The End is not the End.

[leene_chan]

I don't know why so many people say this game is short. I finished the main story in 70 hours. I did quite a few of the side quests and finished on level 63, but the later bosses in the last dungeon still made me break a sweat.

...And the ending was incredibly stupid. Or should I say that Asbel was just incredibly stupid? Why in the world did he think it was a good idea to let himself get possessed by Lambda, when Lambda was still dangerous and intent on destroying humanity? Saving Sophie was only half the reason. Asbel just wanted to show Lambda that humanity wasn't as bad as he thought. After a fifteen minute conversation with a swirling ball of tsundere energy, Asbel set out to prove to the world that all Lambda needed was a squishy hug to stop him from wanting to destroy the human race. He's going to protect Lambda for now on!

I'm not saying that ToGf is a bad game. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit--the gameplay was great and I liked most of the playable characters (except for Asbel and Cheria). The idea behind the story wasn't bad. The execution was just terrible. I wish that Bamco had just taken a risk and made Sophie the main character. Asbel was a useless, whiny, self-absorbed, self-righteous, ignorant tool, and I hated that by the end all the smarter and more talented characters just sat back and let him do whatever he wanted, even if it put the entire world at risk. You'd think that at least Malik would have tried to kick his ass. I would say that Asbel toppled Lloyd as my most hated Tales hero because of his corrupt system of morality (love them when they need you and then kick them to the side) but Lloyd still beats him because he has stupid-looking hair. So there.

Yet I'm still walking away from the main story thinking that I liked the game. I have hold on to the good memories and forget the bad...

I've been playing the Future Arc for a few hours. I'm trying out playing as Richard instead of Hubert. I had heard some people say he was weak, but he actually kicks ass in battle. If I were to rank the characters in terms of strength in battle from best to worst, I would say Hubert>Richard>Sophie>Asbel>Cheria>Malik>Pascal. Obviously, since Cheria is the main healer you need to keep her in your party. By the end of the game Pascal is pretty much worthless. But why is Asbel so damn weak?