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“WHAT TALES GAME SHOULD I PLAY IF I’M NEW TO THE SERIES?”

Tales is a great, very charming JRPG series and I’m glad you’re trying it out! It’s like Final Fantasy in that you don’t need to play any one to understand the others, though they may have small references, world connections, or cameos. You’re totally fine to just play whichever one you like the idea of best. 

Short Answer: In my opinion, if you’re only going to play one, play Tales of Vesperia (available on Xbox 360, PS4, Steam, and Switch). It’s the most balanced and has all the things that it needs to really exemplify what a Tales game is. It also aged pretty well.

Long Answer: If you’re planning to play through a bunch of Tales games, I recommend just playing them in the order they came out, as some didn’t age well and are hard to go back to gameplay-wise because they feel clunky after playing more refined recent entries. (Symphonia is really tough to go back to if you play Vesperia first, I imagine.) Here’s a list with some notes, which you can take as positives or negatives, depending on your preferences. Some of these points are very subjective! 

I was going to list my favorites, but my favorites are apparently like half of the titles, so that's probably not helpful.

The consoles listed below reflect the North American versions of the games.

NOTE: I've decided to add a couple of content warnings to two of my game blurbs (Berseria and Arise), but I have not done similarly for any others. These two just had some things I personally felt really strongly about and thought some people might appreciate a heads-up for. I don't intend to do similarly for any of the other titles, so if you have any concerns, please research the games.

Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube, PS3, Steam) 

• animated intro is accompanied by orchestral music; no song lyrics
• has a cooking system
• has skits (without voice acting)
• good characters and reasonably optimistic plot
• includes fantasy racism as a plot point ):
• “linear” battle system with no free-run
• lots of sidequests, very replayable
• the game that has Lloyd, the “I lied, it’s actually hot” coffee meme guy

A classic, and many people's first Tales game. It's a solid game and a good intro to the series, though its battle system feels a bit dated now. The characters are very sincere and you can build relationships with the characters to a small degree, which affects some scenes as well as determines which of two particular characters will end up in your endgame party. Very replayable for sidequests, too. The game is incredibly earnest and its protagonist is really, really JRPG, in a good way.

This game can also be purchased as Tales of Symphonia Chronicles for the PS3, which includes ToS and its sequel, ToS: Dawn of the New World, which is fine but not super exciting. Note that the characters from the first game don’t feature very heavily in the second one. The Chronicles version of ToS is lightly remastered and also includes some additional costumes for your characters. I don't remember ToS2 super well, but I did like its skits a lot and didn't like the atypical party arrangement (2 human characters and 2 Pokemon-esque monsters of your choice).

Tales of the Abyss (PS2, 3DS)

• animated intro is instrumental with no song lyrics
• (song tune is the game as JP version, but with electric guitar instead of singer)
• has skits (without voice acting)
• free-run introduced into battle system
• very detailed world building
• lots of great sidequests and replayability, but obtuse direction for finding them :U
  
• there are some sections of gameplay that lag really badly and it's kind of painful (I'm looking at you, Meggiora Highlands and Inista Marsh)

Abyss is a big upgrade from Symphonia, with a more robust battle system and really great world building. Abyss is one of my favorites for its character dynamics and excellent skit conversations that do a wonderful job of visually conveying party dynamics. It also has good world building, and its main themes are those of purpose and identity. This game has the same scenario writer as ToS, and I like her work.

There’s no real difference between the two versions, by the way. One is just portable.

Incidentally, I am married because of this game. I’m serious.

If you’re interested in the story only (as the writing is quite competent), I really recommend the anime adaptation of this game, which came out in 2008/09 and has a solid 26 episodes. It’s been licensed by Funimation (subbed only), so you can find it online or on DVD, and it does an excellent job of keeping the entire plot intact while also keeping the character dynamics that help make it memorable. It feels character-centric and very sincere.

Tales of Legendia (PS2)

• has a cooking system
• has skits (voiced!)
• linear battle system is back
• surprisingly bright, clean graphics
• surprisingly not-hideous world map screen
• different composer and character designer than usual
• feels very different from the other games
• includes a mainline plot, plus a series of “character quests” that reveal backstories

This one will kind of feel like a step back from Abyss because it has Symphonia’s linear battle system as well as bizarrely “chibi” chunky-looking character models. The graphics are actually pretty nice overall, and the world map is actually one of the prettiest in the series. Beware the navigation system for the world map if you get lost easily, though. It’s weird and uses a compass.

