Tales of Symphonia

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Man you guys have to pay attention and not overlook these games.

Tales of Symphonia
Genre: RPG
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: July 13, 2004

The scoop:
Namco is working on the first fully next-generation update to the Tales series, titled Tales of Symphonia. The game is exclusive to the GameCube and will represent the series' first foray into true 3D graphics. The staff working on the game is made up mostly of developers who previously worked on Tales of Eternia (known as Tales of Destiny II in the United States), and the game's character designs and anime cutscenes are being handled by Kosuke Fujishima of Ah! My Goddess and Sakura Taisen fame.

Tales of Symphonia revolves around a main character named Lloyd, who is on a journey with his friends Genius and Colette to restore the prosperity of their world. They soon discover that the quality of their own world is the inverse of another, and thus to save their own planet they must effectively destroy another. Obviously, this presents a unique moral dilemma for Lloyd and friends. The game will feature a relationship system that keeps track of your character's friendship status with various characters. Your relationship is determined by the choices you make, and many characters' future actions will be based on how fondly they consider you at the time they face a decision of their own. The battle system in Tales of Symphonia has been dubbed the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle system, and it will allow each character in your party to establish a plane between him- or herself and an enemy and then move around on that plane. Another character can then establish a plane with the same enemy, creating a feeling of 3D space in the battles.

Tales of Symphonia contains a host of other gameplay elements as well--ability development, character ranking, and even cooking will be available. Though Namco says the overall size of the game will be comparable to that of Tales of Destiny II, the length of the script is much greater, making for a lot of potential for story development. We'll bring you more information on Tales of Symphonia as it becomes available.
[/Gamespot.com]

Screens:

I love you Namco!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BA out...:D

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

More!!!!! BTW, all these images are from Gamepro.

World Map

BA out..

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Done stealing from Gamepro, going to steal from Gamespot :D

BA out..

 

[Mr Freeze]

Dang, I was going to make atopic on this, but I remembered one a while back. Well, at least it's here.

Box art:

I'm really excited about this game, because Tales games are awesome. The cel shading looks awesome, and the battle system looks cool. Judging by Colette's face sets, the faces change in battle as they cast magic or mana. The characters look awesome, too, especially the red haired swordsmen, who I think is called "Refill"... Refill? Meh. Namco is awesome.

Two disks, too. That's a big game. And since you can assign classes to characters and with the relationship system, you could play this hundreds of times over.

Just like Tales of Phantasia for the SNES (wouldn’t know about any other Tales games), this game has a J-Pop theme song, Starry Heavens, performed by Japanese group Day After Tomorrow.

BTW, where'd you get your release date? I found March 15, 2004 when I look. I hope more people will talk about this game.

EDIT: Hey, look at the box art up there. 1-4 something, most likely 1-4 players!

 

[Duck]

the box art didnt work for me. which is a bad thing.

I thought it was coming out soon in Japan (as in a month or somthing) but i suppposs that could be right as it would take a while to translate etc.

I done been waiting for a while for a GC game with a really good story-line, so this had better be a good one. I just hope that it isnt like crystal chronicals if it is a 4 player game, because it looks like that has taken a lot of the emphasis off story.

 

[King Genius XIII]

This game is looking awesome. the characters are cool, the graphics are beautiful, the storyline seems very good, and the battle system sounds awesome. This is probably going to be a great, epic RPG, just lovely.

 

[Striker]

As far as I can tell, this game looks really good. I remember playing Tales of Phantasia for the snes (emulated, mind you) and greatly enjoyed the game. After playing Square games for so long, the Tales series seemed like a nice alternative choice. Plus being on the gamecube is especially helpful, since I yet to own the other consoles.

 

[Mr Freeze]

Gald more people are here to talk about it. It definitely won't be like FF:CC, which has a focus on multiplayer. All the tales games have had a multiplayer, I think. It sdoesn't effect story, it's just a chance for a friend to help you out in the battle system. Useful, because once when playing Tales of Phantasia, Arche kept casting spells that healed my enemies. If it was a human controlling her, t'would've been easier. BTW, it comes out August in Japan.

Duck, try Skies of Arcadia Legends.Good storyline there,as well as everthing else.

Check out IGN, full preview for this game.

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Character info

In keeping with the general trend towards originality, Symphonia has nothing in common with the stories told earlier in the series. Unlike Tales of Destiny 2, it begins in its own world with a new set of characters:

Lloyd Irving
Lloyd is a 17-year-old adoptee of a clan of dwarves, who raised him and taught him their secrets of fine craftsmanship, as well as his skills with his twin swords. He's smart and neat-handed, although his grades in school don't usually reflect his potential. The peaceful environment in which he was raised has lent itself to a somewhat lackadaisical attitude on his part, but he'll rise to the inevitable challenge of world-saving at some point.

Collet Brunel
Lloyd's childhood friend, she's what's known as a "kamiko," a descendant of the Mana Tribe, whose magical ability and inner power are the key to saving the world of Silvaland. If she can undergo some kind of magical transformation, she may gain the power to level the balance between worlds.

