Tales of Eternia because it's the only one I have ever played, lol.

I've only played 5 Tales games. Berseria is my favorite. Best combat system, charactes and story IMO. Followed by Vesperia DE and Symphonia in third.
Phantasia would take #4 and Zestiria is the one I liked the least, even with the fact that its the same "universe" as Berseria, that game was not good.

Bonus: I really hope the writing is not as generic as trailers make it look like. The visuals are great, the combat system looks fun. But the dialogue I've seen so far its really not great.

Tales of Berseria for me. I only played through it earlier this year, but it very quickly became one of my top 3 in the series, and by the time I was done it had taken the top spot from Xillia. Symphonia would probably be #3 for me.

Now this is my kind of thread.

1. Symphonia - Favorite game of all-time! While the gameplay has improved slightly in later titles (free run most notably), I still consider the gameplay in this one excellent and the story and my favorite cast of characters are what secures it the top spot
2. Vesperia - A match for Symphonia in most ways with slightly improved gameplay and another great cast of characters, but I do prefer the story in Symphonia
3. The Abyss - Another excellent title with much in common with the two above. The story is a tad messy, but still very great
4. Xillia 2 - Even if the choice system was wasted a bit, I was still more invested in this game than the original due to better storytelling. I wasn't really bothered by the fact that it reused most areas
5. Xillia - The link system is cool but I also have my issues with it and the story is good but not quite great. Despite this I still greatly enjoyed it
6. Graces - Best game in the series in terms of combat. The rest isn't quite up to snuff though and I wasn't a fan of Lineage and Legacies
7. Beseria - I see some think it improved the combat, but to me it certainly didn't (not that it ruined it either, but it was a step down for me). I'd still consider it a solid game though
8. The ones I haven't played
9. Dawn of the New World - Felt like they started out with an idea for an original title, then brute-forced it into a Symphonia sequel. Could have been alright as a stand alone game, if probably still the weakest in the series

I really need to play Phantasia and Destiny.

Bonus: Well I hope the gameplay remains as solid as ever despite a new direction. And my god it would be great if it was a complete return to form story-wise, for me they haven't quite knocked it out of the park since Vesperia, even if Xillia 2 got quite close.

This is one of those series that I've always wanted to try, but I could never tell where to start. I don't what the good games are, and more importantly I can't tell what the first good game is.

Tales series I have a history with. I love JRPGs so I kept falling for tales games.

My first was Tales of Symphonia-HATED IT!

I tried Tales pf Legendaria-HATED IT!

I tried Tales of Abyss-HATED IT!

I tried the TOS sequel on Wii-IT SUCKED!

So I gave up. Fast forward to E3 2018. Micrsoft conference. They show Tales of Vesperia. I thought hmm do I give these another shot? I debated it. Decided to pre-order TOV on Switch. The game arrives in the mail and I start playing it.

Something about that game gave me Grandia II vibes. A game I adore. I was hooked. I just could not put the game down. The story was good. The main character Yuri was so different than most JRPG protags. He was not a teen. He did not have amnesia. He was anime punisher. He just outright killed assholes. It felt refreshing. I won't spoil the ending but what happened with the main bad guy so to speak was also surprising. The music is fantastic. (One thing I won't know any Tales game for is the music)

This reminds me so much of Crono Cross OST

Tales of Vesperia is the one game I did not expect me to like as much as I did. I think it's one of my all time fave RPGs now. This is the game that has me excited for Tales of Arise.

I voted for Symphonia, with Vesperia a close second. Both games featured especially enjoyable casts of characters. After that would be Xillia.

Tales of Vesperia but I pretty much liked all the ones I played still need to beat Tales of the Abyss on PS2 and Tales of Berseria on PS4.

Only played Vesperia but I was disappointed.
Combat system was boring and it had way too many cutscenes disrupting the gameplay. I'd rather have one 30 minute cutscene than fifteen 2 minute cutscenes.

Really hyped for Tales of Arise though. Looks far superior to Vesperia.

I put Abyss and Vesperia way above the other ones I've played (Graces f, Symphonia and part of Xillia). Abyss is probably my fave because it's the only one with a plot that I found actually engaging (Vesperia's plot is mostly uneventful and Symphonia's feels like an inferior version of FF10's, Graces' is just lol) and I like the themes of personal growth that the game touches upon in a significant way, it also has a few moments that actually hit me hard. I also like how the way the interactions between the party members evolve through the game, and especially how the game builds the romance between Luke and Tear. The concept of the game's world is also something that I find really interesting and well developed (people complain about the techno babble, but I like when games put that amount of effort in their lore, and everything is well explained during the story).