Tales of Symphonia HD (PS3) Review

A tale worth telling.

 The Tales franchise, like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, is filled with great games and is pretty big in Japan. While early Tales games were obscure in the west, 2003's Tales of Symphonia, greatly helped popularize the franchise. At the time, it was praised by many critics and RPG enthusiasts alike for it's addictive gameplay and interesting setting. Thanks to its success, it received an anime and manga adaptations. In 2008, it also received a sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Wii which takes places two years of the Symphonia's ending. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, an HD collection packing Symphonia and its sequel was released for the PS3. Now that the introductions are over, it's time to review one of most popular games of all-time, Tales of Symphonia.

STORY- Your typical save-the-world affair, we follow the adventure of hero Lloyd Irving and his friends as they save their world Sylvarant that's suffering from mana loss. It's up to Colette, Lloyd's childhood friend and the "Chosen of Mana" to regenerate the world with mana. All is going well until they learn of Tethe'alla, a world parallel to theirs. To put it simply, if Sylvarant prospered, Tethe'alla suffered. The story has it's surprises and charm, however, it can be hard-to-follow at times with multiple names and definitions to remember. The first half suffers from a slow start and takes it's time to gain momentum. Thankfully, the second half makes up for that with interesting locations and characters to meet. 

While sometimes predictable, the story is pretty interesting.

 I really liked the cast of characters presented. Lloyd is a kind and great swordsman, throughout the story, we get to learn more about about him and towards the end, he feels like a developed character. Colette is a very kind and thoughtful person. Just like Lloyd, we learn more about her and in the end, she's a likable character The same thing can be said to the rest of the cast. They all have their reasons for tagging along and we get to learn more about their intentions. 

GAMEPLAY- If you didn't know by now, Symphonia is a JRPG (Japanese-style role-playing game). The gameplay is divided into three aspects: exploring the world map, navigating through dungeons and twons, and fighting enemies. You can navigate through the world map either on foot or using Lloyd's pet, Noishe. Later in the game, you'll have access to Rheairds, which are basically bikes that allows you to reach locations more efficiently. Throughout the game's two worlds are many locations, events, and enemies to see. Not to mention side-quests and mini-games, which are a great way to look for new weapons and items for your party. 

 A staple in the Tales games are skits, which are events that occur between the party by pressing the select button when prompted. Usually, they discuss the current events of the story and we get to know more about their personal lives. Also, you'll find glowing spots scattered across Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. These go more in-depth regarding characters' lives and intentions, depending on your choices, minor changes can occur to the game's narrative. 

The gameplay is fast despite being clunky at times.

 Onto the gameplay itself, the "Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System" is how the game is played. To elaborate, previous games had you fighting enemies on a flat 2D line. Since Symphonia was the first 3D game in the franchise, you can now fight enemies in multiple lines. Your party and enemies can now move in different directions in the combat area which comes handy when dodging enemy attacks.

 Only four characters from the party can be selected to battle. You control one member of your choice while the game's AI handles the rest. You can set the AI to behave accordingly to your commands. For example, you can control how frequent they can heal or use skills, from what distance they attack enemies, and how they move. If you have three other friends around, they can control the other party members instead of the AI. As you attack enemies, you fill a meter on the bottom-left of the screen called a "Unison Gauge" which when filled, your party can perform various attacks on an enemy. 

strategics and skills will lead to your victory.

 Towards the end of each battle, your rewarded with Gald and Grade. Gald is the game's currency and you'll need it to buy new weapons, gear, and items. Grade is also a currency used to buy bonuses. Finally, EX-gems can help characters learn new skills and techniques. Depending on its grade, the gem will offer high-performance skills. All of these features add an element of strategy and complexity which are very crucial when fighting some of the game's harder bosses. Don't worry though, the game's still accessible for newcomers since it's easy to jump in and understand the game's mechanics at the same time.

PRESENTATION- The HD edition does a decent job of polishing things up a bit. The chibi character models and colorful backgrounds are more sharp and clearer than they were over a decade ago. A downside to the HD re-release is the 30 frames-per second as opposed to the GameCube's 60 frame-per second. The voice-acting is neat though a bit cheesy at times. The dialogue can be a pain to sit through with occasional awkward moments despite having voice talents such as Scott Menville, Jennifer Hale, Tara Strong, and many more delivering neat performances. The soundtrack is a joy to listen after all these years as well with lots of memorable tracks packed in.

The presentation, excluding the dialogue, gives the game it's charm.

OVERALL- I really enjoyed my time with Tales of Symphonia. The gameplay is fun and you're bound to be sucked in the game's immersive world. Despite some shortcomings with the story, the characters and many great moments makes the whole experience memorable. While later installments would improve upon it in nearly every way, Symphonia is still a fun game to pick up and get immersed in.

IMPRESSIVE