Tales of Symphonia

Like previous installments in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia consists primarily of three major areas: an overworld field map, town and dungeon maps, and a battle screen.[15] The overworld map is a 3D model, featuring a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world which the player travels through to reach the game's locations. As with preceding games in the series, the world map can be traversed by foot, on the party's quadrupedal pet Noishe, and on flying vehicles known as Rheairds. On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments.[15] The battle screen is a 3D representation of an area, in which the player commands the characters in battles against CPU-controlled enemies.[16]

On the overworld and field maps, various skits between the characters can be viewed.[15] They involve animated character portraits, subtitles, and, in the Japanese version, full voice acting. Skits concern anything from character development to side details. Overworld map skits affect Lloyd's relationships with other party members. The player will be able to make certain decisions that imperceptibly affect how the other characters think of Lloyd. Some of these choices have minor ramifications for the game's storyline.[15]

Battle system

During battle sequences, the game uses the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System.[16][17] Four characters from the party are chosen to battle; those not controlled by a player are guided by artificial intelligence with instructions set by the player beforehand. Damage dealt to the opponent fills a "Unison Gauge". When this is full, a "Unison Attack" can be triggered, allowing the party to use techniques simultaneously on a single enemy. When certain techniques are combined, a special attack results in additional damage.[16]

After battle, a currency called Grade is awarded or subtracted based on specific criteria that are fulfilled in battle.[16] It is used to purchase bonuses during New Game Plus. Players are also prompted to cook food after battles if they have the materials. Cooking recipes determine the benefits received such as health recovery. The degree of the benefit is determined by which character is chosen to cook.[18]

Tales of Symphonia's skill system is built around the use of "EX Gems", which come in four ranks.[19] Each character can equip up to four EX Gems and set abilities to those gems. The abilities determine if the characters will learn Strike or Technical techniques and spells. Combinations of EX Gem abilities can also grant additional abilities called "EX-Skills".[19] The development of a character's attributes is determined by their equipped "Title".[20] Titles are earned through story progression, side quests, or completion of miscellaneous criteria.[20]

Lloyd Irving and his friend, Genis Sage accompany the chosen, Colette Brunel and her guardians, Raine Sage and Kratos Aurion on her journey of world regeneration. The purpose of the journey is to replenish Sylvarant with mana, a necessary energy to their survival.[NGC 1] The path of the journey consists of five temples which must be unsealed by Colette. On their journey, they meet Sheena Fujibayashi who comes from Tethe'alla, a world parallel to Sylvarant. She tells them about how the two worlds vie for each other's mana through the journey of regeneration.[NGC 2] Hoping to find answers from the angel Remiel, the party meets him at the final seal and are betrayed by Remiel and Kratos; both are revealed to be part of Cruxis, an evil organization led by Mithos Yggdrasill.

The party leaves for Tethe'alla to search for a way to save both worlds and are joined by Zelos Wilder, Presea Combatir, and Regal Bryant. The party learns that awakening the Summon Spirits in both worlds will sever the mana tie between them.[NGC 3] Believing that to be the answer, they successfully sever all mana ties between the two worlds.[NGC 4] Their actions instead destabilize the Great Seed, the supplier of mana to both worlds, causing it to grow and engulf Sylvarant at an exponential rate.[NGC 5] After the party re-stabilizes the seed, they learn from Yuan Ka-Fai about the origins of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla and how they used to be one world but was split by Mithos with the Eternal Sword; the party realizes they can save the world if they wield the Eternal Sword, merge the worlds, and germinate the Great Seed. They decide to confront and defeat Mithos before seeking the Eternal Sword.

Kratos is revealed to have been gathering materials to have Lloyd use the Eternal Sword. He succeeds but Mithos survives his apparent death and possesses a member from the party before fleeing to the comet Derris-Kharlan. Mithos attempts to take the Great Seed with him but is foiled and killed by Lloyd. Using the Eternal Sword, Lloyd merges Sylvarant and Tethe'alla together and germinates the Great Seed into a Giant Kharlan Tree to supply the world with mana.[NGC 6]

