[Games] Innovation: A Review of Tales of Symphonia

by Nick Judin
September 30, 2004

When someone thinks of a Role Playing Game, they picture a group of characters with gravity-defying hair standing in a row waiting to take potshots at an equally outrageous group of enemies waiting across from them. Well, Tales of Symphonia includes most of that, but there is some variation on the tried-but-true RPG formula: the “Get-Attacked-While-U-Wait” approach has gone out the window.

But the most important part of an RPG is said to be its story. In ToS you take control of Lloyd Irving, not exactly an “epic” name for a character, who is a young boy with hair reminiscent of Cloud Strife mixed with Elvis Presley. You see, Lloyd is different from his friends. He has a special destiny. He is the … ah, you thought I was going to say the Chosen One, didn’t you? No, of course not. Lloyd isn’t the Chosen One.

His classmate is.

That’s right; Colette, the kindhearted girl with a very possibly negative IQ is the Chosen One. And you guessed it; the game starts on the very day when this young girl will receive her holy edict from her angel-father. This story at this early point is almost comically clichéd. I think the creators intended this because, later on, the story breaks away from the expected path.
I don’t want to spoil it, but there are enough plot twists to keep it interesting, but not to the point of confusion.

The game play is almost typical of what you might find in an RPG, but they changed one of the most integral parts—the battle system. If you’re unfamiliar with regular RPG battle systems, here’s the layout. You and two or three allies stand on one side of the battlefield, and all your enemies stand on the other. You wait for a second, and suddenly you are prompted to attack. ToS, however, actually allows you to run around and choose how to fight. ToS succeeds in recreating the battles to make them less of a chore and more of a … well, battle. Plus, it adds a lot to the replay value. The game play definitely delivers.

The sound is acceptable. There are no mindblowing hits, but also no screechy midis that make you want to plug your ears. Of course, the game has voice acting, and we all know what that means. Some character’s voices are well done, (Kratos, Lloyd and Sheena) whereas calling some “pretty bad” would be like calling Shatner “a little bit choppy.”

Graphics? Well, other than the rare anime cutscenes, the graphics are pretty generic. RPGs rarely focus on graphics, and some even prefer it that way. The characters are typically Japanese (big anime eyes and bizarre clothing), and the environments are actually pretty good. So while the graphics receive only a so-so rating, it has little bearing on the overall score.

All in all, Tales of Symphonia is a great game, and, despite a couple oddities, it’s a solid addition to any gamer’s library.
Next: Peter Molyneux’s much-anticipated game Fable finally hits the shelves.

 
posted by on 09/29/04 at 01:47 PM. [printer-friendly version]