I have a
budding yet already very complicated relationship with the Tales series. My first foray into the long-running Namco franchise was
Tales of the Abyss on the 3ds, a game
that aggravated and delighted me in equal parts: when I finished it, I was both
elated and vomiting the whole thing, and the ambivalence persists to this day.
My second Tales game was Tales of Phantasia, the original
instalment: it failed to capture my interest and I dropped it after a couple of
hours—although I’d wager that this was mostly due to the fact that I was
playing Final Fantasy Legend II at
the same time and thus had more than my fill of retro RPG. (I’ll play it again,
I swear, if only to recoup my investment.) My Tales experience is thus a mixed bag, and I was looking forward to
playing Tales of Hearts R, hoping
that it would provide me with unequivocally positive feelings and erase the
uneasiness I feel around the series: after all, Tales of Hearts has been deemed one of the best Tales entries ever produced, both in its
original, Japanese-only incarnation released in 2008 and its Vita-revamped
incarnation released in 2013 and 2014.
So, did Tales of Hearts R rise to the occasion
and manage to redeem the series in my eyes? Well, it did for the most part, and
quite brilliantly at that. I definitely loved that game and deeply enjoyed the
40 hours I spent playing it, and I can totally envision myself doing the whole
thing all over again in an undetermined future. And yet, the picture is not
perfect, as you certainly guessed from reading the title of this post. While it
is true that I loved Tales of Hearts R,
I could have adored it. In fact, I did adore it at first; but as playing hours
went by, my adoration somehow cooled down to become some kind of lukewarm affection.
It was still love all right, but it was definitely not as fervent as the fondness
I had felt during the early stages of the game, which I deeply regretted—and
still regret. Let’s now see how this loss of love unfolded during my run of Hearts R—with SPOILERS included, as you might expect!
The beauty of simplicity
It’s not
exaggerated to say that I fell in love with Hearts
R within the very first minutes of playing it. I was instantly charmed by
the overall aesthetics, all crystalline colours, sleek lines and gorgeous
vistas—although the bland world map could have enjoyed a bit more love, as well
as some of the dungeons. The contrast with the more retro-oriented, pixelated
aesthetics of the original Tales of
Hearts is striking; and yet, somehow, the two games manage to evince the
same slightly dreamy atmosphere—an atmosphere I was, and still am, very fond of. (It’s worth noting that Namco
cannot be blamed for having lazily ported Tales
of Hearts from one system to the next: the game went through a complete
overhaul, both graphically and in terms of gameplay mechanics.)
I was
just as smitten with the fighting system, which is an intoxicating blend of
Action-RPG and Hack and Slash mechanics. Battles are random and take place in a
separate arena in which you’re free to move at will and attack enemies from any
angle. This is similar to the fighting system used in Tales of the Abyss and represents a major departure from the system
present in the original Tales of Hearts,
which sported a side view of the action and relied more on carefully timed
attacks, parries and retreats. These changes make the fighting in Hearts R more frantic and fast-paced,
especially during boss fights, where moving constantly is pretty much the key
to survival. As in former Tales
instalments, you can switch between characters at will during battle, assign
Artes to specific button combinations for every character and customize
fighting strategies with a delighting amount of precision. Even neater, the
A.I. is nothing short of stellar: your allies can take care of themselves
incredibly well, retreating when necessary, healing the whole group profusely
and reviving dead party members without any input from you, and they dutifully
follow the strategies you assign to them. This fighting system is really quite
the gem, clear-cut and streamlined without ever being boring or repetitive, and
I enjoyed it all from the first battle to the last one.
