Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

"If you have a Wii and liked Symphonia; go for it. If you loved Symphonia, but lack a Wii, don't buy one JUST for this."

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World Review

As there are already several reviews on this site, I dedicate this one to a certain kind of Symphonia fan- the one that doesn't know this game exists. I've met several people, 360-only gamer's all, who list the original Tales of Symphonia among their best games of all time. And yet, due to their not owning a Wii, they know nothing about a sequel which they would gladly buy. For those who only recently found out about this game, ideally for this reason, I write this for you.

If you have any negative preconceptions of the Wii, this game adheres to none of them, I guarentee it; putting Tales on the little white box detracted nothing from it. That being said, don't buy a Wii just for this game; as someone who doesn't believe in system sellers, it's not good enough. Find a couple more good-to-amazing games, there's actually a fair number of them (Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Okami, The Conduit, Mario Galaxy) to accompany this.

Plot/Concept: 8

I didn't think Symphonia left room for a sequel, and playing this game didn't convince me otherwise. That said, getting an excuse to return to the Symphonia-verse (Or Aselia), and in a matter that is true to the first game and doesn't “butcher” it's plot, is nice.

Two years after the world's restoration, things are going the way any forward-thinking gamer expected them to be; the elitist Tetheallans treat the Sylvaranti- uncivilized through no fault of their own- as savages, whilst the Sylvaranti are scared of Tetheallan technology, confounded by their culture, and feeling hopeless with much of Sylvarant's Church of Martel allied with the Pope. The Symphonians can only watch in horror, knowing one of the camps is going to snap… and, in the former of the Vanguard, the Sylvaranti do.

Adding to this volatile political climate is the realization that the newly-born mana tree cannot support planet, at least not yet. Several natural disasters prompt researchers from Sybak to look for Ratatosk, the sprit of the original tree, moved to the Earth from Derris-Kharlan when it first landed, to set things right. Things don't go as intended.

Exploring this world is Palmacosta-born patsy Emil Castignier; now living in Luin with relatives after his family- and much of Palmacosta period- was razed by Lloyd (Who has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth) and the Church of Martel. He's whisked off onto adventure by former-Vanguard Marta Lualdi and Tenebrae, Ratatosk's dark-element “Centurion”, in hopes of finding the dormant “cores” of all of Ratatosk's underlings, giving the sleeping tree spirit (Whose core is currently ingrained into Marta's head, letting her use magic) the okay to wake up and try his hand at fixing the world.

Sadly, many other parties want the cores; Lloyd, for reasons he simply refuses to explain; The Vanguard, to power weapons they intend to use to “even the playing field” with the Tetheallans; and Richter Abend, who had given Emil (Hated in Luin for his hate of Lloyd, which got the entire town scrutinized by the Church) the first real encouragement in his life, to destroy them along with Ratatosk, calling the spirit a “Demon Lord”.

The plot paces itself; it builds up to one big scene, then slows down, giving you another town or dungeon to explore before really moving along again. There are some twists, though none as mind-melting as the first game, some definite epic moments, and, as the original's American box art read, the line between good and evil is oft ambiguous. To the contrary of other reviews, however, one should not worry of this game being too dark or moody. While the game is appropriately serious, the original's humor is ever-present, both with new material and dozens of well-timed references. (This is a fan's sequel).

As the game advances, Emil becomes more comfortable with himself, and “mans up”. Marta- who initially slobbers over Emil to gloss over her own problems- calms down and gets a much-needed shot of independence. Tenebrae is a wonderful paradox; he knows more than even the player, yet gives witty commentary to almost every event of the game. The revolving door of Symphonia cast members add different party dynamics; Collete's happy, Raine's cold, Regal's mature, Zelos is… Zelos- all of them contribute to the new heroes' gradual growth.

- I count points off mostly because the game only illustrates a world the player already knows, which limits potential for the crazy plot twists the original pulled.

Graphics: 7.5

As someone who loved the Gamecube and believed it was not pushed as far as it deserved, you won't hear me say “It's the Wii, were you expecting good graphics?”

That being said, with Tales of Graces (Also for Wii) showing just how much power Namco can get out of the system, I agree with most people that this game's graphics have “Could have been better” written all over them. Of course, most of the graphical problems of this game come from either converting the chibi-styled Symphonia world to Tale of the Abyss's darker, larger, anatomically correct style; or the limits of Tale of the Abyss's engine, which was used to make this game.

