Ryu’s Nibbles – Tales of Symphonia : Chronicles (PS3)
Title: Tales of Symphonia : Chronicles
ASIN (Amazon): B00GX09MPK
Language: Japanese/English
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Format: PS3 Disc/PSN Store
Type: Game, Single Player
Genre: Supernatural, Action J-RPG, ShounenSynopsis:
In the world of Sylvarant the land is dying due to a steady loss of Mana, the energy source that is needed for both magic and life itself. As crops begin to wither and hardship sets in, the people turn their hopes to the Chosen, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration. Lloyd Irving and his friends must find a way to help the Chosen awake the Summon Spirits, but they’ll soon discover the fate of a second world is tightly linked to their actions…
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World follows the journey of two young heroes, Emil and Marta in a world of chaos as their fates intertwine with Lloyd, Colette, and Ratatosk, a summon spirit rumoured to be the lord of all monsters
So, this has just been released a few hours ago and I’ve been playing it since then. So, bare in mind my post is based on a short game time; hence why it’s called a Nibble!
I’ve now got three games in the Tales franchise, Symphonia, Abyss and Graces F, but I’ve yet to spend any time in them as I’ve had other games on my list. So i went into this game totally new and and stress free, for the first five minutes at least.
As a HD re-master i have to say this one is pretty damn good!!
Graphically this game looks better than a lot of the release PS3 games, which considering it’s age is quite frankly amazing. In fact it’s not until you go onto the world map do you see signs of the games age. The monsters are a bit on the ugly side of things, but as i said given the age of the game it’s understandable.
After two hours of gaming the only thing i don’t really like in this game is the combat system, it’s beyond annoying and coming out the back side of borderline idiotic. The only thing I’ve been able to figure out and use properly is the basic attack, I’ve had several messages claiming I’ve learnt a new skill, but I’ve not been able to use any of them. The so called skill button does nothing, and frankly highlights a bit issue with the game.
If you’re a veteran Tales player you’re going to be used to the system, since as far as i know they’ve used the same system in pretty much every title. However if, like me, you’re a new comer you’re boned, as the tutorial you get is less than bare bones and doesn’t really cover the things it should do.
Part of me is like ‘yeah’ nothing like good old games to screw you over on the difficulty curve. And there are element’s of that i like, such as no mini map or neon pointer saying go this way to objective. You actually have to explore and find things for yourself, which is how a game should be. Yet i do feel that while that is a definite plus, it needs to be balanced with making sure that the game tells you how to use everything. Some thing it fails to do for various aspects of the game.
I’ve been told that the later games have a better tutorial and explain the combat better, so i may go and do those and then return to this game.
One of the things i have to give a huge amount of kudos for is having both the original Japanese voices as well as English dubbing. Games these days tend to be lacking those, so it’s nice to see classics like this offering it. The only thing to say on this side of things is that the translation is a little off at times, and the messages tend to flick between auto progression and manual, which is frustrating as hell. However that’s a minor gripe and doesn’t detract from the game itself, just something to get used to.
Story wise it’s to early to judge, but i have to admit i do like the banter than goes on between the three leads. They have a good strong personality to them, even if it’s a generic j-rpg one. I actually found myself liking them more and more and getting invested in them. Which isn’t something i usually do very quickly.
This is one I’m going to try and complete, i just have to conquer that damned combat system!!
Word of caution though, if you’re in the EU/UK you may want to consider getting the PSN store version. The retail price of the game at the minute varies between £39.99-£44.99 plus postage. Which in my mind is disgusting, especially when you consider the game is on the PSN store for a mere £24.99 and until about a month ago you could buy the collectors edition of the game for £29.99, that’s now shot up to between £69-£89. For what you get stick with the digital version, it’s cheaper!!
Based on my two hours of gameplay so far i would recommend the game, but i would advise caution with regards to that combat system!!
Re-blogged from my Dave’s Gaming Blog site
bro as i said before stay away from the guides as much as you can. stick to the grind and eventually you will figure it out. I had the same problem with tales of abyss before with the combat system and that was after I’d played Vesperia (on of the best in the series). it didn’t seem to allow me to use my artes at first but it seemed to fixed it’s self as I played more. I think it may be a bug in the code as they ported it from another console, I don’t know. Either way stick to it. Symphonia is a great game, especially the first one.
The Symphonia games are my favorite, next to the original Tales of Phantasia. Not sure why you had difficulty with the battle system, I found it easy.
It’s not hard, just frustrating. You press the button it tells you for the special attack and nothing happens, then half a fight later your special attack goes off without you doing anything. Talk about frustrating!!