Tales of 2010 - July - Symphonia

[omegabyte]

Three years after Tales of Eternia showed up in North America, Tales of Symphonia arrived and managed to popularize the series in the west. Made for the RPG-starved GameCube, it sparked unheard of sales for the series in the west, and the game even wound up in Nintendo's Player's Choice collection.

Widely regarded as the best game in the series, Tales of Symphonia is a distant prequel to Tales of Phantasia, following the story of Lloyd Irving and his friends as they protect Colette, the Chosen of Mana who's destined to save the world. Symphonia deals with themes of racism, betrayal, idealism, and has plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Enjoy the month, everyone!

[Severin Mira]

Perfectly timed finished Eternia so can jump straight into this. First I need to decide whether to find the small tv to put in my room to play it or to use this beast

(Yes it is exactly as terrible as it looks [img]non-cgi/emoticons/tounge2.gif[/img] )

[Nyx]

I've already started this one ('cause I'm a jerk) and I am officially ten hours in <span class="spoiler">Luin has just been destroyed</span>, so I'm off to go save some folk!

[Zelgodes]

Perfectly timed finished Eternia so can jump straight into this. First I need to decide whether to find the small tv to put in my room to play it or to use this beast

(Yes it is exactly as terrible as it looks [img]non-cgi/emoticons/tounge2.gif[/img] )

Awesome. I always wanted one of those, but then I decided it would be a dumb idea. Still, I had some fun with the idea way back in school.

I suppose you could say I'm about as far as Nyx is. As I noted before in another thread, I took the hilariously non-linear route of skipping the Palmacosta route and finishing much of the Luin/Asgard portion of the game. I'm just about to head into the Ranch in the Palmacosta region, though my playtime is around 16 hours by now. A lot of that time is due to level/gald/spell grinding though. I think I'll be picking up my progress after eating since Oblivion just froze on me again. [img]non-cgi/emoticons/ghostface.gif[/img]

[TheAnimeMan]

Going to wait officially till tomorrow to start but my wife was interested in playing this one as well so we may be sharing files to do so.

[Zerker]

I may hold off on this. I'm interested in replaying Symphonia, but I'm not sure I want to do it quite so soon after Destiny &amp; Eternia. Maybe later in the year. The only other game in the list that I'd be interested in playing again (or at all) would be Abyss, but it still seems too soon for me to replay.

[Zelgodes]

Pff, I beat Tales of the Abyss earlier this month and I'll be rearing to go again by September. Remember that Tales of Legendia is still in between, because I know I keep forgetting. That will be a nice change of pace for me.

On the topic of Symphonia: I miss free-run ultra hard. [img]non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif[/img]

[Crono]

I really, REALLY want to play this one again but with so many games coming out this month (mainly P3P and DQIX) I just don't think I can fit it in. Plus, all my gaming time has been chewed up by family issues so unfortunately, I will have to bow out for the first time. I really am going to miss it though because I'll be playing DotW for the first time when it's up so I'll need a refresher on ToS's story.

[Strawberry Eggs]

I'll be starting tomorrow, after I get home from the university. As I said before, it won't be at the very beginning of the game. My comments will likely be sparser than when I was playing Phantasia since I still don't have internet access at home right now. It's been years since I last played the game through, so I'm looking forward to it. [img]non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif[/img]

[Glowing Hyren]

I've just stumbled into this and I'm totally interested. I only have 3 Tales games though (Phantasia, Symphonia 1&amp;2). Did I miss any of those already? I'm guessing I may have missed ToP.

[omegabyte]

Phantasia is done, but we're doing Symphonia this month. Symphonia 2 will be in December, as it was the last title to be released in North America.

Anyways, I think I'll be taking a break from P3P tomorrow to play this, but I can't decide if I should do a new game+ or if I should start from scratch. I have enough grade saved up from my multiple playthroughs to literally buy every single thing in the grade shop, but since I do want to review it, getting the original experience would be a good idea too. I'll have to sleep on it. Looking forward to it either way, though.

[Nyx]

Phantasia is done, but we're doing Symphonia this month. Symphonia 2 will be in December, as it was the last title to be released in North America.

