Board 8 > Tales of Symphonia

(+) Yeah! (+)

LeonhartFour posted...

I mean I don't think it's hard to follow, per se, it's just their insistence on having so much made up terminology

So if they switched every use of "fonon" with the word "magic," it'd be fine?

I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse here. I just see this complaint a lot and I've never understood it at all.
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Velvet is also really fun, and Graces inherently has the best combat system in the series, but something about Lloyd is incredibly satisfying

LeonhartFour posted...

I mean I don't think it's hard to follow, per se, it's just their insistence on having so much made up terminology

Probably the biggest strength ToS' story has over the other games in the series is that the random terminology it makes up feels way better integrated into the world. Mana, Exspheres, Cruxis - all of it has good buildup and you're given reasons to care about how it fits into the plot.
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Vesperia is probably my least-favorite Tales OST. It has like 3 good songs.
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KamikazePotato posted...

Probably the biggest strength ToS' story has over the other games in the series is that the random terminology it makes up feels way better integrated into the world. Mana, Exspheres, Cruxis - all of it has good buildup and you're given reasons to care about how it fits into the plot.

Exspheres maybe, but I'd disagree on the others.
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NBIceman posted...

So if they switched every use of "fonon" with the word "magic," it'd be fine?

Well, I don't know that it'd be "better" necessarily. I think Abyss's world building is kind of hamfisted, really.

I still like the game a lot, don't get me wrong. That just wasn't its strong suit.
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OSTs have never been a strength of the series. Abyss is probably the only one where I could actually name more than two or three.
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Symphonia's OST is legit great. The other games have a few songs I like a lot, but that's about it.
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LeonhartFour posted...

KamikazePotato posted...

Lloyd is still probably the most fun main character in the series to play.

I switched to Guy the first chance I got in Abyss since he plays so much like him.

This. For a decade Symphonia was the only Tales game I had played. When I finally got to Abyss in 2014, it was hard for me to use anybody but Guy because I used Lloyd exclusively in Symphonia. Although I did eventually get the hang of Natalia and used her probably 25% of the time to Guy's 65%, Luke's 9% and everyone else combined's 1%.
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Also, underrated aspect of ToS story: pacing

Every other game in the series (except for Berseriaaaa) has a lot of sections that feel like dead air. Not that ToS is completely exempt from that, but the Point A to Point B to Point C always exists and it keeps things moving. There are gigantic chunks of Vesperia where I felt like absolutely nothing of note was happening.
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I legit didn't realize people liked Symphonia's OST that much. The only two songs I can even bring to mind off the top of my head are the world map theme and Final Destination.

I'm gonna be replaying it soon, though, so maybe I'll encounter a few that are just slipping my memory right now.
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I've fiddled around with other characters in Symphonia (I like using Presea for a change of pace now and then in particular), but I never got the hang of using Sheena ever. It took me forever to finally win that 1-on-1 fight she has.
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Sheena is pretty garbage, unfortunately.

ToS' soundtrack isn't one of my all-time favorites or anything but I like it a good bit. There's something about the instrumentation that just...sounds nice?
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LeonhartFour posted...

I've fiddled around with other characters in Symphonia (I like using Presea for a change of pace now and then in particular), but I never got the hang of using Sheena ever. It took me forever to finally win that 1-on-1 fight she has.

Oh fuck that match I don't think I ever beat it.

It IS sidequest and not main story, right? It's been so long since I've played.
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I bought it recently but haven't tried it yet

In fact I haven't played any Tales games despite owning like 6 of them

So what I gather from this topic is that I should play Symphonia first before the later games make it look bad!
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NBIceman posted...

I legit didn't realize people liked Symphonia's OST that much. The only two songs I can even bring to mind off the top of my head are the world map theme and Final Destination.

I'm gonna be replaying it soon, though, so maybe I'll encounter a few that are just slipping my memory right now.

Most of the battle themes are excellent. Most of the character themes are excellent, too.

And then you have fun little songs like Delightful Day that really set the mood well for the lighter stuff
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Underleveled posted...

It IS sidequest and not main story, right? It's been so long since I've played.

Yeah, you don't have to beat it.

