Looking Back: Tales of Symphonia

Ahhhh probably one of my favorite games of all time, which I have beaten about 7 times now (a few of those were 100% completions) now that might seem a bit excessive to you even if it really was a great game. Well screw off. I can’t get enough of this game, it captures my interests perfectly and while it may seem a little repetitive at times with the fighting, it was the world(s) in which this game takes place that really captured my attention. The overworld is yours to explore whether it be on foot, riding a dog thing, or flying around, you have free reign here and may go where you please. One thing that comes with the freedom is the secrets, so many secrets, hidden all over the place ranging from cutscenes to secret weapons or even some of the ultimate skills for each character as well as the hardest boss in the game. Now I loved the main story in Symphonia but they gave me so many other things to do that the main story-line was only a part of my whole experience with the game. I loved the secret bosses which always provided a good challenge and it was very possible to miss them so unless you use a guide (which I did not) you have to be really thorough in your exploration of the world that has been laid out before you.

The gameplay in Symphonia was fun but could get a little repetitive since once you find a good combo to deal with an enemy you probably won’t be using anything else. But the combat itself was a nice upgrade from the traditional turn based combat of previous RPGs since you had full control over your character and when they attacked/did combos. Now a huge part of the gameplay is that you can control whatever character you want and not just the main character Lloyd. I had fun running through the game as Lloyd’s friend, Genis, who is the mage character. These kinds of things are a nice change of pace and give people many options that could change how they play the game. Another component of this choose your character thing is that you don’t have to let the computer control whatever characters you aren’t, yep that’s right, this is a multiplayer RPG. Let me start by saying this is not a refined system at all and to be perfectly honest, it doesn’t work very well. Outside of combat your other players don’t have any input at all so it could easily get boring for them (as my little brother could attest to) since there are parts of the game that are not focused on combat. Now in battle its still a bit hard since the camera doesn’t wanna follow 2 people at once and its usually centered on whatever character you are using (I’m not sure if you can change the camera settings since I never really tried). So while this system definitely needs fixing, it was a great idea that made the game more accessible to people who wanted to join in even if it was just to play a few fights or to help with a tough boss that the AI was too stupid to fight correctly.

Symphonia has a lot to offer and it is a truly great RPG for the Gamecube, so if you have a Wii, get this game you will probably enjoy it. If you have already played the first one, they have released a sequel on the Wii, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which picks up where the story left off in the first game. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the classic, but it is not a bad game by itself either and can still provide a fun experience for any Symphonia fans as the old characters interact with the new. So yes people, get this game, it is well worth whatever you have to spend on it.