Tales of Symphonia (GCN 2003) is a prequel to Tales of Phantasia (SFC 1995, and remade for PSX, GBA and PSP). The developers have stated that the games take place in the same universe in Japanese interviews. Regardless, the in-game evidence linking the two games is strong:
Phantasia's Tree is called Yggdrasill. Since the Tales of series' character naming conventions and myth references are often meaningful and consistent, it is unlikely that Symphonia's antagonist was named after a mythological tree without a good reason. The most sensible reason is that the characters of Mithos Yggdrasill and Martel Yggdrasill were named that way so that Lloyd could name Symphonia's Tree after them.
In Symphonia, Lloyd reunites Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into one world. The Great Seed sprouts a new Tree where the two worlds were linked. At the game's end, Lloyd is asked to choose a name for this new Tree. The scene cuts off before Lloyd says his choice, implying that the player should already know the answer. As the new tree was to be "everyone's tree" and symbolize unity, Lloyd had many reasons to name it after the Yggdrasill siblings. The fallen hero, Mithos, saved the world from a war 4,000 years ago. He split it in two to prevent either side from industrializing enough to create more magitech weapons and engage in more wars. Mithos also sought an end to discrimination, despite doing so through misguided means. His older sister, Martel, sacrificed her life to protect Mana and the Tree. Her soul fused with the Great Seed and remained fused for the past 4,000 years. Her soul was finally released when the Great Seed sprouted, and absorbed by the newborn guardian spirit for the sproutling. This newborn spirit (also named Martel) likely adopted Martel Yggdrasill's name, and is the same spirit who appears in Phantasia.
As the Great Seed and Kharlan Tree have long histories with the Yggdrasills, Lloyd has every reason to name the tree in their honor.
The Yggdrasill tree and its Martel guardian spirit are also in Phantasia, where they play an important role in the plot. During a hunt, a weakened Martel appeals to Cless and tells him that the Tree is in danger. The plot reveals that Yggdrasill and Martel are dying due to mankind's abuse of mana for magitechnology, which is causing a mana shortage. Cless's party vows to heal the tree. Furthermore, Dhaos, the game's antagonist, has utmost interest in the tree: he needs its Seed to save his home planet from a similar plight of magitechnology wars and mana shortages.
This implied connection between the names, plot-roles and even world map positions of Yggdrasill and Martel between the two games indicates that one of the premises of Symphonia was to give a plot-based reason of why Phantasia's Tree and its guardian spirit were named that way: that they were named after the Yggdrasill siblings.
The Eternal Sword was created by Origin and given to Mithos as a gift. Lloyd eventually gains the right to wield it using the Eternal Ring and Origin's approval. However, to suit his two-sword style, Lloyd does not use the Eternal Sword directly--its power splits into the Material Blades, the Flamberge and Vorpal. Lloyd can briefly re-materialize the Eternal Sword as a single weapon during the Falcon's Crest attack animation. In Phantasia, however, the Eternal Sword does not exist in one piece. It remains split into the Material Blades, both of which (along with the Diamond Ring) are treasures of three ancient countries. As part of the plot, Cless travels to the ruins of these countries to retrieve the lost artifacts. The Diamond Ring is used to pact with Origin, who then re-forges the Eternal Sword using the Material Blades. As in Symphonia, this space-time controlling weapon is important to the story.
Derris-Kharlan. This giant mana-comet invisibly hovers above the planet. It plays several roles in the plot, including nourishing the Great Seed, being the home of angels, and being the location of the final dungeon. In Phantasia, Derris-Kharlan is referenced several times. It is the planet of Elves' origin and Dhaos's home. Dhaos's backstory and Derris-Kharlan's history are explained in other games and novels about the Aselia universe, and Phantasia is light on details. However, Dhaos's final form in Phantasia (post-SFC versions) is an angel-form that looks identical to Mithos. In terms of plot continuity, it's possible that some Exspheres remained on Derris-Kharlan for Dhaos to use despite Kratos's promise at the end of Symphonia to release them all into space.
