Tales of Symphonia Review (I know I'm late)
9.1
Graphics-9
Gameplay-9
Sound-7
Value-9
Tilt-10
Good: Innovative Graphics, Hundreds of hidden collectibles and missions, humorous in-game dialogue
Bad: Confusing Storyline, Voice acting is inconsistent, main game story has been done before
Symphonia is a real-time action RPG for the Gamecube, and a really good one to boot. It combines great gameplay elements, (character development, interesting fighting) and turns them into a heck of a good time.
Symphonia starts out as a run of the mill RPG. You level up, fight generic monsters, and buy some equipment. But about a quarter of the way through, as you get new characters in your party, the game really shines. Humorous in-game dialogue between the characters in refreshing from time to time, and you really feel a connection with your characters.
The battle system is competent, basically a real -time spinoff Fire Emblem. You can choose weapons, strategies, and mind sets. For example, you can make your player an aggressive fighter, always going towards the front lines, or a reclusive one, staying back and healing.
The graphics are cel-shaded, and quite good. Although there are only 2 of them in the game, the anime cutscenes look like they came straight from Japan.
The game is not without flaws. Some cheesy voice acting (cough, cough *Zelos* cough) ruin the mood, and when you equip a piece of armor on a character, they don’t change appearance. Yet if you equip a new weapon or costume on them, the graphics change accordingly.