Tales of the Abyss arrives as the eighth main title in Namco’s Tales series, and it lands with a bold claim: a free-roaming battle system that lets players move anywhere across the battlefield. That system is the headline, and it is a genuine advance over what came before. The game’s setting, story and cast back up that ambition, but not always at the same pace.
Trailer, via IGN.
The World of Auldrant
Auldrant is built on elemental particles called Fonons, and the discovery of a seventh Fonon — Sound — sets the whole plot in motion. That Fonon lets readers see the future, and one reader named Yulia Jue sets a course for the world’s future that spans thousands of years. The prophecy is called the Score, recorded on stone tablets scattered across the world.
The nations of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Malkuth fight over those tablets, each trying to read the future before the other. A holy order, the Order of Lorelei, guards the Score and keeps the peace. The Score itself breeds a dangerous ease among the people of Auldrant, even as it predicts the ruin of whole lands and peoples.
Luke’s Return Home
Luke fon Fabre is the main character. A young aristocrat, he was kidnapped seven years ago and returned home with no memory of his past. His uncle, the King of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, kept him locked away until the story begins. Luke meets Tear Grants, a member of the Order of Lorelei who hunts her brother, Luke’s teacher Van Grants.
Their meeting triggers a reaction between their bodies’ Fonons, sending them flying to a distant land. Tear escorts Luke back to Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, but the journey leads them into Malkuth instead. There they meet Jade Curtiss from the Malkuth forces, Fon Master Ion from Daath and his guardian Anise.
The Score and Its Antagonists
The Score’s promise of endless prosperity has a dark side. A slaughter of an entire people on the island of Hod, along with the ruin of that landmass, was allowed because it was written in the Score. That fact hangs over the story throughout.
Asch the Bloody acts as an anti-hero, while the Oracle Knights include a leader named Mohs and six God-Generals, each with their own grudge against Luke and his friends. Those Generals include Legretta, Arietta, Dist, Sync and Largo, each with a motive tied to the Score’s grim history.
Battle and Performance
The free-roaming battle system is the game’s biggest draw. Players can move freely around the battlefield, and the combat stays fast and fluid despite the added freedom. It is a technical advance that Namco’s team clearly wanted to show off.
“Karma” by Bump of Chicken opens the game, but the western release drops the vocals in favor of an instrumental version, thanks to licensing issues.
The score comes from composers Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura, and the game carries the genre label “To Know the Meaning of One’s Birth RPG,” a name Namco gave it.
The Long Road Home
Luke’s journey takes him through many lands, and the story keeps adding new characters to the mix. Guy Cecil serves as Luke’s servant and best friend, while Princess Natalia waits for him back in Kimlasca. The cast grows steadily, and the pacing sometimes drags in the middle stretch.
Where It Falls Short
The game’s ambitions occasionally outpace its execution. Some parts of the story feel rushed, and the game leans heavily on familiar Tales tropes without pushing too far beyond them. The ending asks big questions about identity and fate, but the answers arrive quickly rather than building slowly.
Final Word
Tales of the Abyss is a worthy entry in the Tales series, and its battle system remains a standout achievement. The story is dense, ambitious and often moving, but it asks for patience the game doesn’t always reward. The free-roaming battles alone justify the purchase, even if the overall package isn’t perfect.
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