Genius Sage
That's a bit of a lofty title for a 12-year-old, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Genius is the other of Lloyd's best friends. He's a natural student of magic, and rather wise beyond his years, with the demeanor and speech of an adult. The people he meets thus tend to react to him a little oddly...

Our heroes make their home in the world of Silvaland, which is linked to an alternate dimension called Teseila. The two worlds are each other's mirror image -- as one prospers, the other fails, and so on. If the two remain in balance, of course, everyone lives happily ever after, but as the game begins, something has happened to throw that balance off. The three set off on a quest to determine what's happened, and whether Collet's power can save the world.

Symphonia's field-map backgrounds look to employ a mix of 2D and 3D, but the presentation of the Linear Motion Battle system appears to have changed more significantly. The battlefield is now entirely 3D, suggesting something more like the free-roaming realtime combat system of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time -- characters don't seem to be confined to a 2D plane anymore. Namco hasn't had much to say about exactly how the combat system will work as yet, but it does at least retain some familiar interface cues from earlier games in the series. The screen toting up the conclusion of a battle, for example, is entirely Tales, down to the mysterious alternate currency known as "gald."

Tales of Destiny 2, the series' last console outing, was a clear commercial success, but it drew a cool reaction from some dedicated fans, who reckoned its graphics and combat system a little behind the times. Symphonia, by comparison, is a clear step forward for the series' visuals and game design, which should prove interesting in the months leading up to its release later this year. Look forward to learning more as that time passes.
********

Screens: Lloyd

Collet

Genius

Refill

Kratos

Shihna

Zelos

Presea

Regal

Mitos

(Screens from RPGfan.com)

BA out..

 

[Matthias2k2]

Originally posted by Mr Freeze
EDIT: Hey, look at the box art up there. 1-4 something, most likely 1-4 players! [/B]

yeah. up to 4 player co-op. freakin' awesome.

arrgh, I want this game so bad. it's my dream rpg. 4/04 is so far away..

 

[Flok]

Tales of Phantasia ruled my world, far better than all those Final Fantasy's IMO. The game was excellent and was a big, big game. I cannot wait for Tales of Symphonia if it comes out here in Europe. If it has a big length of gameplay and has a great battle system just like Tales of Phantasia Tales of Symphonia will automatically be the best RPG so far for the Gamecube IMO. Of course I will get Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles as well but Tales of Symphonia will be way cooler IMO.

So far I like the character mostly in the 3rd Mug Shot, that's probaply Genius Sage.

So far there has been Skies of Arcadia Legends, Evolution Worlds, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Tales of Symphonia and Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life being released/announced for the Gamecube. Are there any other RPG's for the Gamecube?

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

You have Baten Kaitos, Giftpia, and Fire Emblem (GC mind you).

BA out..

 

[Phillip Chanter]

Eh... I'm not as impressed!

I have never played Tales of Phantasia so I have no idea what this game is all about. But from the looks of it I'm not expecting much from it, storyline looks grand, art looks nice, but I'm seeing every steriotype that's acosiated with any RPG. Mainly these ones: Big eyed characters, children attempt to save the world, and possibly some evil dudes plans to blow up one of those worlds to heck.

Like I said earlier, not as impressive as other RPG's that I've seen over the years, but then again, this game is just barely being developed, maybe when I see a review or 2 I'll come back to this game.

 

[Mr Freeze]

Re: Eh... I'm not as impressed!

Originally posted by Phillip Chanter
I have never played Tales of Phantasia so I have no idea what this game is all about. But from the looks of it I'm not expecting much from it, storyline looks grand, art looks nice, but I'm seeing every steriotype that's acosiated with any RPG. Mainly these ones: Big eyed characters, children attempt to save the world, and possibly some evil dudes plans to blow up one of those worlds to heck.

Well, the big eyed characters are hardly a stereotype, that's the art style. Children attempting to save world is almost always there, and it doesn't ruin a game. All this stuff was in SoA, but it didn't make the game bad.
You can't judge on the story yet because we know nothing much about any villains, and anyway the villains to Hero's planet-thing would probably be heroes in the other planet thing, because they are making it better.

Bah. So ends my rant. If you want to try Tales of Phantasia, qualityroms.com has a good rom of it. (You'd never be able to get your hands on an old Japanese only cartridge.)

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Yeah Phil, you shouldn't judge a game early in development. Look at the release date. 2004! It was said it would come out in 2003 then around Jan 2004 and now look at it, April...

BA out..

 

[Heero]

I’m also looking forward for this game. Here are the latest reviews from Japan.

...August 19, 2003 - The latest version of the Japanese magazine Dengeki features a full-blown review of the anticipated GameCube RPG Tales of Symphonia in which the publication's reviewers glow about the title and award it extremely high scores.
Dengeki scored Tales of Symphonia 9, 10, 9 and 10, just two points show of a perfect rating. The magazine's writers wrote that for fans of the Tales series, Symphonia is so good that it's worth picking up a GameCube just to have it. The reviewers noted that they overall liked the story in the game and were especially fond of the character development. They also stated that the title is highly polished and that it's exactly the way an RPG should be.

