Tales of Symphonia (Nintendo GameCube, 2004)

This is a great game. I would and will recommend it to just about everyone this game is made for. I've had this game for several years now [I bought another copy recently because I thought I'd lost it in a move, but I found it again; I now have two] and I've lost track of how many times I've played it. Everyone I've shared it with has liked it, as well. It's one of those great games not many people have heard [like LUNAR].

Story: A very good, character-driven plot line. It's riddled with twists, though if you're very observant, you can catch onto some of them beforehand. I admit that it has plenty of cheesy moments, but that is definitely part of its charm.

Gameplay: One of the best parts of this game. It features a 3D system that is well thought out and well executed. It's not as *easy as the Tales of the Abyss one, but it still great. The character-AI is not very smart. Thankfully, if you're skilled enough with setting the strategies a good way, this AI can be made somewhat better. I still wouldn't suggest using the lazy Auto-level method, though.

Auto is that you can set any of your party members on Auto, so they will fight for you: this includes the first character. Yes, you can do Auto-battling. There are eight-playable characters and you can change them around at any time; your main chracter is *not required to be in the Battle Party. It's also multiplayer, so up to four people can play at once [thanks to the Auto-Manual settings]. There is also a Battle Level Ranking method, so you can make the battles more difficult by changing it to Hard on the first playthrough and Mania on subsequent ones. ...There's also the Grade System. There's just so many great things about this game and it revolutionized the Tales of Series.

Graphics: They're not 360 graphics. All right; I've gotten that out of the way. Anyway, the graphics aren't stellar, but the cel-shaded, bright graphics they do have are absolutely perfect for this game. No question.

Other: I think I'm nearing the limit, so I'll have to start putting everything together. This game is immensely replayable. You can choose different versions of the ending with each character and the Grade Shop allows you to add more features to your new game(s). You can get various costumes and titles for your characters and change the on-screen one at any time. It has all the standard RPG elements: equipment, dungeons, save the world, and even customization [though that is not very extensive]. It's also well voice-acted. The voices suit the characters, but they can be a bit annoying, at times; they aren't perfect, but still very good.

I could go on for quite some time. I recommend this game to pretty much everyone that has any liking for RPGs. You'll get endless fun out of it.

The "Tales of" series has long been Namco's gem, bringing gamers excellent rpgs over the years since the series's first release, Tales of Phantasia, in 1995. Whether you're a long-time fan of the series or a rpg lover looking for your next fix, Tales of Symphonia is a must have.

Story: 8/10
Tales of Symphonia starts out like 99% of the Japanese rpgs out there. A bunch of teenagers must protect the world from mana depletion. It gets better, I assure you. The lengthy quest is full of twists and turns driven by a strong cast of characters and themes like friendship, love, racism, and redemption.

Gameplay: 10/10
This is one of the places the game really shines. Long gone are the days of turn based combat. Tales of Symphonia, like other games in the series, features a turn-based battle system. You control 1 character at a time and fight with up to 3 team mates, executing combos and thrashing your foes in lush 3D environments. Your other characters are controlled by AI and you can issue orders to them in battle. Thankfully, they fight pretty well on their own and you can even have your friends battle with you in place of AI! (If they don't mind watching you do everything else. It's still technically a 1-player rpg) You start out with just a basic 3-hit attack, but as you level up you can gain additional techniques that can be used in battle. It's a fun system that is easy to pick up, but will take time to master. Learning new ways to link combos together and use other charaters makes for a satisfying experience. You can also change the battle difficulty whenever you like for an extra challenge.

Outside of battle Tales of Symphonia plays like your standard rpg. You travel to different towns to speak with the locals and upgrade your equiptment, crawl through dungeons, and fight the occasional boss. You can also pick and choose your battles. Enemies are visable in dungeons and on the world map and can be avoided. This takes away the annoying aspect seen in many rpgs of the annoying random battles that occur with every step you take. Keep in mind you will still need to train enough so you can beat bosses, but it's great that battles aren't forced on you.

Tales of Symphonia has tons of replay value on top of an already lenghty quest. A normal playthrough will take roughly 40 hours to complete, but it can take 70 hours or more if you want to do all the side-quests. The grade system (grade is collected at the end of battles) adds tons of options to additional playthroughs. With enough grade points you can add perks and transfer data to your next game, allowing for a more difficult or easier game depending on your preference. This is the kind of game where the moment you finish, you'll want to start all over again.

