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Aldarant is a planet composed of Fonim, a material energy found in all things. Long ago, a new kind of Fonim was discovered, but great chaos was brought with the finding. By using this newest Seventh Fonim, one could read the future. The presence of this unbelievable power caused an outbreak of terrible war and violence over it. The fighting damaged the earth and a poisonous gas known as Shouki was released. Many became ill or died from the Shouki. When all hope for salvation seemed lost, a figure emerged with a solution. Her name was Yuria Jue, a Seventh Fonimar who could see the future. She told of how they could seal away the Shouki, and put in place a future for the world for thousands of years to come. This prophecy of the future's set path became known as the "Score", and is documented on Tone Tablets which were scattered throughout the world. The kingdoms of Kimuelasca and Markt have fought over the fragments of these tablets for generations, uncovering them and hoping to discover the future before the other. Only some of the tablets have been collected, assembled, and read, and there is a legend of a Seventh Tone Tablet hidden away by Yuria in a secret location, containing the last chapter of the future of the planet.

The Score foretells of an "Unprecidented Prosperity" which is destined for the world. In order to secure that this prosperity is reached, an organization called the Lorelei Church presides over the Score and ensures that the world proceeds according to the Score's predictions. The Lorelei Church is the neutral force that mediates the two tense nations of Kimuelasca and Markt, and the church's leader, Ion, has devoted much time to keeping peace between the two.

According to the Score, in ND 2000, a child will be born who will inherit the power of Lorelei and lead Kimuelasca to this "Unprecidented Prosperity". He will be a red-haired boy of noble blood, and will be called the Holy Flame's Light. And in ND 2002, another man who seizes glory will destroy the place of his birth. It will be called Hodo. Afterwards, until one more cycle of the seasons has passed, Kimuelasca and Markt will continue their fighting.



The year is ND 2017. Luke fone Fabre, the son of Duke Fabre of the Kimuelasca Kingdom, is 17 years old. He is the Holy Flame's Light who is destined to bring prosperity to Kimuelasca. But since being kidnapped seven years previous by the Markt empire, he has been kept confined to the Fabre family mansion. The shock of the kidnapping erased all of Luke's memories previous to the event. But one fateful day, a mysterious woman breaks into the mansion, and sets off a chain of events that will change the world forever...


-Wikipedia

Tales of the Abyss contains many interesting features, quests, and items available through the game.

Cooking
As in past Tales games, Abyss features a cooking system unique to the series. The player collects recipies and ingredients throughout the game, and can use them to cook. Different recipies require different items and have different effects. Also, the player can increase characters' cooking stats for each recipe by having them cook the recipe frequently.

Skits
A tradition in the Tales series, skits make another appearance in Tales of the Abyss. In Abyss, a skit is triggered by pressing the select button when a skit title and prompt appears in the bottom-left corner of the screen. On the skit screen, the anime-style faces of the characters taking part in the skit appear and interact with each other, with different expressions. The skit faces are very animated, sometimes shaking, growing larger, or moving across the screen to accentuate what is happening in the skit. Skits can range from dramatic to comedic, and across a wide range of subjects. Some skits are related to the main plot, and some can only be obtained through optional side events.

Sword Dancers
Like in Tales of Symphonia, these optional bosses appear at certain parts of the game, and are only available to fight at that time. The Sword Dancers are usually fairly advanced enemies for their point in the game. To be able to fight each successive Sword Dancer, the player must first defeat the previous Sword Dancer. There is a rare item obtained as a reward for defeating all three Sword Dancers.

Sorcerer's Ring
The sorcerer's ring in Tales of the Abyss is a magical item that Mieu wears around his waist, and can be upgraded in dungeons to perform different helpful actions. These include: Mieu fire, where Mieu blows a ball of fire straight forward, used to activate switches and solve various puzzles; Mieu attack, where Mieu is propelled forward to break objects and hit switches; and Mieu wing, where Mieu flaps his ears and lifts the player into the air, useful for reaching high platforms and ladders.