Anyways, I think I'll be taking a break from P3P tomorrow to play this, but I can't decide if I should do a new game+ or if I should start from scratch. I have enough grade saved up from my multiple playthroughs to literally buy every single thing in the grade shop, but since I do want to review it, getting the original experience would be a good idea too. I'll have to sleep on it. Looking forward to it either way, though.

Join me and start from scratch. Rechallenge yourself! [img]non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif[/img]

[flamethrower]

How do you get those level 4 EX skills (or whatever they're called)? It seems like if you have a lot of GRADE, it's hard to earn more. I can never earn enough for a L4 EX gem.
Does anyone understand the ability system? So you either get all the L1 physical skills or all the L1 arts skills, and so on for each level. Am I right?

I tried controlling the other characters, but for some reason Lloyd controls way better than all of the others.

[Strawberry Eggs]

Ability system? If you mean Strike or Technical techs, you can get one or the other for a tech line, but you can't have both. For instance, if Lloyd has more S-type Ex gems, he will learn Fierce Demon Fang at a certain level. If he has more T-type Ex gems, he will learn Double Demon Fang. You can change up a character's gems so that they can learn the S-Type for certain techs, and the T-type for others.

And I have to agree that Lloyd controls better. Sheena wouldn't be so bad if she packed more of punch, though. My sister preferred using Kratos and Zelos.

[Zelgodes]

Kratos controls more like the traditional Tales protagonist, but he does lack the variety of techs at the beginning of the game that Lloyd has. The real bonus is that he has much higher TP and doesn't run out anywhere near as quickly. Zelos, I think, actually controls better and has a less noticeable attack delay than Kratos, but that's just me. Once they're at higher levels though and get attacks like Lightning Blade + Super Lightning Blade, they're more fun to control overall.

I've used Sheena often as my controlled character since the first time I've played the game, though. She's a lot faster than other characters, Lloyd especially, and she has enough TP to spam her more useful techs at higher levels. She is more of a support character though, and her Strike techs seem pretty useful for lowering enemy stats, so I might stick with her for a while. Either way she's a great party member for stat lowering and, obviously, summoning. What I really look forward to, however, is refining my technique with Regal. Now there's a fun character to control. [img]non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif[/img]

And you will get lvl. 4 Ex Gems eventually, but it will be later in the game. I've actually spent a lot of time battling to get party members enough skill uses for later skills so I have enough grade now for probably a lvl. 3 and lvl. 4 Ex Gem from the GRADE shop. I'll probably purchase that lvl. 4 one soon in anticipation of some of the new characters I'll be getting soon. I do already have two lvl. 3 Gems where I am, and they're pretty useful. I love the Eternal skill and picking up all the extra EX skills.

[TheAnimeMan]

I forgot the dudes name but I'm good with the dude who kicks

[omegabyte]

I forgot the dudes name but I'm good with the dude who kicks

Regal?

There are quite a few characters that are good for party control. I usually stick with Lloyd because he learns my favorite Tales staple skills: Beast, Sword Rain, Tempest, and Rising Phoenix. Zelos is my usual backup, and I'll let him lead the alternate party whenever possible.

I'm kinda wondering if I'd be able to get through the game without using Raine as a primary party member, instead letting Zelos and Regal joint-heal... Might be an interesting experiment. Revitalize is kinda key, but Zelos does learn Healing Circle, which is pretty potent too.

[Zelgodes]

I thought Zelos only learned Healing Wave and Wind? They're pretty expensive for heals, even more so than Healing Circle I think. I don't think I've ever had Raine out of my party for an extended period of time and I really have no problem with that. Good, efficient healers are always a staple for me in every Tales game.

[TheAnimeMan]

Isn't that true for any game in general? Although Vesparia forcing you to use none healers to heal was kinda interesting

[Severin Mira]

This is probably lost on anyone who's either not-British or young, but I can't take the Iselia music seriously - it sounds exactly like the theme to Last of the Summer Wine.

For those who wish to know more, Last of the Summer Wine is a sitcom set in a village with a mostly "aged" cast (including Peter Sallis, voice of Wallace). This is the said theme.