The RPG wasteland known as the gamecube gets it's first real RPG in a long time. Is this the thirst quencher GCN owners have been craving? or just a mirage in the distance...
Story
I was very skeptical about Tales of Symphonia's story at first glance, it all seemed so cliche'd and sword of mana-esque. It all starts with a history lesson, "In a dying world, legend has it that a Chosen One will one day rise from amongst the people and the land will be reborn." So in good RPG tradition the world is in danger, better send in the teenagers then! Skeptisism aside, this story IS cliche'd and been done before. It isn't long, however, before ToS' true form starts to shine through and an original story begins to sparkle. The story is emotional and touching, I am a big fan of the way ToS targeted discrimination and rasism, it really makes you think. The characters are great, enjoyable, original and funny, theres a perfect array of characters here that you will become a part of you while you play, you will learn to share their emotions.
Before long you'll be smiling with them, from the clutzy yet very smiley Chosen, Colette to the serious mood and focus from Kratos. The characters are developed in many ways, such as "skits" that take place, they provide humour and an insight to what is on the character's minds. Overall the story mixes traditional elements with real life issues and they pull together wonderfully well. It's amazingly well paced, the story unfolds at every turn right untill the credits roll.
Gameplay
Gameplay wise the game keeps it's traditional approach. The battle system is action packed and full of options. ToS moves away from turn-based fights and gives you a 3D battlefield where anything goes. Movement is restricted to a forward and backward motion to prevent the game from becoming too easy, instead of full freedom of movement there are other options like blocking and even jumping. There is an awesome array of special attacks and combos to perform, each offering different pros and cons. For a flying enemy, you need to leap and attack. The many different types of enemies means you have to think about how to attack and defend. Apart from the character you control there are 3 AI characters helping you out. Rather then letting them run around aimlessly it's upto you to give them stratergies.
There is alot of strats to choose from and many ways to arrange your party according to the type of enemies in the area. To add a little spice to the battles, ToS supports a Unison Attack system. Unison Attacks allow all of your party to perform a special attack or spell in Unison, some special combinations allow for huge damage and brand new attacks. The great thing about this battle system is that it is so flexible. If you are brand new to the game or even to RPGs then you can just jump straight in and do pretty good for yourself, but as you gain a little experience you learn to pull off more varied attacks and stratergies. ToS' battle system is easy to cope with yet has the variety to please any hardcore RPG'er and the mass variety of weapons, combos, special attacks and spells will keep you happy each time you play.
Out of battle the game focuses alot more on a traditional RPG. World maps are back in. as are exploring and puzzle solving. Two huge 3D worlds to explore, a huge variety of towns and dungeons. The world maps are a welcome return, they show off alot of the games detail of the feel of the world. There is a puzzle to solve at almost every turn, almost all of them are solved using the Sorcerer's Ring, which changes uses lots of times during the game, such as fire, electricity and even causing earth quakes.
The puzzles aren't very hard and won't take too long to figure out. Some of the dungeons, however, can try on your patience. One that stands out in my mind is the Temple of Darkness, It took me 3 attempts before i finally had patience to finish that place. The towns are a little spread out, there is alot of wasted space in the world maps. There is a huge variety of NPCs all different and interact with you differently. It can be a little repetative but it's fun to play and enjoyable.
The main game system is also traditional in that it uses basic levels and experience points all of which comes from the semi-random battles. Semi-random? you ask. Yes, the battles do not engage randomly but the monsters you encounter are random to a certain degree. You can derive special effects and abilties by using "EX Gems" They have four levels of skill and any player can equip four of them, depending on how you using them you can gain "Compound Skills" which is a combination of two skills that work together to give additional bonuses. Also, depending on the use of EX skills determines the style of character you have, either techinical or strike type. it's pretty obviouslywhat type you want your sword users and magicians. Although the leveling style is fairly simple, there is a title system that effects the way your characters grow and expand. A little like Skies of Arcadia's titles but Tos' make a difference to battle and not NPC's perception of you. Titles are gained in various ways, such as "Combo Newbie" is gained by performing by doing a 10 hit in the fight. Some are gained through levels, some automatically and some through cutscenes. The titles cause your character to grow and level differently and as you can only assign one title at a time it really give you a say in how you want your characters to grow and turn out.
Graphics
The graphics on this game are NOT done justice by screenshots. You have to see the game in action to appreciate just how beautiful the game is. About 2 years ago, Cel shaded graphics were all the rage, and then it went out as quickly as it went in. ToS uses Cel shaded graphics and Namco really shown the rest of the world how to do it right. The characters are wonderfully detailed and the locations and backgrounds look amazing.
No glitches and no lack of detail or colour. The Anime cut scenes are simply stunning. It's a shame that there arn't more of them though. Tale of Symphonia is one of the best looking RPGs you can buy without question. The amazing characters, detailed locations and awesome cut scenes make this one of the most beautiful games you can buy.
Sound
The games soundtrack is composed by Motoi Sakuraba. He is a genious, no doubt about that. My high expectations of him kind of dissapointed me with ToS' soundtrack. It is a great soundtrack with many high points but it just doesn't excel like the rest of his work. The variety of sounds and music is awesome, such as the battle themes, all of which sound good and keep out of your way at the same time. The towns are wonderfully fitting, my favorite track is the theme to a town called Flanoir which is just amazing. I just don't think theres enough emotion in it, even at emotional times in the game it just seems too chirpy. But when Motoi excels he really does give me goosebumps, the ending theme is beautiful and is worth playing the game just to hear it.
Tales of symphonia has a star laden cast of voice actors, such as various actors from the Metal Gear series and also a few from Final Fantasy X such as James Taylor (Tidus) and Tara Strong (Rikku) and with all of the high profile actors in the game... It is really great. I was shocked at how much i enjoyed the voice acting, every character's actor fits perfectly and they all give convincing performances. Shiloh Strong and Jennifer Hale (Naomi Hunter - Metal Gear Solid) give brilliant performances. Shiloh adds so much humour and style to his character (Zelos) He just draws you in and makes you laugh. The voice acting walks all over Final Fantasy X and X-2. The voice acting director did a great job and actually gave James Taylor a fitting role (only one, the minor role he plays he screwed up)
Replay Value
Besides the main quest which takes about 60 hours, theres about 20 hours of mini games and side quests to keep you busy. Also theres a real incentive to play the game through again, as you can buy bonuses for the next time you play, you buy them with Grade which you earn from every battle you fought. There are also 10 ending variations, I won't fall into the regular habbit of saying 10 different endings, because that isn't true..
Final Word
Tales of Symphonia really tells us western gamers what the Tales series is all about. Great characters, gripping plot, addictive gameplay and awesome graphics. Tales of Symphonia is a truly brilliant game that anyone can play. This is one of the best games of 2004 and easily out does Final Fantasy X-2 and Crystal Chronicals. ToS made 2004 a worth while year for RPG fans. This is the RPG masterpiece of 2004 and on the Gamecube too!
RPGDome Score 9.5/10
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