Legendia gets passed over a lot for being sort of the "black sheep" of the series, with its different character designer and composer, but it has good energy and is very colorful. The OST has some really excellent tracks, too. After you finish the mainline plot, character quests become available, which give you more information about the characters and their specific backstories. This game is very "extra", as they say, so you'll probably either like its vibes a lot of hate them. 

Tales of Vesperia (360, PS4, Steam, Switch)

• animated intro has an English version of the song the JP version has!!
• (the English version of the game also includes the JP version of the intro)
• has a cooking system
• has skits (still voiced!)
• lots of options for your battle system
• plays like a more detailed Abyss
• really beautiful locales, since it was the first HD Tales game
• decent world-building
• everyone but me hates Karol for some reason?
• sidequests, lots of skills to learn

Vesperia is the epitome of a Tales game, in my opinion! It has great characters, a very likeable familial party dynamic, and wonderful relationship development between everyone. The world building is not as detailed as in Abyss, but everything feels fully fleshed out and immersive. The battle system is also fantastic, and the gameplay is enjoyable. This was the first HD Tales game, and they really worked to make it pretty.

The version of this game that came out after the 360 one adds Flynn as a playable character, and adds a completely new character to the story (Patty), who is also playable. I haven’t played this version, so I don’t have a verdict on Patty.

Bonus: Rita kind of has a canon gay crush on Estelle, and there’s no canon straight couple in the party.

Tales of Graces (PS3)

• animated intro with English version of the song the JP version has!!
• no cooking system specifically, but there’s a type of crafting system
• (which also makes food, so it’s kind of a cooking system)
• voiced skits, because they all have voiced skits after Legendia
• neat new gimmicks for battle system, like side-stepping and no “MP” bar
• kind of lazy world-building (the “science” character uses gibberish a lot)
• sidequests mostly involve making things with the crafting system

This one begins with the party as kids, and then time-skips ahead to when they’re older, which is sort of novel. This game is much more visually pastel than the others, and I like the snappy battle system. It added some new gimmicks without feeling clumsy or rushed. It also has the good old plot mainstay of “ancient technology” and it has a good feel.

When you finish the game, there’s also an “f arc” (future arc) you can play through that takes place post-game, but it’s not really necessary and… kind of doesn’t add much. It’s just kind of a nice extra that explains the main game's epilogue animation.

Bonus: Richard and Asbel are canonically kind of gay in the mainline story. (Another character even makes a comment about this.)

Un-Bonus: the f arc is aggressively heterosexual.

Tales of Xillia (PS3)

• animated intro with JP version of song only (and no subtitles ???)
• no cooking system (you just buy food items already made)
• voiced skits that are kind of redundant (usually reiterating whatever was just discussed) :T
• highly polished, very responsive battle system
• very refined gameplay controls
• hands-on level-up system where you can decide what stats to increase/skills to learn
• vague world-building
• sidequests are numerous, but extremely dialogue-heavy and usually fetch quests
• two different protagonists (one male, one female) who you can play through the game as for a slightly different experience/to get different parts of the story
• Alvin is a huge, insufferable tool, sorry :U

Xillia is my least favorite Tales game, whoops. It plays great and has fantastic, very refined controls and a lot of great battle details (like character-specific battle skills, an excellent menu, and a great level-up system), but I hate the writing and the sidequests really suck. You can choose your protagonist at the start of the game, which affects which scenes you get later on in the story when those characters’ paths diverge, but the female character’s plot ends up focusing pretty notably on her doki-doki feelings for the main guy (five years younger than her…), and it’s kind of exasperating.

This game also has a sequel (Tales of Xillia 2, also on PS3) which features a different, silent protagonist, branching storylines, and some kind of time-travel component. Like with ToS2, this sequel is probably mostly worth playing if you love Xillia. I do not, so I'm not playing it.

Tales of Zestiria (PS3, PS4, Steam)

• animated intro with instrumental version of JP song
• no cooking system (characters have a cooking skill that randomly produces different food, though)
• skits are, of course, voiced, and use half-body sprites, which are sort of clunky
• large, more open world
• plot is sort of negative?
• battle system no longer takes place on a separate screen
• battle system is unrefined, but uses lots of new ideas
• reasonably likeable characters with good designs

I felt Zestiria was a little lacking and unpolished in terms of game design, especially after Xillia’s extremely refined controls and battle system. If you really want a “Tales” experience all around, you may be better off sticking with an earlier entry.

