i've only watched a lets play of Xillia 1&2 and they were decent I suppose

By the by, the games I've played (in this order): Xillia, Symphonia, Dawn of the New World, Graces f, Xillia 2, Zestiria, and Beseria.

Tales of Graces F. I liked the flow of combat more in that game than Xillia and Xillia 2, which are the only other games I've played. This is probably due to the lack of MP in that game, meaning you can just spam your power attacks and not really get punished for it. I also like the story better than Xillia, but maybe that's because I haven't beaten those games yet thanks to certain bosses being annoyingly hard.

i've only watched a lets play of Xillia 1&2 and they were decent I suppose If you have a PS3/4 then you should try out Berseria. It's pretty damn good and I feel the characters and story are a huge part of that. Plus it's battle system is a lot simpler than past games. Tales of Graces F. I liked the flow of combat more in that game than Xillia and Xillia 2, which are the only other games I've played. This is probably due to the lack of MP in that game, meaning you can just spam your power attacks and not really get punished for it. I also like the story better than Xillia, but maybe that's because I haven't beaten those games yet thanks to certain bosses being annoyingly hard. Tales of Graces f is pretty alright though I'm not able to finish it due to some problems with my PS3 controllers. I prefer Xillia 2, but that's just me.

I've only played Symphonia so it's my favorite by default I guess. Haven't touched it in a while or even finished it, but the combat is interesting, even if I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I just spam Tempest Slash and strike from behind most of the time.

I just spam Tempest Slash and strike from behind most of the time. Same tbh.

I am stuck between Abyss, Symphonia and Berseria. Symphonia was my first one, Abyss has storywise my Heart and Berseria characterwise. (Rokurou and Eizen are so great) The others I know are Xillia 1&2 , Zesteria, Vesperia. I loved all and I looked into some of them but they didn't intrest me.

I've always wanted to play Vesperia and Abyss but I lack a 3DS and a 360 to play them on. Maybe I can find a PS2 copy for Abyss or something. And I agree with you on Berseria's characters.

I actually bought and tried Xillia 1 and 2 because of how a review showed them, and I regretting it as soon as I started. The combat controls drove me crazy, completely differing between exploration controls and combat, hard to remember and not fun to play as either character. Unappealing interface to me in general. Couldn't get into the stories either. 2 didn't rectify any of these issues I had, and I was ecstatic when I sold them and recooped my money. I vowed to never go on a review alone when buying games. I need to do a lot more research. And I also know to avoid Tales games as well. They do not resonate with me at all.

I've always wanted to play Vesperia and Abyss but I lack a 3DS and a 360 to play them on. Maybe I can find a PS2 copy for Abyss or something. And I agree with you on Berseria's characters. Abyss also has an Anime, which is okey, but I like the game more. Vesperia on the other Hand, the movie sucked. The game is good.

At least you learned a valuable lesson, Togo. The combat for Xillia 1 and 2 was one of my favorite aspects. It was fun coming up with my own combos for my characters, and playing it alongside my brother made the experience a whole lot better. I will always remember fight the bonus dungeon's boss Golden Mage Knight on Unkown. It was a journey I'll tell ya. Story wise, Xillia was meh, but that's where 2 did pretty alright actually. The characters improved as well.

I'd prefer playing the games over watching the anime. It's just not the same.

Yeah, it was really only the combat that really put me off. I can do real time action okay, but I think I prefer it open world, think Zelda or something. You aren't limited to a pseudo battle ring where you can't change the camera angle. That makes combos very confusing for me.

Or could you control the camera? I barely remember it. I just recall some combos needing movement and it seems movement control would differ depending on how you oriented yourself. And in such a tight arena, that is pretty challenging, in a bad way, for a newcomer like me.

I played with my brother so the camera pulls back to keep both players on screen. Not sure about single player, but I'm pretty sure you could adjust the camera in settings

I tried to play symphonia but I never got through it, however I have completed Tales of Grace F so I suppose that's my favorite!

The only one I got is Abyss, so there's my favorite.