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[The Prime Director]

I've never enjoyed an RPG as much as this since Final fantasy 7. Its so f'cking fantastic. everything about the game is just about perfect.

The characters were great, each one had their very own different personality and each one adapted so well into the story. Yggdrasill was one of the geatest bad guys in any RPG. Lloyd was a great main character and all the other characters that accompanied you were great, especially Regal, Zolos and Sheena.

The story was the just as good, if not better than the stories of Final fantasy 7 and 10. I can't say that it was as emotional as FF10, but the main story was very very good. There were a lot of great plot twists which made the story great.

Overall, I just loved the game. It is definately the best RPG this generation.

Uh, no. ToS was a bit above-average, people are making a big deal because it's a GC game. It's good, but not in any way comparable to classics like FF7. If you were that impressed, then go play the PS1 games. I wonder how many people fawning over ToS ever played a Tales game before.

 

[psycho_snake]

wow, theres a lot of hate for this game. I'm not exactly a huge RPG fan, the only RPG's I've played are FF 7,8,9,10,10-2, Kingdom Hearts, tales of Symphonia and paper Mario 2 (If you want to call it an RPG). out of all those, FF7, FF10 and Tales of Symphonia are my favourite. Apart from the FF series, can someone tell me an RPG for PS2 or GC worth getting that they feel is better than Tales of Symphonia (which isn't too hard for most of you)

 

[The Prime Director]

Apart from the FF series, can someone tell me an RPG for PS2 or GC worth getting that they feel is better than Tales of Symphonia (which isn't too hard for most of you)

Star Ocean 3 is an obvious example. It beats ToS in just about every category as far as I'm concerned. Also check out Dark Cloud 2.

 

[psycho_snake]

Star Ocean 3 is an obvious example. It beats ToS in just about every category as far as I'm concerned. Also check out Dark Cloud 2.

I've got Dark Cloud 2. I loved it. Is Skies of Arcadia for GC any good?

 

[Bebpo]

Star Ocean 3 is an obvious example. It beats ToS in just about every category as far as I'm concerned. Also check out Dark Cloud 2.

Do not go with this man's advice. Both of those games are more love hate games (with more people on the hate side of SO3). If you like games like FF7/10, ToS than you want games that are good packages meaning they're not perfect but they are fun and lacking any huge flaws that would annoy you.

Go with Shadow Hearts 2 and maybe SMT3 if you're willing to play something that's a lot harder than the rpgs you're used too.

 

[The Prime Director]

ToS than you want games that are good packages meaning they're not perfect but they are fun and lacking any huge flaws that would annoy you.

Strange, I never noticed any huge flaws in SO3. I'm sick of hearing this shit.

Is Skies of Arcadia for GC any good?

I assume so, I have the DC version.

 

[Bebpo]

Strange, I never noticed any huge flaws in SO3. I'm sick of hearing this shit.

--Terrible partner AI (this is a flaw and not opinion and not comparable to ToS which allows you to fine tune the AI to make it damn good)
--Clunky battle system (flaw IMO)
--Long cutscenes that are boring (flaw IMO)
--most uninteresting cast ever in a rpg IMO (debatable)
--backtracking

debatable: plot twist and all that follows is retarded and makes you want to laugh at the writers.

 

[The Prime Director]

--Terrible partner AI (this is a flaw and not opinion and not comparable to ToS which allows you to fine tune the AI to make it damn good)

The AI is not worse than ToS, the difference is that the game is much harder. Plus you can instantly switch characters, unlike ToS.

--Clunky battle system (flaw IMO)

WTF is "clunky"? No it's not a fast-paced buttom masher like ToS. This isn't a problem.

--Long cutscenes that are boring (flaw IMO)

No, they aren't.

--most uninteresting cast ever in a rpg IMO (debatable)

No.

And how did you survive ToS if you thought SO3's story was bad?

--backtracking

Yes, it's called an RPG.

debatable: plot twist and all that follows is retarded and makes you want to laugh at the writers.

I though it made no sense myself, but at least they went for shock value instead of lulling the audience into a coma like a certain other game. Which will not be named. If I heard one more cliche anime character come in and reveal that he's a member of Cruxis AND the Desians AND the Renegades AND the Denver Broncos AND the League of Dairy Farmers, I will puke. How many times did characters turn evil and then turn good and turn evil and turn good again? It's like the Young and the fucking Restless.

 

[Bebpo]

The AI is not worse than ToS, the difference is that the game is much harder. Plus you can instantly switch characters, unlike ToS.

Ok I'm going to explain the ToS AI system for the last time since people seem to not understand it.

You assign 4 states of partner AI to the d-pad at UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT.

For me Up was default AI for battles that weren't important.
LEFT was BACK OFF "physical characters run away from enemy and magic users attack/heal"
RIGHT was FULL FORCE "Magic users fire off attack spells, while physical fighters attack at full force"
Down was RECHARGE "magic users run up and attack to gain TP back while physical fighters cover them"

Using this I was able to keep control of my party the entire time and have them help me set up combos, heal, and work with my strategies.

In SO3 my AI setting was HI I'M GOING TO RUSH INTO THE ENEMY or DO NOTHING AND STAND STILL. In the later areas of the game where enemies could do things like creating local whirlwinds that would kill you in 2-3 hits...my AI partners would RUSH AT THE WHIRLWIND and DIE, I'd revive them and then they hit a few more times and DIE again and I'd heal them and repeat.

Eventually I realized the best AI strategy was to have them stand still and to attack with one character and then pause and change to the next character and have them attack and then pause change to the next character and have them attack, repeat...basically it was NOT FUN.