Weapon Quest
As with Tales of Symphonia's Abyssion sidequest, Tales of the Abyss has an optional weapons-collecting sidequest. The player travels all around the world to obtain the six Nebilim weapons, then brings them together and fight Gelda Nebilim herself, a very challenging battle.

Battle Arena
As with most Tales games, Abyss also includes a large battle arena. The player can choose to enter as a group or as a solo fighter, and in one of two difficulty rankings. At the end of the Hard Mode team tournament, there is a battle against a group of characters from past Tales games: Reid Hershel (from Tales of Eternia), Philia Felice (from Tales of Destiny), Nanaly Fletch (from Tales of Destiny 2), and Mint Adenade (from Tales of Phantasia). By completing the different Arena tournaments, the player can earn various rare items and character titles. Note: Items are not available to use during any of the battle arena fights, except for the cameo battle. So, it's best to have a curative spell handy or an ability that automatically regenerates your HP.

Titles and Costumes
Abyss also features it's own set of titles which each character gains through a series of tasks or events that have unfolded. These titles can have random effects, some of which are stat-related. In the tradition of newer Tales games, some of these titles also change costumes. Each character has their own unique costumes that they can dress into (such as Luke's beach wear: white bandana and red shorts) To get such costumes the player must accomplish certain tasks, like playing the Dragon Buster mini-game.


-Wikipedia

Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System

The Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System is fully in real-time, and allows characters to run anywhere on the field a la the Star Ocean series. However, battles still take place on straight lines. Free run is initiated by holding L2, and once the button is released you will be on a line to the enemy you have currently targeted. This way the game manages to combine the ideas of both Star Ocean and Tales of, and thus create a new and interesting experience.

Characters can learn additional (AD) Skills to help them in battles. These can be equipped and unequipped at will. The game features a very large number of these skills, and the range from basic abilities, like Free Run and Backstep, to skills that make you unable to get stunned by enemies entirely. AD skills are learned by using "Capacity Cores", items that give you stat bonuses when you level up your character. Ones a certain statistic have a large enough bonus, the AD skill will be learned automatically.

The game controls very similarly to other Tales games, bearing much of a resemblance to "Tales of Symphonia"'s battles, except with a much increaed manouverability. Pressing O allows attacks, X Skills, 口 Defence and triangle button will call a menu with multiple functions, such as using items or command an ally to perform an action. This system, unlike Tales of Legendia, offers multiplayer co-op battles, and the camera for this mode is much improved over the one found in the last 3D Tales of, Symphonia. Your friends will still need to adjust to slightly awkward angles, but they will now at least always be on screen.

The game features many skills and spells to unleash upon your enemies. The most interesting addition to the system in this department is the "Field of Fonims" (FOF). Whenever an elemental spell or skill is performed, a circle will appear on the ground corresponding to the the used element. Once that element has been used enough times, the circle will light up to signify that a FOF is available. If a character now stands in the circle and performs the correct skill or spell, this will be transformed into a much more powerful elemental version. Using FOF is central to the battle system and should be mastered early. Beware though, as you enemies can also make use of the circles in order to power up their attacks. Tales of the Abyss also sees the return of the popular Hi-Ougis, incredibly destructive skills that can only be performed when certain conditions are fulfilled. Every character has one standard Hi-Ougi, and everyone in your party except Guy and Natalia have a hidden one.

-Wikipedia

Funny, as Luke goes One on One with Asch as Lloyd did once with Kratos. Dude, I love Guy.

The link doesn't work. . . Even when I copy and paste it to the adress bar. . .

Right you are about Guy. 3nodding

Oh, that one. . . I saw that before. It was pretty cool. I hope they don't change the theme song of the game if TotA does get translated. -_-

Okay. I added the "End of Tales of the Abyss" link. Hoorah, spoilers galore.