See, while it is common in RPGs now, back when ToS was new this was mostly unheard of, espically considering the Gamecube’s 1.5GB storage limit. The voice acting truly blew me away when I first heard it as I wasn’t expecting there to be any. Even the annoying characters (read: Colette) have excellent voices. Throughout the entire adventure, every bit of dialogue regarding the plot is fully voiced by a team of professionally trained voice actors that bring the game to life. In addition to the music, another real strength of Tales of Symphonia is the voice acting. Instead of a rather uninsprited instermental tune, the Japanese version of Tales of Symphonia opens with the absolutely fantastic J-pop song “ Starry Heavens” by Japanese band Day After Tomorrow. Thrown into the mix are a few remixes of classic Tales of Phantasia songs including “ Fighting of the Spirit“.Īs great as the OST is for the English release, a great rift exists between the opening for the International and the Japanese versions. The tracks in Symphonia range from your typical action fare to high fantasy music. From the composer of Tales of Phantasia, Motoi Sakuraba would later go on to create more impressive work in games including Tales of the Abyss, Valkyrite Pofile Lenneth, Eternal Sonata and many more. Tales of Symphonia has one of the best soundtracks in years. It’s clear and easily readable, and also slightly stylized. On a side note, I’ve always loved the font used in the English release. Technically, the game does unfortunately not support progressive scan, but it still looks rather nice with the rare Gamecube component cable or a Wii with component cables. ![]() The game’s handful of animated cutscenes look brilliant, and were but a taste of what we would see in the Tales of Symphonia OVA made many years later. All characters only have a handful of animations and facial expressions, and all carry a “default” expression of a rather silly smile, which is best ignored as it sometimes can get in the way of the plot. Locations are lush and look quite good, even amongst Tales games.Ĭharacter models themselves are rather primitive. Tales of Symphonia employs a cel-shaded cartoonish look that goes a long way to keep the game looking dated as much as possible. The plot is overall similar to Camelot’s Golden Sun, so if you liked that game you’ll love this one. To explain more would be to spoil the game’s experience, which is at least half of what makes any RPG worth playing. She travels with main character, her childhood friend and love interest Lloyd Irving, her former schoolteacher and healer Raine Sage, Raine’s younger brother and Lloyd’s best friend Genis, and a mercenary and excellent swordmaster named Kratos Aurion.Īs the game progresses, many revelations are made about World Regeneration and the hidden plots that complicate the scenario. The Chosen of this generation is Colette Brunel. Once the Chosen fully transforms into an angel, the Goddress Martel will bless the world for their kind offering and the world will be regenerated. In order to regenerate the world, the Chosen must travel from continent to continent, awakening the elemental Summon Spririts that sleep at ancient shrines known as “seals.” With every seal released, the Chosen comes closer and closer to becoming an angel. As crops begin to wither and hardship sets in, the people turn their hopes to the Chosen, a servant and messiah of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration and transform from being a human into an angel. The world of Sylvarant is suffering terrible droughts, storms, and earthquakes due to a steady loss of Mana, the energy source that is needed both for magic and to support life itself for the entire planet. ![]() If you haven’t already explored the epic RPG on Nintendo’s purple box, is it still worth checking out now? While the Gamecube is certainly not known for it’s RPGs, Tales of Symphinia is probably one of the better known titles for the system, and there’s a good chance you’ve heard of it already. ![]() For me, if I can get into a game within the first few hours there’s a good chance I’ll see it through to the end. ![]() This kind of thing doesn’t happen with epic must-see films but then again, films aren’t 80 hours long. They are the genre most people will tell you they’ve played while never actually finishing most of them. RPGs can be compared to large novels or lengthy films in terms of scope, potentially turning many people off from even attempting them.
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