Tales of Symphonia remains one of the most beloved titles in Bandai Namco's long-running Japanese role-playing game series, but perhaps also one of the least played, despite having been revived on several occasions: the last one dating back to 2016 on PC, and a few years first it was the turn of the Tales of Symphonia Chronicles package for PlayStation 3. The original game dates back to 2003 on a console that did not have a very wide distribution: Nintendo's GameCube. Maybe that's why Bandai Namco proposed it revised and corrected on PlayStation 2 - but only in Japan, when Tales of was fashionable at the time - and in fact it was precisely that version that was later decided to be remastered for later platforms.
Therefore, today it is the turn of Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series. Tales of Symphony Remastered review We will explain why it is a half-reissue.
The few new things
Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a title that will especially fascinate the nostalgic because... well, it's old. Old-fashioned, we could say, in several respects, starting with 3D graphics in shading. which transposes the soft and refined style of designer Kōsuke Fujishima (author, among other things, of Oh My Goddess! and Sakura Wars) to super deformed proportions. The warped style was strong in those years and it would take several more before the Tales of series shook off it: despite this and the somewhat stiff animations, Tales of Symphonia can boast a sober and memorable character design , detailed scenarios and, in general, high quality. artistic direction.
The remastering has further sharpened the visuals, which now appear sharper and cleaner, even without the added effects. high resolution: Bandai Namco's RPG is completely 3D, so we avoid the usual gap between polygonal models and rendered backgrounds that has characterized recent remasters of similar titles.
It is a shame, in this sense, that it has not been possible to improve the quality of the few but memorable cartoon scenes, nor the fluidity of the code that, being based on the version released on Steam in 2016, remains anchored to the 30 marks per second also on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, in case you choose to play on these platforms. In fact, Bandai Namco has optimized everything better, as promised, but it is clear that this feature leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.
On the other hand, and this is where the donkey really falls, Tales of Symphonia Remastered It adds practically nothing new to the latest reissue: The contents are the same, going back to the Japanese Director's Cut edition for PlayStation 2, and therefore include the double opening sequence, the English and Japanese dubbing, the extra costumes and some gameplay features with which fans of the series - or owners of the previous PC edition - should look familiar to you. Very absent, however, is Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, the controversial sequel that was included in the Chronicles package in 2013. A lack that further penalizes the relationship between quality, content and price of this version.
Accelerated course
Now that we have reviewed the new features of this Remastered version, or rather its almost total absence, we can talk about the game itself: Tales of Symphonia is a Ancient Japanese role-playing game that strongly respects tradition. Exploration of maps and mazes, a 3D world map to explore on foot and in the air, real-time combat typical of the Bandai Namco series and a typically anime story, but one of the best in the series.
The protagonist is lloyd irving, an intrepid young man who will have to accompany, along with his friend Genis, his companion Colette and his bodyguards Kratos and Raine in a kind of procession: Colette, in fact, is the chosen one who can restore the mana of the planet Sylvarant. . Obviously the matter is much more complicated and the group will be forced to save not one, but two worlds... or sacrifice millions of innocent lives.
If the plot, in our opinion, is much more addictive Compared to the average Tales of, the same cannot be said for the combat system today: if you got acquainted with the Bandai Namco series with the recent Tales of Arise, then you can put an end to its frantic real-time gameplay. Tales of Symphonia is still a ten-year-old game and, as such, doesn't offer all of the improvements the developer has brought to the series over time: Dubbed Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System, this iteration of the combat system It remains in real time and encourages the player to combine the normal and special attacks associated with the controller buttons, but compared to more modern dynamics, it lacks sharp details.
In fact, compared to the fluid edition for GameCube, this version includes Unison Attacks, which can only be performed after charging the appropriate gauge, and Mystical Arts, which were exclusive to the Japanese version for PlayStation 2, but otherwise, Tales of Symphonia is a fairly obvious RPG in terms of mechanics, but with an interesting character growth system, given that they can be customized by equipping the so-called Exosphere that unlock additional arts and skills.
Lovers of the Tales of Symphonia genre may like it precisely because of its "old school" characteristics that, nowadays, increasingly recede into the background. Compared to modern Tales of, Symphonia offers a 3D world map to be explored in third person which, although sparse and decidedly retro, was a pleasure to see again. The work on the side quests, the secret collectibles and, above all, the dungeons, is more than appreciable, especially thanks to the presence of quite challenging puzzles and environmental puzzles.
Thanks to well-written dialogues translated into good Spanish, memorable banda sonora de Motoi Sakuraba and one of the best characterized casts in the JRPG field, Tales of Symphonia is still a highly recommended title if you missed it at the time and have not taken advantage of the editions published over the years, but perhaps that is precisely why we had expected a more prestigious review.
Conclusions
Tested version PlayStation 5 digital delivery PlayStation Store Price 39,99 € Holygamerz.com 7.0 Readers (8) 7.3 your voteTales of Symphonia remains an exciting and refined JRPG today, despite its physiological ailments, but this Remastered is a lazy revision that only marginally improves on the one released a few years ago for PC. Without the sequel Dawn of the New World, however controversial, it is difficult to justify the price of this new version that we recommend - perhaps at a discount - only to those who love the genre, adore Tales of and really have no other way. to fill this void.
PRO
- It remains one of the best stories of
- Visually cleaner and, above all, stable
AGAINST
- No additional content compared to the 2016 edition.
- At this price it would have been nice to also include the sequel.
