JimD73 Reviews Tales of Symphonia (GCN), 2004, Rated T, *56k*

[JimD73]

Tales of Symphonia (2004)

For the Nintendo GameCube
Also on PlayStation 2 (Japan Only)





RPG/Action
Released 7/13/04
Reviewed 12/3/05
1-4 Players (Co-Operative)
Published & Developed by Namco
Rated Teen for Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes and Language



To start off, RPGs are somewhat unfamiliar territory to me. The only full-fledged RPG I ever played thoroughly was the classic Pokemon Red and Blue. Sure, I’ve played many Legend of Zelda games, but those are definitely much more towards action games than RPGs. So my experience was a little fuzzy, and if it weren’t for a friend of mine recommending this game highly, it may have stayed that way forever. Luckily, my eyes have been opened, and I have Tales of Symphonia to thank for that, as well as making the transition easy for an action buff like me.



The plot for Tales starts out as pretty standard RPG fare. Your main character is Lloyd Irving, an inattentive student in the small town of Iselia, located in the continent of Sylvarant. The land has a devout religion known as the Church of Martel, those of whom believe that the great mana tree which supplies their land with energy will be regenerated by the journey of the Chosen One, who is chosen from birth. The Chosen happens to be schoolgirl Collette Brunel, whom is quite fond of Lloyd. The day started off fairly normal at school, which apparently includes a lecture about mana from elven teacher Raine Sage, as well as Lloyd getting a chalk brush thrown at him. Then a light appears from the window, and the time for the Chosen’s journey of regeneration has come. Soon after this happens, Lloyd, Collette, Raine and her little brother Genis, along with a shadowy mercenary for hire named Kratos, set out on the journey to regenerate Sylvarant.

Of course, it isn’t that easy. The people of Sylvarant are in constant fear of the Desians, a group of half-elves who use humans as slaves in ‘human ranches’. Lloyd’s parents were killed by the Desians, so he has a personal vendetta that pops up multiple times through the game. Their blatant sadism is a little unbelievable, but the Desians do appear to be formidable enemies.



This isn’t even scratching the surface, as ToS has a huge plot. There are multiple large twists that keep the gamer often confused, but no loopholes left at the end. It is also interesting to note some of the sociological undertones, as it all seems to end up being about discrimination and conformity. You could compare many of the incidents in the game to such world events as the rise of Nazism or Lenin without any argument whatsoever.

As you can tell from the opening paragraphs, ToS definitely does not escape RPG clichés. Let’s face it, it can be hard to find an RPG that does not use the word ‘mana’ at all and does not have a Chosen One. The whole schoolchildren aspect is also a little hard to swallow. And let’s not forget how the game makes light of child abuse (always a fun topic). They even manage to incorporate such standbys as half-elves, dwarves, gnomes and Seraphim into the mix, apparently attempting to stay away from treading any new ground whatsoever. Despite all the clichés, the plot survives with some great twists placed at perfect intervals and a very smooth pace throughout the game.



As for how the game actually plays, the setup is fairly standard RPG. You have a party of up to eight members at a time, of whom four will be used in combat. They level up with experience after a fight, increasing their statistics. You can also equip them with armor and weapons bought in shops or found in levels to beef them up. It all seems pretty basic from that perspective.

Where it becomes something rather new is when is decides to throw the turn-based combat formula out the window in exchange for full action-based combat. You control one of the characters where the other three are all AI, and get to do the dirty work yourself in taking out the enemy. This makes the game a lot more fun than simply barking commands at characters and watching as brief animation of them attacking. Nothing can beat getting face-to-face with the enemy yourself.



The controls of the battles are quite good. Every character has a basic attack, which is usually just hitting the enemy with whatever weapon you have equipped. These little attacks work fine if you are just against minor enemies, but for more difficult foes, you have to use your techs, special moves acquired based on how you raise your character. These deal out much more damage and are essential for almost every foe that presents any challenge. Techs for the player character are used via control-stick plus B-button commands (think Super Smash Bros.), and the CPU players use them automatically (you can make it so they won’t use certain abilities and command them to use others).

The selection of what techs will be learned is based on items called EX Gems. These are acquired throughout the dungeons and come in four different levels, each with a selection of powers, such as increasing your basic hit combo or accuracy. They are mainly useful for determining your character’s attack type, as the powers are either strike (‘S’) or technical (‘T’) type. The longer the character has these powers, the more he or she will stray towards certain types of attacks. Strike type characters obviously are more concerned with quick damage, while technical are about defence and long-range attacks. There are certain characters who are definitely better as one type or the other, but the ability to choose adds some variety to the game (especially on a second playthrough).

