Gaming Tales of Symphonia

[Erika]

[quote name='AnujSuper9']What system is it being released for over there?[/quote]

[size=1][color=royalblue]It should be on the Gamecube, lol. I think it's also for PS2 in Japan.

Anyways, I have an odd question regarding Kratos!

[spoiler]I saw a screen of what looked like a Japanese character/instruction manual and showed the characters' ages and stuff....Kratos is Lloyd's dad, right? [b][i]Then why the hell is he 28 and Lloyd about 17?!?![/b] LOL!!! Unless I'm seriously mistaken![/i][/spoiler][/color][/size]

[Meggido]

[quote name='Dark Serena][size=1][color=royalblue']It should be on the Gamecube, lol. I think it's also for PS2 in Japan.[/quote]

Yeah it is on gamecube. Anyway I just finished disc 1 and my highest levelled character is 55 and my lowest is 53. I want to know if this was about what other people were on because it seems a bit high to me.

[Sword Breaker]

Uhh.... Well, I finished ToS a long time ago. Thing is... well, that pic in Dark Serena's sig was a clip from the Half-Elf village in the sky, right? Well, was that only on the PS2 version or somthing? Cuz in mine, there was a grand total of 3 anime sequences, 2 of which were about 7 seconds apart, at the end. :eek: [spoiler]Also, Zelos didn't betray me in mine... Kratos did.[/spoiler] I was wicked disapointed with Yggdrasil, cuz he was so bloody easy. Made me wanna cry it did. Oh, and that video rapes. Did he hack or somthing? Cuz there is no way that is possible... least not to us normal people. Must of been an Asian. No westerner could have achived such a feat. Why are Asians so gosu? (And wtf was he fighting in the vid? It looks like the tablet from the Exsphere mines. I never seen one of em 'ofor.)

Didn't the part where all the people were being 'killed', near the end, piss you off? The first too sounded just like LOTR, when Regal said "You shall not pass" And when the root sprang up and grabbed Sheena's leg... she was all "Go, you fools, I'l be fine" That just pissed me off... LOTR rip.

[color=#4B0082]Remember the spoiler tags, man. Some of us have yet to play this game. - [i]Desbreko[/i][/color]

[Erika]

[quote name='Sword Breaker'] Uhh.... Well, I finished ToS a long time ago. Thing is... well, that pic in Dark Serena's sig was a clip from the Half-Elf village in the sky, right? Well, was that only on the PS2 version or somthing? Cuz in mine, there was a grand total of 3 anime sequences, 2 of which were about 7 seconds apart, at the end.[/quote]

[size=1][color=royalblue]My banner's taken from the intro.[/color][/size]

[quote name='Sword Breaker']Didn't the part where all the people were being 'killed', near the end, piss you off? The first too sounded just like LOTR, when Regal said "You shall not pass" And when the root sprang up and grabbed Sheena's leg... she was all "Go, you fools, I'l be fine" That just pissed me off... LOTR rip.[/quote]

[size=1][color=royalblue](Y'gotta be kidding me.) No, I don't think a few nondecript lines that could be heard anywhere pissed anyone off.

Ok, I have another concern. It has to do with 'altering scenarios'. For example, [spoiler]changing the fact that Zelos won't betray you near the end of the game.[/spoiler] I was wondering, does anyone know other scenarios that can be changed, and conditions on how to change them? You can either PM me about them or use spoiler tags, I guess either way's fine. :3 Tanks. ^^[/color][/size]

[Ninjaman]

[QUOTE]Ok, I have another concern. It has to do with 'altering scenarios'. For example, [spoiler]changing the fact that Zelos won't betray you near the end of the game.[/spoiler] I was wondering, does anyone know other scenarios that can be changed, and conditions on how to change them? You can either PM me about them or use spoiler tags, I guess either way's fine. :3 Tanks. ^^[/QUOTE]

Off the top of my head (not sure if I really should use spoilers, but just in case) [spoiler]when you make it to that port town, Izoold I think it was called, where you get that letter, you can take either the hard path or the easy path. Taking the easy path is a traditional one. It's where you agree to deliver the letter and go on Max's ship to Palmacosta. But if you ignore the town altogether and travel north from that mountain path (name escapes me at the moment) and cross the bridge you can reach Hima. When you enter the town you'll run into Sheena again but she'll escape. You basically work the continent backwards: Tower of Mana ---> Palmacosta. Taking that path is a lot harder from what I've heard and all it does is change the process a bit as well as dialogue and when you get Sheena. Hope that didn't sound too confusing.[/spoiler]

Oh yeah, Sword Breaker, if you really want a challenge, try taking on Abyssion on Mania Mode using no All Divide.

