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Tales of Symphonia is here!

Is the voice of the other guy in the party near the beginning (sorry haven't remembered his name yet) a voice actor from MGS?

I was up all last night playing it and only got 3 hours of sleep to now come straight back to it. The story reminds me of FFX, Grandia, Lunar, and some others i've played but can't remember which specific scenes remind me right now. I love it so far nothing has held my attention like this for a while. I definitely dig the battle system even more now and the graphics are just beautiful. I'm 11 hours in and so far i haven't seen anything i don't like. I don't even get bored of just walking around on the map battling mainly b/c i try to rack up the combos and see how high i can get. I don't remember my highest combo but i believe it is like 106 or something like that. For anyone into RPG's and hasn't picked this up yet i believe that you should invest your $49.99+ tax and get this biatch. Satisfaction pretty much garunteed.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
elitehebrew said:
For anyone into RPG's and hasn't picked this up yet i believe that you should invest your $49.99+ tax and get this biatch. Satisfaction pretty much garunteed.
For the multiplayer battle engine alone it's worth that. I had so much fun playing this game with my girlfriend last night.


ToS definitely takes up 3 mem slots.
 

Rhage

Member
I've only played it about an hour, but I'm not impressed so far. I don't care for the look of the characters and they skate/slide around too much. Not a bid deal, but a slight annoyance and compounds the fact that I just don't like how they look.

The story, well, if you've played FF: CC then it's deja vu. The skits are lame and it's hard to read the top line of text.

The voice acting of the main characters is just barely passable. It's ok enough that it's not terribly annoying. However, some (at least) of the other characters VA is absolutely shit. When you get to the temple and fight the Densians (? something like that) it's laughable. They are supposed to be pissed off and mean but the VA has absolutely no conviction at all. It's just someone reading the lines as if they're reading a book. These are supposed to be professionals? Could have fooled me, I would have guessed it's the programmers themselves.

The battle system? I don't know, but so far I've been able to easily handle them just by hitting A, a lot. But I'm not far enough into it and don't know enough about it to really give a solid impression, so we'll see. I'm hopeful, because it may be its saving grace for me. And again, the VA, it's annoying here when they call out their actions. So I'll be shutting it off. But that's too bad because it would be nice to know what the other characters are doing without having to pay that much attention to them all.
 

Mashing

Member
From what impressions I've read on IGN... if you just button mash in combat, you are going to get your ass handed too you sooner or later.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
These are supposed to be professionals? Could have fooled me, I would have guessed it's the programmers themselves.

Bad voice DIRECTION, not talent. Poor direction can make a HUGE difference and make even the most expensive talent sound terrible. Grandia Xtreme boasted even bigger names than ToS (for VA work), and it was extremely akward.

At least in ToS you can actually turn OFF the voices and simply read the text (which actually isn't bad!).
 
Mashing said:
From what impressions I've read on IGN... if you just button mash in combat, you are going to get your ass handed too you sooner or later.


For just slashing yeah you could just pount one button but i try not to get hit at all or very little in battle so i strategically go in and setup combos to save my HP.
 

belgurdo

Banned
After playing for three hours...

Story=sucks. It's like every other Tales game except it liberally steals stuff from Grandia, FF7 and 10, Star Ocean, etc., like someone above said. I don't expect it to pick up.

voice acting=decent. It's better than what was shown in those IGN clips. Wish they had kept the voicing for the skits in though.

Combat=INFINITELY better and less mash-happy than Eternia and Destiny's "just pound X and hope you don't die before the enemy does", but not as rigid as Phantasia. Blocking and enemy selection actually has a purpose now, and mages do more than just whore one spell and First Aid, then die like in the other games.

graphics=meh. They tried to go for some hand drawn look, but all the backgrounds look flat and dead. Plus all of the characters look like dolls or six year olds, and it's extremely off putting. Plus they use Wind Waker camera tricks to make the game look "better" (fish eye lens, extreme blurring up close) but it doesn't work.

Neat game so far, despite the flaws
 

AniHawk

Member
10 hours in...

