Tales of Symphonia was a formative expertise for me. For my younger 11-year-old mind, it redefined my understanding of the JRPG style. The colourful presentation, action-focused fight, and mature story took me abruptly. Weekend after weekend, a buddy and I might discover the world of Sylvarant collectively, making incremental progress in every play session. Whereas I had performed just a few JRPGs earlier than, none had hooked me the way in which Tales of Symphonia had.
Regardless of my deep reverence for Tales of Symphonia, I have never touched it since 2004. I do not actually know why. I purchased it on PC just a few years again, but it surely simply felt mistaken to play that sport sitting at my desk one random night after work–almost as if it might tarnish the magic of that have and the reminiscences tied to it. Nevertheless, with the discharge of Tales of Symphonia Remastered, I made a decision it was lastly time to return to this world to see if it was nearly as good as I bear in mind. The outcome was a bit blended.
Tales of Symphonia follows a child named Lloyd Irving as he accompanies the Chosen One on a globetrotting journey. The Chosen One, Colette, instructed by divine prophecy, should “regenerate” the world with a purpose to finish struggle, famine, and hatred. It looks as if customary JRPG fare, however the story is darker and much more complicated than it initially lets on. Regardless of attempting to do the proper factor, Lloyd and his companions are confronted with ethical quandaries that usually go away a path of destruction behind them. What makes the story so efficient is the way it not often shies away from the results of our heroes’ actions. Conflicts are not often resolved neatly, and the story is best for it.
What makes the story actually memorable, although, is the wonderful solid of characters. To today, Symphonia nonetheless has one of the best solid of characters the collection has ever seen. Lloyd is a charismatic, hot-headed child seeing the world for the primary time. Genis is a careless spellcaster who serves as the right finest buddy and foil to Lloyd. Whereas Kratos, upon first look, seems to be a chilly and indifferent mercenary, he rapidly turns into a stoic father determine to Lloyd. There’s a terrific dynamic between the entire get together members that result in some humorous, heartwarming, and devastating moments over the course of the journey.
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The story and characters are sometimes held again by some awkward localization, however the lack of a correct quest-tracking system is what actually halts the momentum. Like within the unique, there’s a Synopsis menu that summarizes your journey thus far and infrequently tells you the place to go subsequent. The issue is that these “synopsis” entries are a ache to sift by and may be obscure at instances, that means you might be aimlessly wandering across the map till you discover a focal point that triggers a cutscene. The inelegant, however typically vital, resolution is to drag up a walkthrough. Tales of Symphonia additionally has a handful of facet quests, a few of that are missable. As soon as once more, there is not a dependable approach to monitor these quests, so it is very simple to overlook out on some.
The presentation would not do Tales of Symphonia many favors, both. The person interface has obtained just a few minor tweaks, but it surely seems almost similar to the PS3 port launched in 2013. The cutscenes are simply as stiff and awkward as they have been again in 2004, and the overworld is bland and lifeless. And the traditional chibi-esque model feels at odds with a number of the sport’s darker themes. It is onerous to take a number of the extra emotional moments significantly when they’re performed out by cutesy characters.
What units the Tales Of collection other than different JRPGs is its real-time fight. Whilst you can nonetheless pause time to vary your techniques, handle distinctive assaults known as Artes, and use gadgets, the fight itself performs out in actual time. Success in battle requires some gentle meter administration and stringing collectively fundamental assaults with Artes. This fundamental fight loop hasn’t modified a lot with subsequent titles within the collection, however in comparison with Tales of Berseria and Tales of Come up, it feels stiff and painfully sluggish. Finally, as you unlock extra Artes, combos turn out to be intricate and, in flip, are extra satisfying to drag off, however the early hours can really feel like a slog.
To offset the repetitive nature of fight, you’ll be able to play as totally different get together members. Every character boasts a distinct playstyle with distinctive Artes and bespoke combos. Spellcasters like Genis thrive on the sting of the battlefield slinging spells from afar, whereas the murderer Sheena, voiced by the unbelievable Jennifer Hale, makes use of elemental playing cards to assault her foes. Regardless of who you play, you’ll be able to’t escape the lackadaisical tempo of fight, although.
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Though most fight encounters are comparatively sluggish and easy, boss fights are a spotlight. These demand a considerate get together composition, intelligent techniques, and good merchandise administration. Even on the conventional problem stage, gamers may discover it troublesome to coast by boss encounters like they might common ones. Whereas the basics nonetheless really feel a bit of clunky, the elevated problem makes boss fights significantly extra participating.
On Nintendo Swap, I did run into just a few technical points within the first 10 hours. A few rooms inside particular dungeons undergo from noticeably low body charges. This does not carry over into fight, so it would not straight have an effect on gameplay, but it surely’s nonetheless jarring seeing a 19-year-old sport undergo from body fee points on fashionable hardware–especially contemplating the unique Nintendo GameCube launch focused 60 frames per second. Moreover, within the City of Asgard, the sport hitches up each time you enter a constructing. To this point that is the one occasion of this I’ve seen, but it surely’s one other weird difficulty that, though it would not straight have an effect on gameplay, is bizarre to see nonetheless.
Extra frustratingly, my sport crashed twice within the first 10 hours. What made these crashes significantly painful is the shortage of an auto-save function paired with Tales of Symphonia’s inflexible save system. You may solely save in sure areas, and a few save spots are inaccessible and not using a particular merchandise. That signifies that one poorly timed crash can erase hours of labor. I’ve misplaced a complete of two hours to crashes. Each crashes occurred throughout prolonged play periods of 4 or extra hours. Since then, I have been saving usually and relaunching the sport each few hours, and I have never had any crashes since. It is also price noting that each crashes occurred previous to a day-one patch, which is now out there. Hopefully, this implies gamers choosing up the sport on launch will not run into these similar points.
Tales of Symphonia Remastered continues to be a fascinating JRPG that’s–unfortunately–a bit robust to advocate at the moment given a few of its dated exploration mechanics and tough presentation. Just a few fashionable conveniences might have gone a great distance like auto-saving and quest monitoring, however its emotional story usually subverts expectations and explores the grey areas in what could appear to be an easy journey. All informed, it is a skinny remaster that does not shine a really flattering gentle on one in all my favourite JRPGs.