Unfortunately, the game progresses even if you lose, so you have to keep reloading saves.
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I always thought Sheena was easy to use

But there isn't actually much to her so she's not very fun unfortunately. Just do your standard 3 hit combo into some seals, back off, repeat. Playing her is just kind of a test of your fundamentals more than anything.

But yeah I'd buy pacing is a strength of Symphonia considering it's the only Tales game I've actually finished to this day. Not that any of the others I've played parts of were bad or anything (well Legendia kinda is) but I dunno some reason I never get through them.
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i'm still a Fatalize kind of person

MZero11 posted...

So what I gather from this topic is that I should play Symphonia first before the later games make it look bad!

You do probably want to play the earlier ones first if only for the gameplay improvements that came later. Symphonia would be the roughest in that respect. Once you reach like... Graces f though it doesn't matter much and it's more different systems rather than improving upon the old.
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On a random note, I remember re-playing Symphonia awhile ago and thinking it was bullshit when Genis called Mithos a swordsman because you really only see him use magic.

But...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1nbkTbuG4" data-time="

Evidently Namco remembered that aspect of him.
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Symphonia's OST being so great is what makes me mad that the only song from it that has retired in VGMC is Starry Heavens, which is trash
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xp1337 posted...

MZero11 posted...

So what I gather from this topic is that I should play Symphonia first before the later games make it look bad!

You do probably want to play the earlier ones first if only for the gameplay improvements that came later. Symphonia would be the roughest in that respect. On you reach like... Graces f though it doesn't matter much and it's more different systems rather than improving upon the old.

Symphonia's also a pretty good litmus test for whether you'll like the rest of the series. As you can tell from this topic, there's an EXTREMELY wide range of opinions on how the various entries stack up against each other, but I haven't encountered too many people who actively disliked Symphonia and went on to enjoy other Tales games.
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WhiteLens posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1nbkTbuG4" data-time="

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LeonhartFour posted...

Symphonia's OST being so great is what makes me mad that the only song from it that has retired in VGMC is Starry Heavens, which is trash

One of these days when I'm really in the mood to cause an all-out word brawl on this board, I'm gonna make a poll topic for which Tales game has the best opening theme.

Don't think I've seen it here before, but I know folks elsewhere on the internet will die on a hill for their favorite.
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Starry Heavens is awesome

Though for the video it's used in I actually prefer the US track.
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I wouldn't say Starry Heavens is trash but it's retiree status is super confusing and ToS has a lot of way better choices.
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I think Symphonia is a good enough game to play, I rank it low for Tales but that's better than most. If you plan to get into the series it's probably the best start because it's super tough to go back to in the gameplay department.
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NBIceman posted...

I'm gonna make a poll topic for which Tales game has the best opening theme.

oh my god how could i pick

Xillia, Xillia 2, and Berseria all too good. How are Abyss and Vesperia not in my Top 3? Graces f also great. ahhhhhhh

(lmao symphonia)
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Lopen posted...

Starry Heavens is awesome

Though for the video it's used in I actually prefer the US track.

Yeah the US ToS opening is easily the best in the series, because instead of going for a catchy vocals song it just tries to evoke a strong atmosphere and succeeds.
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While I was doing a little more digging...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsM8ZilTEY" data-time="

Whoa, backstory between Mithos and Ratatosk.
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Tales of Rays being cancelled bugs me. I didn't even get to play it beforehand! Watched some of the cutscenes online and they seemed solid.
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xp1337 posted...

NBIceman posted...

I'm gonna make a poll topic for which Tales game has the best opening theme.

oh my god how could i pick

Xillia, Xillia 2, and Berseria all too good. How are Abyss and Vesperia not in my Top 3? Graces f also great. ahhhhhhh

(lmao symphonia)

I know how you feel. If I combine it with the opening video itself, I think X2 wins pretty comfortably for me, but if I'm trying to decide strictly on the song alone I have a pretty tough time.
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10/10 for world
8/10 for characters
13/10 for nostalgia

guess that makes it a 10.3
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i think one of the things that bothers me the most about Symphonia 2 is that it's set two years later and everyone is still wearing the same clothes.

i want to see everyone wearing cool new clothes.

i will say that the new costumes in the PS3 version are great. especially the crossover ones.

9

Still the best Tales game.

For a while I had Vesperia tied or ranked higher than Symphonia but after multiple replays of both over the years, Symphonia was the better game.

