Post by Friendly Person :) on Jun 27, 2016 23:18:51 GMT -5
After reading a certain thread on Gamefaqs, I got to thinking about the number of possible combinations per combo available to you in the Tales games. Very quickly I started thinking, "Are the Xillias actually the most free-form in terms of having the maximum number of arte combinations available at once?". In other words, I'm not looking at the total number of combinations using every arte in the game, just the total number that you can string together in one combo. Considering that Xillia doesn't feature any tier restrictions of Symphonia, Abyss, or Vesperia, and features 16 artes accessible at any time* (compared to Graces' 12 via 8 b-artes and 4 a-artes), the math more-or-less comes down to:
16^AC = possible variations per combo.
so if you have 6 AC (pretty low number - probably won't even have 16 artes by then, but work with me)
16^6 = 16,777,216 possible variations per combo.
In Xillia 2, that number can get pretty insane, since AC can get much, much higher. Using 15 (still not close to the highest, but again, work with me)
16^15 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 possible variations per combo. (1 pentillion... is it pentillion?)
I believe the person in question was concerned about Berseria - the fear being that, with only the face buttons for artes, you only have 4 options at a time. If my math is right, a 4-hit combo (which I believe was said to be the base) comes down to:
4^4 = 256 possible variations per combo.
I'm really just posting this for somebody to check my math. I usually screw up when I keep it all in my head, so I thought I'd blurt it all out here. 256 is still a decent enough number. We already know combos can be extended, and it's possible that there's a way to add more artes into the mix. Having more possible variations isn't good or bad - what really matters is how unique one is from the other. There are a shite ton of variations to Chess, but it's important to keep in mind that many, many, many of those involve a level of stupidity that no human would descend to. I guess a better way to put it would be: Quality, variation and practicality trump raw quantity.
But more than Berseria, can somebody comment on Xillia? Is Xillia 2 really the most "free-form" Tales? (I don't know a lot about canceling, so it's possible that well-timed canceling in Vesperia might change the math).
* This assumes that the character in question has 16 unique artes, which we know isn't always the case in Xillia 1 (poor Leia...)
16^AC = possible variations per combo.
so if you have 6 AC (pretty low number - probably won't even have 16 artes by then, but work with me)
16^6 = 16,777,216 possible variations per combo.
In Xillia 2, that number can get pretty insane, since AC can get much, much higher. Using 15 (still not close to the highest, but again, work with me)
16^15 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 possible variations per combo. (1 pentillion... is it pentillion?)
I believe the person in question was concerned about Berseria - the fear being that, with only the face buttons for artes, you only have 4 options at a time. If my math is right, a 4-hit combo (which I believe was said to be the base) comes down to:
4^4 = 256 possible variations per combo.
I'm really just posting this for somebody to check my math. I usually screw up when I keep it all in my head, so I thought I'd blurt it all out here. 256 is still a decent enough number. We already know combos can be extended, and it's possible that there's a way to add more artes into the mix. Having more possible variations isn't good or bad - what really matters is how unique one is from the other. There are a shite ton of variations to Chess, but it's important to keep in mind that many, many, many of those involve a level of stupidity that no human would descend to. I guess a better way to put it would be: Quality, variation and practicality trump raw quantity.
But more than Berseria, can somebody comment on Xillia? Is Xillia 2 really the most "free-form" Tales? (I don't know a lot about canceling, so it's possible that well-timed canceling in Vesperia might change the math).
* This assumes that the character in question has 16 unique artes, which we know isn't always the case in Xillia 1 (poor Leia...)