Source ign.com

Also, Famitsu gave it 9, 8, 10, 10 (37 / 40)

Excellent reviews.

 

[King Genius XIII]

Mmhmm! I can't wait for this game! It's my most wanted game by now!

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Made this topic official. Much more info to come.

BA out..

 

[Matthias2k2]

Japan :: 8/29/03 1 Tales of Symphonia 204,538

[source: www.gamefront.de]

O_o

pretty good for the 1st day. Namco expects to sell 500K lifetime JP. wonder how many copies they shipped initially?


April 2004 can't come soon enough.

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

Screens from the opening movie. There's a trailer out...however I lost the link...:D

BA out..

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

More news from RPGfan.com

Tales of Symphonia To See Summer Release in the US


Previously announced for a vague early 2004 release, Namco's GameCube RPG Tales of Symphonia now has a release date for the US - June 30th, 2004. Despite being hugely successful in Japan, its predecessor, Tales of Destiny 2 for PlayStation 2 has yet to be released outside Japan.
Tales of Symphonia was released in Japan on August 29th and has sold about 300,000 copies to date in its home market.


BA out..

 

[MS70000]

This game looks good to me. I know that it is supose to come out in April but I dont know what day. Does anyone know what day?

 

[Omnigamer]

So which is it? April or June? *prays for April*

 

[Metroid Killer]

dude i just watched some trailers at www.gametrailers.com and this game looks sweet!

d*mn so many great games to buy this year(again again )

 

[MS70000]

I looked at them and it does look good. Well does anyone know if it is multi?

 

[Omnigamer]

It helps to read the thread before posting...

 

[Cashed]

MS70000 is begging for a short drop and a sudden stop.

MS70000, ye be warned. Yar.

Release date is July 13th.

 

[Metroid Killer]

Here's the US Boxart. Imo it loosk better than its japanese counterpart

 

[King Genius XIII]

That box-art is... Just wonderful! *weeps*


This game will indeed be the shizznit.

 

[Cashed]

That boxart is pretty nice. After reading the topic more closely, I saw Mr Freeze posted that the game was two discs... Can anyone back his statement up?

This topic is full of intelligence, woo.

 

[MS70000]

The box looks really good.

 

[B0r3d*m Alien]

CSHD, apparantly the Japanese will get 2 discs.

From RPGfan:
Tales of Symphonia will be available in Japan as a double disc set on August 29th 2003. Luckily, Namco Hometek has confirmed that, unlike last year's extremely popular Tales of Destiny 2 for PlayStation 2, the series' first entry on GameCube will find its way across the Pacific though no release date has yet been set.
**

Maybe one will just be a bonus?

Wow, MS70000, umm what a great post.

Umm yeah, BA out..

 

[Cashed]

Yeah BA, MS70000's post was good enough to be *awarded* 1 more warning point. Also, great that you have a source, but is it confirmed that it is for Japan only? I'm guessing that article you posted is old because it says "Tales of Symphonia will be available in Japan as a double disc set on August 29th 2003."

 

[Omnigamer]

It would make sense for it to be a double-disk set in NA, too. They're not going to be able to magically make the GCN disks hold 3 gigs instead of the 1.5 they hold now in the timeframe leading to the game's released date. Unless, of course, the extra disk is a bonus disk... But Nintendo seems extra-giddy with their bonus demo disks lately, so who can tell?

 

[Raccoon87]

Umm, I can't see the boxart! Got a website for that?

A two disc set would be nice, but what the second disc is poses a question: Is it in fact a demo disc? I would think it wouldn't be because Japan already had a deal with Symphonia, including a special-edition GameCube. So it may possibly be a double-disc set. I don't see how Namco or Nintendo would be able to make a game on two-discs in Japan fit on one disc in America.

The art style of the game looks like those anime shows where the graphics looked outdated, but it still surprisingly looks new. And the idea of making your AI counterparts whack away while you just stand there sounds nice.

 

[Omnigamer]

If any of you have a Playstation, I suggest looking for Tales of Destiny I or II at a local Gamestop or EB. It'll help give you the feel of what ToS will be like. Otherwise, you could always find a ROM of Tales of Phantasia... Not that I'd know anything about where to find one >_>

Otherwise, it shouldn't be hard to look around and find some fansites with pics/vids of ToS or the others mentioned above.

 

[Rainy Day Toast]

W00t. Looks great. Just felt like adding that that... Is by far the sexiest cel-shading I've ever seen in a game. I had an orgasm.

 

[Metroid Killer]

Check out these figures... I found them in an image search but they are still very awesome!

 

[MS70000]

They look good. Do you know if those are the only two they are going to make?

 

[Metroid Killer]

Dunno I found them on a google image search. no info at the site.

Couldn't ifnd them at ebay either.

New screens!

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