Tales of Symphonia

Tales of Symphonia Description

When it comes to the role-playing genre, GameCube loyalists are a starved bunch. They might have Crystal Chronicles and Wind Waker, but these aren't RPGs of the hardcore variety, and when all is said and done, they're just too few and far between anyway. Enter Tales of Symphonia, a Namco epic that's turns out to be just what GameCube owners have been craving for the past three years. How much are you willing to sacrifice for the chance to save your world? In the dying world of Sylvarant, legend has it that a Chosen One will one day appear from amongst the people and the land will be reborn. However, your home world is partner to an equal and opposite land that suffers at the expense of your home world's prosperity. Is there's a way to save to both worlds, or will both be committed to an eternity of misery? Tales of Symphonia is pretty much the standard formula when it comes to visiting towns, chatting with native NPCs, running errands and listening to hardcore sessions of dialogue, but the game's interesting story and unique visual style makes it all worthwhile. Though strictly a 3D game, Tales of Symphonia employs a rarely seen, but popular visual style that makes use of cel-shaded techniques and clunky animation throughout. It's a real piece of eye-candy, making the land of Sylvarant and its mirror world a pleasure to roam. And this visual impression is also carried into Symphonia's frequent and taxing enemy encounters. Charged with the management of magic attacks and special abilities - all governed by those well-known Hit Points, Experience Points and Level-ups - enemy encounters see players assuming direct control their protagonists in a similar fashion to Tri-Ace's Star Ocean games. With a combination of directional and button presses, players can unleash any number of physical attacks and magic assaults upon the enemy. There's a well-defined menu system in which you can manage your skill lists, and there's also the functionality to create all-new abilities by experimenting with unison attacks in battle. But we warned, Tales of Symphonia's open-ended game world makes it very easy for inexperienced gamers to stumble into dungeons far too advanced for their level. Players should save at every opportunity and be very weary of getting in over their heads. Tales of Symphonia is a great RPG made even greater to Nintendo fans by its GameCube exclusivity. It's a worthwhile addition to any RPG fan's collection and indeed Namco's already bustling portfolio.

Real-time, 3D battle system with hundreds of combos and spells

Dozens of mini-games and side quests

Flexible character building and storyline-changing decision

Up to four players can cooperate in battle