Tales of LINK tips and tricks - saving the world (again) just got a lot easier

It may have the look, feel, and characters you'd expect from a Tales game, but Tales of LINK is nothing like its JRPG siblings.

Instead of your regular battles, it's more of a match-3 affair, which has you linking together the heroes in your party to create combos and deal damage.

It's also a menu-heavy, rather confusing take on the series, but we've got a few tips and tricks that should help you out on your quest.

After completing a quest for the first time, you'll probably get a Hero Stone, which can be used to summon new heroes to take into battle.

Except, for some reason, you won't be given them directly. Instead, you'll need to jump into the "Present" section of the main menu, which is a tiny button on the left hand of the screen.

Check in there regularly for new items and Hero Stones, especially in the early days, as the game is quite generous to beginner players with its gifts.

If you're a Tales fan, it may be tempting to use your Hero Stones to summon heroes specifically from the other Tales games to fill your party.

But the first summon you should be working towards is the Beginner's Summon. It costs 30 Hero Stones and gives you a wealth of useful items to start the game with.

The main thing it offers up is XP to level up your heroes, which gives you a huge advantage in the early quests and lets you power through the start with ease.

You can, if you so wish, spend hours poring through the various gear options available to you, picking out which stats you want each character to have boosted.

But that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, especially when you're juggling nine different characters in your party.

Next to the "Level Up" button on each character's menu, there's another button that says "Gear Up". Tap that, and the game will kit that party member out with the best gear you've got for them.

Make sure to do this every few quests or so, just so you can be sure that your heroes are well-equipped at all times.

Traditional RPG logic dictates that you should have a mix of characters and classes, with healers and tanks and what have you.

Tales of LINK doesn't follow this logic, however. Yes, having a healer in the party so you can use their special healing ability can be useful, but for the most part, it's totally unnecessary.

Stack your roster instead with the strongest characters you have. Pour experience points into them to boost their attack power, and you'll be set.

With enough heavy hitters in your party, you can destroy enemies before they have a chance to hurt you, saving you from needing to make room for a healer.

Keep an eye on the timeline in the top-left of the screen. It tells you what icon the next characters cycling in will be, so you can plan your chains better for the next turn.

Always end your chains on the character with the highest attack power. Each successive link adds a multiplier to a character's power, so save the best for last to deal the most damage.

You don't always have to make a huge chain. If you can take out an enemy with one or two characters, do that, and save the bigger possible chains for the boss battles.