![]() ![]() However, you can’t spam that skill as there is a recovery animation before you can use start attacking again but you can combo a higher level skill from a lower level one so a level 1 skill can be linked into a level 2 skill and so forth. For example, you can start out by attacking the enemy with a standard 4 hit combo and on the final hit you can activate and link a skill of any level. Each skill can be mapped to a combination of the circle button plus one of the directional buttons and it has an associated level attached to it which not only determines its strength but also where in the combo chain it can be used. You have your standard 3-4 hit combo which can be linked to a number of skills. The free running mechanic was only introduced in later titles, so while battles does take place in a 3D environment, it still feels very much like Tales of Destiny or Eternia, which is in no way a bad thing. Battles are real-time and take place on a 3D plane but your character can only ever move on a 2D one meaning you can only move left or right. The main draw of the series has always been its battle system, and while it has evolved over the years reaching near perfection in Graces f and Xillia, it is in no way any less fun. While these choices are obviously not as grand as say Mass Effect’s, they are welcome and do make you feel like you are influencing parts of the story in some way. There are even dialogue choices that affect how certain scenes are played out and those choices extend even further into branching paths that you can take early on in the game. Towns are bustling with NPCs to interact with and some even offer little mini-games which awards you with certain items should you be successful. Dungeons are extremely well designed with a number of puzzles to help keep each location fresh and engaging. Where the game really shines though is in all the extra meat surrounding the norm. Tales of Symphonia is your typical JRPG. You’ll travel from town to town, battle enemies in dungeons and trek across a huge overworld. Each character in this game is really well written and has a likeable personality which makes this 50-hour adventure really enjoyable. Whereas our main protagonist Lloyd is extremely hot-headed and dense but has a strong sense of justice and is actually quite funny. The chosen one, Colette is one of the clumsiest characters I’ve ever seen, but her sweet and kind hearted nature and dedication to her duty made me genuinely want to protect her and keep her safe. However, I found myself growing to love each and every member of this jolly world-saving crew. If it’s one thing that really deters me from playing a game, is a cast of weak characters that are totally unrelatable. While the story does seem to be fairly cliché, halfway through the game the story really kicks off and it spins a web of lies and deceit that will have you hooked until the end, but it’s the characters themselves that really drives the story forward. One of your closest friends was born as the next chosen and you set out with her along with several other people on this journey to save the world. You take control of Lloyd Irving, a dim-witted yet earnest individual. The angels, servants of the Goddess Martel, thus gave birth to a chosen human who will journey out into Sylvarant to regenerate the world and save humanity. The war depleted the Mana supply thus causing the tree to wither and die. This limitless flow of mana however gave rise to magi-technology which caused a great war to break out. The game takes place in a world known as Sylvarant where its land and people are sustained by an energy force known as mana provided by a giant tree. Now after many years and many ‘Tales of’ games later, I finally have a chance to see where it began with an HD remaster consisting of not only of the original Tales of Symphonia but it’s Wii sequel as well all on one disc. This was supposedly the game that really put the series on the map and laid the foundation for the 3D games to follow. I never really had a GameCube growing up so I missed out on a few awesome games. But there are some games that have eluded me over the years. From Chaos Rings on my mobile phone to Valkyria Chronicles on PlayStation 3, I just can’t get enough of them. ![]() Every single platform I own I have a JRPG in my collection of games. My phone is filled with JRPG battle themes and there was a point in my life when all I could play were JRPGS. ![]()
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