Tales of Revelia: JRPG-styled Fantasy Webcomic

[t209]

I think NPC part would not go well based on my experience with Rpg ( I played Pokemon, skyrim and mardek rpg). Especially the repeating part.

[CoffeeIncluded]

So while I'm enjoying my Tales of Xillia Collector's Edition, I need to say it now. No matter how close my comic may seem to Xillia, I swear I came up with some of the Revelia stuff before I even knew about Xillia. Heck, I was planning/brainstorming this comic when word got out that this game was coming out in Japan back in 2011. So yeah, it may not seem like a big deal, but at least in years to come when people notice similarities I can point them back to this post.

It's okay, I've often had the same problem too!

Have you checked out the Tales Thread on this forum? How far are you into the game? I just finished the first part, just left Jude's hometown, and holy ****ing **** I was not expecting that to happen in the fort.

[Teutonic Knight]

Good no spoilers. I just got Rowen and am heading out to that trail, on my way to that Fort.

And yeah I should check out the Tales thread here.

[crus]

Hey, Good job with the comic :) it have a very nice look, the drawings are pretty much like the rich's one, and sometime better :D so thanks for continue making it.
I will only point out that, at least for me, the story starts to get boring, i think your comic lack of suspance and mostly of surprise scenes :) or at least gags, in the second part of it :P
I hope you don't want to take it rough, it's only my feeling while reading this well done comic :)

[Teutonic Knight]

crus, don't worry, I'm all for constructive criticism.

Yes I understand that I'm a pretty average storyteller. I think my story is good, but I'm no good at telling it. Also because there hasn't been much conflict in the story yet, so at this point it's just two people traveling together. But yeah, I'm learning as I right this and get comments from people like you, so I'm trying to improve and hopefully you'll want to keep reading.

[crus]

Sometimes, how you explain things is more important of what you are explaining
Then, good luck with it , i'll however stick at your comic as long as it's a good comic xD and it is :)

Btw, if i may help in some way, i would be happy to be helpful

[Darklord Bright]

So I'm no good with criticism, but this seems like a relevant time to try! Spoilered for length.

Spoiler

Show

I actually really like a lot of the early strips of this comic, because they set up an interesting story and then got me asking questions. "Why would a populace suddenly rise up to depose a king who'd done nothing wrong? Did he do nothing wrong, or is that bias? I guess I'll have to keep reading and see..."

But to be honest, the comics that lose me are the ones that focus more on the JRPG mechanics than the plot and characters. It might not help that I've never liked JRPG mechanics, but I have laughed at your smaller JRPG jokes. For instance, the one where they faded-to-black, and the character didn't have time to object to sleeping in the same room. That's funny, because it's the sort of thing you wonder about in games like that. It's funny even without having to be specifically interested in JRPGs.

That said, I've basically skimmed all of the pages that read like tutorial screens. I skip real tutorial screens. I feel even less inclined to read the tutorial to a game I'm not playing. By contrast I've liked almost every single page that has taken place outside the context of combat systems and game-screens.

The idea of the combat taking place within systems like that isn't bad. I actually thought it was pretty clever when it first came up! But it just got too long and too technical for me.

It's probably just a matter of those sorts of things not being aimed at non-JRPG fans, but I think the fact that the rest of your story was solid enough to hook me is an important thing to remember. Don't get bogged down in the setting details when you've got a story to tell and characters to show us. At this point it feels like we've spent more time explaining rules than advancing the story. I want to learn more about the characters and the plot!

I really don't want this whole post to sound like an awful ball of negative. You do have a good thing going here, but in my personal opinion you seem to be focusing overmuch on the least interesting part of it.

Please don't hate me! I like this comic, I swear!

[Teutonic Knight]

Yes, thank you for honest criticisms. I can see where JRPG mechanics can get boring and I hope to eventually transition my comic the way the Giant has into only passing references to JRPGs while still clearly set in a JRPG setting.

I hope no one minds characters calling out special attacks though.

Don't worry about the game mechanics though. I understand that this is a comic first and a pretend game third, so I'll leave the more game-ey stuff in the original post so that people can peruse them at their leisure; stuff like character status pages, equipment screens, skills, etc. I don't believe I have any other game stuff planned, so from now on it should be more plot progression/story stuff presented in the style that makes it consistent with my comic.