I pretty much agree with Belgurdo on everything except for the voice acting (which I think is good and not decent or bad). The IGN clips made it sound horribly acted. Lloyd's voice actor has done the best job so far.

Overall, really enjoyable, basically because of the battle system. It's one of the few RPGs which has really good gameplay. I never get tired of holding back + A, Jumping + A, and then downward swipe into a Sword Rain.
 

AniHawk

Member
Bobety said:
Found this at planet gamecube:

Lloyd - Scott Menville (Teen Titans)
Colette - Heather Hogan (Land Before Time)
Genis - Colleen O'Shaughnessy (Digimon, Danny Phantom)
Raine - Kari Wahlgren (Witch Hunter Robin)
Kratos - Cam Clarke (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe)
Sheena - Jennifer Hale (Totally Spies)
Presea - Tara Strong (Power Puff Girls, Fairly OddParents, Teen Titans)
Zelos - Shiloh Strong (The Mommies, Dinotopia)
Regal - Crispin Freeman (Witch Hunter Robin, Big-O)
Mithos - Brianne Siddall (.hack//SIGN)

I KNEW Cam Clarke was Kratos!! Damn my sister for doubting me.
 

belgurdo

Banned
AniHawk said:
I KNEW Cam Clarke was Kratos!! Damn my sister for doubting me.


At first I wondered why I had a party consisting of Robin, Master Miller, Mallory from Family Ties, and the generic little boy voice I hear in every RPG
 

Scott

Member
etiolate said:
I have gotten a few titles and I see they affect stats somehow. I suppose I will have to do some bathroom reading of the instruction booklet. Combo Newbie!
When you level-up, your title effects the stat boosts (if any) you'll receive. If you just have the default title equipped, you won't receive any bonuses; if you equip, say, Combo Newbie, you'll get a few bonuses in a few stats.

Green = increase; red = decrease.

If you have multiple titles to choose from, I've found it's best to revert back to the default, and then look at the stat changes for the available titles. This way, you'll be seeing the increases/decreases from the base stats, instead of changes from your current title; it's just a little easier to see what is changing and how.

Here's a few ways to earn titles really early on in the game (first 2 hours):
As soon as you get your party together in the classroom, examine the hole in the wall in the back. This will trigger a conversation between Lloyd, Colette, and Genis, and will earn Colette the title of "Klutz."

Switching characters to Manual control and having them do nothing in battle will earn them a title as well; Colette's is "Self Control" and Genis's is "Dependant."

Do the same above, only let them take a lot of damage as well. I know this works for Colette (she went down to 9 HP :p), and earns her the title "Don't Run" (or something like that). I've yet to try it with other characters, so if anybody gets others let me know.

Get a Combo of 10 (or more), and you'll get the title "Combo Newbie." I know Lloyd can get this one, but I haven't tried with others.

After returning from the trial, with Lloyd & Genis in your party, return to the classroom and talk to Raine. She'll talk a bit with the party, and Genis will earn the title "Brotherly Love."

There's more, but those should give you a general idea of how to earn them, and give you a good starting list. :)
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
I like the Backgrounds :)
Characters don't mesh the the backgrounds though :(
Voice Acting is acceptable, though I can't stop thinking of Captain Planet and Dark Cloud 2 ;)
and yes, The Battle system is more complex and fun.

Overall I very much like the game, 8.5/10
 

ced

Member
Im 3 hours in and enjoying it.

My only problem, and its one thats prolly in the manual but Id rather ask someone who knows the game.

Can you not control the other characters? If Lloyd dies I can do nothing but sit and watch them die. The AI options also suck, it seems my mages just die in every big fight do to trying to melee. Ive noticed some commands while holding down R, but havnt figured out how to issue them to a certain character. Difference between auto, semi and manual? Ill browse the manual later but some quick tips would be nice.
 

belgurdo

Banned
ced said:
Im 3 hours in and enjoying it.

My only problem, and its one thats prolly in the manual but Id rather ask someone who knows the game.

Can you not control the other characters? If Lloyd dies I can do nothing but sit and watch them die. The AI options also suck, it seems my mages just die in every big fight do to trying to melee. Ive noticed some commands while holding down R, but havnt figured out how to issue them to a certain character. Difference between auto, semi and manual? Ill browse the manual later but some quick tips would be nice.


