Nonetheless some of the extremely regarded instalments in Namco’s long-running sequence, Tales of Symphonia could possibly be thought-about a traditional. Certainly, it is simple overlook that the sport’s virtually 20 years previous — and Tales of Symphonia Remastered reveals that the journey truly holds up surprisingly properly.
The storytelling’s somewhat ragged, and a few gameplay components — like traversing the world map — have aged poorly, however the principle characters stay a enjoyable bunch, the journey itself is at all times entertaining, and the fight system is stable.
The plot is all in regards to the ‘Chosen’ — a, er, chosen one that should embark on a pilgrimage to avoid wasting the world. On this case, the Chosen is a lady named Collette, who simply so occurs to be the childhood good friend of protagonist Lloyd — a reckless younger man who stumbles into the function of Collette’s guardian as she units off on her quest. Whereas the overarching story has its cliches, Lloyd and the gang carry the narrative. They seem to be a really endearing group, and there is nice chemistry between them because of some sharp and sometimes comedic writing.
After all, your get together members are additionally key to fight. Symphonia arguably laid the foundations for Tales titles going ahead, with its emphasis on combos, fast motion, and numerous preventing types. By immediately’s requirements, it is a comparatively primary system — and the controls are maybe a bit stiff — however battering monsters continues to be satisfying. There is a actually satisfying circulate to fights as you study to appropriately time your assaults, pinning your foes in place with the assistance of your AI-controlled allies.
Given simply how properly Symphonia has aged as a complete, it is a disgrace that this remaster feels so barebones. Except for an apparent decision bump, the visible enhancements are fairly negligible, with muddy environmental textures and backgrounds betraying an artwork fashion that also pops. Even the menus look like barely enhanced as textual content, icons, and character portraits can stay fairly blurry. What’s extra, the sport’s capped at a disappointing 30 frames-per-second, and the frequent load screens could be only a contact too lengthy — even whenever you’re enjoying on PS5 by backwards compatibility.
Near twenty years later, Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a reminder of how neatly crafted the unique GameCube and PS2 title was. Barring a number of tough edges, that is nonetheless an important motion RPG, stuffed with attraction and character. The one actual draw back is that the remaster itself leaves quite a bit to be desired.
