bit-tech Shopping: Namco Bandai Tales of Symphonia (GC)

• Action/Adventure
• Role Playing Games (RPG)

Rating: 10

Time with product: 4 Years

Strengths: Great graphics; variety of items ;large range of unique weapons;good battle system; multiple special attacks and spells.

Weaknesses: The two Chosens attitude; once in higher levels,odinary enemies are boring to defeat; puzzles are too hard.

Summary: Great game. Definitely recommended. The game is about two worlds(Sylvarant and Tethe'alla). Both worlds are struggling for loss of mana. The angels of Cruxis bore the Chosen One, who headed to the Tower of Salvation. The Chosen One from Sylvarant, Colette, was assigned to regenerate the world. After receiving the oracle, Colette and the others went and broke the seals in Sylvarant. They were shocked when they heard that Colette had to sacrifice her life in order to save the world. They then fought Lord Yggdrassill. Then, they were attacked by a mysterious assassin. After attacked by the assassin,Sheena,they went to Tethe'alla and summoned the summon spirits. Then they made a pact with Origin and defeated Yggdrassill. I have started this game when I visited my cousins in Singapore. After that my disc was bought in Canada. This game is full of missions and errands to run. In order to do one thing, you must first complete another. Tips: If you want to battle strong opponents, I recommend that you go to Meltokio jail and battle at court. Explore different area's in a particular place and earn errands and titles for your character.If you are thinking of asking Katz to investigate something, don't bother because it is just a waste of money.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Years

Strengths: Graphics, Music, Combat System

Weaknesses: Storyline is boring, too easy to die when starting out

Summary: Tales of Symphonia for the GameCube is a nice looking game which fills the void of RPG's available for the GameCube. It has an anime type of look to it and the story pulls you in almost immediately. The game is on two discs and can probably reach 80 hours of gameplay depending on how thorough you want to be. However, the length of game play doesn't compensate for the kind of boring story line. The game is basically just a bunch of dungeon's and towns. It also takes a while to get leveled up which means that you may die at lot at first until your characters get stronger. The combat system is very innovative and I like the ability to go basically where ever you want in the game. Based on the lack of RPG's games for the GameCube, if you're a fan of this genre you definitely should pick it up especially now that the game can be found for under $20 almost everywhere.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 5 Months

Strengths: Anime influence

Weaknesses: Spotty voice-overs (voice acting in some places, but not others), somewhat difficult to follow 'skits'

Summary: I really enjoyed this game, however when I sat down I was hoping to play a turn-based combat system (similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door). I was greatly disappointed that the combat was not turn-based, but eventually got used to it (although it did feel like I was basically just button mashing for attacks). I greatly enjoyed the anime influence, although the cell-shaded characters took a bit of getting used to. The cell-shading was definitely in a different style than Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker although I hesitate to term them 'inferior'. When there was voice-acting it was great, but there were lots of scenes where there was no voice-acting. Going back and forth between scenes with audio dialog and text dialog was irritating. Additionally the 'skits' were sometimes hard to follow (since I had to read the subtitles quickly I often missed out on the character's facial expressions and anime emoticons). The paucity of RPGs on Gamecube caused me to stick with Tales of Symphonia, and I am glad I did. I recommend it, although I would almost rather have seen the plot in its own OVA.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Years

Strengths: Great story, engaging battle system, stunning graphics

Weaknesses: N/A?

Summary: Tales of Symphonia was recommended to me by a friend shortly after launch, and to this day its probably the best game I own for GameCube. I have logged around 200 hours through 2+ play-throughs. It has a story that keeps you in the game for longer than you planned, and there are plenty of hidden plotlines to present new experiences each time you play. In addition, you can purchase bonuses after completing the game to totally change the complexion of your next game. These include things like double experience, half experience, etc. I may be overstating the graphics somewhat as this was one of my first GC purchases, so relative to my SNES and N64, anything was great! But they certainly should meet anyone's standards for current gen games. I really enjoyed the battle system. While you're still sent to a new view for battles, the field is entirely 3D, allowing you to roam wherever you will, chasing after or running away from the monsters. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase this game if you enjoy RPGs, particularly now that it is a Player's Choice game priced at $20.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Excellent battle system and graphics

Weaknesses: so-so soundtrack, can drag at certain points in the game.

Summary: The crowning achievement in Tales of Symphonia is it's battle system. Playing out in real time, it is a breath of fresh air compared to the stale turn based systems found in many other rpgs. Storyline wise, the game is merely ok but the music isn't so hot and usually borderlines on average. With a long quest that begs to be played and mastered, Tales of Symphonia is one of the best rpgs out this generation and it's a Player's Choice title so the price is just right.