As I looked through my Steam Library, I decided on Tales of Symphonia as the next Tales of game for me, while it also being the oldest title I have played thus far. With that said, I was worried about what I was going to experience as the last game I played in the series was Tales of Vesperia and while I did enjoy that game with it having my favorite cast, I did have a few problems with it. To my surprise, Tales of Symphonia actually had some very nice mechanics with only a few issues.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Wonderful story with a great cast of characters
- Very fun and fluid combat
- Lots of spells and abilities to acquire
- Beautiful old graphics that give a retro-style feel
Cons
- English voice acting is a bit lackluster
- This game can be a bit item-dependent in certain fights
Story
The world of Sylvarant is slowly dying due to a steady loss of mana, an energy source that is used and needed to support both life and the magic that the world has. As the world fades they turn to The Chosen, a servant and messiah of the goddess Martel, who can solve the mana problem that the world is facing. You play as Lloyd Irving, who is best friends with Genis Sage, and Colette Brunel, who is the current Chosen.
Colette must head out to fulfill her duty of restoring mana and is going to be accompanied by Raine Sage and Kratos. No, not the Kratos from God of War but a Kratos that looks like Roy from Fire Emblem, although his first game was technically Smash Melee. Anyway, Lloyd and Gene soon join in on the adventure, however, there seems to be more than meets the eye on this adventure than one may think.
The story for Tales of Symphonia is fantastic, I never felt a dull moment while I was playing and the characters all shine in their own ways. Each character had something special to them that made everything fit together in the story. The twists that came also spiced things up and I honestly loved them as there were a lot but it just made sense why they were there. It made you feel that a lot is going on that you do not know about.
The only issue I have is that the English voice acting is a little lackluster, it’s not terrible but as someone who enjoyed Berseria and Vesperia’s English cast it’s a little disappointing in my eyes.
Gameplay
When it came to the gameplay of Tales of Symphonia, however, to my surprise the game controlled and played very well. There is no free run option in this game as you move in a Z-axis when fighting enemies in combat. There are a variety of attacks and spells you can perform on whatever character you are playing. Each character can do something different and have a certain role to play in the party.
Among my favorite party members have to be Raine and Genis Sage who were both just all-around great spell casters who did alot of damage, Raine is just a great support character who learns some great healing abilities. Although my absolute favorite party member has to be Colette Brunel, since she is The Chosen she has access to special abilities that help out the party. Either by doing damage or healing everyone, all around a very well-rounded party member. Everyone is pretty good in the game and I had no issues with anyone. Although Regal Bryant tended to die alot during boss fights but he was good.
The gameplay for the game is very fun and overall I had a great time while I was playing, there are lots of weapons you can get your hands on. You can even get access to armor and other stuff for your characters to wear. At the end of every battle you are rewarded with experience points, if you get a certain amount your character will level up. You can learn new attacks or spells to spice up combat a bit.
The Linear Motion Battle System is also in this game and it feels very fine and fluid despite its age. Although it is the first game to utilize the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System, you can select what targets you can choose to fight during combat at any given point. Although both your party members and enemies can move freely, you are out of luck when it comes to that. Also, spell casters are in some deep trouble if they are left on their own - if it’s an enemy, the party will just gain up them with no issue whatsoever.
The only issue I have with Tales of Symphonia is that some of the fights are a bit item-dependent. Mainly if you don’t have any revival-based items, then you will probably be in some trouble. This is mostly on boss fights and I was at an appropriate level to fight them, unless I was doing something wrong then someone is free to tell me, and I will take any criticism. However, there are some fights where you may need an item to help deal with the boss or you will have a hard time taking it out.
Graphics and Performance
Tales of Symphonia is a very beautiful game with a retro-style feel the game that I honestly loved. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while I was playing the game, and low-end computers should be able to run the game with no issue.
Final Verdict
If you are looking for a very fun classic JRPG, then Tales of Symphonia is a fantastic game to pick up for newcomers or for those who are experienced with the series. You will have tons of fun through the story and gameplay. It’s truly an experience to be had for any type of fan of the genre.