Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

"I hope Namco learns from their mistakes."

Being such a fan of the Tales series, it's really hard for me to write such a negative review for this game, but I'll do what must be done. It's obvious from the start that Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a really bad game, if for no other reason than the creators just didn't put enough work into it. Let me give you a rundown of why this game is poor; unremarkable and flawed. First of all, its story.

Story:
I guess I do have a soft spot for the story, because the way things are right now make it very hard to come up with an original storyline, but this is just ridiculous. The beginning of the story is the worlds, Sylverant and Tethe'alla (with changed spelling and pronunciation in this game) merged into one after the events of Tales of Symphonia, this game's predecessor, but tensions between both worlds start to rise. Two armies, Vanguard for Sylverant and and Church of Martel for Tethe'alla, begin war against one another. One day, the Church of Martel attacks Palmacosta, the biggest city in Sylverant, and while the city is laid to waste, nearly everyone is killed along with it. One of the few survivors is Emil, the protagonist, who is afterward sent to live in Luin, where the townspeople are corrupted by recent sights of monsters near the town.

All of that is solid stuff. However, the real problem lies in not the story, but the most important thing to the story: the characters. Emil, our hero, is a scaredy-cat at first, and struggles to stand on his own feet quite often. He didn't bother me very much (I am very accustomed to his personality and actually like his character,) though he could get annoying from time to time, especially when he'd whine. Then there's our obvious generic heroine, Marta. She's your typically tough, independent sidekick. We still don't have anything majorly unbearable here, but the fact that she's always trying to flirt with Emil can get very irritating at times, and her shrill voice just grates. These two characters don't even compare to the last one, however.

The character that annoyed me the most by far was Tenebrae. He is a Centurion who works for a Summon Spirit who thinks himself above all the rest, Ratatosk. His sarcastic humor is reminiscent of Jade from Abyss, only much, much worse. He often doesn't take anything seriously, brags about his power or position, and mostly makes the characters look stupid. His intellect does value praise, though you'll have to deal with everything else he throws at you until you get something good out of him.

It's up to you whether you like or dislike the others. I won't go into specifics, since veterans of Symphonia will probably give you better knowledge than I will. Well, that pretty much covers the story section. Let's move on to the next one: the gameplay.

Gameplay:
Right from the start, you can tell the gameplay is seriously flawed. There are only two playable characters, Marta and Emil, while the rest are just NPCs with fixed equipment and titles. More often than not, team members will be leaving your party instead of staying in them, and when they come back, it's only to leave again which could cause irritation. The Tales gameplay battle system is still intact, and no major changes have been made, except for a few tweaks for the best or worst and a new inclusion: raising monsters.

If you want a powerful team, absolutely train your monsters. These guys are earned by forming pacts with them using the right element. When they join your team, you can upgrade them by feeding them and such, turning them into more powerful and capable allies. They're invaluable assets, and with over two hundred to earn, there is loads of customization at your disposal.

Well, that's all for the gameplay. Next: the graphics.

Graphics:
Spectacular! It's obvious that since this is a Wii game, the graphics are above average. For the first time in the Tales series, motion capture was used, which is definitely a step up from the previous games. Despite the only real anime cutscene being the intro, it's still appreciative, I mean, at least it has one. The color spectrum is a little choppy and battles are kind of slow-paced in the cutscenes, but it does accomplish a lot and will only get better with time.

Okay, now for the last two sections: replay value and sound.

Sound:
I don't really have anything to say for the music, it's okay, with a few dreadful OSTs here and there. The voice-acting is quite impressive during the Skits, though in battle and events, it's absolutely awful. Especially Marta's. Well, overall, the sound is quite bad, though it is just good enough to be average.

Replay value:
Since this is an RPG, there is lots of bonus content to obtain, as well as every new file being something to obtain. It's a completionist's nightmare just like Symphonia, however, with the monsters and all. Might want to divide the playthroughs a bit, only get a little done in the first, then the next plays try and get what you missed. However, I don't think you'd want to replay this game after the first try.

Buy or rent?:
Buy if you're a fan of Tales, even if it's bad just give it a try and see for yourself if you like it or not. However, if you've never played a Tales game, just ignore it. There's no reason to play.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/09

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