An internal team at Namco created Tales of Legendia, but Tales of the Abyss is under development by Tales Studio, the very same people who created Tales of Symphonia. Consequently, the look and feel of the game is even closer to Symphonia's. Character designs for this game bear the mark of Kousuke Fujishima, who worked on Symphonia (as well as being best known for the anime/manga series Oh My Goddess!).
The playable demo at TGS shows main character Luke and his companion Tear exploring a lush, green forest. The two encounter a mysterious young girl; beset by enemies, she destroys them with magical power and collapses. After rescuing her you continue into the woods. The dungeon is extremely typical RPG stuff -- forking paths, treasure chests, and a few bits of dialogue.
As with Symphonia, and unlike Legendia, monsters are visible on the map before you encounter them. Once in battle, the battles take exactly the same tack as Symphonia's. If you didn't play that game, the battles are action-based, not turn-based; you control them main character and hit the circle button to do a basic attack. Holding the d-pad and hitting the X button does a special attack, depending on the direction. Luke, like other Tales main characters, has an arsenal of sword attacks, in fact having some of the same moves as Symphonia's Lloyd or Destiny's Stahn.
While there was little puzzle solving evident in this dungeon that was a big element of Symphonia. You do gain the sorcerer's ring, a magical fire-shooting ring that has shown up in previous Tales games, hinting that this game is no different. Everything, in fact, seems business as usual. Given the utter enjoyability of Symphonia (despite its mundane appearance in many ways) this isn't such a bad thing. Technically solid and entertaining, Tales of the Abyss seems to be on the right track to uphold the series' legacy.