I did like the characters a lot more than those in Xillia, but the writing completely falls apart about halfway through the story and it’s kind of startling how badly they drop the ball with it. Yikes. The world map feels wonderfully ambient and also huge, which I really liked, but the world building felt kind of stiff. I do want to give props to the localization team for doing a really solid job with what was there, though.

Bonus: you can definitely interpret Sorey/Mikleo as being boyfriends. (And neither ends up with a canon girlfriend, AND people don't comment on how they're "like brothers" or whatever.)

There’s also a full anime adaptation of this (26 episodes), both subbed and dubbed by Funimation with the same voice actors as the game. It has very high-quality animation and the plot was reworked to be less broken, so the story is a bit different. I honestly liked it a lot more than the game's scenario writing, so if you felt like you could almost have liked Zestiria, give it a try.

Tales of Berseria (PS4, Steam)

• has animated intro with JP version of song and no subtitles
• story goes before Zestiria and ties in vaguely character-/plot-wise
• voiced skits with more cut-ins, solid number of animated cutscenes, and pretty locales
• has a female protagonist!
  
• cooking system is back!!!!!
  
• great “found family” party of characters
  
• robust battle system where even the spellcasters are fun to play as (!!!)
  
• actually enjoyable and varied sidequests thank god
  
• the Tales-est BGM you can imagine

I finally got a PS4 and played this after dragging my feet on it since it came out. I was initially put off by claims by some people that it was “finally a Tales game dark enough for them!!!”, but it’s… really not dark at all. In fact, I think it’s probably the Tales-est Tales game since Graces. 

As a fair warning: if you’re easily embarrassed by very anime or dramatic dialogue, this game will kneel you. The Reaper’s Curse thing and “Artorius killed my brother!” are incessant for like the first third of it.

But the game is very earnest and the characters are significantly better written and developed than I expected. The themes of platonic love are strong and recurring, and there’s no romance side plot. It also plays really well and is the only Tales game where playing as a magic-forward character isn’t a tedious “push a button and then wait” situation. If you were hesitating on this one like I was, please give it a try because it did, in fact, give me an Emotion. It also fixed basically everything Zestiria did wrong.

And though this is technically a distant prologue to Zestiria, they’re not related all that substantially and you can absolutely play one without playing the other. I personally didn't feel Berseria enriches Zestiria all that much, despite liking it as its own thing.

Content Warning Note (spoiler-free): Just a heads up that this game does do this... really Not Great thing where some of the characters (all over the age of 18) kind of sexually antagonize the character who's 10. Magilou (who is otherwise honestly a pretty fun character) is the main instigator of this, and while it isn't constant or anything, it happens at least once unavoidably in the mainline story and a couple of other times in sidequests, and I found it really uncomfortable. The victim (Laphicet) does do his best to deflect and is always either uncomfortable or genuinely clueless when it happens, so it's definitely not a joke he's having with. Idk. Just be aware this happens, I guess.

Tales of Arise (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X & S, Xbox One, Steam)

• has animated intro with JP version of song and no subtitles
• voiced skits, but instead of drawn character portraits, they're "comic style" and use moving renders
  
• cooking system is still here and is tied to a campfire scenario
  
• decent, solid battle system with flashy, polished animations
• teleporting is available basically from the start, thank god
• visual development was lead by the character designer, so everything looks cohesive
• they gave Motoi Sakuraba more than $10 for this OST and he made some intense pieces

I really, really wanted to like Arise, especially with the high hopes given to me by my unexpected affection for Berseria. They put a lot of money into this game, but it still falls flat a lot more than I'd hoped. The localization was rushed and is really clumsy in places, especially in the second half, but that's not to blame for the lackluster scenario writing. 

I think there were some good ideas for solid emotional story beats, but the writing feels like a first draft and nothing build up the way it should. Granted, I feel like Tales games are often kind of bad for this, but it's really bad here. Also, they were really determined to make it possible to pair off all three guys with all three girls and for me it missed that found family feeling a lot of the games have.

