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Tales of Symphonia -- EGM review

J

JasoNsider

Member
I knew you weren't trolling, don't worry. I was just simply stating that I would take a game with more visual flair over a game that has progressive scan (pretty much a purely technical edge) and muddy artistic design. But I can imagine if both looked pretty awesome it might be enough to push you in one direction or the other. It's pretty much a non-issue for probably 95% of gamers I would imagine.

Both games do look really great from a visual standpoint. I definitely agree with you there :).
 
P

Pellham

Banned
Didn't TOS score a lot better in Famitsu?
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Famitsu is the Gamepro of Japan. I don't know why you'd give its reviews any credibility. You're better off using Dorimaga (if that's still around) or Dengeki. :p
 
K

king zell

Member
Famitsu CUBE
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 9 / 8 / 10 / 10 - (37 / 40)

Famitsu
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 9 / 8 / 8 / 9 - (34/40)

Dorimaga
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 8 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8 - Total 8.0

Dengeki
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 9 / 10 / 10 / 9 - (38/40)

GameInformer
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 8.75 / 8.5

EGM
Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco) - 8.5 / 8.5 / 7.5

.......................


Must Buy!
 
F

ferricide

Member
the story in symphonia is a total C-.

sorry.

did you ever think that it might be a taste difference thing between japanese and americans rather than namco USA screwing up the dub or something?

the fact is, it's totally cliched claptrap that borrows heavily from a ton of different games. anyway, it's not really something i want to argue about, but i totally feel that 8.5 is the absolute perfect score for that game. (and i'm one of the EGM reviewers, so duh.)
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
They all have some pretty trite plot-threads, but I did get into the universe of Eternia while playing that game. The mirrored worlds you can freely visit was a unique touch that played out well for discovering a few secret goodies stashed about.

The game was a total blast to play as well which is more than I can say for ToD2jpn...

I do feel embarrassed trying to convince a couple gamer friends that this WILL likely be the RPG to buy on July 13th over Sudeki(hits same day). Those characters just don't sell the game all that well to the 25+ crowd. I'd be somewhat apprehensive myself without previous knowledge of this franchise...
 
E

emerge

Member
Well, already Tales of Phantasia had one of the most cliché filled stories I've ever witnessed and at the same time top-notch character developement as well as a solid engine. I think that's just the Tales trademark.
 
W

WarPig

Member
Subitai said:
Like they're gonna give away their identity here...
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I will if he won't. Ferricide is Christian Nutt. For those counting, I'm David Smith, Disco Stu is Greg Orlando, Milkman is James Mielke, NichM is Nich Maragos, Andrew Pfister has the sense not to read this forum anymore, and anybody who's that hyped on the story in Tales of Symphonia needs to go read a goddamned book.

DFS.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Why is this game getting so much hype? I remember reading import impressions saying that the game was pretty average.
 
Shouta

Shouta

Member
It's just the average Tales Fan nutting all over it. I used to be exicted about new Tales games but it's lost any sort of steam after Eternia. And ToS' story is like any other Tales, cliche-ridden junk that rarely has good-pacing or development. Even if they have one of the elements, it's usually missing another. ToP = Decent Story, Decent Characters, Ok pacing and development. ToD = interesting story, great characters, terrible pacing and development. ToE = Interesting story concept, ok characters, terrible pacing and development. ToDII = Terrible story, for the most part boring characters, bad pacing and development. See a pattern? =P.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
jett said:
Why is this game getting so much hype? I remember reading import impressions saying that the game was pretty average.
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It's a GC RPG (which is rare) from a company which has made great RPGs in the past (which is even more rare), delivering on a franchise which has received praise in the past (which is rarer still).

Are you sure the average game wasn't Baten Kaitos? I heard that one was average.
 
K

kiryogi

Banned
AniHawk said:
It's a GC RPG (which is rare) from a company which has made great RPGs in the past (which is even more rare), delivering on a franchise which has received praise in the past (which is rarer still).

Are you sure the average game wasn't Baten Kaitos? I heard that one was average.
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BKaitos was indeed a by the book average RPG from most impressions out there. Still enjoyable nonetheless for what I've played of it. (Finally picked it up again)
 
F

ferricide

Member
if i wanted to remain anonymous, i wouldn't post that i wrote a review for EGM (duh.)

the game, for the record, is great. it's so much fun, and it's the best tales game. eternia has a better story, but otherwise this game is all-around better. ToS is absolutely gorgeous, the battle system has tons of options and depth, and i just loved playing it to bits. but the story.. no.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
ferricide said:
if i wanted to remain anonymous, i wouldn't post that i wrote a review for EGM (duh.)

the game, for the record, is great. it's so much fun, and it's the best tales game. eternia has a better story, but otherwise this game is all-around better. ToS is absolutely gorgeous, the battle system has tons of options and depth, and i just loved playing it to bits. but the story.. no.
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How about the voice acting? The clips I heard were kinda bad.
 
