For talking, there are three types of conversation in the game. True to the Tales style, one is having a picture of the character on screen, drawn in anime style. Whatever they say is written below, but also voiced for everyone to also read. This style ended up being rather slow, which did not allow for the conversation to flow like a story, even if you did skip through it. On average one second would pass before each message of dialog passed the game would pause, which would include from the same character. The second form of conversation is regular dialog between the main characters of the game, which is a tad bit better. There are just the character models on screen for this one, but it also allows the conversation to flow nicely. Finally you have the regular communication with regular NPC’s. This communication is only written, and because of that there are no voiceovers. This is the best of them all as it flows as quickly as you can hit the continue button.
Voiceovers are a must in RPGs today. People want to hear what the voice is for the character, especially since these games often come across as cartoony as well as Final Fantasy X setting the premise for RPGs especially on the Playstation 2. Sometimes we will like the voice, other times you will not. I enjoyed many of the voices in Tales. Most seemed to fit the image that was speaking them, and they were all suited to more upbeat parts of the RPG. The main character is serious for the entire game, but his voice does not suit the part, and so this does end up impacting the ambiance quite negatively.
You do have a broad range of voices though, from the teenage peppy girl, to the knowledgeable elder giving advice to the team, to the Free-Spirited warrior from the wilds. The fragile sounding voice of Shirley suits its role, as well as the cold-as-steel vocal of one of the many enemies in the game. The main villain is cast quite well, as he sounds evil in his role, not subdued and sounding bored with the role like you could hear in other games. The highlight voice of the game would be from the character Moses, played by Lex Lang (Whom had a role in Phantom Brave). He was great in his role, and really brought a warm feeling about to his offbeat character.
The main issue I ran into was the voiceovers were that some of them were good while most of them were poor, and housed an extreme lack of emotion. It seemed most of the time people were just apathetic to the issues they were trying to overcome, even going for more of a comedic flow. I assume that it was better in the Japanese version, which would be a reason why it would be ported to North America, so I had hoped that they would have done them properly. Some of the sound effects needed some work as well, as there was a weird worm creature, that looked very menacing, but when it roared... it sounded like a goat. In the end many of them hampered the mood of the game.
The game does try to implement a cooking option, which allows you to create your healing items to heal up the group. It is incorporated well, for those whom actually choose to use it. It is mainly a side feature that many may choose not to follow. It is nothing like the depth of the one found in Star Ocean 2, but it is still fun to try out. Furthermore there are little puzzles for you to solve, which you will come across in the dungeons, but none of them are challenging enough to really satisfy.
The game does continue on in the Tales style, but the bulk of the content is only average. I would more so recommend playing Tales of Symphonia first, to see if you like the style of game, before considering playing Tales of Legendia. If you previously played Symphonia, and are a hardcore fan, you the game will satisfy your thirst for the time being, but it will leave you wanting more. All and all, Captain Gordon gives this game... a B.
