Yes!!!!!! It's finally out!!!(well it was last week but I didn't find out until just now) ToS2 for the Wii, sequel to 'Tales of Symphonia' for the Gamecube. The original ToS is, and has been my favourite game(even surpassing SC:BW O_O) ever since I laid my hands on it. So naturally I would want the sequel right? Yes! And what is best is I already have a Wii so I don't need to buy one just for this or anything. But what I'm getting at is has anyone played it yet? Is it just as good as you hope it to be? What would you rate it out of 10? I have seen a few reviews on the internet ranging from 7-10's, mainly 8-9's. I really hope it is worth getting because I am broke right now and I was planning on borrowing $50 from my buddy to go out and get it then I can pay him back. Apparently there are different main char's, but a bunch of the old ones return as temporary playable characters. So some more questions, any idea how the multiplayer is? I was planning on chilling with my friend at his place if we get it this weekend and gaming it up for a bit. Is it just as lengthy and time-consuming as the first one? I know there were lots of sidequests and extras in the first one. At the end of the game I had like 80 hours of total gameplay lol Is it somehow online? None of my friends really have Wii's so it's not something major that needs to be in the game but if it has online play then us TL.netters could play together! I really loved everything in the original ToS and I hope they didn't nerf it too much like any, let's say... MBS, or automine(D= lol, don't worry, I won't go there). Any thoughts on this game or any plans to buy it? I read an old ToS thread and there are a number of people who enjoyed the game and played it thoroughly, so I'm just curious as to other peoples thoughts.
I probably won't buy it but I did like ToS a lot, though it is the only Namco tales game i have played so I can't really attest to how it matches up comparatively. I'm not sure about the monster raising in the new one that seems kind of lame.
I have heard Tales of Symphonia 2 is inferior to the original, but I hear if you are diehard fan, it may be worth the buy for you. Some key parts that people mention is the fact that you raise monsters as your 3rd, 4th slots (maybe 2nd not sure), and that the other characters from ToS 1 can sometimes fight with you but they don't level. I may be wrong.
I played through the first part with a friend, and although it is a nice game, I don't get the hype. First off, the story is confusing as hell. There are so many persons that come from nowhere and you never know how they are connected or who betrays whom or what the real intentions of those persons are. This might be true for quite a few games, but in Tales of Symphonia it's overdone to the point where you can't take the story seriously imho. Also it's so dragged out. It would've been good for the game if it had just ended after 40 or 50 hours gameplay, but it went on to 80 hours. This is not to say that long games are boring, but Tales didn't deliver anything new after 5 hours, so there was no point to it being so long.
Then there are the fights. Although I prefer the real time fighting to turn based fighting à la FF, they are just way too easy. There are too enemies in the whole game (which you can avoid btw and which are in no way related to any story) that are hard. Every other boss fight is so easy that you don't have to worry about how the fighting works, what might be effective against what or anything like that. Playing the main character you just mash buttons, und playing the other characters is a great bore, because their attack rate is so much slower than that of the main character.
I understand that the new ToS work like that, and I still might buy the one for the Xbox because the game is okay and it can be fun with a friend, but on the whole these games can bare the crap out of you if you can't look behind their weaknesses (repetition, repetition, very complex and confusing story, very very easy and did I mention repetition?).
So was there something I missed in the 80 hours or am I just conceited?
On November 20 2008 17:33 distant_voice wrote: I played through the first part with a friend, and although it is a nice game, I don't get the hype. First off, the story is confusing as hell. There are so many persons that come from nowhere and you never know how they are connected or who betrays whom or what the real intentions of those persons are. This might be true for quite a few games, but in Tales of Symphonia it's overdone to the point where you can't take the story seriously imho. Also it's so dragged out. It would've been good for the game if it had just ended after 40 or 50 hours gameplay, but it went on to 80 hours. This is not to say that long games are boring, but Tales didn't deliver anything new after 5 hours, so there was no point to it being so long.
Then there are the fights. Although I prefer the real time fighting to turn based fighting à la FF, they are just way too easy. There are too enemies in the whole game (which you can avoid btw and which are in no way related to any story) that are hard. Every other boss fight is so easy that you don't have to worry about how the fighting works, what might be effective against what or anything like that. Playing the main character you just mash buttons, und playing the other characters is a great bore, because their attack rate is so much slower than that of the main character.
I understand that the new ToS work like that, and I still might buy the one for the Xbox because the game is okay and it can be fun with a friend, but on the whole these games can bare the crap out of you if you can't look behind their weaknesses (repetition, repetition, very complex and confusing story, very very easy and did I mention repetition?).