The game was first announced on May 8, 2002, by Namco to be one of the many titles it would be releasing on the Nintendo GameCube.[21] Namco stated it would be a part of the Tales of Phantasia series and expected comics, animation, drama CDs and novels to be spun off from the game.[21] Its name was revealed to be Tales of Symphonia in February 2003.[22] An April 2003 edition of Famitsu revealed the game has been in development for two years, its developers are the same from Tales of Eternia, the game will have the most main characters in the Tales series, and will be the first 3D game in the series.[23] During Electronic Entertainment Expo 2003, a North American localization was confirmed.[24] A conference by Namco on June 9, 2003, revealed the game will be on two disks and its theme song will be "Starry Heavens" by Day After Tomorrow, which is remixed as "Starry Heavens ver. 2013", based on the orchestra version, which is also performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version in both the Japanese and Western releases, as well as the PC and Remastered versions.[25] To celebrate its release in Japan, the game was bundled with a symphonic green Nintendo GameCube.[26] For the North American version, the localization producer replaced Starry Heavens with an orchestral anthem, due to licensing issues, and focused on hiring professional voice actors to dub the game in order to appeal to the Western audience.[27][28] The game was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, and was localized in North America and Europe on July 13, 2004, and November 19, 2004, respectively.[1] The game was re-released in North America under the Player's Choice label on July 19, 2004.[5]

During the second week of April 2004, Weekly Shōnen Jump announced a PlayStation 2 port of Tales of Symphonia.[29] It received new in-game additions and its theme song is "Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto" (そして僕にできるコト, lit. "And Thus, I Can Do It") by Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as "Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto ver. 2013" (そして僕にできるコト ver.2013, lit. "And Thus, I Can Do It ver. 2013"), which is also performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version in both the Japanese and Western releases, as well as the PC and Remastered versions.[30][31] It was released exclusively in Japan on September 22, 2004, and re-released under the PlayStation 2 the Best label on July 7, 2005.[2][6]

Tales of Symphonia garnered "generally favorable" reception from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic.[63]

The battle system was praised for its ease of use and fast pace,[65][70][71] with Jeremy Jastrzab of PALGN proclaiming it to be one of the best systems conceived for an action RPG.[76] Jonathan Metts of Planet GameCube explained that it "strikes a perfect balance between the strategy of traditional menu-based RPG battles and the fast, skill-based action found in a weapons-based fighting game like Soul Calibur".[75] While Star Dingo of GamePro concurred that the game's individual character control was "excellent", he lamented that the computer-controlled nature of the other party members resulted in a loss of the experience of learning new skills and spells, and said that attempts to micromanage the other members made the battle system clunky and burdensome.[68] Daryl Vassar of G4techTV cited the battles as the game's high point and claimed they were fun enough to win over non-RPG fans, though he considered the summoning system — which requires a character to take a great deal of damage before performing such an action — to be a weakness.[67] David Smith of 1UP.com was initially aggravated by the limitations imposed on three-dimensional movement combined with the number of enemies, but later acknowledged that the limitations encouraged strategic depth by preventing the player from exploiting repetitive or unbalanced tactics.[64] In this regard, Smith deemed the system to be an improvement over that of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time;[64] Rob Fahey of Eurogamer also drew a comparison to the title, considering the computer-controlled characters in Tales to be significantly more intelligent.[66]

The dungeon puzzles were described as simple and easy to decipher.[70][73] Mary Jane Irwin of IGN, comparing the puzzles to The Legend of Zelda, welcomed them as breaks from the frequent exploration and battles, as well as an expansion of the game's appeal to a broader audience. However, she regarded some of the later puzzles as fetch quests intended solely to lengthen the campaign.[73] While Smith agreed that the quality of the puzzles was not exceptional, he considered them a decent challenge and an improvement over those in Tales of Destiny.[64] Metts dismissed the puzzles as "more annoying than challenging and often feel out of place".[75]

The visuals were admired for their cel-shading effects and anime-influenced art direction,[lower-alpha 3] with Jastrzab saying that the stylish characters, animations and special effects enhanced the game's battle sequences.[76] However, Smith disliked the lack of detail and facial expression in the character models, remarking that "the rare occasions where they do show emotion come across as disturbingly jarring". He negatively compared the character designs to Fujishima's earlier work in Tales of Phantasia, saying that Symphonia's characters lacked the personality of those in the preceding title, and claimed that "any number of cheaper artists could have delivered equally inspired designs". Smith also criticized the cel-shading style as uneven and shaky compared to that of Jet Set Radio.[64] The settings were admired for their detail and variety, with some commenting that the background art transitioned well into a 3D format from the classic Tales titles.[lower-alpha 4] Jastrzab was stunned by the lack of slowdown during the game's chaotic action segments,[76] and Benjamin Turner of GameSpy was also amazed by the consistently high framerate, which he regarded as "a great bonus in a time when most RPGs are content to chug at 30 [fps]".[71] Fahey and Jastrzab were disappointed by the game's lack of cutscenes in the vein of the traditionally-animated opening cinematic.[66][76] The in-game cutscenes were described by the EGM reviewers and Jastrzab as "dull" and "a little underdone".[65][76] Fahey and GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla remarked that the game's attempt at depth of field effects in some scenes resulted in the characters appearing smeared rather than out-of-focus.[66][70] The overworld's presentation was criticized as underwhelming; some compared its level of detail to titles from the previous generation of consoles,[68][73][75] while Jastrzab argued that the quality would not have been passable even in that context.[76] Massimilla additionally faulted the camera in these portions, explaining that it required frequent adjustment and sometimes obscured incoming enemies.[70]

