Tales of the Abyss review

But the funny thing is that he also annoys everyone else in the game. And when the first big plot twist hits, they take it out on him - too much. We were swept into the story by then. It only continues to build for the rest of the game's run time... thanks to plenty of cutscenes and text-based skits, you'll get one of the best-developed groups of characters in the history of RPGs.

This is the finest story of the Tales series. Though it sometimes plays fast and loose with logic - like when the characters realize someone's cursed but don't do anything about it until hours later, when he tries to kill Luke - you're going to want to know what's going down.

Above: Luke's easily surprised, like many RPG heroes