Part 82: The Party

Current Party Members

Luke fon Fabre


Son of Duke Fabre and Lady Susanne, as well as heir to the Kimlascan throne through engagement to the Princess. Our protagonist, now with a new haircut and a new lease on life. New Luke can be self-deprecating, unsure of himself and fearful of rejection. Still, he has said he will change, and only time will tell if he can live up to his promise. He's started by saying "Thank you."

Combat-wise Luke is more or less a pure melee fighter: he hits things with his sword. Luke's swings are slow but powerful, and Luke himself has good defenses and can take a fair bit of punishment before going down. His swings are wild and multi-directional, which means any enemies that stand close to Luke will probably get hit, regardless of their position to him. Luke's strength lies in his ability to wade into the thick of combat and swing like a madman, dealing damage left and right, and stay there until the battle is over. He's no combo-king like Yuri, but he's definitely a step up from playing as Lloyd.

Tear Grants


Lorcrian Sergent Tear Grants, First Division Oracle Knights Intelligence Division. First introduced when she tried to kill her brother, Van. Why did she do it? We'll find out later. Much, much later. Tear is for the moment the logical cornerstone of the group, keeping Luke in check and generally covering for his shitty behavior. She's also a Seventh Fonist, which for the time being you can simply translate as "healer."

In terms of gameplay, Tear is the closest we come to getting a staff chick. Tear has good heals that focus on healing a large amount of people for less amounts of health. Beyond her healing, Tear has a surprisingly decent selection of melee artes, ranging from throwing knives to dropping hammers on people. In actual close up combat she will melt, however. Tear also brings to the table her ability to sing Hymns, which is something nobody else can do. Her starting Hymn "Nightmare" damages and debuffs a single enemy unit, but she gets much better hymns over time. In general Tear is really supposed to be more than just a healer: she has lots of utility that nobody else can bring to the table. I hope it isn't too big a spoiler to say that she's pretty much always a staple of my party.

English VA: Nicole Karrer

Jade Curtiss


Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division, Malkuth Imperial Forces. Jade is cold, calculating, and frighteningly intelligent. He's also the fucking man for being a sarcastic asshole any chance he gets, and for putting up with absolutely zero shit from anybody. When you ask a Tales of the Abyss veteran who their favorite character is, you're likely to hear Jade. Having said that, Jade has an annoying habit that will start cropping up very soon.

Gameplay wise Jade is something of a Mage Knight, though he focuses more on the Mage side than the Knight side. Straight up Jade has the highest damage output on the team, and gets a wide array of artes covering the second to fifth fonon that he's more than happy to unleash. Jade also has a spear and a not-too-shabby selection of physical artes he can utilize to go to town on enemies at close range. He's not that bad at dealing damage, but Jade has very poor physical defense and will go down after only a few hits. Glass cannon probably sums him up well..

English VA: Kirk Thornton

Guy Cecil


Personal Attendant to Luke, and servant in Duke Fabre's manor. Gifted with a blade, patient with his charge and dedicated to his duties, Guy is an all around cool guy. He's older than Luke, generally level headed, but also has a good-natured streak of humor. He does however have a crippling fear of women, which I'm sure will have no bearings on the plot going forward.

In combat Guy plays foil to Luke fairly well. Where Luke is slow but sturdy and focuses on swinging every which way, Guy is fast but fragile, with artes and sword swings that let him zero in on a single target. Guy is something of a glass cannon compared to Luke, but he can take much more punishment than Jade or Tear. Guy's offensive output will quickly skyrocket past Luke, and he's the closest thing Abyss has to a combo-master. Personally Guy is my favorite melee character to use, but he only gets going once he gets up in his levels and has enough artes to really lay into some good combos.

English VA: Johnny Yong Bosch

Anise Tatlin


Fon Master Guardian of the Order of Lorelei and Ion's personal attendant. By far the youngest member of our cast at age 13, Anise's list of priorities can be summed up thusly: 1) Protect Ion, 2) Marry Rich, 3) Kick ass. Anise lays it on thick at the best of times, tends to act a little too bubbly and is regarded by most of the fandom to be in the running for most annoying party member. Despite this she's somehow earned the trust of both Ion and Jade, so don't let her exterior fool you: Anise has some tricks up her sleeve.

Anise is Jade's foil in combat. As mentioned, Jade is a Mage-Knight with a focus on the Mage half. Anise is also a Mage-Knight, but likes being a Knight more. Her stuffed animal can turn into a huge machine of death that Anise rides around the battlefield. Anise is a good tank and a good damage dealer in close quarters, while she can support from the side-lines with dark and light based fonic artes. She'll never be the damage machine Jade is, but she also won't drop dead if looked at funny, either.

English VA: Melissa Fahn

Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear


Princess of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Luke's fiance. Which is kind of creepy, because she's his first cousin. Headstrong but kind, Natalia is notable for being the complete opposite of what you come to expect from nobles in JRPG's. Natalia takes a very proactive approach to her station, organizing several major public works projects for Baticul as well as using her influence with her father, the king, to lessen tensions with Malkuth. In many aspects Natalia is just as naive as Luke is, but she is also more mature and caring towards others, which makes one wonder what she sees in the idiot.

Rounding out this cast of foils, Natalia is the opposite of Tear. Natalia has no offensive fonic artes, but has a variety of long range physical artes based off her excellent archery skills. She's also a healer, but approaches from a completely different angle than Tear. Natalia's healing artes heal a single target for large quantities of health, as opposed to Tear who heals multiple people for a little. Natalia has excellent offensive capability, particularly against flying opponents, and once she gets her higher level healing artes she has no trouble keeping your party in tip top shape. Her problem however is that she's a little too arte happy as an AI, and coupled with the high TP cost of her healing artes Natalia has a tendency to zero out her TP very quickly, as opposed to Tear who burns more slowly. If you want to use Natalia, she really wants some of the later equipment that either increases max TP or decreases TP usage per arte.

English VA: Stephanie Sheh

Previous Party Members

Luke fon Fabre


Son of Duke Fabre and Lady Susanne, as well as heir to the Kimlascan throne through engagement to the Princess. Kidnapped seven years ago by Kimlaska's enemy the Malkuth Empire, he lost all his childhood memories. Our protagonist, though I assure you that soon enough, you'll wish he wasn't. At first glance Luke sticks closely to standard JRPG protagonist cliche's: he swings a sword, he's got amnesia and he's hopelessly naïve. However where Luke subverts the standard is in his status, namely being the noble in peril rather than the one saving them, and his attitude, namely that he's a massive prick. He also wears a hilarious Square Enix-esq outfit that leaves his entire midfriff exposed. Though I guess if I had abs like that, I'd want to show them off too.

Old and busted.


English VA: Yuri Lowenthal

Non-Playable Party Members

Fon Master Ion

Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei, which pretty much means he's the Pope all things considered. All around nice guy, but with a weak constitution and a habit of getting kidnapped. Can kick ass when he needs to, though.

Mieu

The adorable fuzzball that acts as the party's sorcerer's ring. Exiled from his tribe for being a pyromaniac, he's rolling with us now. Has an annoying voice, but he's good at solving puzzles so we let that go.