Tales of Symphonia

Tales of Symphonia is the fifth main game in the Tales series and the eleventh game released in total. It is the third game released in North America. It follows the adventures of Lloyd Irving, as he and his friends work to help Colette Brunel regenerate the World.

Originally released as a GameCube exclusive, the game was later re-released in Japan for PlayStation 2. This version included a number of extras, including new titles and techniques among other minor differences.

This Tales brought the Tales series a new battle system in 3D, where the player-controlled character moves on a 2D plane, except when physically attacking an enemy located off the plane. It is the best-selling Tales game so far, mostly due to the sales racked up in Europe and America.

Gameplay
Like previous games in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia uses a version of the Linear Motion Battle System — a real-time battle system, called Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System. When the party is on the world map, they can enter battles by running into monsters visible on the field. During battle, up to four players may each control one character. Characters not under the control of a player are controlled by artificial intelligence, and can be set to operate according to specific tactics; players can determine which techniques or magic spells the character may use during battle. AI-controlled choices can be overridden by the player by pausing and selecting orders from a menu; the player may also map certain techniques, spells, or strategies to controller buttons, allowing quick use of them without pausing. Battle movement is relative to enemy characters. Each character and its targeted enemy define a plane perpendicular to the ground, to which movement is restricted. Characters can attack, defend, or use magic and special techniques. Guarding is of much greater importance than in previous Tales games, as Tales of Symphonia characters take more damage when unguarded than their series counterparts, and guarding prevents attacks from stunning the character. However, being hit from behind while guarding triggers a "Guard Break," leaving the character briefly vulnerable.

Another feature of the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System is Overlimit. Characters enter overlimit after having obtained a certain number of tension points. Several things contribute to tension, though the most obvious factor is getting hit. For example, a character who cooks a meal featuring a liked ingredient will have points added to his tension. However, a character's tension points reset upon dying. Overlimit removes staggering, allowing the character to perform actions without interruption; reduces the amount of damage the character takes; and allows spells to be cast more quickly. Some attacks may only be used while in overlimit mode; for example, Sheena must be in overlimit to summon a Summon Spirit. Certain enemies can go into overlimit as well.

Dealing combos on an enemy fills the Unison Gauge. When filled completely, a Unison Attack can be triggered, during which each character uses a special attack chosen by the player consecutively; certain attacks, when used, result in a combined attack to cause additional damage. Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel and Genis Sage also possess special hidden moves that can be activated under specific conditions. The PlayStation 2 version contains these hidden moves for additional characters, including some bosses and every member of the party.

Grade is awarded after each battle. It is awarded or subtracted based on specific criteria that are fulfilled in battle. For example, scoring multi-hit combos increases Grade, but having a character die will subtract it; the length of the battle also has an effect. Grade can be used to purchase items for customization and EX gems, or to buy bonuses when starting a New Game Plus.

Characters

 * Lloyd Irving: Once but a simple country boy, Lloyd Irving is thrust out into a journey of epic proportions following a brutal attack on his village. The Chosen of Regeneration, Colette, is in fact one of his dearest friends, and after an exile from his home, Lloyd Irving joins her on her Journey of Regeneration. Although the young warrior himself plays no part in the prophecy as such, he is still a strong optimist and a fair leader.
 * Colette Brunel: The Chosen of Regeneration from the land of Sylvarant who's destiny it is to climb the Tower of Salvation and restore life to the planet. For the sake of this cause, she would willingly give up her own life.


 * Genis Sage: A childhood friend of Lloyd Irving who grew up studying magic in the small countryside village of Iselia. Being something of a prodigy with his powers, this young boy becomes an invaluable member of the Chosen's group through their Journey of Regeneration.


 * Kratos Aurion: A sword-wielding mercenary whom the Church of Martel hire in order to protect the Chosen on her Journey of Regeneration. At the beginning of the game not much is known about this mysterious character, but as things progress, more and more of his history becomes clear. He's certainly not the man he led the Chosen to believe him to be be, but does he even know who he is himself?


 * Raine Sage: A skilled healer who once worked as a teacher in Iselia before leaving with Colette on the Journey of Regeneration. She claims to be an orphaned half-elf who carved out a life in the land of Sylvarant. her and genis were abandoned at the otherworldy gates where they were sent to the other world, sylvarant.