S

Spiritreaver

Member
Eh, it's too bad you needed to defend the review at all. Not you fault since people are going crazy over numbers rather than what the review actually says, or if it says anything. I don't read EGM sorry. :p

I'm really looking forward to ToS mainly because I've been craving some kind of decent RPG for a while, but just haven't been able to get into anything at the moment. I have some high hopes for ToS though and can't wait to get my hands on it.
 
B

Bebpo

Banned
kiryogi said:
BKaitos was indeed a by the book average RPG from most impressions out there. Still enjoyable nonetheless for what I've played of it. (Finally picked it up again)
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heh, BK was indeed very average in story and characters. But the beautiful environments, fantastic dungeons, good though too easy battle system, and epic music saved the game. Though I was a little let down by it since I'm a huge Monolith Soft. fan, it was still an enjoyable rpg. All the creativity in the game though gave a great impression that between BK and XSep1 Monolith was off to a great start in making good rpgs with depth and originality.

I guess when I think of scores I go too easy on rpgs since I really enjoy each and every experience and it's by far my favorite genre. I seriously haven't thought more than a couple of rpgs this gen are a 7 or below (WA3, Popolocrois 3). Even though I hated SO3 I give it around an 8.5, and despite BK having average story/characters and battle system being too easy it felt like a 8.8/8.9 game to me. So I guess for normal people an 8.5 for ToS is probably pretty fair, but for rpg people you can add a point :)
 
A

adrockthekid

Member
WarPig said:
That's about how I'd reckon TOS. Solid game.

DFS.
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I'm utterly shocked that you agree with a ZD review.

Edit: Bah. Posted this before you outed all of you Ziffs. I was trying to be nice, too. Now I just feel like a tool. Boo.
 
A

AssMan

Banned
Is the story that bad? Stories are what makes rpgs so great, and if that's the case then i'll hold off until Shin Megaten and Digital Devil Saga.
 
B

belgurdo

Banned
AssMan said:
Is the story that bad? Stories are what makes rpgs so great, and if that's the case then i'll hold off until Shin Megaten and Digital Devil Saga.
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There's a reason why Wolf Team games are centered around combat. Ignore the story.
 
F

ferricide

Member
AssMan said:
Is the story that bad? Stories are what makes rpgs so great, and if that's the case then i'll hold off until Shin Megaten and Digital Devil Saga.
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it's not bad, really, just rather derivative. it also has way too many plot twists towards the end in what seems like a desperate attempt to make it interesting (it has the exact opposite effect to my mind.)

the voice acting in english is above average, but people on forums seem to totally loathe all english RPG voice acting, so i don't even bother talking about it typically. it's, IMO, perfectly fine. there are some good performances and a lot of OK ones. nothing bad.
 
M

MoxManiac

Member
The storylines and characters in the To* games have always sucked anyways, I liked them for the fun gameplay and battle system.
 
M

Mumbles

Member
Razoric said:
Ahh I need a new RPG to play. Tell me, what's the deal with this game? What makes it special? The graphics? Story? Battle system?
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Oh, it's definitely the battle system, which IMO is the best in any japanese RPG series, and far stronger than those in many games that get higher scores (eg. KOTOR, FF). The characters and extras are also nice, in a cliched sort of a way.
 
L

lordmrw

Member
belgurdo said:
Usually when a game gets anything less than an 8, most of you guys consider it to be unplayable. What gives?
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I guess most people have a snobbish attitude toward most games unless they're rated 9 or above. They feel that unless a game is triple A quality, its not worth it. I honestly just don't get that. A game is triple A if YOU considered it to be, not just because some damn magazine number says it is.
 
J

Jonnyboy117

Member
ferricide said:
it's not bad, really, just rather derivative. it also has way too many plot twists towards the end in what seems like a desperate attempt to make it interesting (it has the exact opposite effect to my mind.)
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Although there is nothing intensely original about the ToS plot, it does take the typical "save the world" RPG story and put some nice twists on the formula. If you look at the plot as completely separate from character development, then I can see why you would hate the story. The quest itself is fairly traditional, and the twists do become too much after a while. But the characters are tied very deeply into the plot events, and the characters are excellent...I find it hard to separate the two.

Of course, it's silly to say "read a book". There are currently no video game stories that I would put on par with classic literature. ToS's story is well above average, even excellent when you consider the character development. I think some people will play the game for the story, even if they don't like the gameplay. That's more than you could say for 90% of other games on the market.
 
M

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
Jonnyboy117 said:
I think some people will play the game for the story, even if they don't like the gameplay. That's more than you could say for 90% of other games on the market.
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I don't know, I see people go on about shitty rpg stories all the time...this will probably be no different.
 
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