My AI characters never died on their own once (they only died on the hidden arena ToE/ToD boss because I died there too), they were never a nuisance and rather always helping me out and covering my back. The worst I'd have to do is through a magic potion at my magic users ever once and while if it was too dangerous to let them regain TP by attacking. ToDIIjp also had top-notch AI and I'm really hoping ToR follows suit.

 

[The Prime Director]

That's strange, I breezed through ToS essentially doing nothing but mashing the attack button with Lloyd the whole time. Put in Zelos (for healing/attack) and Regal and Presea (for being the living crap out of the enemy) and you're set.

In SO3 my AI setting was HI I'M GOING TO RUSH INTO THE ENEMY or DO NOTHING AND STAND STILL. In the later areas of the game where enemies could do things like creating local whirlwinds that would kill you in 2-3 hits...my AI partners would RUSH AT THE WHIRLWIND and DIE, I'd revive them and then they hit a few more times and DIE again and I'd heal them and repeat.

You know, there is an easy mode if you feel that strongly about it.

 

[Bebpo]

That's strange, I breezed through ToS essentially doing nothing but mashing the attack button with Lloyd the whole time. Put in Zelos (for healing/attack) and Regal and Presea (for being the living crap out of the enemy) and you're set.



You know, there is an easy mode if you feel that strongly about it.

Ummm, the game wasn't hard. It was just irratating that you had to keep reviving your teammates every 5 secs because the AI WAS BROKEN. I mean I understand that you were able to get past that and enjoy the game as a few others have. But for a lot of people that made the game pretty unenjoyable.

 

[djtiesto]

I thought both TOS and SO3 had bad AI, but with TOS the game was so easy, so you tended to not notice it nearly as much. Aside from battle system, SO3 kicks TOS's ass in every other field - graphics, music, dungeons (though TOS had a few good puzzles), town design, and story (I love how all the people bitching how SO3's story went totally off the hook are the same people who bitch that every other RPG uses the same plotline).

 

[Prospero]

That's strange, I breezed through ToS essentially doing nothing but mashing the attack button with Lloyd the whole time. Put in Zelos (for healing/attack) and Regal and Presea (for being the living crap out of the enemy) and you're set.

Exactly. In addition, you can configure the D-pad and C-sticks any way you please, and it won't make a whole lot of difference, as you'll still whip the living hell out of the game no matter what. Customization is of little benefit when it's nearly impossible to lose battles anyway, no matter who's in your party or how their AI is configured. If you happen to stumble into an area with overpowered enemies--well, twenty minutes of level grinding will usually solve that problem.

I'm surprised at the posters who claim that ToS's AI is weak--if anything, its AI is too talented, making the game's player little more than a passive observer as a result.

 

[Tsubaki]

While lacking some fundamental depth, the battle system had two things going for it. First, it was extremely fast paced. Most RPGs feature slow, tedious archaic battle systems. This was a welcome change. Secondly, while the AI was relatively poor, there was a wide range of moves and such to pull off. And if you were any good, you could make some decent use of the systems admittedly low level 2D fighting system. It was pretty cool.

Honestly, what you stated about the merits of Symphonia's battle system comes down to "It's not like other RPGs. It's like Guardian Heroes."

You really ought to try Guardian Heroes. I don't really know about Advanced Guardian Heroes, cuz I haven't tried it.

I just happen NOT to like Guardian Heroes and Tales system. I think Tales is the worse of the two, because the allied AI totally screws you over. In one Tales game I played, I spent more time fighting against my own allied AI than I was against the enemies. This is exactly what another poster here said about SO3. I'm glad that someone is able to analyze game systems and sees the flaws of allied controlled AI as I do.

Either the AI is so good that you don't have to do anything (boring easy game). Or the AI is so bad that you end up spending most of your time cleaning up its mistakes (frustrating game).

 

[Amir0x]

Honestly, what you stated about the merits of Symphonia's battle system comes down to "It's not like other RPGs. It's like Guardian Heroes."

You really ought to try Guardian Heroes. I don't really know about Advanced Guardian Heroes, cuz I haven't tried it.

I just happen NOT to like Guardian Heroes and Tales system. I think Tales is the worse of the two, because the allied AI totally screws you over. In one Tales game I played, I spent more time fighting against my own allied AI than I was against the enemies. This is exactly what another poster here said about SO3. I'm glad that someone is able to analyze game systems and sees the flaws of allied controlled AI as I do.

Either the AI is so good that you don't have to do anything (boring easy game). Or the AI is so bad that you end up spending most of your time cleaning up its mistakes (frustrating game).

I own Guardian Heroes, and I don't feel that it's too closely related to the gameplay in Tales of Symphonia. That said, I can understand ones reservations about it because it's definitely overhyped. Overall, ToS in general is significantly overhyped.

 

[Shouta]

I though it made no sense myself, but at least they went for shock value instead of lulling the audience into a coma like a certain other game. Which will not be named. If I heard one more cliche anime character come in and reveal that he's a member of Cruxis AND the Desians AND the Renegades AND the Denver Broncos AND the League of Dairy Farmers, I will puke. How many times did characters turn evil and then turn good and turn evil and turn good again? It's like the Young and the fucking Restless.

:lol Post of the day for me.

 

[Dsal]

I got this game because it was so talked up on these boards. I hate it.

More specifically, I hate the battle system. I never really feel like I have full control over my party, and no control with no strategy means no fun.

And it's not like the story or characters are anything to write home about either.

I am utterly baffled why this game gets so much love. I suppose it's one of the few RPGs on GC so maybe that's why, I dunno.