[Meggido]

I just finished this yesterday. Scenes change depending on which character has the highest affection rating with Lloyd. One of these scenes is in Flanoir when Lloyd spends the night. I had a scene between Lloyd and Colette in Flanoir but I have seen pics of a scene between Lloyd and Raine.

One of the things I was wondering is that does this game come before or after Tales of Phantasia? I know I have read somewhere that it is related to that game and the use of the Ymir forest and Heimdall proves that.

[Erika]

[QUOTE=Meggido]
One of the things I was wondering is that does this game come before or after Tales of Phantasia? I know I have read somewhere that it is related to that game and the use of the Ymir forest and Heimdall proves that.[/QUOTE]

[size=1][color=royalblue]I'm unsure myself, but I think it's just simply the latest Tales game of the series. (I haven't played ToP in probably 3+ years, so my memory's a bit faded.) I saw many similarities between ToD2 and ToS, however. Haven't tried the first Tales of Destiny.

(Oh, and thanks for the scenarios, lol.) :whoops:

And like the FF series, they could be just reused names (which I think is kinda neat, lol), and not really share any story relevance.[/color][/size]

[Krycifer]

I've beaten this game as of long ago.It suprisingly easy.The last boss disappointed me.What started happening in the end was kind of making me anxious to get to the end.The ending has to be the most part of the game.I'm trying to beat the game again this time with what I got with my grade points.It's a bit funner like that.The most common character I played as has to be Lloyd but sometimes I switched between characters for fun.One time Lloyd learned a skill that I was trying to get and the computer got it for me.It got me mad because I was trying to get that skill for a long time.

[Meggido]

I finally finished this game. I would have to agree with most of what everyone else has said. The last boss is easy. The second last boss was more difficult and actually took some effort to beat. I had to use a number of life bottles. ANy way the annoying thing for me is trying to learn some of the magic moves on Kratos and Zelos because appart from heal that don't use them theirselves.

[Mithos]

[COLOR=SlateGray][SIZE=1][FONT=Century Gothic]Haven't been back in Otakuboards since last month XD.

Anyways about Kratos being 28 and Lloyd being 17. [spoiler] The manual is just covering up t3h spoilers. I think the manual is just including the age when Kratos ddn't get attached to the Cruxis Crystal. Since when you equipone, it stops aging. Proven from Presea, Mithos, and yeah.... [/spoiler]

Time to present another awesome video!!!!

http://n.ethz.ch/student/wmartin/videos/ToS%20PS2%20(JP)%20167'921%20Damage%20Hi-Ougi%20vs.%20Sword%20Dancer%20(Mania%20Mode).wmv

This is Presea using Hien Messhoujin (Or I think thats the HI-ougi name >_>) on Sword Dancer 3 on Mania mode.... Try and guess whats so special about the tape.

....

Give up? [spoiler] Presea done 167,921 damage to it[/spoiler][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[2010DigitalBoy]

I know this thread is probably old by now, but I just beat Tales of Symphonia and I wanted to know your theories on [spoiler] what Lloyd named the giant tree. I think he named it Mithos. It would honor Mithos and since his name is honored by the people of the world, it would make sense.[/spoiler]

[S9per]

x

Edited October 22, 2016 by S9per

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]I picked up Tales of Symphonia this morning for £40 from HMV, which was a little more than what I was initially prepared to pay for it, but after playing the game, I realised that it was worth it. The game is unlike any other RPG I've played before, as it successfully incorporates a truly amazing real-time battle system.

So far, I'm about eight hours into the game, which is kind of the result of playing non-stop since I bought it, and I'm enjoying every minute of the game in all aspects. One thing that hits me, though, is how much of a cliche the game is. The characters bare similar personalities, if not then the same, to a lot of the typical Final Fantasy cast, and the storyline doesn't do it any favours either, but if you're willing to brush all that aside and just concentrate on the unique battle system, which is what Tales of Symphonia is renowned for, then you've got a great game.

