The Official Tales of Symphonia Thread

[Johnny Nighttrain]

if it comes stateside, it'll be Nintendo's doing. i don't think they have any plans of bringing it over though.

[Frogacuda]

The GBA version of Tales of Phantasia sucks a fat one. Really disappointing. The battles control like mud, the music is mangled. All the ToP fans I know were pretty disappointed. Stick with the PSX one.

As for chances for a US release, I think if there's any chance they're probably waiting to see how ToS does. If ToS can prove to be a hit (by hit I mean selling like 200,000, which would still be alot for a cube RPG), then Namco might consider it, but realistically, I'd say nto a chance, and frankly I shed no tears over it. I'd rather play the PSX one in japanese than the GBA one in english.

[Frogacuda]

Here's what Dengeki had to say:

Dengeki: 9 points

-The battles, having evolved to an even higher level thanks to the jump to 3D, are entertaining. In particular, trying to pull off combo attacks is exciting.
-Despite being in 3D however, party characters can only move forwards and backwards, leaving them open to concentrated attacks when surrounded by a group of enemies. Other such negative points, such as the tendency of guard/defense-oriented characters to automatically position themselves in the front lines, are present. However, this is compensated to a degree by other elements such the character movement system and the strategy involved in the battles.
-As far as the story is concerned, there are some elements regarding the setup of the world presented that are a bit on the hard-to-understand side. However, other elements such as the relationship between characters and how the rebirth of the world turns out will maintain player levels of interest and anticipation. For fans of the "Tales" series, this soft warrants the purchase of a GC to be played.

Kobayashi: 10 points

-The process in which the character's personalities are developed as well as the nature of how everything gradually comes together is very well done.
-An excellent system that effectively combines intense battles packed with action, cut sequences and titles. This system provides for a fun and complete gaming experience while also maintaining a unique flavor.
-The overall volume of the game and the degree to which it pulls you into its world is perfect. Polished to a degree of perfection that makes one say, "Now this is how an RPG is supposed to be!"
-Beginners to the series will have to remember a lot of things in the early stages of the game, which may cause a bit of confusion. However, this becomes no problem once one gets used to it.


Takamizawa: 9 points

-The command setup and system as a whole gets an enthusiastic thumbs up.
-Although the battles are in 3D, movement only involves forward and backwards, making control a breeze. Rapid pressing of the A and B button allows for easy linking of combos with refreshing results.
-However, there are cases in which characters controlled by the computer will ignore the strategy at hand and will step out onto the front lines. This forces the player to pay attention to the movement of ally characters in addition to enemy attacks during boss encounters.
-The story as a whole is on the pleasant and heartwarming side, but occasionally features some intense plot development that will take players aback.
-Packs more than enough elements to keep you coming back for more.

Sasaki: 10 points

-From the world presented to the characters and battles, everything about this game screams perfect!
-The skit feature of game will cause a sense of closeness to develop with Lloyd and the other characters.
-As battles take place with enemies and allies mixed together, it can be difficult, if only for a brief moment, to determine exactly who you are attacking. This is the only thing I had an issue with. Otherwise, the action is plentiful and there are plenty of special moves to be unlocked.
-Character development using the "Gems" will keep players additionally hooked.
-The progression of the story is quality as well.

Pretty strong praise. I'm stoked.

[Johnny Nighttrain]

new movies

Complete Opening Cinema - 17MB

Full Battle - 14MB

[Green]

http://cube.ign.com/articles/436/436098p1.html
IGN hands on with a few hours.

[Frogacuda]

So who has it? I got my copy today (Complete with bonus disc! Woot!) and shelled about an hour into it. I gotta say, I'm impressed. The game is extremely polished. It feelslike they had time to do everything they wanted to this time.

[Werewolf]

Cool, let us know your impressions on it

I'm so very tempted to get this, I'm getting the Tales of Symphonia Special CD too

[Frogacuda]

Ok, I've sunk enough time into this game now that I think I can talk about it with confidence (4 and a half hours). So far I've been progressing well and manged not to get lost despite the language barrier, so thar 4+ hour figure should be about on par with someone playing in english.

Graphically the game is drop-dead gorgeous. Not only is the use of cel shading pulled off extremely well, but the backgrounds are super-detailed with hand-painted textures, and everything moves at a rock-solid 60fps. It's a definate showcase title for the cube's graphical capabilities. Virtually no load times either.

Sonically the game is just as impressive. The music attempts to recreate the style of the Super Famicom Tales of Phantasia, which is pretty much universally considered to have the best music in the series. Sakuraba was successful, and the music is moody, atmospheric, and memorable. I think it's his best soundtrack in many years (though I haven'theard SO3). There's alot of voice acting this one. Almost every majorplot event orimportant conversation is voiced. The Voice cast isn't as good as previous Tales games, but it's still anime-quality voice work.

The battle system does not disappoint. I'm really happy with how well this came out. The transition to 3D was seamless, and they added alot to the system independant of that. I really like how good combos reward you with TP so you don't have to keep restoring your party-leader's TP. It gives the battles more flow. There's a greater emphasis on comboing in general, and I've gotten a few good combos in the 20+ range.

So far the level design has been pretty standard. The dungeons have been well paced, with puzzles ever-present. None have been paerticualrly difficult so far, but it's early in the game, and that's pretty standard for Tales games (the good levels are always in the second half).

On a negative note, I haven't noticed any Tales of Eternia-style mini-games so far. It could be I haven't been exploring well, or it could be I simply haven't gotten to any yet, but I'll be disappointed if they're absent alltogether. EDIT: I'm told by another ToS player that they're definately in there, I just haven't gotten to them yet. whew

The pacing of the game has been rock solid. There's never been a moment where I didn't feel like anything important was happening. The more cinematic presentation and abundance of voice acting help this too, as well as the fact that there's simply alot more story this time.

Anyway, overall I'm very VERY happy with the game. All the parts are there and the new gameplay systems are all great.

[Captain Vegetable]

You make me excited, Frog.

[Johnny Nighttrain]

from Video-Fenky:

The GameCube outsold the PS2 by 300 systems last week, according to Media Create. This was mostly thanks to the release of Tales of Symphonia, which sold 193,500 copies and likely forced many Tales maniacs to buy a GC for the first time. In other words, Tales succeeded where Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy failed--it helped Nintendo beat Sony for a week. One wonders if Namco realizes the power it holds in its hands.