Rita does have that tidal wave infinite…:wonder:
damn, I really wish I had a 360 for this game. when i get back to the states i’ll probably invest in one…
I’ve only put 5-6 hours or so into the game but yeah, I can see why it sold so well in Japan. It doesn’t disappoint.
Also, a game from the Tales series that has a world map without lag! That annoyed to all fuck with Abyss.
As the story progresses, I like Yuri more and more as a storyline character and less and less as a playable character. That recovery of his is MURDER.
Got Raven. He’s no Natalia but he’s still pretty fun.
What recovery? Just end with artes. He always has full TP if you use FS Bonus.
Rita (infinite Tidal Waves in OL) and Yuri (hacked in pretty much every way, 10 base attacks with all 3 Combo Plus skills + Free Run attack, Tension skills allow him to pull 5 MYSTIC ARTES in a combo).
BTW, in case you guys don’t know, you can add an extra hit to some characters’ base combo attacks by holding the LT and doing the Free Run attack right after you use up all your normal attacks. Yuri for sure can do it, Estelle can (but Extra Combo is better for her anyway), and I think Repede can.
Rita
Spoiler
I’m a bit of a pervert so maybe I’m reading something that isn’t there, but Rita appears to have a TOTAL girl crush on Estelle. And yes I know that one woman showing affection for another is hardly a testament to romantic feelings, but Rita seems to REALLY REALLY want to be around Estelle.
The artes are laggy too. Then again I’m not too far in. I have Azure Edge, the spinny-kicky-slashy one, the “stab the earth” one, the “I think I’m Karin leap into fire shockwave” one, the three-hit punch, and a couple of others. Maybe I just suck at using Yuri: I’m used to Luke/Guy/Reid shenanigans where they’re quick enough to block and even run after a combo. For me, enemies catch me while Yuri does his “post attack flair” nonsense.
Also I have no “FS Bonus” skill yet.
Good to know.
Rita
Spoiler
Yeah, she’s WAY too into Estellise. Seems like she’s got another type of “experimenting” in mind. 
This game owns so much, just got to the last dungeon. Judy is insane, she flies around the screen like a damn ninja. Although she’s nowhere near as effing ridiculous as Yuri (Five Mystics in one combo? lolz) or Karol (semi-infinites with repeated Havoc Break/Devil Rage Rise on a downed opponent, WTF) in melee, I still have the most fun playing her.
On the topic of Karol, anybody else think Japan had way too much fun fucking with that kid’s day? His name, a giant purse, and to boot…
outfit
Spoiler
a dress outfit that says in the description he could “get used to it”? :lol:
Rita and girls
Spoiler
Although it gets implied that all three of the girls do like Yuri in some way, though. Especially that one part where Yuri holds Rita’s hands and they give her the blush bubble.
Rita
Spoiler
I’m maybe halfway through the game, and it doesn’t seem so bad later on, but towards the beginning I agree. There is one point where they are sleeping in the same bed. I’m pretty sure there were more beds too, so there was really no reason for that.
I just beat Bruce and got nothing for it. My chars were at level 40 and Bruce is 62 or so. I think it’s weird that the character would be there, and there is no achievement or anything for winning that fight. I didn’t feel like coming back later, so I figured I’d just beat him. Knowing my luck, I probably have to come back later to get anything out of it.
Brucis is a Giganto Monster, you get Achievements for killing all of them, and if you started the subquest with the two people at that traveling inn you get a title for Karol.
Starting that subquest is retarded though, because you have to do it after you’ve seen your first Giganto Monster (Hermit Drill in the Weasand of Cados)…but you can’t have killed it. If you did, you’re fucked and the quest won’t activate. I guess they wanted you to be a bitch and run from it.
Yeah I killed Hermit Drill as soon as I saw him. I’ll keep it in mind for next playthrough, although I think a lot of things are unnecessary. Like the secret missions. I’ll check a sidequest faq after I finish the game at least once.
Raven’s a healer? He didn’t have any healing when I looked at him. I will look again. I don’t think Estelle is a bad healer or anything though. She runs a little too slowly to really use well, and Nurse/Nightingale takes about an hour and a half to come out. I pretty much just always tell her to heal on a tough boss fight, that way the heals come in when you need them.
Raven has love shot, which is a skill, not a spell, so it is instant-cast (I think?). I’ve run out of TP, but still haven’t had anyone die in combat ever since he joined up. I don’t even pay attention to HP anymore.
