Tales of the Abyss is a Japanese role-playing game (RPG). It was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006 and later on the Nintendo 3DS in 2012.

The story follows Luke, a wealthy and arrogant young man who finds out that he's part of an ancient prophecy. In order to seek out the truth, Luke must travel far with his companions, all while evading a government agency determined to capture Luke -- and they'll destroy everything in their path in order to get him.

The gameplay revolves around a real time battle system. You can play as any of the protagonists, each of whom have their own strengths and weaknesses, and different ways of fighting. You can pause at any time to reach the menu screen, where you can give more detailed instructions to your allies or use various items. When not in battle, you'll be exploring various environments, such as towns and dungeons, each of which are unique and provide different challenges.

I have only played this on the 3DS and therefore can't speak to the quality and experience of the original release, but I found this to be an overall enjoyable game. Luke is perhaps the most unlikeable hero ever presented in a Tales game, so I found it hard to connect with him. Considering he's the main character, that can be a bit of a problem. He does get better over time, so I will commend the game for developing his character.

I enjoyed the environments. As previously mentioned, every dungeon felt uniqur, and there were different puzzles to solve in each one by utilizing different elements. This felt very reminiscent of Tales of Symphonia's dungeons, in a good way. Likewise, the battle system was quite similar, only I found there to be more freedom to move around (for example, once you unlock a certain skill, you can move in all directions on the battleground instead of just side to side).

The game itself is quite long, but with so many battles, it can feel a bit repetitive at times. Still, I think it's worthwhile for fans of this genre. It works well as a handheld game and I would recommend it for the 3DS.