I also
deeply enjoyed the overall user-friendliness of Hearts R. This is a game that is utterly dedicated to making your
gaming easier—in sharp contrast with Tales
of the Abyss, which seemed to go out of its way to make your life more
miserable. (Jeez, I should write a post about this game one day.) The
leveling-up system is easy to grasp and use: on top of gaining levels, you reap
some points that you must allocate to five virtues/qualities in a dedicated
menu. Once you get a certain number of points, you gain new Artes, Skills and
weapons to equip: simple and straightforward, just as I like leveling-up
systems to be. To make things even better, you gain levels quite often
throughout the whole game—even during the very last hours, which usually rather
show a slowdown in this department. Let’s also mention that all cutscenes can be skipped, even
during your first run: this is absolutely a blessing, especially when you’re
forced to make several attempts at a boss fight preceded by a cutscene. (Yep,
I’m totally speaking from experience there.) Also, shops always have the
products they offer in stock. While this may seem pretty obvious for an RPG, it
is not as far as the Tales series is
concerned: Tales of the Abyss’ shops
were regularly out of stock for unfathomable reasons, forcing the player to
backtrack or go forward in order to buy the goods they needed. (This still
makes my teeth grind, seriously.) Cherry on top of the convenience cake,
sidequests are available at all times—sometimes long before you can actually
fulfill them—and the characters presenting you with said sidequests are
identified by a yellow question mark floating over their heads. Now, maybe this
goes a step to far in terms of hand-holding; but I’d chose this configuration
ten times over the infuriating one present in Tales of the Abyss, where sidequests were available only during a
short period of time and not signaled as such, which could lead one to mistake
them for plot-relevant quests. (Once again, experience speaking.)
The game
also had me wrapped around its finger with its gripping pacing. During the
first 20 hours, time flies by as you visit one town after the other, explore
dungeons without a hitch and run ever forward, driven by a palpable sense of
urgency as you’re embroiled in an pressing quest in which every second matters.
There is not the slightest hint of backtracking and things flow unhindered, and
I really found myself more than eager to tackle the next milestone in line. In
fact, the pacing in the first half of Hearts
R is simply one of the best pacing that I’ve ever encountered in a J-RPG,
especially a story-driven one. It is compelling and intoxicating, and it makes
you feel like your actions truly matter in writing the game’s history. This is
not an easy feat, and Hearts R must
be praised abundantly for mastering that delicate alchemy between storytelling
and player’s input and giving the impression that what the player does makes a
difference in the game world—at least during its first half. Things turn sour
in the second half, as we’ll see later; but that doesn’t erase or nullify the
achievement of this compelling first half, which boasts an enthralling pacing
not matter what.
Last but
not least, Tales of Hearts R captured
my heart with its storyline, which is
simple and limpid yet strangely riveting. In an era where J-RPGs feel compelled
to brandish complicated and inflated storylines to distinguish themselves from
their peers, the clear-cut and unpretentious narrative of Hearts R was a delicious breath of fresh air. (SPOILERS ahead!) Here’s the gist of it: playing as the young,
lively and a-bit-dumb-yet-pure-hearted Kor Meteor, you find an unknown girl
passed on the beach next to your home village, bring her home and offer her
help… and end up accidentally shattering her soul, or “Spiria Core” as these
things are called in Hearts R’s
world, all under the eyes of her brother who joined the fray in the meantime.
Nice job rescuing people, Mr. Clumsy! Of course, you have to repair your
horrendous mistake, and thus ensues a desperate quest to collect the fragments
of the girl’s Spiria Core before less scrupulous individuals get their hands on
them—these things are laden with strong emotions, see, and can
be used to nefarious purposes such as manipulating people. Of course, there are
hints that the girl and her brother, Kohaku Hearts and Hisui Hearts
respectively, harbour deeper and darker secrets: a shady sorceress is out to
get their heads, a mysterious woman seems to live within Kohaku’s Spiria Core,
and a conveniently vague and ominous prophecy gives you an inkling that more
serious developments may lurk ahead. This all promised a compelling tale about
taking responsibility for your actions, fixing your mistakes and amending your
behaviour, mixed with a sweet budding love story—I mean, which boy wouldn’t fall
in love with a girl whose soul they are patiently rebuilding, and which girl
wouldn’t become smitten with a boy who is dutifully collecting the pieces of
her soul? This whole collecting affair could have turned into a giant boring
fetch quest involving an indefinite number of nebulous MacGuffins, but it
manages to be exactly the opposite, thanks to the engrossing pacing that I
mentioned above. The search for Kohaku’s Spiria Shards—much classier than
“pieces of soul”, indeed— occupies the first half of the game and is clearly
the best part of it as far as narrative is concerned. The good ol’ incentive of
Saving the World is all well and nice, but striving to cure a young lady from
an lifelong apathetic state in which you
put her because of your own stupidity and recklessness turns out to be just as
compelling an incentive—maybe even more, because it is not as ridiculously
overused as the “Save the World” trope.