The new characters all look great, detailed ones such as Richter are especially impressive. Most returning characters, both the Symphonia party and minor characters like Chocolat or Linar, transition easily to the Abyss style. Even the generic MPCs, drawn in Symphonian style but with better anatomy, look better- a few of them could have been ripped right from the first game. The cities and dungeons, both new and old, transition nicely into the new style as well, often with more polygons, landmarks, or a slightly earthier tone.

The monsters, both normal and bosses, look nice as well- though many of them are reused from Tales of the Abyss.

- I dock points for recycled monsters, and the game's almost-universal jaggies, though all of these can, again, be blamed on recycling Tales of the Abyss's engine. Honestly, if you enjoyed any cel-shaded game last generation, you'll like this one.

Gameplay: 9

Though not nearly as refined (Or “Breakable”) as Symphonia or other “mothership” Tales games, Dawn once again delivers the addictive combo-heavy-yet-button-mashing combat fans can always depend on if they aren't too happy with the plot.

In contrast to the first game, characters have an option to “Free-run” the battlefield, though any attacks your party takes while running is taken as a critical. Skills are no longer exsphere related, and are instead displayed on a menu, with skill points (SP) determined by one's dexterity stat. The game also employs the “Elemental Grid”, which affects pact-making, enemies health recovery, and other things. Sorcerer's ring puzzles mostly use the Wii remote pointer. You can also use movements of the Wii remote, nun chuck, and the d-pad to set up to twelve attacks/shortcuts per character, including the Symphonians. Like most Wii games with polished control schemes, the “waggle” motions work swimmingly once you get the timing down.

Emil is a one-handed swordsman, of course, with over two dozen “artes” to choose from. As Marta awakens more Centurions, he gains skills that give some of his moves elements, changing many of their uses. Marta is monk/white mage hybrid, using both healing and light-element spells and physical artes. The Symphonia characters translate about as well as possible, though the lack of ExSkills and altered physics make some combos possible in the first game, particularly for Collette and Zelos, impossible. They also don't level up, and cap at 50; and characters with a load of techs, Lloyd and Sheena mostly, lose a good number of them. Even so, they're still fun, and nice support on Normal and Hard difficulties; higher then that, and you'll need skills (and a barge-full of stat-boosting items).

What will turn folks away from this game is its foremost “experiment”; monster taming. Apparently Pokemon scares the crap out of people all these years later. Although Emil and Marta are designed so that one doesn't need to use monsters to play the game, such a player is cheating himself out of an interesting. Over a hundred monsters can be “pacted” using the elemental grid; they evolve constantly- some up to four times and with three different “paths”- and can be taught many spells and skills through books that can be found, bought and forged through the game. Unison attacks also use monsters; up to two humans and three monsters, depending on how one organizes their party, can participate. What could be better then Emil and Zelos beating the tar out of an enemy while your monsters cast Indignation?

- The game has very few “infinite combos”, although the ones that are there can be game-breaking. The Symphonia characters are different then they were, but enjoyable nonetheless. And if potential Pokemon-haters can wrap their heads around the concept that monster taming is not a forbidden genre, it's the greatest replay value in the game. You can bring them over with New Game+ for John's sake!

Sound: 8

Their isn't as much to grade here. The music is mostly remixes from the first game- a few songs now better than they were- with some new music for battles and new areas, all of which is pure Motoi Sakuraba goodness. The voices are nearly spot on; the new characters are well done (Though Emil's wimpiness has been mistaken for bad voice work), and the NPCs, both named and generic, aren't laughable (*gasp*). Because of Namco's relations with the Voice Actors Guild (*Cough* Unions *Cough*), only two of the nine Symphonians (Collette and Kratos) have their original voice actors, but outside of some ruined victory quotes, the new voices don't take long to get used to and are all true to form.

- And as for length, the plot will last you into the 40-hour region at the most, but monsters, titles, experience modifiers and sidequest completion make New game+ pretty tempting.

If being a sequel requires a game to beat it's predecessor, this game doesn't try to be a sequel. If you want a nice follow-up, a game that returns to a beloved world despite a lower budget and less development time (And therefore doesn't aim nearly as high), Symphonia 2 is easily worth a buy.

…but if you're thinking of buying a Wii just for this game, throw Smash Brothers, The Conduit, Okami, or a couple other high-end games into your cart first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/09

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