 * Sheena Fujibayashi: A female ninja from the Tethe'allan colony of Mizuho who was sent to Sylvarant to assassinate Colette. However, as she travels through that faraway land, she begins to get a feeling for its people and their plight... Could she ever live with herself if she killed the Chosen and doomed them all?


 * Presea Combatir: A young girl who had her life drained out of her by the special Exsphere attached to her chest. She's quite taciturn in demeanor, and only wants to go home to Ozette.


 * Zelos Wilder: The Chosen of Mana from the land of Tethe'alla. Raised as an aristocrat, his view of the world is clouded and he's blind to the discrimation that's going on all around him. An irrepressible flirt, he takes every chance he can get to hit on all female party members, much to the annoyance of the party. Still, he's a good person at heart. in the game when your roaming around as him if you talk to a girl, he hits on them and you can get free stuff. =D


 * Regal Bryant: A convict bound with shackles for the heinous crime he committed long ago. This man owes no real debt to society for what he did. The only problem is forgiving himself.


 * Mithos Yggdrasill: A 4000 year-old war hero, and also a young boy... A strong optimist with praised ideals, and a ruthless oppressor. A powerful angel who would save mankind, and a genocidal maniac. The leader of Cruxis. What is his goal?

Story
The game begins in the world of Sylvarant, a land that is dying due to a steady loss of mana, the energy source that is needed both for magic and to support life itself. As crops begin to wither and hardship sets in, the people turn their hopes to the Chosen, a servant and messiah of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration. In order to regenerate the world, the Chosen must travel from continent to continent, awakening the Summon Spirits that sleep at ancient shrines known as "seals." With every seal released, the Chosen comes closer and closer to becoming an angel. Once the Chosen fully transforms into an angel, the world will be regenerated.

As the game progresses, many revelations are made about World Regeneration and the hidden plots that complicate the scenario. One of the earliest revelations is that becoming an angel forces the Chosen to give up the aspects that make him or her human. With the release of the first seal, the Chosen loses the need to eat; with the second, the ability to sleep; with the third, the ability to feel physical sensations; and after releasing the fourth seal, the Chosen can no longer speak. The fifth and final seal requires the Chosen to give up his or her heart, memory, and life. When this process has been completed, the Chosen's body will become one with the goddess Martel.

The party also learns of a second world, known as Tethe'alla, which lies parallel to Sylvarant. Replenishing Sylvarant's supply of mana changes the flow of mana, thereby draining it away from Tethe'alla - much like the sand in an hourglass. The reverse also holds true. As the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla must compete for a limited amount of mana to survive, whenever one of these two worlds is regenerated, the other falls into a state of mana deprivation.

The party succeeds in releasing all the seals, and Colette becomes Martel's vessel. However, they learn that the angels that they are trying to serve have been using them. The party is betrayed by one of its own members, Kratos, who is then revealed to be an angel. The remaining party then goes to Tethe'alla to find answers, where their goal ultimately changes to saving the two worlds. In order to do this, they decide that they must sever the ties between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla to separate the worlds, thus ending the competition for mana. The party goes into the adventure of making pacts with all the Summon Spirits of both worlds, but this causes a giant tree to rampage and destroy many things in Sylvarant. After they manage to stop the tree the party goes in search to fuse the worlds into one. The party manages to make their way into getting the Eternal Sword and destroying the main enemy Yggdrasil.

In the end, the party fuses both worlds into one, but a new problem surfaces; the ancient World Tree does not exist anymore without a Mana Seed. In the end, Lloyd and Colette revive the ancient tree of ever-flowing mana, which, with the aid of the Eternal Sword, merges the two worlds into one. A spirit calling itself Martel appears and tells Lloyd the complications of the tree, and Lloyd swears on his honor to protect the tree. Because of this, he is given a chance to name it, the ending cuts off as soon as Lloyd says." This tree's name is.....". And thus begins the dawn of a new world.