So, this
is the game I hopelessly fell in love with: a beautiful and straightforward
tale about taking one’s responsibilities unfolding in a gorgeous game world
with crystalline aesthetics, complemented by a flowing adrenaline-laden
fighting system and a pleasant accessibility. Alas, this adoration was not
meant to last: I should have known that “simplicity” and “JRPG” is the biggest
oxymoron ever, and that this initial limpidity that I treasured so much was not
meant to last. And sure enough, it was only the prelude to the game royally soiling
itself.
Overplaying the part
Let’s be
blunt: the second half on the game, i.e. the last twenty hours, is a
sickeningly glorious exercise in fake longevity. For some reason, Namco felt
compelled to overinflate their game in various ways, ruining the gorgeous
simplicity that had prevailed in the first half of the game and sapping
whatever originality it had managed to muster. Indeed, the second half of the
game could be subtitled “Modern JRPG 101”: it is an amalgam of all the JRPG
clichés of the last fifteen years—party member turned traitor turned good again,
mechas slowly learning to feel emotions, heroes being the offspring of
courageous warriors who sacrificed themselves to seal a foe forever but failed
miserably at it, impossible love story and much, much more—and thus comes across as utterly unimaginative and
boring. Let’s now take a closer look at the various ways the game unraveled
after the halfway mark.
The
user-friendliness and gorgeous crystalline aesthetics endured until the very
end—the latter even increasing: the last third of the game is home to the most
breathtaking vistas. The fighting system remained mostly preserved too, apart
from one annoying detail: as the game went on, the fighting arenas became wider
in order to accommodate spell-casting foes. While this may seem
inconsequential, it had the annoying effect of forcing you to cross greater
distances in order to attack enemies. This both lengthened battles and made
them more tedious, as you could spend a good chunk of your fighting time just
running after moving enemies. Still, this was far from being the biggest
hurdle; and had it been the only problem appearing in the second half of the
game, I wouldn’t even have bothered mentioning it.
A much
more serious issue was the unraveling of the pacing. The compelling urgency
present in the first half of Hearts R
is put to death in the second half, as the game forces you to backtrack, make
detours and generally squander your energy in annoying wanderings. Dungeons
become larger without becoming more interesting in the process, bosses that you
already fought must be taken down a second or even a third time, and you spend
more time trying to locate that already visited town that you’re forced to
visit again than discovering new and exciting places. This dilution of the
pacing is actually a collateral damage, and can solely be blamed on the biggest
issue of Hearts R’s second half,
which is none other than the collapse of the storyline.
What a
waste, indeed. I cannot find any other words to describe my disappointment at
how the narrative of Tales of Hearts R
evolved in the last twenty hours, going from a straightforward and limpid story
to an over-bloated attempt at epicness bursting at the seams with clichés.
Sure, there were also clichés in the
first half, such as the recurrent recklessness of Kor, the overprotectiveness
of big brother Hisui towards little sister Kohaku and the obligatory lame
misunderstandings about peeping into the Ladies’ baths by accident; but they
were innocuous, and hardly noticeable. The clichés that plague the second half,
on the other hand, are massive and unescapable. (SPOILERS ahead.) Here’s what happen in a nutshell: once the last
Spiria Shard is collected and Kohaku is herself again, we discover that the
lady living in her Spiria is actually an extra-terrestrial being that took her
as host when she—Kohaku, that is—was still in her mother’s womb. But that’s not
all: in the same breath, we also discover that Kor himself hosts such a being,
unbeknownst to everyone, and that this being dressed like a disco superstar is
actually malevolent and wants to release the power of one of the moons orbiting
around the heroes’ planet—which happens not to be a moon at all, but rather a
giant flower-shaped artificial organism called Gardenia whose sole purpose is
to suck Spirias. Huh, really? Gee,
talk about imaginations running wild.
