia, the game’s skits are not voiced for the English release. As I’ve already alluded to, there’s a lot of hilarious moments in this game, but also plenty of serious moments as well for the advancement of the main plot.

The gameplay in Abyss is also a lot of fun, mostly copying the battle system we saw in Symphonia. There was one thing obviously missing in Symphonia’s controls that thankfully was added to Abyss, and that is a free run button! In Symphonia, even though the field of battle was in 3D, your character could only move towards or away from whatever enemy they were “focused” on at the time. But in Abyss, you can simply hold down a button if you wish to freely move around the 3D space.

I remember when Tales of the Abyss was first announced and released in Japan, and how great it looked. It wasn’t initially confirmed for an American release, and I would have imported it if I had to. But thankfully, a few months after coming out in Japan, we learned that we’d be getting an English version coming later in the year. I even remember the announcement video on a gaming web site which brought me the news. I was pumped!

For some strange reason, I didn’t pre-order the game. And in fact, the week it came out I drove over 20 minutes to a GameStop to buy it, only to find out it wasn’t in stock there. Oopsie. Of course, this only delayed my acquisition by a couple days or so, since the game wasn’t too hard to find. I played it pretty much right away, but I didn’t do so alone, as my sister Julia joined me for the entirety of my playthrough as she controlled Tear in battle. This meant that it took me a while to get through the game since she had to be available and feel like playing it with me, but it was worth it to share the experience. 

It’s been my general feeling all these years that Tales of the Abyss is my favorite Tales game. Its characters are probably the biggest factor, and the 3D gameplay with the new addition of the free-run button made battles a lot of fun. Future Tales games did introduce gameplay that was more refined and deep than Abyss, but Abyss’s is still plenty good enough for what it needs to be. Probably the worst thing I can say about it is that the music is nothing really to write home about, which is unfortunate because RPGs like this are known for having great soundtracks that greatly enhance the experience. However, it’s been close to two decades since I played through the game, so I’m not sure how my evaluation of Abyss would be upon a second playthrough. It is certainly one that I intend to replay one of these years, and I’m sure I will very much enjoy doing so.

Tales of the Abyss has seen one rerelease, but it was over a decade ago, so there is no real convenient way to buy it on the current market. But like Legendia, the original PS2 version isn’t especially rare and has a reasonable asking price. It’s definitely worth seeking out if you like other Tales games and JRPGs in general. It’s probably a solid first choice if you’re curious about Tales games but aren’t sure which one to start with. To me, it’s a wonderful example of what makes Tales great, making it a clear pick as one of my essentials.