Connection to Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Symphonia's storyline appears to take place in the same world as Tales of Phantasia, albeit thousands of years beforehand. This is backed up by the fact that there are a number of places that feature in both games and a few characters who bear odd resemblances to each other. Supporting those statements, the in-game evidence linking the two titles is strong.
 * Tales of Phantasia ' s World Tree is called Yggdrasill. Since the Tales of series' character naming conventions and myth references are often meaningful and consistent, it is unlikely that Tales of 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 Tales of Symphonia ' s World Tree after them.
 * In Tales of Symphonia, Lloyd reunites Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into one world. The Great Seed sprouts a new World 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 Tales of Phantasia, where they play an important role in the plot. During a hunt, a weakened Martel appeals to Cress Albane 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. Cress'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 Tales of Symphonia was to give a plot-based reason of why Tales of 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 Tales of 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, Cress 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 Tales of 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 Tales of 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 Tales of Phantasia is light on details. However, Dhaos's final form (post-Super Famicom versions) is an angel-form that looks identical to Mithos. In terms of plot continuity, it is possible that some Exspheres remained on Derris-Kharlan for Dhaos to use, despite Kratos' promise at the end of Tales 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 bushbabies 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 Olive, 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.
 * Tales of Phantasia’s world has two moons, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. In Tales of 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 Tales of Phantasia’s astronomy. When Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are united in Tales of Symphonia, there is a brief moment showing two moons next to each other in the sky.
 * All of Tales of Symphonia’s Summon Spirits are the same as in Tales of Phantasia. The exceptions are Celsius, who did not exist until Tales of Eternia, and Corrine. 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. Tales of Phantasia’s Rheabirds and Tales of 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. One should note that they have always been called Rheabirds (レアバード) in the Japanese versions of both games; Rheairds was a localization invention for Tales of Symphonia.
 * Half-elf discrimination continues in Tales of Phantasia, despite the efforts of Lloyd's party to stop them more than 4000 years earlier in Tales of Symphonia.
 * One of the largest dungeons in Tales of Phantasia is the dwarven mineshaft, "Morlia". Tales of Symphonia mentions that the locked door in the Toize Valley Mine is the entrance to Moria, although some confusion has been aroused due to the fact the mine was said to have been destroyed in Tales of Symphonia.
 * Suzu Fujibayashi is likely a distant descendant of Sheena Fujibayashi. In Tales of Phantasia, Suzu becomes leader of the Japoni ninja clan. In Tales of Symphonia, Sheena becomes the leader of the Mizuho ninja clan. Sheena's Successor title costume is the same as Suzu's outfit.
 * Tales of Phantasia’s magitech Mana Cannon is very similar to Rodyle's Mana Cannon.
 * In Tales of Phantasia, the Sorcerer's Ring is found in an underground temple geographically close to the resting place of the Flamberge. In the end of Tales of Symphonia, Lloyd leaves the Flamberge by Anna's grave. The Martel Temple, where one of the Sorcerer's Rings can be found, is also near Anna's grave.
 * The name of the world in Tales of Phantasia, Aselia, is similar to the name of the Lloyd's hometown, Iselia. At the end of Tales of Symphonia, it is implied that Iselia would become an important political town. The re-combined world, Aselia, may have been named after it.
 * Tales of Phantasia’s ancient, legendary pirate Ifreed could be the pirate Aifread found in Luin, as both are written the same way Aifurīdo (アイフリード) in Japanese.
 * The gnomes in Tales of Phantasia’s Cavern of Spirits resemble Tales of Symphonia’s gnomelettes in the Temple of Earth. Both dungeons are home to the Summon Spirit Gnome.
 * Although Gnome is multiple beings in Tales of Phantasia and one single being in Tales of Symphonia, Gnome says after the battle against Lloyd “Geez, you guys fight dirty. I mean, four on one?”. Some supporters of Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Phantasia mean that this might be the reason Gnome is multiple in Tales of Phantasia.
 * 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 Tales of Phantasia should instantly recognize Mizuho's music. Flanoir's music has a subtle variation based on Tales of Phantasia’s own snow-town, Fenrir (called Freezekeel/Freezekill in Japanese version).
 * Fenrir is also the name of Celsius' companion during one of the battles to break the seal and attain her power at the Temple of Ice.
 * In both games, the party spends a quiet night in the snowy town (Flanoir, Fenrir) to contemplate their relationships and the upcoming final battle.
 * The world maps from Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World are identical.
 * The inn in Flanoir in Tales of Symphonia is called Olive Village, which bears the same name as the desert town in Phantasia.
 * Of relatively smaller importance, all common items (i.e. weapons and battle items) have the exact same description in Tales of Symphonia as in Tales of Phantasia. One notable item is the Necronomicon. In Tales of Symphonia, this "forbidden book", said to contain spells for reviving the dead, was in the possession of Abyssion during the Devil's Arms sidequest. This very same book is Claus' originally equipped weapon in Tales of Phantasia, although after the team in Tales of Symphonia beats Abyssion, Genis Sage burns the Necronomicon, upsetting Raine.
 * Supposing that the end of Tales of Symphonia is the start of the Aselia timeline, Tales of Phantasia takes place in the year 4304 (Cress' home time period) which would be about 4000 years after Lloyd's time period.