So was there something I missed in the 80 hours or am I just conceited?
you and your friend don't know how to play well if all you do is mash buttons. Lloyd indeed is the fastest attacker but most of the other characters have flowing combos as well, some through glitches such as attacking with a basic combo, casting/ stop casting a spell quickly to combo again. Kratos/Zelos, Colette, Sheena and even Regal to some extent can combo opponents till they die or "overlimit" (basically super armored from getting owned too much. Even without glitch combos, every character is still very flowing in combos except for Precis although she is a hard hitter.
Furthermore, the combat system has subtle tricks that allow you to further combo people. For example, demon fang from Lloyd, Zelos/Kratos picks up a fallen enemy so you can force them to stand and get beat up some more.
Sheena and Genis the two main spell casters can get an ability from equipping ex-gems that allow them to basically spam spells extremely quickly (randomizer). I don't feel like explaining it but you get my point.
the game took at most 35 hours to beat for me my first time and I scoured it. There's a hard mode available if its "too easy" for you and your friend. Mania mode after you beat a single playthrough I think ( I forgot). On mania a few hits and you will die from a random monster. I feel it is a good challenge because I agree that the normal difficulty has no challenge ( hard mode sort of also). Also, you may have overleveled a bit too much, making ANY game too easy. You can also lame yourself further by wearing crap gear (and unlock some titles for your character that way) Ex. Lloyd and Wooden Swords for a long time.
I'd say what makes Tales of Symphonia popular is the fact that it was a great, if not the best RPG on the Gamecube, which previously had a severe dry spell of quality RPGS. The only other good one I think is Skies of Arcadia Legends although it is a port of a great game from the Dreamcast.
The story, however, I'll agree with. It was quite eh although some very few parts were somewhat amusing. Stories luckily usually don't make or break the game and this game is no exception.
it's strange that we put so much more time into the game and yet you know so much more about it. :S
I have a hard time believing that you beat it in 35 hours. We didn't even feel as though we had scoured that game. In face I don't remember doing a sidequest. But then again we probably did a whole bunch of them without noticing that they were sidequests. The problem with me and my friend was that we played less than once a week, so often we'd forgotten about what had happened and how it was all connected.
well, maybe we didn't figure out how to play 'well', but it just wasn't needed to beat the game so I don't blame myself. it's not like I shy away from a challenge (we all play BW here). intentiously 'laming' myself is something I only did in Diablo 2, because that game is all about the fighting. ToS I played for the story mainly, so that being rather not so great was a major disappointment for me. On the other hand I remember having loved the story for the first 20 hours or so.
D= Yeah I heard Kratos was nowhere to be found in this one too... and he was my favourite character. Oh well. I loved the story and gameplay and such for the first one so if ToS2 is built around the first one than I think I am going to enjoy it. Either way as long as it isn't a complete failure then it should be worth the $40 imo. After I get it this week I will be sure to comment back on how good I think it is myself. Thanks for the opinions.
We poor RPG starved gamecube owners only had Tales of Symphonia and Skies of Arcadia to satisfy our RPG urges. When you're that hungry; you can enjoy a mediocre game like Tales.
Or, you download emulators and play final fantasy.
My opinion on tales is... kinda mixed. the battle system was definitely a good improvement on final fantasy's ATB, and while i thought the story was good, it wasn't as good as, say, final fantasy VI. still, i felt it was worth playing. I definitely had fun playing it.
Playing original Tales of Symphonia right now, about 3/4 of the way through...
Enjoying the combat system a lot... The boss fights are really fun and the music is great... The story is pretty lame, though, and Colette annoys the fuck out of me. Some interesting characters, with Presea, Zelos, Sheena...
I'm not doing any of the exploits with dual techs, spell canceling, randomizer spamming, infinite comboing... Still liking it a lot and it's fun to just deal long combos...
Heard that Tales of Vesperia for Xbox is even better with a better, less childish story... Will probably play that after I finish this.
On December 02 2008 12:09 Gokey wrote: Playing original Tales of Symphonia right now, about 3/4 of the way through...
Enjoying the combat system a lot... The boss fights are really fun and the music is great... The story is pretty lame, though, and Colette annoys the fuck out of me. Some interesting characters, with Presea, Zelos, Sheena...
I'm not doing any of the exploits with dual techs, spell canceling, randomizer spamming, infinite comboing... Still liking it a lot and it's fun to just deal long combos...
Heard that Tales of Vesperia for Xbox is even better with a better, less childish story... Will probably play that after I finish this.
I've played both tales of symphonia and tales of vesperia, and I must say both games are superb RPG games which turned me into a hardcore Tales fan. Tales of symphonia is simply an amazing game in that it begins with a simple fun combat system and you getting used to the battle system, which I absolutely love.
