Tales of the Abyss

Tales of the Abyss is one of the high points of the Tales series from the PlayStation 2 era, released in Japan in 2005 as another installment in the long saga shaped from the start by Namco Tales Studio. The story takes place in the fantasy world of Auldrant, where magic operates on the principle of so-called fonons — fundamental particles that influence weather, technology, and the fate of individual nations. The hero is Luke fon Fabre, a spoiled nobleman imprisoned in the golden cage of his own manor, who, after an unexpected attack, finds himself out in a world he knows nothing about and must, for the first time in his life, learn to navigate among people he had previously known only from his servants' reports.

The journey of Luke and his companions gradually reveals the darker layers of a seemingly idyllic world — questions of fate, manipulation, and human identity, which the Tales series often handles with more gravity than the title might suggest at first glance. The combat system is built on real-time action battles, where the player combines basic attacks with so-called Fonic Artes, magical abilities tied to fonons, and switches fluidly between party members, with each character having their own fighting style and set of special techniques. Battles take place along a linear axis of movement, which gives the game a fast pace and room for flashy combos, and the player can also configure the behavior of AI-controlled party members.

For the PlayStation 2, it was one of the most ambitious JRPGs of that generation, with dozens of hours of content, an elaborate combat system, and an epic story that shifts dramatically in the second half of the game, forcing players to reconsider who they're actually rooting for. It's precisely this shift in narrative tone that remains, among fans of the series, one of the most beloved and discussed moments in the entire Tales series.

Why play it: For its well-crafted action combat system and a story that's one of the strongest in the entire Tales series.