Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

"Deliciously enjoyable from start to finish, even if lacking in gameplay"

Although not the best in the series, Tales of Symphonia was a huge hit on Gamecube. It was many Nintendo fans's first Tales game, and it gained many lovers thanks to its artsy visuals, long quest and engaging cast of characters. It's therefore not really a big surprise to see a direct sequel to it on the Wii, something that rarely happens to Tales games. However, it being on Wii brought many fears to the fans. The good news is that it plays in a traditional fashion -- no Wii gimmick involved, or barely. The only thing missing is being able to play with the Gamecube controller. Now the bad news is, it's not really as epic as the first game. Dawn of the New World is unfortunately of much smaller scope. Still, it's the only true Japanese RPG on Wii, and it's a pretty good one at that.

To be honest, I'll say this now; I did not care much for the storyline nor the characters in the first Tales of Symphonia, rather attracted by the quest itself, with its large world announcing an adventure of epic scale. The irony is that the newest Tales of Symphonia has none of that, centering more on the storyline and characters, with countless cutscenes and dialogues. Yet, this somehow didn't bother me, and I ended up enjoying the second game just as much as the first, but not for the same reasons.

I've always been the kind to skip big chunks of text in RPGs, not because I'm too lazy to read what the characters have to say, but just because I'm often not interested in what they have to say. I usually enjoy RPGs for the sheer feeling of being on an adventure, more than for the storyline. This worked for the first Tales of Symphonia, but you just can't do that with the newest one. Why? Simply because the Wii's Tales of Symphonia is like one big anime episode with some gameplay segments here and there that you're not really supposed to care about because it's all about the story and characters. More than half of the game is the characters talking to each others, and the remaining bit is walking around defeating enemies.

In spite of the game being mostly fanservice, (and I, for one, am not the biggest fan of the first game), I still found the ride enjoyable regardless. The storyline in the second one is okay at best, with minimal plot twists and so-so characters. Emil is like a male version of Colette, so most people will probably hate him, and Marta is the sweet, but strong girl. What saves the plot and make it all the more enjoyable is the presence of Tenebrae, a witty feline character who's quick at repartee. Tenebrae always has something funny to say within a conversation, and without him, the game wouldn't be half as fun. Nonetheless, our little gang is an engaging one and for once I didn't have to skip any dialogue as the game has a lot of charming moments.

Proper to the Tales name, the game has many skits, perhaps even more than in most Tales games. All the main characters from the last game make an appearance as well, and that's understandable as the game takes place in the very same world as last time. This means most places, with the exception of a few new ones, are places from the first game that you'll be revisiting. This is sort of disappointing in a way, because aside from bringing nostalgia, the locations bring nothing new. The puzzles within the dungeons were kept almost the same, and they even appear to have been toned down, so they oppose no difficulty. In fact, the whole game is on the easy side.

Everything else seems to have been toned down as well, including the world map, which now resorts to point-and-click. Good or bad, the fact is, no more traveling through expansive landscapes. There's not really a strong adventure feeling to this one. All you know is that you need to go here and there to watch a couple of cutscenes, then maybe play a little before the next cutscene. There are some interesting gameplay elements thrown in, but let's just say that's not what the game focuses on. The game just wants you to be entertained with the plot, with just enough play time to still be called a game. Not to say it's a bad thing, but some people will love it and others won't.

Even though you do meet the cast from the first Tales of Symphonia along the way, and they join your team for a moment, Emil and Marta are your two only true party members. However, the game has something up its sleeve, and it's something very similar to Pokemon. All the monsters you fight can join your team, and they will evolve to different forms when they reach a certain level. It's not really anything as compelling as Pokemon, but it's a pretty nice feature to replace party members. It's just too bad there is no option to control your monsters during fights. The battle system remains the same from the last game, except that you can now move around the whole battlefield rather than in a simple 2D line.

Tales of Symphonia already looked great on Gamecube, with bright and colorful environments, and the newest installment look even better on Wii. At first glance, I didn't really notice that much of a difference when I first started playing, but looking back at the previous game, there is a huge improvement. The Gamecube one almost looks bad in comparison. The Wii version dropped the cel-shaded look, but the environments still look gorgeous with a softer color palette and so many little details that it looks like it was painted by hand. The characters got an overhaul as well, their 3D models are now all rounded up instead of flat, making them look all grown up compared to the the last game in which they looked like little kids despite their age.

In final, Dawn of the New World is very worthy addition to the Tales series, even though it's not exactly as memorable as the Gamecube version. Most of the game is rehashed from the first, so it's not really like a new experience, but rather a revisited journey through what made Tales of Symphonia so enjoyable. There's a lot of talking over playing in there, a lot of fanservice and just not quite enough gameplay to make it even, but for anybody who liked the first game this is a really fun adventure, just as long as you don't expect the play segments to blow you away. I took it like watching one long anime episode, and got attached to the charming cast of characters. The quest is disappointing, from the easy access world map to the very few new locations -- plus if you take out all the dialogues,the game itself is very short and linear, but the fast and addictive battle system still makes the game all the more worth it. This is one to keep in your collection.


Story/Presentation: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music/Sounds: 8/10
Replay Value: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/15/09, Updated 01/20/09

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