...and now I have the urge to go back and play Tales of the Abyss again *facepalm*
I finished Dawn of the New World! \o/ So that makes, what...4 Tales of series games completed? I was about halfway through Eternia when I left California and consequently my brother's PSP, alas.
Anyway, I'm gonna have two sections to talk about the game: one that has story spoilers and a general, zero-spoilers version.
SPOILERS:
* The last few scenes of the games were full of unintentional luuuulz. If you've seen the meme-ish SNL version of the One Tree Hill season 2 finale, or even the scene itself, you'll know what I mean when I say that I was cracking up imagining "Hide and Seek" (mmm WHATCHA SAAAY) (ETA: Apparently 'Whatcha Say' is a new song that's completely different, sort of "sampling" the one the episode actually used. Oops.) playing during the Alice and Decus death scenes. Because it goes something like this: Decus protects Alice, Emil runs up and slices him in the back, then Alice slaps Marta, then Marta kills Alice, and they're lying next to each other..and yeah. I don't even know if this makes sense to anyone reading it, because you kind of have to see both the SNL clip and the game scene. XD
* Also, has Corinne always been the Spirit of Heart? Because when they said that, I was like "wind, water, fire...HEART. With our powers combined..." and was way too amused by this.
* DUDE. They did a good job in making me think that the game ending might be bittersweet, at first before the final battle(s) I was like "riiiight Emil's not gonna sacrifice himself, they're gonna find a way to let him not have to seal the door"..and then by the time he and Richter sealed themselves in, I was like O_O W-wait...no...So I was insanely relieved with how things turned out, though it seemed a bit too neat in some ways. Like, if it was that easy to just split himself between core and human then why didn't he think of that before? And did Richter sacrifice something? I was confused by the glowy-ness.
* Wow, the main couple actually kissed. Slightly off-screen, sure, but it was so sweet, aww. Glad that Marta got less clingy by the end, though she's still far from my favorite female character.
/SPOILERS
Okay, and now for the non-spoiler version.
* I have NEVER played a game that had more fade-to-black "...and that's what happened" scenes. XD Seriously, it seems like every 20 minutes they're telling someone what happened since the last time they'd seen them.
* Annoying and hilarious at the same time is the fact that the other party characters scold you for using artes/items ALL THE TIME. And really hypocritically, too. Can't even count the number of times Marta had TP in the single digits and said "you can't just use artes!" when I had 75%+ left of my own TP. o_O Even worse is when I'd use a life bottle and she'd be like "you're using too many!" Umm, okay, I'll leave you dead next time, then? SO ridiculous.
* There are a LOT of fights that you're supposed to lose in this! And one, apparently, leads to a bad end. That...doesn't entirely seem fair. :p This is why I consult walkthroughs at the part I'm at, avoiding spoilers but also trying not to waste time/items.
*...I finally got to the point that if anyone started saying "courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality," I skipped listening to the dialogue. :X
Anyway. I also finished the fantasy novel (The Wayfarer Redemption) that I was reading, and am not not sure what to read next. Hmmm. I have the next one in the series, but I think I need a break from it. And I don't want to start another fantasy epic (like Song of Ice and Fire, which I recently got the first book of as well). Maybe I'll get to the library and get one of the many random books on my to-read list.
(I tried to read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and I...really didn't like it. It's a gimmick and was only funny for like 10 pages. ANYONE can add the words "plague" and "zombies" and "combat training" through a classic novel, and a lot of people could have done it better. Only good, in my opinion, for those who wouldn't have read the original normally. For someone like me who already knows Austen's work too well, it was dull. :\)
Anyway, I'm gonna have two sections to talk about the game: one that has story spoilers and a general, zero-spoilers version.
SPOILERS:
* The last few scenes of the games were full of unintentional luuuulz. If you've seen the meme-ish SNL version of the One Tree Hill season 2 finale, or even the scene itself, you'll know what I mean when I say that I was cracking up imagining "Hide and Seek" (mmm WHATCHA SAAAY) (ETA: Apparently 'Whatcha Say' is a new song that's completely different, sort of "sampling" the one the episode actually used. Oops.) playing during the Alice and Decus death scenes. Because it goes something like this: Decus protects Alice, Emil runs up and slices him in the back, then Alice slaps Marta, then Marta kills Alice, and they're lying next to each other..and yeah. I don't even know if this makes sense to anyone reading it, because you kind of have to see both the SNL clip and the game scene. XD
* Also, has Corinne always been the Spirit of Heart? Because when they said that, I was like "wind, water, fire...HEART. With our powers combined..." and was way too amused by this.
* DUDE. They did a good job in making me think that the game ending might be bittersweet, at first before the final battle(s) I was like "riiiight Emil's not gonna sacrifice himself, they're gonna find a way to let him not have to seal the door"..and then by the time he and Richter sealed themselves in, I was like O_O W-wait...no...So I was insanely relieved with how things turned out, though it seemed a bit too neat in some ways. Like, if it was that easy to just split himself between core and human then why didn't he think of that before? And did Richter sacrifice something? I was confused by the glowy-ness.
* Wow, the main couple actually kissed. Slightly off-screen, sure, but it was so sweet, aww. Glad that Marta got less clingy by the end, though she's still far from my favorite female character.
/SPOILERS
Okay, and now for the non-spoiler version.
* I have NEVER played a game that had more fade-to-black "...and that's what happened" scenes. XD Seriously, it seems like every 20 minutes they're telling someone what happened since the last time they'd seen them.
* Annoying and hilarious at the same time is the fact that the other party characters scold you for using artes/items ALL THE TIME. And really hypocritically, too. Can't even count the number of times Marta had TP in the single digits and said "you can't just use artes!" when I had 75%+ left of my own TP. o_O Even worse is when I'd use a life bottle and she'd be like "you're using too many!" Umm, okay, I'll leave you dead next time, then? SO ridiculous.
* There are a LOT of fights that you're supposed to lose in this! And one, apparently, leads to a bad end. That...doesn't entirely seem fair. :p This is why I consult walkthroughs at the part I'm at, avoiding spoilers but also trying not to waste time/items.
*...I finally got to the point that if anyone started saying "courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality," I skipped listening to the dialogue. :X
Anyway. I also finished the fantasy novel (The Wayfarer Redemption) that I was reading, and am not not sure what to read next. Hmmm. I have the next one in the series, but I think I need a break from it. And I don't want to start another fantasy epic (like Song of Ice and Fire, which I recently got the first book of as well). Maybe I'll get to the library and get one of the many random books on my to-read list.
(I tried to read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and I...really didn't like it. It's a gimmick and was only funny for like 10 pages. ANYONE can add the words "plague" and "zombies" and "combat training" through a classic novel, and a lot of people could have done it better. Only good, in my opinion, for those who wouldn't have read the original normally. For someone like me who already knows Austen's work too well, it was dull. :\)