Reactions to the music were mixed; some regarded the score as unremarkable,[67][68][71] which was a source of disappointment for Fahey, as he felt the "beautifully constructed" world deserved a more impressive soundtrack.[66] Jastrzab deemed the music "exceptional" and "stellar", saying that it "captures the mood of the relevant scenarios with virtual perfection while avoiding the repetitious nature of anything related to anime".[76] Massimilla observed that the soundtrack "[held] true to the Tales' norm of combining wind instruments and bells in pleasing ways for main themes".[70] Turner and Irwin respectively described Sakuraba's score as "a typically fine piece of work" and "pleasantly decent", though Irwin remarked that the musical variety was relegated to dialogue-oriented events, with the battle and overworld themes taking up most of the playtime.[71][73]

The voice acting was commended,[lower-alpha 5] with Smith remarking that the characters were "more fun to hear than they are to look at". He added that the repartee between Lloyd and Genis elevated them above their archetypes.[64] Fahey noted that his praise of the voice acting was rare as he was not a fan of dubbing, and was slightly disappointed that the skits were not voiced as well, which he said resulted in them feeling drawn-out.[66] Although Jastrzab approved of the voice acting's professional quality, he mentioned that some of the dialogue was not well-placed, explaining that "There is no building of feeling or creation of tension, it pretty much bursts onto the scene".[76] However, Irwin considered the delivery to be flat and stilted, observing that "Emotion is often expressed at the wrong times (or not at all) and conversations rarely sound natural".[73] Turner also deemed the voices to be "so-so", opining that while the characters' battle vocalizations were sufficient, the actors lacked the range needed for the more emotionally demanding scenes, which he said were held back by "generally inept" direction in the cutscenes.[71]

Responses to the narrative were mixed, with some considering the story to be familiar and predictable.[lower-alpha 6] The reviewers of Nintendo Power said that the story was told with "wonderful craft", and were surprised that the player-controlled character does not carry the "chosen one" role.[74] Jastrzab argued that the story held "never-ending depth" underneath its surface, though he warned of the script's excessive moralizing.[76] Metts agreed that the plot was standard, though he remarked that the set-up was "unusually blunt, in that you are told the implications of the quest right upfront". However, he proposed that the narrative could assuage GameCube owners desiring a traditional RPG, and described the ending sequence as "beautiful and powerful".[75] Star Dingo compared the story's combination of "heart, warmth, humor, sadness and peril" to the works of Rumiko Takahashi, and proclaimed the writing to be some of the best among console RPGs, elaborating that "the tragedies really strike home, and the characters all have distinct voices, speaking their lines with a welcome sense of subtle irony and self-awareness about RPG clichés".[68] Fahry acknowledged that the premise was simple and cliché, he said that the plot twists were well-employed.[66] Irwin was unengaged to the story, which she attributed to what she deemed a flawed localization; she explained that "The dialogue is often awkward and drawn out. Word choice ranges from overly formal to random slang -- the style is all over the linguistic map with little regard to who's speaking".[73] The Nintendo Power reviewers and Metts were satisfied with the story's pace,[74][75] while Turner remarked that the narrative meandered at times.[71] The characters were said to be likable and well-developed.[71][76] Metts compared the cast to that of The Lord of the Rings in that they "initially seem simple and stereotypical but almost feel like real people by the end of the story".[75] Fahey singled out Lloyd's development and was thankful that the writers were "of the persuasion which says that dark revelations of the past are not a substitute for creating a proper personality for your characters".[66]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Tales of Symphonia.

• Official website (archived)
• Tales of Symphonia (PS2) Official website (JP)
• Tales of Symphonia Chronicles Official website (JP)
• Tales of Symphonia: The Animation (OVA) (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia