Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

"Namco delivers a great game again."

Tales of Symphonia was one of the best RPG's on the Gamecube. Years later, we get a sequel, Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World on the Nintendo Wii. How does it's successor do? Let's find out, shall we?

STORY

The story takes place 2 years after the events of Tales of Symphonia. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum as I describe this portion.

Your three main characters are Emil, Marta, and a wolf like creature named Tenebrae who go on a journey to find mysterious jewels called Centurian Cores in order to save the world. During your journey, you will visit many places and people from the first game. The old party members are back from the first game also. And like the first game, Kratos gives backstory at the very start. And like the last game, there are big plot twists. Overall, I think it was a good story.

FUN FACT
For some reason, this game seems to be connected to the song Never Gonna Give You Up. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. If you played the game/pay attention to the story and analyze the lyrics, you will see a BIG connection.
10/10

CHARACTERS

An RPG needs good characters. I will discuss the three main characters as well as some antagonists, as well as old protagonists.

Emil starts off as a wuss, but when he gets his powers at the start of the game, his alter ego seems to be a total badass, who may be a jerk at times. He's voiced by Johnny Young Bosch, the second old school Black Power Ranger. Marta is the “keeper” of one of the main cores, and she treats Emil like he's a God. Tenebrae is a wolf like “Centurian” who gives advice and wisdom to Emil and Marta. Despite being an ancient entity, he's quite humorous. Richter is a man who Emil meets at the start of the game, who gives Emil advice on how to be a better fighter, and he is a man who Emil respects. Alice is a young lady who loves to see people suffer, and her friend Decus (pronounced as Dex) smells very bad. Collette Brunel is back, and she's not as annoying as she was from the last game. Regal Bryant no longer has cuffs on and fights like Chuck Norris as usual. He shows more personality in this game as opposed to the first game because he indirectly brags on how rich he is, and most of the NPCs call him by his proper Duke title. I won't tell you about Lloyd, the main character from the first game, as I don't want to say any spoilers. Genis SEEMED to hit puberty because his voice was somewhat deeper from the first game.
10/10

MUSIC

I liked the music, there were a lot of themes I recognized from the first game such as the Tethealla battle theme, themes from towns, etc. But there were a few songs from the first game I would have liked to see.
9/10

GRAPHICS/CUTSCENES

They're okay, nothing over the top, but they're not horrible. Unlike the previous game, it's not cell shaded, but it's sill in an anime art style. The anime intro in the beginning is pretty cool. There are three types of “scenes” which would be a basic story scene, where you can skip the talking, the cinema type scenes, which cannot be skipped but have some good action in it, and skits, which are voiced conversations about characters, which can stick to the story or can be random jokes. Some dungeons and towns look pretty nice.
9/10

GAMEPLAY

First of all, this game is an RPG and will last you a pretty long time. Now for the game play itself, when you run into a fight, you control a human character like in a fighting game. You can do basic attacks, special moves called artes (yes, there is an E in it) Unision attacks, and specials. You can recruit monsters by killing them as your elemental icons are similar. Elemental icons change every time you use an elemental attack. If 4 of the 5 elemental icons are the same as the one in the middle, you can kill a monster and possibly recruit it. You can also evolve them, changing their forms and increasing their powers. Monsters also level up VERY quickly, expect them to be uberly more powerful than humans. Sad thing you cannot play as them yourself.

Puzzles aren't that hard. It's common sense most of the time, and there are some motion controls involved (point and click) The over world is just an overhead map, so no getting lost.
10/10

CONTROLS

In this game, you use the Wiimote+Nunchuck combo. The controls are quite easy. Outside of battle, you use the controls stick to move, A to talk/confirm, B to cancel, C to activate skits, Z to aim your ring, Z+A to use your ring, and your Wiimote to point. In battle, you use A to attack, the D pad for shortcut attacks, B for special attacks (exactly like in Super Smash Brothers Brawl), C for unision attacks, which is much different from the last game, Z to block, and Z+stick to run.
10/10

OVERALL
48/50=96%, rounded up means a 10/10

Great game for 40 dollars. If you loved the first game, I highly recommend it. If you like RPGs and have a Wii, get this game. NOW!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/08

Game Release: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (US, 11/11/08)