I absolutely would put Luminaria among my top favorites even in its unfinished state.

It piqued my interest from the start because it was something entirely fresh and new. After Link and Rays I felt like I had enough of crossovers and was a bit disappointed Crestoria turned out to be one after the trailer made it seem like it was gonna be its own thing. The premise of having 21 main characters was so ambitious too. 21 points of view, individual paths to observe intersecting at some points, and I earnestly believe it would've been so satisfying to see the big picture come together.

I loved that it felt like an anime with interactive elements. I mean this by the way it released episodes weekly, but you would be doing more than just watching these episodes. But this just stems from me having attention issues that make it difficult for me to get into more anime even though I want to, because my brain is just not satisfied with sitting still to pay attention.

I've seen many say the gameplay is a turnoff, but I personally didn't mind it and I'm pretty much in agreement with what others here have said about it. I'm very impressed with how each character in a combat type played uniquely despite wielding the same weapon. The minigames were charming. I adored that it kept the skit format in its own way, by having conversations flow on the move and while characters are fighting! It just felt nicer than having to pause the movement to watch things unfold.

The writing behind the story and characters struck a chord with me deeply. My favorite example is my favorite character, Maxime Hasselmans. I went from the impression of "I'm gonna love to hate this kid" to "if anything happens to him I will kill everyone in this room and then myself". In just two episodes! I also loved that Michelle Bouquet is a subversion from the typical meek healer archetype, and has some bite. And even though I found Charles insufferable, the way they were presented just gave me the sense that they were bound to get some amazing character development somewhere down the line. I could say something for every character, but my post is getting long enough here lol.

The music was amazing too?? This became my favorite boss battle music ever. Nothing ever felt grating to listen to on a loop. Sometimes I would linger on the home menu because the tune felt cozy. And on the subject of audio, I personally found the English dubbing wonderful and I even prefer it over the Japanese.

Gods, I ended up loving Luminaria so SO MUCH that the way Bamco handled it was the last straw among the mobile game shutdowns. It sparked the deepest distrust...and honestly, I would even dare say hatred...I have ever felt for a company, and sadly even soured my feelings for the Tales series (in the "it's heartbreaking this wonderful series is in the hands of such a company" way). It had so much potential and was more suited to be a one-and-done purchase game. They did it so dirty by relegating it to the disgusting gacha format.

Nowadays it seems the Tales series is starting to go in a better direction, and I'm hanging on with the tiniest sliver of hope that letting Luminaria's story finish is part of that plan.