Snowflake challenge 2025, #3

[majoukoufu]

(Backdated so I don't have to mess around with multiple sticky posts.)

Challenge #3: In your own space, talk about a fannish opinion you hold that has changed over time.

I know the "Symphonia fan who had only played Symphonia, expected Legendia to be just like Symphonia, and hated Legendia as a result" is sort of a 200Xs Tales fan cliche... but in my case, replace Legendia with Abyss, since I was able to find a copy of that locally first.  I hated Abyss so much the first time I played it!  The characters, the art direction, the game mechanics, you name it.  These days, while Abyss still isn't my personal fave, it is a game I on balance find interesting, with a lot of depth to its worldbuilding, and I appreciate its attention to sequence of events.  I'd say overall it's one I like.  (I still have some bugbears about some parts of TotA, especially sidequest design.  But that's in part because a lot of good character work and world detail is hidden behind those sidequests, with multiple steps and narrow time windows to find them.  Some lingering criticism with a reason I can articulate instead of reflexive "I don't like any of this because it's not the one I already am a fan of.")

What changed my opinion was just plain playing more video games.  As I played more of them, I found that I could like a wider variety of things for what they were, rather than looking for more of a tiny handful of specific games that were my first faves.  Not sure how that works, but I appreciate being able to appreciate more things!

Comments

[wendelah1]

It's so interesting that despite hating Abyss, you kept at it. What was it that kept you going?

[geraineon]

I came here through snowflake challenge because I love Abyss and is always curious about what other people think of it. Haha. I get it though. My tales play order was Phantasia, Eternia, Abyss, then the order is a bit messy with Symphonia, Destiny and Destiny 2, but all of them were so different from Legendia that I couldn't get into Legendia despite knowing that the story is good, having multiple friends who liked it, etc.

I'm glad you ended up finding Abyss interesting and you gave it a chance!

[majoukoufu]

I put it aside and came back to it a few years later, because I'd already found then that I'd changed my mind on enough things that I'd seen or played when I was younger. And since I still owned the disc (shoved it in the bottom of the PS2 bag and forgot about it tbh), it just made sense to me to try and give this one another chance too.

[wendelah1]

Yeah, that makes sense. Not with games, but I've had that happen with books.

[majoukoufu]

I rarely run into people who started with Phantasia, that's cool! Yeah, Legendia seems really hit or miss, and a lot of the people I know who like it best are people who started with it. I don't dislike it, but I do hope it's one of the games they're planning to remaster. A little gameplay QOL would go a long way on that one for me.

[geraineon]

Phantasia happened because my high school friend was very, very into Eternia so I checked out Phantasia first while waiting for a copy. I think that's how it happened in my memory anyway! Lots of fond memories of Phantasia~ (though it's quite dated now, I guess, in terms of mechanics and story XD).

Makes sense that it's easier to get into if that's the very first Tales game played. I wonder if it's hard to get into other Tales games if Legendia is the game they started with.

I'd play Legendia if it gets remastered with QoL! I think I can probably do it now since it's been such a long time, and yeah, like you, I've played a bunch of other games since then.

[majoukoufu]

I replayed Phantasia (X Edition, anyway) pretty recently and found it held up better than I expected. Some of its elements are more cliche now, but it seemed pretty solid.

I don't think my old Legendia friends moved on to other Tales games, so maybe there's something to that.

Legendia apparently trends every time they talk about remasters or remakes, so I think there's a fair audience for it! And it has one existing translated release, so there's at least somewhat less work for it than Rebirth or Innocence or such (I don't know whether they're adding more text languages to Graces). I do hope it happens.

[geraineon]

That's good to know about Phantasia! Maybe I should do a replay one of these days.

Crossing fingers we'll get Legendia! I'd love for Innocence to be remade too. I was halfway through Innocence R and then I moved countries and somehow never finished it. I really should get back to it. Rebirth is one of the few Tales I've not played.

[lavendre]

I got into Tales via Vesperia years ago, so I moved down the line toward older games but am yet to make it to Legendia (despite having it for years lol... scratches head). Abyss was a trial to get into at first for me and I don't think I was really crazy about it until a second playthrough because Luke is a tough protagonist to indulge in point blank. After Vesperia I played Symphonia, Abyss, Zestiria, and Berseria. I would love to play some of the Tales in my backlog this year, I think it's time.

I appreciate being able to appreciate more things!

It's a good feeling!

[majoukoufu]

I'd love to see your thoughts on Legendia when you get around to it! It's got some unique development circumstances and approaches to things.

It's just so nice to be more likely to have a good time with something.