 It’s video game RPG series with good character development, a rich history, and some great art. No, it’s not Final Fantasy, its Tales of Symphonia. Part of the Tales series, popular in Japan, this particular incarnation included the talents of renowned mangaka (Manga comic artist) Kosuke Fujioshima, and was the first of the series to be released in the US in a long time. It’s also a (very) distant prequel to the first game of the series, Tales of Phantasia. Final Fantasy has set a standard for Japanese consol RPGs in the US, so how does Tales of Symphonia hold up?
Immersion (Story/Environment)
 While it’s normally part of the graphics, I have to say that the animation and art in Tales of Symphonia is breathtaking. Most of the text is voiced as well, but also has the text available to read as well, so story immersion is taken very seriously. The story starts out fairly simply, with Lloyd, the main character, in a class room, where he gets to interact with a few characters and you learn a little bit about the upcoming events, as well as the history of the characters. So as your characters go about their business, their motivations are fairly clear, but the plot’s twists and turns rarely are. As a story itself, it’s not the most original story, but then, given all other consol RPGs out there, it’s hard to do something that’s never been done before. Still, the characters are deep, they develop fairly equally, and the plot keeps you interested in what’s going on. The world itself is deep, with even minor town extras having some depth to it, and each town having a rich environment to explore, and the world having many areas to explore. The plot seems fairly linier at times, but you can do quite a bit of it in any order if you can manage to beat the enemies. There are plenty of side quests, and some you can’t easily complete on your first run through the game.  Over all, the game strikes a very good balance of gravity of the plot and important points, and light hearted comedy as the characters argue, make fun of each other, and generally be themselves. There are even extra cut scenes through the game to give you a glimpse into what the characters are talking about. They are optional, but they add to the development as you learn about some of their deeper emotions, fears, and worries.
Gameplay
Tales of Symphonia has a fairly standard RPG feel to the controls. When not in combat, you move your party around and interact with objects and people. You can change who is the spokesman for your party, which is important, as some people react differently to different party members, and there are some side quests or even main quests that are triggered based on who you have at the head. Behind the scenes, you can select your battle party, and your party leader outside of combat need not be one of them. Each character has a fairly standard array of stats that influence their combat abilities including levels and techniques. One way you can customize a character's advancement is the title system. Characters can earn different titles which increase how they advance in particular attributes, and you can compare which titles help what stats when you assign them. Better titles mean you get more out of a level. Need more Technique points? Assign a title that boosts them and level a few times. And so on. It also adds some extra side quests to acquire all the titles. Techniques also are diverse and controllable as you can lean your character towards Strike (more powerful, but effects one) abilities or Technical (area effects, a little less damaging) abilities.  Speaking of combat abilities, the Tales series has a few surprises in store. The combat is actually fairly action oriented in a faux 3D setting. You lock on to an enemy and can go forward and backwards on a plane with that enemy and you turn when you choose a new one. Attacks are done in combinations with regular attacks on one button, and your technique attacks on another button, and the specific technique is based off of the button and the position of the control stick. It’s simplistically action oriented, and doesn’t take too long to master Lloyd. You can also have friends join in and control the other party members (up to 4) or trust in the AI (which you can guide fairly well with some quick settings). Combos are important, and if you can time it right, you can do some multi-person combos, or just long combos with the person you’re controlling. You won’t always be controlling Lloyd, so getting familiar with a few other characters is not a bad idea. The learning curve on combat is fairly easily, and it’s a bit more complicated than button mashing, but you don’t need to get too fancy to get through the game.
After combat, the cooking system comes into play, where you can cook a meal to heal up your HP, TP, and potentially give you other boosts as well. You collect ingredients and different characters are better cooks than others, and they get better with practice. There’s even a running gag about one of the characters, Raine, who is the worst cook for almost every dish, and has odd ingredients like Lemon to make Steak. Graphics and Sound
As I mentioned before, the art is fantastic, and is done very well. Though much of the game, it feels more like playing an Anime/Manga than an actual video game, and other than a few minor graphical flaws involving characters becoming a bit blurry and out of focus, the graphics are wonderful. Perhaps one of the best games for the game cube graphically. There is an occasional slowdown, but it is rare. The sounds and voice acting are all excellent as well. The voice quality is easy to understand, and very well done. Not just the main characters have voices either, as many supporting characters are voiced as well, and done very well. The effects are crisp, clean and easy to work with as well. The music is also something to behold, with a Symphonic theme, the music adds to the mood very well without overpowering it. Together, you get a beautifully presented game that leaves very little to be desired in the sound and graphics department. Even the occasional full motion video sequences are good, and seem to be contained very well with the rest of the game, as the art flows well into it. Above and Beyond
 With well developed story, art, and graphics, the game is a fairly complete package. There are an abundance of extras and side quests you can take, but above all, the game has a very good replay feature as well. As you advance though the game, you can earn grade based on how well you fight. You can spend the grade on a few upgrades, but at the end of the game, your grade can be used to purchase advantages when you start the game over, like earning more money per combat, keeping your titles, starting with more HPs or other such things. This will let you try some of the harder puzzles, and gives some replay to the game to try things a bit differently in your second, third, or fourth go around. Plus, you can respend your grade at each endgame, so you don’t loose what you spent. This little extra can add hours of extra life to the game, and make replaying it a bit more fun, and potentially easier (or harder), so you can focus more on the story, and parts you may have missed. Overall
Tales of Symphonia is a complete package. Despite a story that isn’t the most original, the game is well developed and draws you in. It’s well told, deep, and has enjoyable characters. Plenty of drama, humor, and depth, as well as a fun combat system that can let you have your friends join in as well. Tales of Symphonia is a game just about anyone who likes RPGs and has a Wii or Gamecube can enjoy. It’s only real disadvantage is that the follow up games were not released on the Gamecube, but on the PS2. Bront’s Score: 9.5 out of 10 Discuss this review in the Forums |