Thanks again for the constructive criticisms guys.

[Teutonic Knight]

Surprise update, the day before I head back to school.

Yes amango is a fruit in the Tales universe. It's not a misspelled mango.

It's now 4:29 AM local time. I'm going to sleep. Good knight. (also not a misspelling)

[super dark33]

Are there normal mangos there? And more importantly, do they taste differently?

That could make an initially funny but ultimately annoying gag.

[Gray Mage]

Ohh, new strip. Nice.

[Teutonic Knight]

Are there normal mangos there? And more importantly, do they taste differently?

That could make an initially funny but ultimately annoying gag.

Yes there are normal mangoes. I think.

[Andre]

Stupid NPCs. They get to loiter around and say the same thing over and over for a living.

Yes amango is a fruit in the Tales universe. It's not a misspelled mango.

Can't forget how I hated that part where you had to feed amango and whatever other fruit there was to either revive or wither those oversized plants.

[Teutonic Knight]

Can't forget how I hated that part where you had to feed amango and whatever other fruit there was to either revive or wither those oversized plants.

Which Tales game was that?

[CoffeeIncluded]

I think it was symphonia.

[Teutonic Knight]

Posting to say that despite the lack of comic due to school (Coffee I finally feel the OChem) the latest comic has already been storyboarded, so when I get time, hopefully after midterms this week, I'll get the comic out.

I'm not posting to bump my comic up since there's only one page of fancomics now even though the rules say that's ok

[Alizey]

Very cool pictures that you show. I like its shadows most. It looks so original and awesome. Your work is very very good. you take care all aspects of pix. I appreciate you. Continue your work.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Haha, and how's the OChem?

I'm in the same boat myself, though I did manage to update!

[Teutonic Knight]

OChem is pretty interesting so far. I like it, but my midterm performance says otherwise. The score still hasn't come out yet, so we'll see. But I'm enjoying it so far.

[Teutonic Knight]

I noticed how scarily close this thread is to disappearing and I just wanted to pop in and say that the next comic is being drawn. Should be out within the next couple of days.

[Teutonic Knight]

Ok comic update for real this time.

It wasn't much.

There are these similar phrases that cooking manga characters say when they've served a meal that sound really out of place when said without any context. Usually someone says thank you first or compliments the meal or the character, leading to the character saying the phrase.

Next time, the plots moves! With some suspense!

[Gray Mage]

Ahh, the wonderchef, one of the most nonsensical parts of every tales game.

[Cuthalion]

Ordinary objects....

[CoffeeIncluded]

Hooray for the wonder chef!

[t209]

Ok comic update for real this time.

It wasn't much.

There are these similar phrases that cooking manga characters say when they've served a meal that sound really out of place when said without any context. Usually someone says thank you first or compliments the meal or the character, leading to the character saying the phrase.

Next time, the plots moves! With some suspense!

Heavy approved this comic.

[Teutonic Knight]

Hmmmm, after a long and grueling school quarter I look forward to Spring Break to be able to finally work on and post my comic, and I'm given news that the forums are shutting down starting this Saturday, to return hopefully next Saturday.

That means, for all you ToRv fans out there who thought I wouldn't be coming back... you'll have to wait for a bit longer, but I'm here and I never left.

Comic to go up when the forums come back online.

[Admiral Harkov]

Yay! Nice to see this will continue.

May your studies go very well.

[Ziegander]

This is a really great comic. I think the pacing and material are all on point, very much in line with what I'd expect the very beginning of a JRPG to play like. And I LOVED the tutorial-style strips. They had the perfect amount of satire in them. Write on, my friend! Write on!

[Teutonic Knight]

Thanks Ziegander. When writing this comic, I imagine it to be combining OotS influence and my JRPG experiences. And as I may have mentioned before, I'm writing this as my "if I were to make a JRPG" game comic.

So it's both a satire/homage/parody of JRPGs and what I would make if I were to make a JRPG. I'm giving all the characters full arte lists, titles, equips, skill, etc.

[OoTLink]

I've never really played a jRPG but I'd totally play your game lol.

Do you get 1 week spring breaks too? I just had one! it went so fast. I miss it. Thankfully as a graduating senior in uni I am taking very few units this quarter.