For all
the ludicrousness of this development, this is not even the worst narrative sin
committed by the game. This could actually have passed if it had been handled
properly: the “aliens living in Spirias” plot twist comes across as
conveniently shocking while not popping up entirely out of the blue, and Creed,
the ultimate bad guy dressed as ABBA in their heyday, is threatening enough to
give you the desire to eradicate him on the spot. And that is what should have happened, in my opinion: I
was so pumped up when Creed revealed himself that I wanted to finish him
immediately, after taking down his cronies one by one in the most epic showdown
of them all. Instead, the game forced me to run away from these fights, kicking and screaming… Only to make me spend the next bloody twenty hours trying to find a way to reach Creed and his
crew again after they escaped into a flying fortress and set up to rouse
Gardenia.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is clearly the bloodiest,
dirtiest narrative crime Tales of Hearts
R is guilty of. To reveal the identity of the big baddy at the halfway mark
is not only stupid, it is also totally counter-productive: anybody could figure
out that after twenty hours of pursuing said big baddy, even the most motivated
player will be bored to death and have lost all their motivation to set things
right—anybody but the guys at Namco, that is. Sure, they tried to make that
over-extended second half easier to swallow by stuffing it with flashbacks, character
development and various twists and turns, but this simply does not work. All these events come across as hurdles and
hindrances whose sole purpose is to extend the game’s longevity, and that is exactly what they are. But there is
worse: in the context of Hearts R’s
storyline, this development is purely and simply unbelievable. We are talking
about saving the world from a giant alien menace; I will gloss over the
unbearable platitude of the whole premise to concentrate on how ludicrous it is compared to the game’s
previous events. To put it simply, your party is not up to the task. This
miscellaneous crew of characters from all walks of life was competent enough to
collect pieces of a girl’s Spiria, but saving the world seems just too huge a
task for their frail shoulders. No matter how hard the game tries to convince
you that they can do it by shoving the old “If we’re united we can overcome any
obstacle!” credo down your throat until you vomit it, it is simply not believable, not even remotely. This
development is too wide a stretch, and it comes across as redundant J-RPG fare:
saving a single girl was not enough, oh no—they had to throw the whole world
into the mix.
I have
nothing against saving the world in JRPGs, mind you; but the way Hearts R presented things is just too
clumsy and hard to swallow. The transition between “Piecing a Spiria together”
and “Saving the World” is way too abrupt—“inexistent” would actually be closer
to the truth, even though the game tries to squeeze in a sequence in which your
party ponder their options and wonder if they are up to the task—yet after
that, events take much too long to unfold until the final showdown. Namco could
have made these developments much easier to digest by either: a) Letting us
fight Creed and his cronies right after they revealed themselves and before they actually endangered the
world for good by rousing Gardenia, thus putting an end to the game around the
20 hour-mark, or b) Cutting the game in two distinct parts—the first about
curing Kohaku and the second about saving the world—and letting a good amount
of in-game time pass between them. The latter was done in a good number of
games, from Solatorobo to Popolocrois, to great results; and it
would certainly have worked just as well in Hearts
R. The whole “Saving the World” business would have seem much more
plausible if a couple of years had elapsed between the two halves of Hearts R, giving the characters the
opportunity to train and become accomplished fighters instead of the bunch of
misfits they are, and the issue of the abrupt transition would have evaporated
altogether. The two instalments could have been sold separately, à la Tales of the World, or put together on
the same cartridge and separated from one another by credits à la Solatorobo. Of course, the option of
letting us fight Creed and his crew right after they revealed themselves and
ending the game there was also perfectly viable. It would have been all the
more viable as we do not actually
fight Gardenia itself at the end—the game fortunately didn’t step as far as
pitting us against an moon-sized alien entity—but rather Creed, after which the
menace is eradicated for good. This outcome reinforces the feeling that
Gardenia was only used as some kind of plot device to increase tension—to no
avail, as far as I was concerned—and that things could have been dealt with
twenty hours before, when we first uncovered Creed and his crew. But I guess such
an option was simply out of the question: the game would then have been slandered
for being way too short, clocking at “only” 20-or-so hours. Oh, well.
