Tales of Symphonia
Widely known as the greatest role-playing game to grace the Nintendo Gamecube, its countless ports (often plagued with technical bottlenecks and glitches) immortalized its legacy as one of the all-time greats. From a stellar soundtrack that soothes and stimulates your ear drums, to clean minimalistic visuals which mesmerize the corneas, to the solid gameplay, Tales of Symphonia never fails to impress. Like any role-playing game worth its time invested, Tales of Symphonia encapsulates an illustrious, perilous, and unpredictable story.
Let’s start off this foray into what many deem to be one of the greatest role playing games of all time with a dissection into how its legacy endures despite sketchy ports. The Nintendo Gamecube is arguably still the best version to play, not just for sixty frames per second, but also the cohesive story. If you speak Japanese, the PS2 version is arguably superior since it features more content (albeit very ancillary content) as I would rather have extra content in sharp contrast to efforts like Resident Evil 4, where the knock in fidelity cripples the PS2 version.
No, the true aberration of the various ports is the cut-off dialogue due to the English text and Japanese text boxes not syncing. Honestly if you can only play it on PS3/PC, and fear sailing the forbidden seas, it is not that noticeable unless you compare side to side. The PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch port is plagued with annoyances such as a blank white screen appearing for seconds after each battle (really made me stop playing the Xbox One version for a bit, however I did get far which shows in spite the uninspired port, its majesty endures).
Avoiding going into a lengthy essay on the intricacies of the ports, I will transition abruptly into the actual gameplay. The gameplay is rock-solid, real-time combat. While it isn’t fully three dimensional like the later games in the Tales series, it is very fun to play. You recruit various party members that all function differently and lead to a wide array of party compositions throughout the game. In praise of the glorious gods of gaming this game includes a traditional world map as well, huzzah! True to its name, Tales of Symphonia has quite the orchestral umph packed into it. From the title sequence to the character themes, it really jams hard with catchy tunes. My favorite from the game and perhaps one of my favorite battle themes of all time is “Fatalize”. The music in the game really drums up your emotions from pumping you full of adrenaline to soothing you into a trance of playing the game grinding mindlessly for more of the catchy dopamine the music induces.
The visuals are cel-shaded and minimalistic, but it works effectively to obtain a pristine and gorgeous sense of scope. In some games the complex design juxtaposes to the world map, but in Tales of Symphonia, while the world map is somewhat jarring, it lacks the tear in the metaphorical fourth wall. The colors are vibrant, the backgrounds distinct and varied, it is a gamer’s vivid dream of what a fantasy game could entail. The story is filled with twists and turns that stimulate the mind and lead to a greater understanding of human nature. Complex themes present throughout the game provide inspiration for introspection. Various themes like racism, friendship, etc. are tackled with grace and restraint from preaching to the proverbial choir.
In summation, Tales of Symphonia is everything one would hope and aspire for a role-playing game. From its orchestral score’s harmonious delight to the pleasant visuals, from the deep and rewarding gameplay to the engaging story, and so on this game bedazzles the player.
Pros
- + The soundtrack is a symphony of delight
- + The combat is deep and rewarding
- + The story will hook you from the start and leave you with valuable lessons learned
- + The graphics are charming and simple.
Cons
- - Even with the inclusion of a synopsis some of the game's goals will leave you scratching your head as to how you were supposed to figure it out.
10
Gameplay
10
Graphics
10
Story
10
Sound
9
Replayability
10
out of 10
Overall
A crown jewel in the role playing game genre.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
I really should play Tales haha