Then, you start delving into the story, which admittedly can get confusing at first, but you start seeing how it unfolds as the game progresses. Plus, there are many side events that you can go back and complete, which deviates a bit from the main story but makes the playthrough that much more exciting. Also, I personally loved the character relations system which allows you to pair lloyd up with one of any other playable character. Lloyd and Sheena was my personal favorite :D
As for Tales of Vesperia - initially, I didn't think it would be that great since I had such high expectations from playing ToS. However, once I began learning the artes/skills system, I began seeing some of the old ToS sparks with all the combos and fast-paced fighting. The plot of the game was somewhat typical of the tales/general jrpg series with saving the world, facing corruption in society, overcoming obstacles with friends, etc, but I enjoyed it thoroughly nonetheless. The characters were definintely unique, especially the main protagonist Yuri. Whereas in most games, the main character starts out weak/emo and slowly becomes stronger and more developed, Yuri starts out badass and simply ends even more badass. I won't get into specifics since I guess you'll find that out for yourself as you play through the game.
Overall, the Tales series is my favorite among any RPG's. Sure you'll find the story cliche often and the games can be kiddish but hey, to each his own. Also, you gotta love the music :D Most RPG's tend to have good soundtracks anyway, at least in my opinion.
Great Opening themes
[i]Day After Tomorrow(band) - Starry Heaven for ToS
[i]Bonnie Pink(singer) - Ring a Bell (english version) for ToV
Best boss music I've heard in a LONG TIME (since FF7's epic Still More Fighting) is the one you just posted - Fighting of the Spirits... The part starting at 1:13 or so is amazing...
The Church themes were also amazing, with the different variations all playing up the melody lines
On December 02 2008 12:54 Gokey wrote: Best boss music I've heard in a LONG TIME (since FF7's epic Still More Fighting) is the one you just posted - Fighting of the Spirits... The part starting at 1:13 or so is amazing...
The Church themes were also amazing, with the different variations all playing up the melody lines
Amazing amazing music in ToS
I agree. I just download some classics from bluelaguna.net from the tales series and listen to them all the time and Fighting of the spirits is one of them. Krato's battle theme, End of a Thought is pretty good as well, although I like fighting of the spirits more.
I bought the game a few months ago, but then realized I don't have a TV to play it on(lol) so I picked up a used one from a buddy and am now playing it. I'm about ~15 hours in, not sure how far that is because I am often a very slow player. I.E I do all of the sidequests, talk to every person in every town, etc.
So far I am liking the first one better, but this is still pretty fun IMO. I like the battles a little more, but it kind of sucks you only have 4 specials attacks you can set =/, unlike the C-stick when playing the gamecube ToS.
I really like how you can form pacts with monsters and stuff but so far I only have Emil and Marta as actual characters(aside from Raine and Genis, but they aren't permanent(?)), and it would be nice to have more than 2 characters than I can equip stuff on. I have like 50 accessories but only 4 I can use T_T.
The story isn't so great, I like the first ones better as well. Also I love Lloyd 10x better than Emil, he seems like such a pussy when he isn't possessed by Ratatosk, he has no fucking self-confidence or motivation in his voice -_-;;
Also, wtf at monsters evolving?!?! I evolve my creature with ~400 physical attack and defense then he has like 80 after, wtf! Aren't they supposed to get better when you evolve them?? Maybe their level ups are better or something?
I'm so used to the original character voices from gamecube ToS some voices(like Lloyd, Genis, etc) sound so weird and it annoys me a little.
I guess I will just continue playing the game and see if some of these changes become less annoying.
P.S. Nice! I just saw Regal, so maybe I am about to get him on my team??? I hope so, he was one of my favourite characters from gamecube, his combos are fucking imba if you know how to use them properly!
Lol i beat the game quite awhile ago, like 3-4 months ago?
lol o yeah, just uhh eventually you realize all the main characters from the original ToS suck bad cuz you cant level them up D: so just use monsters
o and the sexiest monsters are the ones that you can only evolve by crafting a statue (omgsh sword dancer ftw)
But seriously, everytime your monster levels and you feed it something, it just gains stats based on what you feed it and it gains an amount equivalent to the amount of levels it gained since the last time you fed it.
seriously your monsters are like the strongest characters in the game, WAY stronger than emil/marta/main characters.., like my level 100 Vroom can pull off a meteor storm that does like at least 8k a hit, marta and emil do like.. meh.. maybe 1k a hit, sword dancer does some baller epic combo that is so much crazier than whatever you can pull off with your guys its kinda sad D:
Ratatosk is badass :O Kratos does appear, in a scene, which is extended on 2nd playthrough and also his pimp theme song plays as well
i found the game to be disappointmenting so far =(. The main character is so wussy. maybe it gets better...but i stopped during the ruins where we meet up with one of the old games characters.