That
being said, I don’t want to sound overly negative: I did love the second half of the game too, and I didn’t exactly have
to force myself to finish it. Fighting was still just as compelling, the vistas
were just as gorgeous, and the lovely ending was just what I expected, letting
us (SPOILER) witness Kohaku and
Kor’s sweet love confession to one another (END OF SPOILER). All in all, I’m really glad that I finished that
game, and I enjoyed every minute spent playing it. To end on an unashamedly
positive note, I am quite optimistic about any future run of Hearts R: now that I know what to
expect, I won’t be disappointed again and I’ll certainly be more able to enjoy
the game for what it is instead of projecting my own expectations on it.
Although Heart R’s story ended up
being longer and more convoluted than I had hoped for, the game still managed
to redeem the series in my eye and make me want to try more Tales entries. I certainly love it ten
times more than Tales of the Abyss,
at any rate, and I will undoubtedly play it again. I’m also quite curious about
the DS original; and since I actually own it, I will probably play it sooner or
later, if only to satisfy my insatiable curiosity regarding gaming history.
Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
Currently playing it as well. Like the other Tales of games, Hearts is a rather bland experience to be honest. I liked the characters and the battle system but the rest (story, pacing, dungeon design, etc) ranges from bad to average. However, I specially loved the bright colors and the skill building system (Soma).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm currently at the sewer to infiltrate Straga and save Calchedony, how much longer until the end?
I do agree that the fighting system is the game's saving grace, as well as the overall aesthetics. I also liked the characters quite a lot, despite how cliché they were. (Except Beryl, who didn't really belong in the plot in my opinion.)
DeleteStraga and Calchedony, hum... I'd say you still have a good eight to ten hours after that, but that depends on your way of playing. Overstretched game is overstretched! I remember that this rescue mission irritated me to no end: it felt like a cheap trick to extend the game even more, and the fact that it took place literally right after Kor&co claimed that they would concentrate solely on taking down Creed and deviate from that path for nothing or no one only added fuel to the fire. Jeez, guys, do what you say and let me finish that game already!
Talking about Calchedony, if you've never controlled him while fighting, I suggest you start training now. Just sayin'. ;-)
Beryl offered nothing to the story, she's just there as the token loli moe. Hisui's importance to the plot is also questionable.
DeleteEight to ten hm? I guess that's acceptable then. I kinda find it hard to drop a game unless it's really really bad and Hearts, at the end of the day, is still a pretty enjoyable game.
Yeah, this sudden change of plans really surprised me too but I guess it's due to Namco not knowing how to properly insert Calchedony into the story. In case you don't know, Calchedony had a very minor role in the original Hearts DS, he wasn't even playable.
"Talking about Calchedony, if you've never controlled him while fighting, I suggest you start training now." oh, I see, thanks for the heads up!
Yes, Hisui was pretty much the token overprotective big bro... But at least, he was a great healer and thus useful in battle, unlike Beryl.
DeleteWell, that explains a great deal! To be honest, I wish Namco had kept Calchedony out of the playable characters. My party felt seriously cluttered at the end, with way too many members to choose from. Oh, well...
Finished it! 28:03:46. I'm not sure if I'm happy because I finished the game or because I'm done with it though, so it's not exactly the best reaction. The game suffers from terrible pacing and the end isn't even satisfying. Oh well, better games to come. I'm playing Tales of Symphonia it's shaping better than Hearts to be honest.
DeleteIt's funny that Calchedony felt "forced" into the story while the presence of Gall, a completely new character, seems totally normal. I also agree with the too many members part but since they all have a rather capable AI and none, bar Hisui, are essential, I just switched around between them to increase their bond.
Well, congratulations anyway! :-D I agree that the ending is quite unfulfilling and anticlimatic, and the pacing in the second half of the game is nothing short of horrendous. Fake longevity in all its glory!