It's a beautiful game visually, but it feels like it was embarassed to be a Tales game or committ to any of the series' usual hallmarks. The skits don't make much effort to give the characters any dimension or let them have any fun, and it sort of feels like a slog at times. I think it would have benefited a lot from the drawn portraits, at least to lend the characters a little more personality. 

Content Warning (includes minor spoilers): Some friends of color were dismayed that no one gave them a heads up on this, so I'm giving you one here. The sole character of color, Dohalim, is not handled great. He has some past trauma that makes him react to a specific trigger, and because of this, he flips out on the party without warning and attacks them in a berserker rage not long after they meet him. The game also has slavery as a plot point, and the writing seems to think it has something to say about this, but it... really doesn't. It forgets this element of the characters' backstories frequently, and it also does that "if we fight against the people who committed genocide against our planet and enslaved us, maybe we're as bad as them!" thing a lot. So. Again. Heads up. 

“Hey but what about [title not listed]?”

There are more games, but the older ones can be hard to find in English and tend to be expensive. The ones I listed above are the more recent (2004 or later), easier to find ones that you’ve probably heard of and shouldn’t have any trouble obtaining!

Also, I haven’t gotten my hands on some of the old ones, so I don’t have an opinion on every single game, haha. Here are my summary opinions on the older titles (pre-Symphonia) that I’ve played, though.

Tales of Phantasia (GBA): The oldest entry in the series. It's understandably very dated, even in its GBA form. (It was originally a SNES game in Japan.) It has very classic JRPG vibes, and I recommend playing it only as a curiosity. It has a very basic and kind of trite plot, but it’s trite in an endearing way. Beware the really unfortunate English voice clips they added to this version, though. Also, Suzu’s artes situation is like… levels of bad. (Arte name and voice clip don't match with the action she does.)

Tales of Destiny (PS1): I finally got a complete copy of this in nice shape without spending like $200CAD (sob), and my verdict is that it’s absolutely charming. It has a really 90s feel and the characters are likeable and colorful, and the sprites are cute. Also, there are talking weapons and lots of orbs. The battle system feels a bit basic, but it plays well, and the story and world are great. If you can get your hands on this one, I really recommend it. It's one of my favorites.

“Tales of Destiny 2” / Tales of Eternia (PS1, PSP*): As a long, confusing forenote, Tales of Eternia was released on the PS1 in North America as Tales of Destiny 2, which was a stupid move because it’s not actually a sequel and Namco later made the real Tales of Destiny 2, which we didn’t get an English release for. Anyway, Tales of Destiny 2’s North American PS1 release and Tales of Eternia are the same game. PSP Eternia only got a European release in English, but the PSP isn’t region-locked, so you can import it.  

The PSP version is a gameplay port, and I feel that the battle system is a bit deeper than Destiny’s while also being… weirdly convoluted somehow. I had a bit of technical trouble with it. The characters in Eternia are great, though, and everyone has really loud color schemes. I love it. I found the main party immediately likeable and the plot starts quickly. Oh, and one of your main party members is basically the “me, an intellectual” meme as a person. (This can be a positive or a negative.)
 

Tales of Innocence (DS) / Tales of Innocence R (PS Vita): Japan-only, which is why I’m listing it down here. The “R” version is a remaster. This got a really solid fan localization, but there’s no official English release. Anyway, I’ve illicitly experienced it in full, and I do not recommend it. The gameplay is fine, if sort of basic, and there’s a kind of interesting “friendship level” you can keep track of, which alters the ending somewhat. However, ToI is pretty seriously plagued by its bizarre reincarnation plot. (I hate Asura and was really glad when [REDACTED SPOILER] happened.) One of the characters was a talking sword in a past life, though, which is hilarious and maybe its only redeeming quality. The reincarnation thing also gives the character interactions a sort of LARP vibe. Hmm. Even besides the really weird stakes applied to the reincarnation situation, the game’s writing is really horrifically fatphobic and will not stop dunking on one character for being “fat”. Her character art and model are both thin, which is. Baffling. The characters are a mixed bag and Luca and Spada have some accidentally vaguely gay thing going on, but I don’t think the rest of this is worth braving for that alone. If you're absolutely bonkers for reincarnation plots, maybe you'll have a better time with this than I did, but that's your deal. 

And that’s about it for now! If you have any other specific questions, feel free to let me know. Otherwise, happy gaming!

 - Sage
(last updated: 01/03/2022)