Tales of Symphonia Chronicles Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

A Tale of Two Symphonies

Sony seems to be under the impression that the JRPG genre is a cow that can be endlessly milked, as PlayStation consoles are continually littered with them. HD revivals appear now and then, with some definitely standing out among the crowd. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is one of those stand outs, bringing arguably Namco Bandai’s greatest Tales series to a North American PlayStation audience that has been left in the dark until now. The original Tales of Symphonia was released for the GameCube, and its sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Nintendo Wii. The PS3 compilation entitled Tales of Symphonia Chronicles bundles the two games together, adding high-definition graphics, trophies, and additional content. It’s a good value for a great series, but buy it for the gameplay, not the HD upgrade, as the visuals are more a touch-up than an overhaul.

The overall storyline is one full of clichés, with our Tales of Symphonia hero Lloyd joining friends to save the world and avenge the death of his mother at the hands of the evil Desian organization. Betrayal and intervention from higher powers follow you around the adventure, and there are very few surprises. However, it is a well scripted plot and the characters are amicable enough that you’ll likely shed a tear or two through the dozens of hours it could take to finish. Dawn of the New World has a slightly less tugging of the heartstrings, mostly because the split personality of Emil, shifting from timid to aggressive, is just plain annoying. Its story casts Lloyd as the antagonist, responsible for the destruction of Emil’s hometown of Palmacosta. The journey is to track down the “would-be” hero from the first game to answer for his crimes. It’s not as interesting a plot as the world saving task given to Lloyd and Collette (the Chosen One), but it still has a few interesting twists.

Fortunately you’ll likely be hooked for the entirety of the chronicles since the real-time combat is so well crafted. In a somewhat 3D plane in Symphonia and a full spectrum in Dawn , there’s an anxiety to be precise with the controls, even in the throwaway encounters. Taking the reins of just one team member, you can give general AI commands to the others, which does a surprisingly good job. Damaging enemies builds up a Unison Gauge, which when full can be unleashed as a full party pummeling. Skills are built through EX Gems, with plenty of different combinations yielding additional bonuses. Each character can equip four EX Gems, and you gain new abilities through use, rather than from leveling up. With all the class customizations and combat modifiers, despite being a real-time system, you’ll rarely find yourself in a tedious button-mashing rut.

There are a few standout features that seem commonplace nowadays, but were pioneered by games such as Tales of Symphonia . An achievement system called Titles awards you perks for completing certain objectives. Collecting ingredients for cooking recovery food after a battle highlights one of the first uses of a crafting system. Dawn of the New World adds a monster collecting and breeding feature to play around with. None of these additions are by any means revolutionary, but they do add more layers of gameplay to either supplement combat stats or provide a practical side hobby.

Combat moves at a brisk pace with a decent frame rate, and the HD upgrade gives the animations a nice smoothness. Character and enemy models within the combat arena have nice, clean cel-shading with more vibrant coloring than in the original titles. This polish, however, clearly contrasts some other visuals that did not fare well in the remake, namely the bland overworld. The enemy sprites that pop up during travel look exceptionally poor, and the monochromatic backgrounds feel completely outdated. The game still has a lot of nostalgic charm, but the juxtaposition between the characters and the environments clearly shows where the design team focused, and where they glossed over. A wonderful inclusion in Tales of Symphonia Chronicles are the cinematic cutscenes. And there are plenty to enjoy, possibly too many in Dawn of the New World .

It was nice to hear the pleasant melodies I remember fondly from the GameCube title given a modern update in the audio department. The tracks now carry each scene with added vigor, and combat has that little extra musical punch to go along with the fast paced action. However, the battle sequences and shouting of EX Skills from the characters did get redundant very quickly, so overall you may have your own preference on how you want to handle the audio options. I was never fond of the localized voice acting, so it was interesting to test out the Japanese voice tracks with English subtitles, and I honestly found those were more authentic during the emotional scenes.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is an inconsequential extra, but one that nonetheless makes the Chronicles forty dollar price tag more acceptable. The original was one of the best RPGs of its generation, and the PS3 remake will easily be snatched up by old-school fans, and those who remember the quest of Lloyd Irving and long to start it anew. The high-definition visuals are hit and miss, but the engaging combat and tried and true character customization continues to satisfy, concluding that the Tales of Symphonia series can withstand the test of time.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.2 Graphics
Certain visuals are nicely touched up, but others show their age and look terribly bland. 3.5 Control
Perfecting your combat timing gives the controls a steep learning curve. Movements are a little too sharp, but the translation to the PS3 controller is seamless. 3.2 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The old tunes are nice to hear again, but even being digitally enhanced can still get redundant. The Japanese voice acting is far better than the English. 4.0 Play Value
The decade old gameplay still holds strong, and its one classic RPG that definitely deserved a makeover. 3.5 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.