Still having fun. Kinda looking forward to New Game+ since apparently I missed every-fucking-optional thing. I’m at the point where shit went down and we are heading back to Zaphias and I still don’t have any costumes, just accessories. I guess I’ll need a cool-down period anyway for some good guides to hit.
Man… :mad: This is bullshit! Everyone sees to think/imply that Rita wants to be with Estelle and be huge perverts about it.
This sounds like Karol’s getting null respect! How else can he expect to hit it off with Rita, so I can be a big pervert about this?! :mad:
I want to play Vesperia so fuckin much. Too bad I live in the UK =(
Anyone keeping up with Throughhim’s Innocence translation? It’s coming along pretty nicely.
Yeah, so did I. Then I found out about that stupid quest and was like, “Way to go Namco.”
Doing all the secret missions in one playthrough (they all have to be done in the same playthrough) gets you a costume for Yuri.
They seem tedious. You’d have to check either the Xbox Achievements to know how to do them, or a faq. Either way you’re risking spoilers. It’s not like the game tells you how to get any of the secret missions. Some you’ll get because the battle field itself is a clue (like knocking the bridges off against Barbos) but others I don’t know how you’d know about (I’ve heard there’s one where you’re just supposed to block for awhile or something?).
Yeah, they definitely spoil if you look at them early. I just look as soon as I get to the boss fight, my TV’s right next to my computer so I’ll just pull up GameFAQs. As for that fight you’re talking about…
a boss battle late in the game
Spoiler
That’s probably the Flynn fight. You have to allow him to use all of his Artes, including his Mystic Arte and his magic, before you take him out.
But by far the most annoying one is…
another late game boss fight
Spoiler
the Yeager one. You have to wait until he reveals his blastia, then you have to Guard Break him (where he bends over and looks winded) and then have Raven use his “Rain” Arte right into his chest without anyone else hitting him.
I hate bad guys in Tales games that are just normal guys (by the world’s definition of “normal”) who need four party members to beat.
Barbos, Zagi, Van, Arietta
[details=Spoiler]The Barbos fight is an example. When we were about to fight him, I thought, “okay, he’s got that powerful blastia and probably goons, so I can see us needing a whole party.” He loses the blastia, and then I said out loud, “Let me guess: this dude is good enough to fight our whole party.” And, despite some goons, yeah, he needs a whole party to take down.
The second Zagi fight is similar. I can honestly see Yuri getting overwhelmed in the first fight by Zagi’s sudden shift in attitude. Fine; Yuri needed some help. That’s cool. But between then and the boat suddenly Zagi can tackle your whole party. And, like most of these bosses, he’s “hard” because he has like ten times the HP you can EVER get. It’s silly.
Going back to Abyss, I actually thought it was alright that you needed a whole party to fight Van. The game established him throughout as ridiculously strong, strong enough to easily fight the six of you head on and come out on top. Fine. No problem. But why can every one of his lieutenants, who are NOT that good in cutscenes (and one would assume canonically as well) fight your whole group one-on-four? I tell you, the Arietta fights should have gone like this: multiple monsters, along with one hanging around near her that intercepts all attempts you make at hitting her. After all her monsters die, she should Mystic, and if you live through it, SHE SHOULD GO DOWN IN ABOUT TWO HITS BECAUSE SHE’S A LITTLE FUCKING GIRL. Argh.[/details]
Ranting aside, I’m still having trouble playing as Yuri. I just got the Knuckle Duster and am making good use of stun-free multiple backsteps but I can’t seem to find a good attack string for taking on multple enemies on my own other than “run, run, run, Azure Edge, run, run, run, Azure Edge, run, run, run, Orange Gel, run, run, run, Azure Edge.” One-on-one he’s fine, except against bosses with quick attacks that hit before his guard comes up. Am I missing something?
I tried using Estelle, partly because I liked using Zelos in Symphonia. She’s too slow for my tastes though. I really like her as a character, though: she isn’t “force-fed cute” like the likes of Colette or Shirley, but her naivete and, dare I say, nerdiness are rather endearing. We just saw the “Judith and Repede” skit. Estelle was hilarious. “WHY THE FUCK DOESN’T HE LIKE ME!?”
Judith is pretty cool, and I really appreciate her non-Japanese lack of submissiveness: she knows she’s good in a fight and she knows she’s attractive, and she’s cool with that. The timing on her air Artes is a little trickier than I expected. My cousin is using her right now and she’s slowly getting the hang of it.
Raven gets a healing move, apparently? At what level? We don’t want our fourth CPU slot to always be Estelle.