DeleteGee, I would NEVER had guessed that Gall was a brand-new character! He fits so well into the game and gives a welcome touch of maturity to the party... As you pointed out, the same thing cannot be said about Calchedony. How ironic!
As a rule of thumb, Namco usually adds one character whenever they remake or port a Tales of game. For instance, Tales of Phantasia got one new character when they made the Playstation enhanced port and got one other new character when they remade for the PSP.
DeleteMost of the Tales of games have a pacing problems, being Hearts and Eternia the worst offenders. And all that importance given to Calchedony is rather jarring and worsens the pacing to be honest. After he joins the party it's like he's the main character for a couple of hours. While that's not bad in itself, Namco did a poor job with the writing in that part.
Gall, on the other hand, blends in really well. He actually fits in and gives both good advises to the party and some good jokes. I started the game knowing he was a new character and I didn't like his character design but I warmed to him and even mainly used him in the last 10 hours.
Good ol' Guy was in my party from beginning to end, as well as Hisui; I switched Beryl with Kohaku as soon as the latter became playable, and dutifully stuck to that party up until the end. Except, of course, when the game forced me to control Calchedony during that boss fight... ;-) Jeez, the guy was so painfully slow compared to Kor, I thought I would never make it through that fight. *sigh*
DeleteI already thought the pacing in Tales of the Abyss was pretty bad, especially towards the end, but it was nothing compared to Hearts R's pacing. Now, if you tell me that Hearts R is one of the series' worst entry when it comes to pacing, that gives me hope for future Tales games! If I could survive Hearts R's lethargic pacing and still enjoy the game, then certainly I can appreciate other Tales instalments as well... Gee, I'm somehow looking forward to playing more Tales games now! :-D
I mainly went with Gall + Hisui and switched around the other slots with the other characters. Hisui being a ranged healer makes him an invaluable party asset.
DeleteA word of advice Isleif, in general the stories of the Tales of games are really poor and boil down always to same thing (Bad guy shows up, then the REAL bad guy shows up but neither are really "bad" just misunderstood), what really makes this games appealing are the character interactions and the battle system and also the bright colors and colorful world/characters.
While pretty fun games, they are far from being objectively "good" games. Although being "objectively good" is also rather subjective, no? :p
PS: If you are planning on playing another Tales of game always try to play the most updated port/remake!
Your description of the typical "Tales" plot made me laugh out loud. :-D It's spot-on!
DeleteI already know that the Tales series will never be one of my favourite RPG series out there, but it does have some charm nonetheless, so I will keep trying other entries. It's not like I have a lot of them to play: apart from the unfinished Tales of Phantasia, I only own Tales of the World and Tales of Eternia on the PSP. Hopefully they will be good!
Well, I already played like, 8 Tales of games, I think? At least they are fun enough that are keeping me somewhat interested in the series. It's far from being one of favorites though.
DeleteHonestly, I think only Tales of Innocence, Tales of the Tempest and Tales of Xillia are really bad. The rest are pretty decent and fun. (If you think Hearts has a lackluster ending, you would be surprised with Xillia's ending, it's even worse).
Oh wow, you're playing the GBA version of Phantasia right? That one is pretty notorious for its bad translation. Phantasia itself is pretty good though.
To be honest, I've had the same issue with the endings of both Abyss and Hearts R: they are not long and detailed enough for my taste, and they gloss over too many plot points. These are story-driven games bristling with cutscenes, and I expect such games to deliver lengthy and elaborate endings, but my expectations are visibly not shared by the guys at Namco. Oh, well...
DeleteYes indeed, I own and started the GBA version of Tales of Phantasia. I'll finish it one day, when the mood is right...
I enjoyed the game quite a bit, and didn't really notice the padded length at the end, although I will admit that the series as a whole has a padding problem just to fulfill a 3-arc story template.
ReplyDeleteI loved it too; but gosh, I would have loved it even more if it had been 15 hours shorter. As a whole, I really feel that the Tales series has an issue with length and padding: Namco just tries way too hard to make these games long epics à la Final Fantasy when it's not even really necessary. In my opinion, the series' identity would be even stronger and more unique if Namco allowed themselves to make the Tales games shorter.
Delete