The existence and location of Elves. Elves are said to have originated on Derris-Kharlan and planted the first Mana Tree. In both games, Ymir Forest is surrounded by a lake. The lake's shallow water covers the forest floor and several maze-like wooden boardwalks are used to cross it. The small Elven colony is inside Ymir on the outskirts of the inner, denser Torent Forest. Torent Forest is a more-difficult maze, but the Bush Baby animals hint at the correct paths. Both games even use the same background music.
Torent Forest. The Elves guard this forest. Entry requires their permission. It is sacred to them because the Summon Spirit of Creation, Origin, lives within the deepest part (marked by a black stele).
World-map similarities. Combining the two maps of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla and rotating them bears an uncanny resemblance to the map of the world in Phantasia, Aselia. Many towns match in location between the two maps, indicating that the settlements may have evolved over the thousands of years between the games: Asgard lies near Midgards, Altamira (on an island) matches Alvanista (on an island), Palmacosta is near Venezia, Meltokio is near Arlee, and Flanoir is near Fenrir. Ymir Forest and the Elves are in the same location in both maps, and the Yggdrasill tree is in a similar location. Some spirits are also in the same places, e.g. Origin deep within Ymir and Shadow in a cave near Meltokio/Arlee.
Phantasia's world has two moons, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. In Symphonia, these are the names of the two split worlds. Each split world has a moon. When the worlds were split by Mithos, each world renamed their moon as the name of the opposite world (as an explanation of where all the other people disappeared to). A reunited world could therefore inherit both moons, which is consistent with Phantasia's astronomy.
All of Symphonia's summon spirits originally appeared in Phantasia. The exceptions are Celsius, who did not exist until Tales of Eternia, and Corrine/Verius. While many of the summons have been borrowed by other games, Origin only appears in the Aselia-universe games.
Many Tales of games provide the player with a means of flying on the world map. Phantasia's Rheabirds and Symphonia's Rheairds are almost identical in design and flying formation. Both games require the party to power-up these aircraft with Volt's electromagnetism.
Half-elf discrimination continues in Phantasia.
One of the largest dungeons in Phantasia is the dwarven mineshaft, Moria/"Morlia". Symphonia mentions that the locked door in the Toize Valley Mine is the entrance to Moria.
Suzu Fujibayashi is likely a distant descendant of Sheena Fujibayashi. In Phantasia, Suzu becomes leader of the Japoni ninja clan. In Symphonia, Sheena becames the leader of the Mizuho ninja clan. Sheena's Successor title costume is the same as Suzu's outfit.
Phantasia's magitech Mana Cannon is very similar to Rodyle's Mana Cannon.
In Phantasia, the Sorcerer's Ring is found in an underground temple geographically close to the resting place of the Flamberge. In the end of Symphonia, Lloyd leaves the Flamberge by Anna's grave. The Temple of Martel, where one of the Sorcerer's Rings can be found, is also near Anna's grave.
The name of the world in Phantasia (Aselia) is similar to the name of the Lloyd's hometown (Iselia). At the end of Symphonia, it is implied that Iselia would become an important political town. The re-combined world may have been named after it.
Phantasia's ancient, legendary pirate Ifreed could be the pirate Aifread found in Luin.
The gnomes in Phantasia's Cavern of Spirits resemble Symphonia's gnomelettes in the Temple of Earth. Both dungeons are home to the Summon Spirit Gnome.
Lloyd's name Irving and Cless's name Alvein are pronounced very similarly in Japanese.
There are several musical cameos. The most obvious are the "Fighting of the Spirit" summon battle theme and the "Forest of the Treant" theme. Those who have visited the hidden ninja village in Phantasia should instantly recognize Mizuho's music. Flanoir's music has a subtle variation based on Phantasia's own snow-town, Fenrir (in both games, the party spends a quiet night in the snow town to contemplate their relationships and the upcoming final battles.)
Many techniques used by the characters are similar - Cless of Phantasia uses variations on Lloyd's, Regal's, Kratos' and Zelos' techniques and abilities in Symphonia, Raine's healing abilities in Symphonia are reminiscent of Mint's spells in Phantasia, and Genis' spells are almost all related directly to Arche's spells in Phantasia.
Much of the equipment gained in Symphonia is similar to that in Phantasia. Both Kratos and Cless start out with simple longswords and the same armor, and their special secret weapons are both Excalibur.
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