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ipr4's Tales of Symphonia (GC)
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| [April 30, 2013 11:57:05 PM]
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Tales of Symphonia(GC)
Tales of Symphonia is a JRPG developed for the Nintendo Gamecube. A member of the “Tales” series of games it shares common traits with the others such as the linear motion battle system, attention to character development, and engaging story. It spans two disks and is definitely a long game.
Gameplay:
Tales of Symphonia's gameplay can be divided into three sections: towns and dungeons, the overworld, and the battle screen.
Towns and dungeons give the player a more traditional third person RPG view. In towns players visit homes to talk to villagers and can buy things at shops. In dungeons monsters spawn and players are met with puzzles to progress, usually involving an item called the Sorcerer’s Ring. To get in between the towns and dungeons the player must go over the overworld.
The overworld allows players to get from town to town. In this section players are shown a shrunk down over world and trek across the map to each of the towns, dungeons, and other important locations. As the player navigates the map they can find some chests and character skits which provide fun conversations between characters and usually provide some back story. Monsters appear as the player progresses and contact with a monster will initiate a battle.
Battles take place in a three dimensional world, but the player is limited to linear movement. Characters can either hack and slash with their equipped weapon or use special arts that take up technical points, similar to mana. During battle players can issue commands to their companions to better fight as well as use items. Once battle is over the player gains experience as well as GRADE which is used for the new game+ to buy perks for the next playthrough.
Story:
Tales of Symphonia begins in the fictional world of Sylvarant with main characters Llyod Irving, Genis Sage, and Colette Brunel in class. However the story soon finds itself far from a rural classroom and we are taken on a journey that crosses even dimensions. The story is long and just when you believe you've defeated the big baddie, a new boss appears. The story is constantly evolving, but is not hard to follow. Following the story is made easier by a story summary tab of the menus which chronicles all the important events the player goes through.
Game Session:
My playthrough of Tales of Symphonia netted over 40 hours thanks to all of the side quests and other features of the game. Having played the game previously I was able to start with the new game+ feature. This allowed me to carry over some of my items as well as gain twice the experience per battle. I found the game to be much easier with a greater level advantage. Even though I had played before I had forgotten most of the story so it felt like playing through for the first time. I tried not to get sucked into all the side quests and collectables, but I'm a collectionist and had to do everything. I managed to complete the game over around 5 solid playing sessions.
What worked?
Between the overworld skits, story conversations, and a few special scenes players will find that each character is deep and interesting. The game does a great job of pacing of the story as well, though it is a bit lengthy. The battle system is also fast paced and intuitive, easy to pick up but hard to master.
What didn't work?
In new game+, twice the experience makes the game laughably easy. Battles can become repetative if a player does not use arts as mashing A can win many battles. Also a lot of the many side quests can be hard to find and some require you to be in a certain stretch of the game or have specific skills on specific characters without telling you what these parameters are.
Final Thoughts:
Tales of Symphonia is a very fun game that any JRPG fan should play at least once. While it is very long, it is always engaging and will please anyone who plays it. The battle system is interesting and fun, offering many ways to play. The characters are deep and fun. You will laugh, you may cry, but you will definitely not be disappointed.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Apr 30th, 2013 at 23:57:55.
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ipr4's Tales of Symphonia (GC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Tuesday 23 April, 2013
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