The playing field is a 2½D style, with your character only able to run toward or away from the currently targeted enemy, making hacking away much easier. The target switching is easy and safe enough that there is usually no need to worry about the other enemies making too much progress on you. The only time this becomes a problem is when faced with long-distance enemies, who you will have trouble guarding against when faced the other way, and sometimes leave your field of view. Despite that, any other method would not have suited the game.



The only problem with the fighting is that it does get pretty repetitive, much like any other RPG. While going through fields, you will run into the same easy enemies over and over again, beat them, and then the process repeats. Dungeons can be even worse (especially those involving robots, which tend to use the same exact enemies). It is fun the first few times you fight a new enemy, but they keep on popping up until they get annoying. Even for later levels, many of the enemies are simply beefed up versions of the earlier ones. This is only really apparent in certain areas of the game, so it doesn’t really hinder the quality of the fighting too much.

The bosses, on the other hand, are always something to look forward to. There are no fewer than twenty in the game, and each is extremely fun and often challenging to play against. It is true that the same strategy applies to each of two different groups of bosses (big and powerful or small and quick), which boils down to hack-and-slash, but the overuse of items, panic and extreme damage all add up to great gameplay. The one-on-ones later in the game are especially nerve racking, as it is only then that you learn how important allies were. All in all, bosses are easily the highlights of the game.

As previously stated, you will be fighting with four different characters in battle, and there will be a total of nine characters that will enter your party throughout the game. Without giving away too much, now seems like a good time to go over each of the characters.



The character you will likely control directly (at least on your first run-through) will be Lloyd, the most well-balanced of the characters. Basically, the dual-sword wielding hero has good speed, decent power and some easy-to-use combos, making him the ideal player-controlled character. He is definitely a solid base character, and essential for rookies to the game.



The other character who will always be in your party (though rarely player controlled) would be Raine Sage, who is best used as a healer. While at first, most of her spells heal only a single person minimally, later spells can cast a glowing circle around the entire group. Her attacks are unfortunately low, so if you are good with healing items, you may be able to leave her out.



Her little brother Genis is more of the attack-type to Raine’s healer. As a technical type, Genis will be able to hit enemies over a large area, and as a strike will deliver concentrated blows. Some attacks are fairly basic, though others are incredible to see in action (Gravity Well has to be one of the coolest moves in the game).



The only other long-range fighter is Collette. Her attacks revolve around two flying discs that are thrown at enemies and magically come back to her, aside from some rather interesting angel skills. While she can be useful against some minor enemies, Genis is going to be much easier to go with, especially in large brawls or boss fights, making Collette more of a plot piece than a true warrior (besides as Genis’ backup).



Kratos will be the only other fighter in your party until later in the game, and he definitely comes in handy as a jack-of-all-trades. With minor healing abilities and excellent up-close attacks, he works well as Lloyd’s backup for a directly-controlled character, and is great for attacking an enemy in tandem with Lloyd. Not to mention he’s a total badass and likely the most memorable character in the game.





Later on in the game, four more up-close warriors will join your party. While each is different in some regards, all of them are more or less the same on the battlefield, and some variety would have been much appreciated. Zelos, a womanizer admired by his country, is essentially the same character as Kratos, which while useful is somewhat of a letdown. The only original one of the later party members is Sheena, who fights with different ‘power cards’. They really don’t do anything overly special, but they are certainly fun to watch in action. After the nice array of talent in the first part of the game, it is a letdown that the rest of the characters are all the same product in a different package.

[JimD73]

This also leads to the fact that there are only two long-range fighters in the whole game (not including Raine). This means that Genis will likely be in your party almost 24/7 (at least in difficult areas) with no backup besides the mediocre Collette, who is often missing from the game due to plot twists. Since you should be carrying a healthy supply of Life Bottles at all times, this really isn’t a big deal, but it would be nice to throw in another long-range character to keep things more balanced.

Not to say that battle is the only function these characters serve. One of the neater additions to the EX Gem concept is the Personal ability, part of the Level 2 gem that is available for every character. This gives you a special ability outside of battle that can be used for multiple purposes. Some of these are forgettable, but others come in extremely useful, such as Lloyd’s ability to double his walking speed or Regal getting discounts in shops. The most original and incredibly useful ability is Zelos’, which will have the party receive an item each time he speaks to a female civilian. It’s a nice (and useful) touch to add to the game.



Another great touch to the battle is the addition of a multiplayer mode. As stated before, you have four characters battling at the same time, with you controlling one but able to switch to another at any time. By switching the control type of a character to Semi-Auto or Manual, it will make them player-controlled. With multiple controllers, you can have all four characters controlled in battle by humans as you co-operate through the story mode. It’s not great as a party multiplayer game like Smash Bros. or Halo, but it is good for helping out a newcomer to the game or just wasting some time with another ToS fan.

There are some drawbacks to this mode. The most notable one is that the camera follows the first player the same way it does when only one human is present. This means that the camera will often cut off the other players, leaving them fighting blind. It can also be boring for extra players when walking around the overworld, as the first player is the only one with control. Of course, it’s better to have then to have not, and the extra assistance is often what is needed to beat get past that ‘impossible’ boss. On a side note, a competitive mode would have been a nice extra to include, but was unfortunately overlooked.



Combat isn’t all there it to the game. Every dungeon will contain at least one puzzle for you to solve. Most of these are simply around to eat up time, as they usually just make you go back and forth between areas to collect different items or push some blocks. Even worse are some that rely simply on walking through random gates to find the right path to the exit.

The good puzzles in the game (and most of the bad ones too) rely on a device called the Sorceror’s ring, which you receive early in the game. At first, all it does is shoot fireballs which can be used to light fires and stun enemies, allowing you to walk around them. However, in most dungeons, you will be able to change its function to another that will solve a key puzzle. This is used in a few neat ways, but mostly, the puzzles fit into the above description as tedious and unnecessary.



The game itself is huge. While not spanning the 80 hours promised on the back of the case, the game is an easy 40 hours long for the first time through. At times, this feels almost too long, but when the end finally comes around, you will still find yourself wanting more. When a game can last 40 hours and not become boring, that shows true prowess in the genre.

The graphics in ToS are nothing to write home about, but the fact is that this isn’t a game that really needs to be memorably beautiful. The character animations are all cel-shaded with heavy anime influences, and looks pretty good, though occasionally too lifeless. Most of them have only one or two motions for reacting in cut scenes, some of which are simply ridiculous (such as Collette’s two-fisted bounce). Also, combat in cut scenes just looks odd as there is no blood whatsoever and seemingly no resistance from the target, making them seem a little too much like an afterthought. Once in combat itself, the animations are a lot more fluid and work very well, but some of the cut scenes suffer.

The backgrounds work pretty well. The best of them are the seemingly hand-drawn ones, which flow perfectly with the character and object animations. The images beneath the floor in the Tower of Salvation, for example, are certainly a sight to remember. The cities and towns also fit the style fairly well in most cases, though they occasionally look a little too 3D for the anime style. With a few breathtaking backdrops and a couple pieces of lame scenery, the backgrounds work just OK.



The place where it all seems to fall apart is in the field. The most simple, yet annoying part of the graphics would be the outer-combat enemy animations, which appear as little characters roaming around until they bump into you. In dungeons, these usually range from looking decent to pretty bad, but in the field, they look atrocious as little black blobs. The other problem with the field is camera controls, which are tough in spots and will often result in an enemy that you really should have seen getting the jump on you. The map can also be difficult to use until you get used to it or until you get the ability to fly across the area in an instant. All in all, the field is the weak point of the game.

Background music is somewhat of a judgement call, but for the most part it doesn’t shine too bright. For battle, basically only three different forms of music will be heard. The only one worth remembering is that which plays during only battles with Sheena, an otherwordly assassin. Other than that, the normal battle music gets repetitive after a while, and the boss music is simply a heavier version of the normal, which sounds good at first but also becomes redundant. The wandering music can also get very annoying, seeming simply like a cleaned up MIDI with no other effects added. These problems won’t be apparent early in the game, nor once you get used to it later on, but that middle period might have the background music as an extreme annoyance.



Other aspects of the sound are pretty good. Sound effects are not very wide in range, but all serve their purposes. Voice acting is key as many of the cut scenes use it, and it is performed very well. You can almost size up every character based on their vocal patterns. After each fight, you will hear some dialogue or monologue with the characters used in the party, which can often be funny, but is reused a little too often. With all that into consideration, the sound is pretty good aside from the background music.

With three difficulty levels, multiple endings, a vast world and many sidequests, replay value is Symphonia is a given. Since the game is easily 40 hours long, it is almost worth going all the way back just to pick up on clues to the plot you missed the first time around. If you have any intention on playing this game, I highly suggest buying, as there is no chance a rental will give you enough time to truly play this game fully.



Despite some technical issues, Tales of Symphonia is an amazing game, thanks to an incredible length, good plot and incredible combat. If you have any interest in RPGs at all, you are doing yourself a disservice by not owning this game. If you really are not interested in RPGs, this game is still worth checking out, as the action elements of the combat may be just enough to win you over. This is a game worthy of any and all praise it has received, and should be in the collection of almost any Gamecube owner.



Overall Rating – 91%

[SirSnooze]

I think I said this before: AWESOME!!
Thanks for this fine review.
it gets a
out of

[JimD73]

Pretty sure that's not an official scale, but thanks.

[SirSnooze]

It means really good.
You may want to use this to show if your posts are long. That's what I got it for.