Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (known as Knight of Ratatosk in Japan) is a Tales game for the Nintendo Wii, and was released on June 26, 2008 in Japan, and was released in America on November 11, 2008. The game is a spin-off to the popular Gamecube/PS2 title Tales of Symphonia.

Storyline
Dawn of the New World takes place two years after the events of Tales of Symphonia.

Long ago, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla were united as a single world that drew strength from the Great Kharlan Tree. Divine intervention tore them apart, however, and the Tree withered and died. It was eventually left to a boy named Lloyd to restore the world to its true form. At his journey's end, a new Tree was planted to replace the old one and to hold the two worlds together. This was the story of the Journey of Regeneration.

Together once more, the world is now entering a new era. However, its people are still faced with many problems. After the lands became one, maps were rendered useless and the climate went through many vast changes: desert towns became frozen wastelands and lakes dried up into valleys. All of this stems from an overlooked factor in the unification of the worlds: the spirit of the old Kharlan Tree, Ratatosk, still exists somewhere, and its slumber has sent the world into chaos.

However, Ratatosk isn't the only problem: the people of the two worlds are starting to hate each other. The citizens of Tethe'alla look down upon the citizens of Sylvarant due to their inferior technology, and the citizens of Sylvarant fear the citizens of Tethe'alla because of their power. Two years have passed since the worlds were first merged, and the people of Sylvarant have created a vanguard with which to rise against the Church of Martel and the people of Tethe'alla.

Six months prior to the start of the game, the Church of Martel, led by the hero Lloyd Irving, attacked the City of Palmacosta because members of the Vanguard were meeting there. Countless innocent people died and Palmacosta was consumed in a terrible fire. This event came to be known as the "Blood Purge," a bloody massacre caused by the Church of Martel.

Now it's up to Emil and Marta to collect the Centurions' cores and reawaken Lord Ratatosk to restore the world to its former state.....

Characters
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World features the designs by Kosuke Fujishima of returning Tales of Symphonia characters, but the designer of the new characters is Daigo Okumura.

The main character's name is Emil Castagnier, and the heroine's name is Marta Lualdi. Other characters are Richter Abend, Tenebrae, and Aqua. All the playable characters from the original Tales of Symphonia return to the sequel as party members, including Zelos, which proves that the ending with Zelos dying was not the true ending of the first game. The only exception is Kratos, who serves as the game's narrator. Important Vanguard members include Alice and Decus. Although not all the original voice actors return, Colette, Presea, and Kratos still retain their original voice actors.

Tales of Symphonia features a giant life-giving tree that functions similarly to the Yggdrasil of myths. This tree also exists in Tales of Phantasia, which Tales of Symphonia is a prequel to. In Tales of Phantasia it is called Yggdrasil, supposedly after Tales of Symphonia's main villain. The name Ratatosk comes from Norse mythology--Ratatosk is a talking squirrel that lived on the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

Main Characters

 * Emil Castagnier: A boy living in Luin after the Blood Purge in Palmacosta six months ago. Although weak and cowardly, he bears a deep hatred toward Lloyd for killing his parents, and is the only one in Luin who does not admire Lloyd. After a failed attempt to help Marta, he agrees to become a Knight of Ratatosk in order to protect her.
 * Marta Lualdi: A girl who saves Emil from a bear monster. Though tomboyish, she quickly develops a fangirlish crush on Emil, wanting him to be just like the dream prince she imagines him to be. She appears to be wearing the dormant core of the Summon Spirit Ratatosk.

Centurions

 * Tenebrae: The Centurion of Darkness is most likely the most loyal to Ratatosk, and accompanies Marta wherever she is, as she bears Ratatosk's core. Although serious most of the time, he can come up with jokes and puns, which only he finds funny. In addition, he can make rather "spiteful" comments.
 * Aqua: Aqua is the Centurion of Water, but she has betrayed Ratatosk and the other Centurions by siding with Richter and the Vanguard. Because of this, she is the protagonists' enemy.

Antagonists

 * Richter Abend: Richter helps Emil from some bullies in Luin, telling him a quote he will remember for the rest of the game: "Courage is the magic that turns dream into reality." Although irritated by Emil's weak personality, he agrees to teach him some swordsmanship. However, he quickly turns out to be after Marta's life, making him Emil's enemy.
 * Brute: Brute is the leader of the Vanguard, but is not seen before longer into the game.
 * Decus: Decus is a respected members in the Vanguard, but is also known for his Eau de Seduction--pungent perfume that makes everybody inch away from him. He loves Alice more than anything else and would gladly die for her.
 * Alice She may look cute and innocent, but Alice is actually a mean-spirited and sadistic girl who enjoys seeing others in pain. She is first seen looking for Colette in Asgard. Marta says that when Alice refers to males with nicknames, it means she likes them, while it is the opposite with females.
 * Hawk: The first member of the Vanguard the party meets. He fears his superiors' strength and personalities, but is too afraid of them to do anything about it.
 * Magnar: A leader for the Church of Martel's combat-group. He is seen attacking Luin, and was going to kill the people there before Emil managed to stop him. He says he follows Lloyd's orders, and he thinks that Sylvaranti are inferior to Tethe'allans.

