Alright, I've been waiting a VERY long time to review this gem...Let's get started, eh? ^_^
Visuals - There's just nothing that fits an RPG of this style than cel-shaded goodness. The environments can be absolutely breath-taking at times, and locations like the interiors of homes are just beautiful...Even though you never really notice in a heated battle, you can see the surroundings look like you are fighting in an oil painting...The cons? Namco trying to use real-time cutscenes in scenes where it just looks bad. Also, the overworld isn't "pretty" so to speak, but it's nowhere near as bad as many reviews, even here at PGC, were making it out to be...Overall, it doesn't effect anything...Oh, and the character design is lovely...
-------Score:
9.0Gameplay - Ah, the skeleton of a game...As a Tales of Phantasia enthusiast, I was really looking forward to seeing what Namco would do with the linear battle style that worked so well in ToP...And not only did Namco match it, it easily surpassed it! For newbies to the system, all action is carried out in realtime...You can control any of the characters and your teammates will be computer-controlled...
The problem with ToP's battles was that it was really tough to go after enemies towards the back of the line without taking damage, but with ToS's 3d-linear battle system, it makes targeting specific enemies much easier...The other problem with ToP was your computer-controlled teammates...They could end up performing a manuever that you didn't want, and end up making the battle much harder than you wished it to be...ToS' computer-teammate AI is much, MUCH better this time around, and they haven't screwed up on me yet(your computer-controlled teammates' strategy can be adjusted in the menu in or out of battle...Thus, you can adjust your team so they stay back and heal, or go full-on with the enemy with only melee attacks, or a mix of melee and magic attacks from afar...It's your choice
)...Kudos, Namco...You made a great battle style even better...
-------Score:
10Controls - Really quite spotless...I've had no problem with anything in battle...The control stick is used to run towards and away from your enemy on a linear path...A is your regular attack, B is used for techs, Y is to open the menu, X is to block, and the triggers are used to change targets(/vary your linear path)...Very simple, and easy to get used to...
-------Score:
10Sound - The music in this game is absolutely fantastic, which isn't surprising considering the music was done by the team of Motoi Sakuraba, who's known for his work on Star Ocean, Golden Sun, Valkyrie Profile, Baten Kaitos, etc...Though a lot of the music is brand-new, I'm glad that familiar tunes from ToP were resurrected and remixed, such as "Fighting of the Spirit" and "Mysterious Japon"...Now onto sound effects/voice acting...The voice acting surprised me, because...It's actually not bad! ^_^ Of course, though certain characters do a better job than others(like Kratos
.) the overall deal is one of the best I've seen...The additional voices before and after battle are also a really nice touch, and only further pull you in...
-------Score:
10Replay/Story/Lastability - Ok, first things first: the story is hardly cliched...Whoever says it is hasn't play long at all...It's a facade...That's all I'll say
Ok? Ok...Not only is the story pushed forward through ingame cutscenes, but also through what I'll call "Z-chats" These Z-chats will appear at the bottom left of your screen as you progress through your game...Press Z and a skit will play out on screen with certain characters...The choices you make during these skits or others can effect some events later on in the game, which is a very nice touch...You can also find something I call "Chat rings" hidden on the overworld...These are hidden in the corners of the overworld, off the beaten path...These chat rings really don't play a part in the overall story, but on little things that only matter to your teammates...I'm still waiting to see whether your responses during these little skits effect later events/relations with your teammates, but I wouldn't doubt it...Either way, these two things only pull me in deeper and really make me feel as if I'm in the game(something only Zelda titles and Metroid Prime have ever been able to do!)
-------Score:
10Now, onto replay...When I can find an RPG where I WANT to get into battle, you know the developer made some great decisions for the battle style...But of course, you already know that...
I've spent hours just fighting enemies, learning new techniques and combo patterns...So far I'm 24 hours in, and probably slightly more than halfway through the game...So it's a decent-sized adventure...And I can count on starting a new game once I finish this one...
-------Score(estimate):
8Overall - The linear-3d battle setup is excellent, the visuals fit perfectly, the music is soothing/heart-pumping/anxiety-raising at the right moments, and the story is misleading and tricky...My only qualms are the lack of anime cutscenes during certain events
(you'll know where when you see them...why have the anime clips in the opening and not have them in the game? -__- I wouldn't have complained about this if they didn't make any at all) and the SLIGHTLY boring overworld...Yeah, that's it...And if you don't decide to get the game because of that, then you shouldn't call yourself a gamer!
Tales of Symphonia: 9.5