4 hours in and I don't want to stop. It took a little time to get use to the battle controls (the new mechanics rather than the wiimote). I'm liking the additions of monsters more than I thought I would.

So far the cutscenes are better than Symphonia's, as is the voice acting, and the combat is faster and more challenging. Emil is timid but I don't hate him with a passion like some others do.

By far the best RPG this gen... is good to see that is getting really good sales too, thanks to that seems like the Wii is going to get plenty of "Tales Of" love =o)

But I have to say that I still don't get the "Make a pact" thing :S

I got it today and I'm only 3 hours in. D: Emil pisses me off but I love it anway :3

I just got this game, ToS, SoA:L, One Piece:UA y Z&W for Christmas.

The game is very fun, I am on my second play through taking my time though.

Now i'm fight with my brother to play game(I wanna play TOS2 but my bro want Fallout3 ,with only 1 TV) (-_-)

First few hours you may dislike Emil because of his weakness.But the far you go ,he'll get stonger and stronger.Personally i like storyline in this game ,very nicely done. :D

Btw, my playtime's about 60hrs now. :D

I got it for christmas and besides Emil i like a lot the game.

I just got this game for Christmas, and so far I cannot understand how this game could've scored so low with the press. I am aware that it is more of a sequel/spin-off than a genuine release, but so far I found it to be pretty enjoyable. The graphics are top-notch if a tad too last-generation ish at times (the beauty of the animation and the settings make it worth looking at), the music is decent, and the gameplay itself is engaging and holding my interest. I had so much trouble putting it down when I started playing it. Even the voice acting isn't as unlistenable as reviewers have said (I still miss Scott Menville's Lloyd, but his replacement's pretty good, as are the rest of the cast that I've heard so far).

My only quibbles? Load times are too excessive, often disrupting the gameplay and Emil is at least a little TOO wussy in the beginning, although in all fairness, it's not that grating to take me out of the game. Other than that, I've enjoyed what I played thus far, and I anticipate continuing my journey through it.

(Soriku, if you're reading this, worry not: I've already become a fan of the sequel.)

I sorta forgot how you initiate the monster pact during a battle, as I know what to do during the process, just how to get the monster selected as you want it to join your team/party. Could someone help me with that? I know it must be a Unison Attack or something, but I want to get these monsters out of the Tower of Mana (outside) to join my party.

It's got something to do with the elemental wheel. When you meet the criteria and defeat the monster, it will disappear in a dark cloud of smoke with "spellbind" over it. After the battle you can make a pact with spellbound monsters, bu it's randomly selected between those monsters.

I wouldn't really bother with those Tower of Mana monsters. You don't have a lot of control over the wheel at that point and you'll run into stronger versions of those monsters anyway.