Symphonia > Vesperia > Berseria > Abyss > Phantasia > Xillia > Graces f > Hearts R > Eternia > Destiny > Legendia

Ones ranked after Xillia are meh to downright terrible games at best

Haven't beat Zestiria or plan to because the first 10 hours or so was a ****ing slog and people say it gets worse.

I'm kinda sick of the series at this point but Berseria (despite its flaws especially typical Tales mid-game lull) makes me look to the series' future more postively.

Worst part is, that's the best part of Zesteria.

Hideo Baba is out after the Zesteria scandal and he was the one tanking the Tales series. Berseria wasn't him and look how it crushed the last decade of Tales. Very excited to see what comes next.
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As for a ranking...

Berseria > Abyss > Vesperia > Grace's f > Xillia > Symphonia > Legendia

From what I've played.

Top 2 there is a very difficult back and forth call.

Graces f is a super wierd one because as a sum of it's parts it's below Symphonia, but the combat is just...SOOOOO good. Even down to the difficulty tweaking, it's just insurmountable on that front.
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Symphonia gets a solid 7. It's pretty darn good but later games in the series completely outshine it in every way.

Xillia 2 > Vesperia >= Berseria > Abyss > Graces > Symphonia > Xillia > Hearts > Zestiria

Note - I'm willing to admit Xillia 2 isn't as good of a "complete package" as Vesperia or Berseria considering its reliance on asset reuse, but eat me. The combat is the best in the series by a mile and I really like the story.
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One of the things that kind of upset me with symphonia is the battle system imo was a let down but maybe that's not really fair. Like just before it I played eternia which used the 2d battle system and it was just so good. The number of combos and special moves you could just pull out was great.

But all that vanished with symphonia. Part of it I think is because it was the first 3d gsme and they could not make a system with the same speed and variety as the 2d counter part. That or they just didn't have the time.
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Oh, are we ranking now?

Abyss > Berseria > Xillia 2 > Vesperia > Graces F > Xillia > Symphonia > Hearts R > Legendia > Zestiria > Symphonia 2
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From ones I've played:

Abyss > Berseria > Vesperia >> Symphonia > Xillia 2 > Graces > Xillia > Eternia > Zestiria > Legendia

I'd consider Abyss, Berseria and Vesperia all around great games, Symphonia scores high on nostalgia, but getting back into the battle system after playing later entries is hard. Xillia(s) and Graces had fun combat systems and Milla was probably my favourite character to play as. Eternia would have benefitted from an updated battle system but the story was fun, Zestiria was a little boring and the upgrading system was a bit obnoxious but it has enough good points to be fun, and Legendia basically just had a good story and amazing OST going for it. The second half of the game not being dubbed and the combat being miserable makes it easily the worst Tales entry I've played.
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Berseria > Symphonia > Graces f > Vesperia > Xillia > Abyss
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Hard to say. It was good for the time it came out, but the series has made the battle system so much better its hard to go back to Symphonia.

Vesperia is my favorite so far, but man is that port gonna be weird because Bamco kept Troy Bakers lines and had somebody else do the new ones so there are gonna be times where Baker says one line and right after the new line is gonna be some other guy. They didnt even get Mercer who has always been used for Bakers soundalike replacements either. Just seems like a lazy/shitty job really. The American VA industry needs to get good like Japans where people are always the role until they retire, die or get too sick to continue

Troy Baker is too busy (and expensive) to record more lines for an updated port of a niche game. I wouldn't blame Namco on this one.
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Lol I forgot to even list Zestiria after just talking about it. Right above Legendia.

Fo we know who they got for Yuri?
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KamikazePotato posted...

Troy Baker is too busy (and expensive) to record more lines for an updated port of a niche game. I wouldn't blame Namco on this one.

He expressed remorse that he was not approached.
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Oh. Well that's dumb.
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I mean for quality/consistency youd think they would have the replacement record over all of Yuris lines instead of us getting the two voice actors for one role. There are gonna be lots of times where we hear Baker lines, then new guy lines and then back to Baker lines in the same scenes. Supposedly his replacement is Grant George, but I havent seen anything confirmed yet. See a lot of people who think Judith has a new VA and that Raven sounds a bit off too