Characters: 9/10
They've covered all the archetypes on this one. The young and ambitious hero, the cheerful sidekick, the annoying girl, the pervert. Still, the characters are complex and easy to relate to. They feel like real people and they will stick with you for a long time.

Graphics: 8/10
They're nothing special, but keep in mind this is a Nintendo game from 2003, not a Call of Duty game. The cell shaded design won't knock your socks off, but it works well for the style of the game. Tales of Symphonia will also treat you to some beautiful anime cut scenes from time to time.

In conclusion: 9/10
This is the best rpg on the Gamecube. I highly recommend it to any rpg fan.

For those who are looking for an RPG for the GameCube, this is by far the best.

The main protagonist of the game is Lloyd Irving, who accompanies the main heroine, Colette Brunel, in a jouney to regenerate the world of Sylvarant. The world of Sylvarant is dying due to a steady loss of mana, the energy source that is needed both for magic and to support life itself. The people turn their hopes to Colette Brunel, the Chosen of Mana, a servant and messiah of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration. The story has many plots twists and heavy character development. The pharse "Things are not always what they seem" is a good way to describe the plot of the story.

Like previous games in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia uses a version of the Linear Motion Battle System — a real-time battle system. When the party is on the overworld map, they can enter battles by running into monsters visible on the field. During battle, up to four players may each control one character. Characters not under the control of a player are controlled by AI, and can be set to operate according to specific tactics; players can determine which techniques or magic spells the character may use during battle. AI-controlled choices can be overridden by the player by pausing and selecting orders from a menu; the player may also map certain techniques, spells, or strategies to controller buttons, allowing quick use of them without pausing.

One of the popular features in the Tales series is the skits between the characters can be viewed while on the overworld, in towns, and in dungeons, which are triggered by the Z-buttom. They involve animated character portraits and subtiles and focus mostly on character develop.

The best feature of this game is the affection system, where the decisions and dialog choices you make affect the relationship between Lloyd and his companions. Some of these choices will have minor to major ramifications for the game's storyline.

The character art is done by Kousuke Fujishima, who has done character designs for Tales of Phantasia, Tales of the Abyss, and the most recent Tales game on the XBox 360, Tales of Vesperia. Tales of Symphonia is also said to be a distant prequel of Tales of Phantaisa, the first game of the Tales seires released on the GBA in the US.

This game by far makes up for the lack of RPGs on the GameCube. This game is a fan favorite and opened me up to the Tales RPG series. This game is unlikely to disapoint.

If you loved those classic Japanese RPG's of the golden SNES days then you will love this game. Its nearly perfect....The fighting is real time action oriented but still requires some strategy...the game world is huge, adventuresome, and exciting...you can avoid enemies on the map or choose to fight them...the story will blow your mind with all its twists...and yet the characters sometimes recap key story elements to help you stay with it...

Visually the game is an awesome cell shaded sytle...its very colorful...the magic effects and weapon effects look cool and are interesting to watch...however the graphics will sometimes appear blurry (zelda windwaker was the same way), and sometimes an effect (such as an explosion of some sort) looks stupid.

Lastly the game is huge! I have 50 hours into the game and I havnt even used the second disc yet! there are tons of upgrades, tons of weapons, tons of magic, interesting array of usable characters each with their own background story that is interwoven with the main plot..and lots of adventure.

This game plays great on the Wii...I really dont have any more to babble on about other than this is one of the few gamecube games worth its high used price...

This is one of the best games for your Gamecube system, and I just missed it so I decided to pick up a copy on eBay.

The story is pretty bland but that's standard for the tales series. The story starts off with Colette, the female lead, setting off on a journey to regenerate the world. The story takes many twists and turns after this, but even so, I had a hard time caring about the party's constantly changing goals.

Characters are designed in an anime style, so you'll like the designs if you like anime.

The gameplay is where this game truly shines. Combat is a hybrid between turn based and action based systems. Gameplay is similar to other games in the series. You control one character and the others are controlled by the A.I., or, in a new twist, they can be controlled by other people playing with you, with controller ports 2 thru 4. The A.I. is sub-par; your allies tend to constantly use their most powerful abilities and expend their ability points quickly. You control movement, attacks, defense, and special attacks for one character, resulting in a fairly deep system.

There are mini-games littered throughout the game; I didn't think any of them were particularly memorable. All of them are optional.

In summary, this is a great Japanese RPG. If you like Japanese RPGs and have a Gamecube, Tales of Symphonia is hard to beat.