Y, Z to change characters

And I think there's a "tactics" option in the battle commands

Semi auto makes characters automatically charge towards their targets then back away when they stop fighting; manual gives you total control like a fighting game
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
I barely started, but I am really digging this game. Namco USA, open the floodgates.

Oh yeah....

eff you NOA.
 

ferricide

Member
belgurdo said:
And I think there's a "tactics" option in the battle commands
you should really mess with these. nicely customizable and they do make a difference. change them on the fly if need be. good stuff. star ocean desperately needs this and doesn't have it.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
Suikoguy said:
I like the Backgrounds :)
Characters don't mesh the the backgrounds though :(
It's done purposely in order to mimic the effect of traditional cell animation. All the backgrounds are painterly without any outlines while the characters themselves are cellshaded with appropriate shaded tones. The blurring effect is also used to mimic the effect of multiple cells with some characters being out of focus which is similar to the focusing of a traditional animation lens.

Everyone needs to tweak the tatics option before going any farther into the game. You can really tweak your battle options and formulate a very effective plan for all your characters. It really makes the battles very effective and minimizes any damage your characters might receive.

Oh and before I'm done do yourself a favor and switch off semi-auto, manual is the only way to play this game.
 

Silkworm

Member
Are you suggesting manual for all 4 party members simultaneously in battle? I can really only keep track of one at a time, so I've left the others on auto (maybe I'll give semi-auto a try) so they don't get themselves killed by just standing there doing nothing. Of course if I switch to one of the other party members during battle I'll switch that particular character to manual. Also has anyone try to edit the Orders? I've just use the preset Orders but perhaps it's worth tweaking this as well? And do the Orders give all party members rules for tactics or does it only affect the currently active, i.e. player controlled, character? Just wondering. (Admittedly I need to play more to understand these nuances :-D)
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
ferricide said:
god no. just mess around with the AI options.
Yap Yap. Manual for only one player (whoever you want to control) and auto for the others. BUT YOU MUST mess around with the AI tatics.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Three hours in and REALLY enjoying the game.

Is there any point to that Nova Caravan right outside the first village, well before the desert? I've got 4 titles for Lloyd, 3 for Collette, 3 for Genis, and 1 for Kratos so far. Am I doing well?
 

belgurdo

Banned
If you get a level 2 ex gem, make sure you turn on the ability to run faster in dungeons. Ye gods, it makes dungeons much more pleasant...
 

Kuramu

Member
just wanted to chime in. 4 hours into it, and i love this game. I like the Secret of Mana feeling i get from having my "friends" fighting with me. Love the fact that there are no random encounters. Love the fact that instead of telling my character to attack attack attack, i'm actuually playing the game, pulling combos.

couldn't stand the voiceovers though. had to turn that off. i prefer the voices in my head for the characters. whatever, cool game
 

Dead

well not really...yet
The game is fucking awesome! And I got my artbook today, its not as good as the Xenosaga one but still good. Hope they do one for Baten Kaitos :0~~~
 

Eric-GCA

Banned
I think the voice acting suprised me, probably because I was expecting so much worse. I think Scott Menville and Jennifer Hale did a great job as Lloyd and Collete so far, what was suprising though was how the veteren Cam Clarke seemed so mis-used and distant in his role as Kratos. I guess Kratos is supposed to be a dark/cold/brooding person, but not emotionless I don't think, which is how Clarke plays it.
 

MrCheez

President/Creative Director of Grumpyface Studios
Sorry if I missed someone talking about this already, but in multiplayer how much freedom do they allow the other players during the fights? You're all just running around on the battlefield and pulling off combos and such at the same time? Is it fun or pretty limited?
 

belgurdo

Banned
MrCheez said:
Sorry if I missed someone talking about this already, but in multiplayer how much freedom do they allow the other players during the fights? You're all just running around on the battlefield and pulling off combos and such at the same time? Is it fun or pretty limited?


As free as you can make it (make sure everyone's set to "manual" operation first)
 
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