Best damn RPG ever? Lord RPGs wants to show YOU why. Yes, you.
The basic plot of the story isn't quite basic. However, to avoid me both spoiling the game and making lots of people angry, I'm just going to explain what's told in the manual, moreorless. Lloyd Irving is an ordinary teenager, living in his otherwise ordinary village, with an unordinary friend, Collette. She, conveniently enough, is the "Chosen One", who shall revive the world's source of Mana. Like I said, ordinary life. However, like all Japanese RPGs, the two end up on a quest to save the entire world, and find out the truth about *SPOLIER*, *ALSO SPOILER*, and the fate of *SPOILER AGAIN*. Oh, and their village get's burnt down. Just a regular Japanese RPG? As if.
The plot, which does seem incredibly basic here, is one of the greatest elements of the game. With more twists than a demented waterslide, it's one of the reasons you WILL keep playing through, until the final cutscene finishes.
Being an RPG, there must be combat. I have never played an RPG without fighting. And as with all Japanese RPGs, you should have to fight often. However, in Symphonia, whilst traveling on the world map, you can "see" random monsters walking around, and can, if you wish, avoid them. Perfect if you've just barely scraped through a boss, and, like me, had one character left. However, you may get addicted to level grinding, with an almost arcade-style fighting system. On entering a battle, you simply tap A to swing your weapon, and press B and a direction to perform a special move you've unlocked via leveling up or training. While seeming basic, there's a fairly deep fighting system behind it. You can also set moves for other characters to perform in the same way you set your own moves. I've been saved a fair few times by having a healing spell set up to be cast while the boss set's up his next attack.
But moving from the combat. One of the most crucial aspects of vidcons nowadays is the graphics, and in this regard, Symphonia certainly doesn't disappoint. It's styled like a 3-D anime, and works amazingly well for it. The towns are all created individually, meaning no more viewing of the same shop in over 235434 different places. The random people scattered about do not, as a whole, appear exactly the same as the last town (I'm looking at you, Golden Sun... But you're still fantastic.). Infact, the only piece of the game which can be called "Unattractive" is the overworld, and, let's face it, when was the last beautifully rendered overworld in a game YOU'VE seen? And, just to pull you further away from the somewhat ugly overworld, the game has exactly THREE beautifully rendered Anime cutscenes, just to be even more awesome.
And sound? Well, the voice actors certainly earned their pay, let's put it that way. With each main story piece, there's dialogue from any talking character, regardless of whether they're the main character or just another random goon. The background music for the overworld is, quite simply, fantastic, as though to say "Sorry" for the otherwise ugly world. Heck, it's got amazingly addictive tunes all-round, which depending on your sanity, may or may not be a good thing. I've still got the Overworld song rattling about my brain. A soundtrack would probably be a wise investment, if you reach my state of affection for this t'ing.
And so... Verdict!
Sound - 9/10 - Sticks with you, and doesn't let go. May get a bit irritating in the early game when traveling is slow.
Graphics - 10/10 - There's a reason it was made into an anime.
Gameplay - 10/10 - There's only one bad apple of a moment that get's forgotten about the moment you finish it.
Innovation - 6/10 - Follows the conventions of both JRPGs, and the Tales Of series, but it feels so fresh you can almost forget the former after the 10 hour mark.
Overall? A 10/10 game if there ever were one. Go out and search the nearest pre-owned Gamecube games section, and buy it. Now.