The most notable thing about the battle system is how it stands out in some aspects as the type you'd find in any decent adventure RPG, ie: real-time, such as any of the 3D Legend of Zelda games, except that they take place in a confined space. This, combined with the mechanics of a level-up system and EXP points gives Tales of Symphonia a less restricted gameplay overall. During battles, there's a huge diversion from the standard command list that you'd find in most other RPGs, as I found that all the work of controlling Lloyd (attacking and movements) was down to me. Personally, I loved the feeling I got from each character being completely dependent on themselves, especially Lloyd, because it gave me the chance to concentrate on what I was doing and how I handled it, while the others are left to their own devices. But, even though I feel as if "it's every man for themselves", there is always the burden of having to equip every character with the right weapons, armour, and accessories, which is like a staple for all RPGs. I don't want to be misunderstood here; I love customising things, especially when you have the choice to do so, otherwise I'd simply just select the optimum setting for each character, but where's the fun in that.

The world map is of a typical nature, too. At first, I was concerned about how little into the distance you could see, until I found out that it was a deliberate ploy so as the Long-Range mode could be introduced, though I sometimes feel claustrophobic in the areas where I haven't enabled it, heh. One thing I'm [i]really[/i] happy about, though, is the way in which you encounter battles. Actually seeing the monsters on the world map and in dungeons helps a great deal, because for the times when I don't feel like battling, I'll just avoid them, and when I want to battle to level-up or gain Gald quickly, then I'll just engage them. It's quite the opposite of Final Fantasy, really, where you don't get a choice in the matter at all.

I may have only just started, but there's still a ton of stuff for me to try out, like figuring out different U.Attack combos and multi-player battling. Also, does anyone else find the skits annoying? It's not that I don't like the idea, it's just that the characters take too long to say what they have to say, they move their mouth much more than they actually need to, there's no voice acting during them, and the sub-titles are too small to read. Plus they never talk about anything interesting, though the anime-esque humour is amusing.[/color]

[2010DigitalBoy]

Yeah, it seems cliche at first, but around 15 hours into it there will be a major plot twist that wil uncliche-ify it. Just so you know, its at least 45 hours long.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Well, after months of saying I was going to get it and never actually doing so, I finally got off my butt and picked up Tales of Symphonia. I've played for about five hours so far, stopping just after getting through the desert ruins place (the name escapes me). So far I've had a lot of fun, especially with the combat -- not many other RPGs have me actively running into enemies just because I enjoy fighting.

I'm still getting used to the battle system, but I think I've come a good ways in my five hours of play. Or at any rate, I'm not just mashing the A button anymore. Blocking, dodging, and properly timing my techniques is becoming natural, which is only making the battles more fun.

As for what I've seen of the characters, I'm kind of split. Lloyd is okay; he can be amusing at times, and I don't really find him annoying, so good enough. Colette seems a bit too ... generic, I guess would be the word. She's cute, but I haven't really grown too fond of what little personality she's shown so far. Kratos is just kind of dry, and I haven't seen much of what Raine is like yet. But Genis is probably my favorite so far, as he's actually made me laugh aloud a few times when he was picking on Lloyd, which can be pretty funny to watch.

Comments about the story will have to wait till I get farther into the game. Things are only just beginning to pick up, so I can't really make any judgements yet.

Overall, my initial impressions are good. I'm enjoying the game, and I look forward to playing more of it.[/color]

[BlueYoshi]

[quote name='ThoraxtheImpaler']Yeah, it seems cliche at first, but around 15 hours into it there will be a major plot twist that wil uncliche-ify it. Just so you know, its at least 45 hours long.[/quote]

[color=darkred]Yeah, true, it totally caught me by surprise. I'd say that that twist was a turn for the better, because the plot that you start off with is sort of plain and dry.

Anyway, after a whole week of chronic playing, I finally beat the game last night at around 40 hours. My guys were Level 70-ish, so the last few bosses of the game were a real walk-over. I think the fact that you're able to level-up so easily and so soon doesn't really contribute to the difficulty factor, but then again beating the game allowed me to unlock the Mania mode, which I'm keen on trying out.