Returning Characters

 * Lloyd Irving: Lloyd was the protagonist of the original game. However, in the sequel he has been labeled as a murderer by some people for having lead the Blood Purge in Palmacosta. Lloyd, however, has not given his side of the story. He is after the Centurions' cores, making him Emil and Marta's enemy.
 * Colette Brunel: Colette was the protagonist from the original game. She is famous worldwide for regenerating the world, and is referred to as the Chosen of Regeneration. However, she is hunted down by the Vanguard, for they see her as a Sylvaranti traitor who abandoned Palmacosta for the sake of world regeneration and is now supportive to the Tethe'allans, even though she is Sylvarant's Chosen. Although two years has passed, she is still kind and selfless.
 * Genis Sage: A young boy who is Lloyd's best friend. He is very intelligent, but is still a kid. He becomes good friend with Emil and Marta, although he is sad about their thoughts of Lloyd.
 * Raine Sage: Raine is the teacher of Lloyd, Colette and Genis, and is also the latter's older sister. She's a calm, calculating woman who cares deeply for her students. Although she still has her Ruin Mode, she seems like she is able to control it a little better.
 * Zelos Wilder: The Chosen of Tethe'alla. Zelos goes around the world and uses his charm to gather information about the world's status and the Vanguard. Although still flirty, he is very perceptive, and can easily become serious if the situation calls for it.
 * Regal Bryant: After the world regeneration, Regal removed his shackles and took back the title of Lezareno Company's president. He is still gentle and mature, and is respected by many.
 * Sheena Fujibayashi: Sheena is a ninja from Mizuho, and has the power to summon the Summon Spirits of the world. Although she still has a thing for falling down holes and traps, she is an honest young woman. Through two years, she has become better at using the Igaguri style and the power of the Summon Spirits.
 * Presea Combatir: After getting her soul back two years ago, Presea has become more lively and smiles more often. She works to rebuild her hometown, Ozette, and also works for the Lezareno Company by making charms for them.
 * Kratos Aurion: Although Kratos does not reappear as a playable character, he is the narrator of the game, and is once seen talking to Yuan through a hologram in a side-quest.
 * Seles Wilder: Zelos' younger half-sister who is a quarter-elf. She gets kidnapped in the game, but is saved.
 * Yuan Ka-Fai: Yuan reappears in the game as the guardian of the new World Tree, and seems to have dismissed the Renegades. He helps Lloyd collect the Centurions' cores. In a side-quest, it's possible to see his surname.

Battle System
The battle system that this game uses is a variation of Tales of the Abyss's FR-LMBS, (Flex-Range Linear Motion Battle System) called Flex-Range Element Enhanced Linear Motion Battle System. (FREE-LMBS, for short) This system creates a similar style of gameplay compared to Tales of Innocence's Dimension-Stride Linear Motion Battle System. Although there is room in the party for ten members, only four of them can take part in any given battle. It is also noted that Emil and Marta cannot both be out of the party, one of them must be the first character in the party, although you may switch the controller function to play other party members in different slots.

Exploration
This game does not feature a world map. Instead, when the main characters leave areas, they will appear on a small drawing of the world with major towns and cities painted across it. By pointing at these areas with the Wii remote, the party will travel instantly from place to place.

Capturing Monsters
It is possible to capture, train, and evolve monsters to fight for the party by changing the elemental balance/grid of the field to match a monster's elemental attribute. Cooking in this game is centered around monsters (meaning that the Wonder Chef returns)--by cooking meals for them, it is possible to increase their stats, affect what stats are gained by leveling, or, if a monster is at a high enough level, make them evolve. There is an affection system related to the monsters, though the system does not tie into the story. The contracts that the main character(s) make with monsters (via recruiting them) also ties into the story: every contract you make with them slowly brings the world's balance to normal.

North American Additions
It has been confirmed that the North American version of Dawn of the New World will have additional features that were not present in the Japanese release. Additions include the ability to load cleared Tales of Symphonia game data to receive extra items and Gald at the beginning of the game. In addition to this, while not a new feature, the number of motion control shortcuts in battle has been increased from four in the Japanese version to eight for the North American version.

Presentation
The only animated segment in the game is its opening. Most of the story is told through real-time cut-scenes that were filmed using a motion capture system. Skits, which are short, optional conversations between the characters, make a return; in the Japanese version of the game, these skits are fully voiced, and have been confirmed, and are also be voiced in the North American version unlike the original Tales of Symphonia. Much of the music in Dawn of the New World is remixed from the soundtrack of the original Tales of Symphonia. The game also has widescreen support. Many of the assets and locations in the game have been taken directly from the original Tales of Symphonia, but the textures have been updated.

Music
The opening song for the Japanese version was named Three-Legged Race (二人三脚 Nininsankyaku lit. Two People, Three Legs) by misono, who also sung both of the Japnese opening songs for Tales of Symphonia GameCube and PlayStation2 as the vocalist of the band Day After Tomorrow. The opening version outside of Japan is an orchestral music sheet, similar to Tales of Symphonia's localized opening.

Most of the soundtracks in Dawn of the New World is remixed versions of Tales of Symphonia's soundtrack, but it does have a couple of sountracks on its own, including character song for Emil, Marta and Richter, plus new battle music for boss battles.