Tales of Symphonia (PS2)
Due to poorer-than-expected GameCube sales of Tales of Symphonia in Japan, Namco decided to re-release the game on the PlayStation 2. This newer version included two extra anime sequences, a different opening song and some added side-quests amongst other things.

Major

 * The game's theme song has been changed from Starry Heavens to Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto. It sounds quite similar to the original and was performed by the same band, Day After Tomorrow.
 * The Tales of Symphonia logo used is now magenta-colored instead of blue.
 * A new anime sequence plays inside of the Triet Ruins when Colette first receives her wings and when the group first steals Rheairds from the Sylvarant Base.
 * The end credits now feature a montage of portraits off to the left side.
 * Each playable character has a Hi Ougi (秘奥義). This must be done under special conditions and inflicts massive damage upon the enemy. In the GameCube version, only Lloyd, Colette, and Genis had one.

Graphical

 * The frame rate was lowered from 60 frames per second to 30 frames per second.
 * Each character receives an extra costume.
 * Loading times were increased to compensate for the PlayStation 2's poorer graphics engine.
 * The Synopsis option in the menu now displays newer entries at the top.
 * The skit portraits shake and move around more to better display the characters' emotions.
 * When a character is about to enter Over Limit, their portrait will start to glow. In the GameCube version, the portraits flash red.
 * When the unison attack gauge fills up, it glows.
 * Most of the angels' wings are now of a deeper color.
 * The GameCube-object in the Sylvarant Base has been removed and replaced by an unidentifiable machine.
 * The Sword Dancer now appears on the field as a regular white skull.
 * When Sheena summons a spirit, a cutaway of her face appears on the screen.
 * There are more post-battle animations.
 * The dark rooms in the Tower of Lightning have gone from slightly visible to pitch-black.

Events

 * There are now a set of several books all about the hero Mithos. You can read them for deeper insight into the character and the Kharlan War itself.
 * There are two new events that will let you get more insight into the ancient hero, Mithos. The first can be watched by talking to Mithos whilst he's living in Altessa's House, and the second can be watched by speaking with Yuan after the events in Welgaia.
 * After completely restoring Luin, have a chat with Pietro to see both him and the village residents thanking your party by allowing one of them to become honorary mayor. Whoever takes this role is your choice and whoever out of your party you choose will get a +1 in affection.
 * The sealed spirits of young Kratos, Yuan, and Mithos can be challenged in the Underworld instead of the Living Armor of the GameCube edition.

Tales of Symphonia manga
A manga adaptation was made, written and drawn by Ichimura Hotoshi. Many scenes were cut off in order to make it suitable, though the story line is the same.

Tales of Symphonia: The Animation
A four-episodes long anime was made a couple of years after the release of Tales of Symphonia. It has left out even more scenes than the manga, and it ended when the group traveled to Tethe’alla in order to save Colette. New episodes are being made for the Tethe’alla Arc.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
A spin-off sequel to the game was made in 2008, telling the story two years after the end of the original. The heroes of the original return, but the main characters for the sequel are Emil Castagnier, Marta Lualdi, Tenebrae and Richter Abend, and the game is about their journey to find out the mysteries about the chaos in the reunited world, as well as getting revenge on Lloyd Irving, who killed Emil’s parents and many innocent people in a massacre between the two timelines.

Reception
Tales of Symphonia garnered both positive reviews from critics and a strong cult following from fans. It was praised for its endearing art style, battle system, storyline, and audio, and was considered a welcome entry in the "RPG-starved" GameCube library. The camera has been criticized for making it difficult to see obvious enemies at times. The January 2009 issue of Game Informer listed it at #23 in its "Top 25 GameCube Games".

As one of the few games to have been released in Asia, North America and Europe, it is considered one of the most popular Mothership titles in the series.