One thing I'm really peeved about, though, is how I [spoiler]saved my file right into the core of Derris-Kharlan at the end of the game[/spoiler], and then overwrote my file with the completed data after beating the game. Man, because of that, I can't go back and do any of the additional extras that the game has to offer, or namely so, I never got to battle Abyssion despite having collected all of the Devil's Arms, not that it was a hard task -- especially if you're as observant as I am, since I check every room in every house in every town, heh.

I started a new file last night, anyway, taking advantage of the Grade shop. From the top of my head, I think I spent 1500 Grade points on inheriting 2xEXP, MaxHP, Battle data, World Map data, and a few others in my next file. I also wanted to inherit my Gald, all 400,000 of it, but lack of Grade funds denied me doing so. Bah, no real loss, though; I can get it back just as easily as I lost it.

Before reaching Tethe'alla, the characters seemed really cliched and somewhat abrupt, Kratos in particular because he matches that "mysterious" criteria, but seriously, the characters met later on in the game have some pretty catchy personalities, and contribute a great deal to your party. I think my favourite character would have to be Zelos (Regal at a close second), though, for a variety of reasons. His assigned voice-acting doesn't let his personality down, he's always bubbly and adding life to those dull moments, and he's got the most random dialogue in the game, which is sometimes actually quite funny. But, honestly, that doesn't change the fact that I thought he was a female when I saw him in the intro. :animeblus

With my second file, I'm really going to change things around to make it different. I breezed through my first game using Lloyd, Genis, Raine, and Regal, which is no doubt an effective team, but considering that the former three characters are with you from the very beginning, it kind of grows on you, so I'm thinking of switching Genis and Regal for Presea and Zelos. Raine is a must have, so I guess she'll stay, and I might also keep Lloyd, too, except I'll set him to Auto and take control of Presea instead.

Oh, and as for [spoiler]what Lloyd might have named the tree at the end, I really think he named it after Kratos. After all, Kratos is Lloyd's father, even if he only knew him as his father for a short while, so a tribute to him would make sense.[/spoiler][/color]

[Guest Majime]

I just recently bought a game cube...since my PS2 died on me XP
When i got the game cube i bought TOS cuz I heard it was an awesome game(thanks G4 hehe)
Right when i started the game I feel in love with it. After a few weeks I'm 50 hours into the game and is on the second disc.
My fav character would have to be Genis...he is too cute and smart for his age!
I also like Zelos and Raine. So I mostly keep my team with those characters.
With them I never lost a boss battle XD

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Guess I'll post a quick update on my progress in the game. I'm now played for (exactly) 22 hours, and just got past the "Big News" -- my name for the plot twist that invariably changes the outlook of the story in most RPGs. So in the case of Tales of Symphonia, [spoiler]Colette completing the angel transformation and all that jazz inside the Tower of Salvation.[/spoiler] Currently I'm saved in the Meltokio inn, having just arrived there.

I did kind of see it coming, though not entirely. [spoiler]Kratos turning out to be an angel caught me off guard. Like Raine, I could tell something was up with him, but wasn't able to figure it out in time.[/spoiler] But regardless, the story seems to be in full swing now, and really has my interest. Before this it was sort of, "Eh, okay, stuff is happening. Just let me beat down the baddies in my way and I'll be happy." Now I actually care what happens, which is nice.

Speaking of the characters, I've also grown more attached to them. Sheena has become my new favorite, though I can't quite put my finger on why. She's just a fun character, I guess; I like her personality. Colette has been growing on me, but she was still really naive. Though now I'm looking forward to seeing [spoiler]what she'll be like after I get her back to normal. I have a feeling her character is going to be changing somewhat after that.[/spoiler] Kratos -- I was liking Kratos more and more, [spoiler]but then the bastard had to go and beat me to within an inch of my life. I'm still interested in his character and true motives moreso than any other character I've met so far, however. His, "Don't die, Lloyd," line tells me something is afoot, and has piqued my curiosity.[/spoiler]

Combat is also getting more fun as the game progresses. The baddies getting harder have made me work on my blocking and evasion skills, which I think are getting pretty good. (I'm currently working on making better use of Lloyd's Guardian defense technique, as well as jumping over attacks which can't be dodged with a back jump.) [spoiler]Remiel almost got me, though I prevailed without too many deaths. The main problem was that I couldn't tell who he was targeting with his spells until it was too late to use Guardian.[/spoiler][/color]

[2010DigitalBoy]

AAA! Desbreko.... man... your just aking me want to yell HE SAID *spoiler* *spoiler* *spoiler* *spoler* *spoiler!*Anyway, if you care what happens now, wait a bit, you'll be playong nonstop to find out what happens. The story actually made me cry my brain out.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Tell me any spoilers and I'll ban you. :modrod:[/color]

[Horendithas]

I just got Tales of Symphonia a few months ago and having finally beaten it I am now on my second time through. So far I?ve really enjoyed playing it. I really did like how the plot took a twist as it gave the story a lot more depth. I knew something had to happen as how could you be at the end of the initial quest and still only be on disk one?

As for favorite characters in the game I really adore Zelos and Lloyd. I really love playing as Zelos with his womanizing ways and Lloyd?s endless hope is kind of endearing.

I really like the battle system as you can spend a lot of time getting your timing right for techniques or you can partially turn it over to being automated when you aren?t in the mood to attempt to get every little move right. I really dislike games that don?t give you a choice regarding this type of battle system.

Some of my favorite moments in the game are in the various side quests you can do. They really are quite a bit of fun to do.

[Deranged Kikyo]

>_> Tales of symphonia OWNED. I beat it once through, went through again...the "anime cutscenes" [in quotes because there were only 3 :(] were a great touch, the english voices were like... eww but that doesn't really matter since you can shut them off :) I would have liked the game 10x more than i already do if they had a japanese voice option lik .hack, but alas they didn't :(

My favorite characteres were refill/raine [i know the woes of being an older sisterXD], presea [ever seen an ax bigger than your head? you have now], Kratos [ANGRY angst!] aaaaaaaaaand the wonder chef. man, he was awsome.

:) the cooking aspect of the game was my favorite actually. I spend 15+ hours just running from place to place collecting recipes....

I even have the soundtrack by motoi sakuraba :)

has anyone here heard "starry heavens", the original japanese opening song?

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]The voices grew on me, but I couldn't get over how much Lloyd sounded like a cartoon character, even more so when he was angry. I thought Zelos' voice was fitting for his personality, and so was Presea's, but for the rest, they were kind of cliched.

You know, I never actually used the cooking option at all throughout the game... I just stuck to items. I had loads of recipes though.[/color]

[Deranged Kikyo]

you might get that impression because Lloyd's VA is the same as "robin" from TeenTitans.

seriously, they're voices are SUPER SIMILIAR. >_> and uhh.. i think regal was like balmung from .hack n' stuff. I had this really long list of same people @__@ but the most notable one was lloyd XD;;

did anyone else totally crack up whenever lloyd shouted his little catchphrase: " YOU BAS****" at like, every baddy that pissed him off:P

[Aaryanna]

I got Tales of Symphonia this year for my birthday. I?ve finally beaten the game and I loved every minute of it. ^_^

I really liked the plot twists as it kept it interesting. As for favirote characters, well I just loved playing as Zelos and Lloyd and if you [spoiler] choose Kratos for the cut scene in the Flanior then later he re-joins your party. Though I hate it that if you want Kratos in your party later you have to kill Zelos. I like both of them! [/spoiler]

I also love the music and the battle system as well. It?s so much fun doing all the special moves. Other games have more complicated moves but I hate having to push the buttons 10 times in a special sequence just to get it to work. >_< I just don?t have the patience for that, so Tales of Symphonia is great as the shortcuts for the techniques are easy to use.

My biggest complaint is the lack of anime cut scenes. One of my friends had loaned me the Lunar 2 Eternal Blue game before I got this and although it was older styled it had over an hour of really beautiful anime cut scenes in it so I was really disappointed that there were so few in Tales of Symphonia.

Hehehehe! Over all it?s one of my absolute favorite games ever! ^_^ And I just adore Lloyd?s voice, but then I?ve always liked Robin from Teen Titans. ^_^