Topic: Official Tales of Symphonia Help Thread

[matt oz]

I didn't see any other topics for this game, and I figured (or at least hoped) that othere people besides me were having some trouble or questions.

Here's my question:

I'm about 14 hours through the game.  I'm at the point where the group splits up in the Asgard human ranch, and something's been bugging me for a while.

I am unable to use three of Lloyd's tech skills, and I have no idea why.  They're called: Super Sonic Thrust, Sonic Sword Rain, and PSI Tempest.  On the tech screen, they are highlighted in blue, and say that they are "Lv 2 Sp. Attack."  I'm not really sure what level 2 means, but there is one Lv 3 Sp. Attack that I can use.  So I can't understand why I'm unable to use level 2 attacks.  I've tried setting the battles to Manual, Semi-Auto, and Auto, but they're all still unusable.

Does anyone know if I'm doing something wrong?


FYI, avoid the GameFAQ's message board for this game.  I went on there to ask this question, and the first message on there was (possible MAJOR spoiler) OMFG!!!  Kratos betrays you!!.
I imagine that the other posts in that thread were berating the original poster.

Anyway, I hope a lot of people find this thread useful.




DrZ - I'm angry at my self for even looking in this thread, grr h8 sp0ilarz, but I am stickying it so a hojillion of these threads don't pop up.  

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Did you assign the moves to a button combo?  Meaning, did you assign the "PSI Tempest" to maybe c-up or something?  If you did, then all you have to do during a fight is press c-up and it Lloyd will do it.

[matt oz]

No, there's nothing assigned to the C buttons actually.

The thing is I can't even select the different techs on the screen.  They're highlighted in blue, and the game won't let me select them to assign to any button.  It's a pain, because I'm stuck using the level 1 attacks.  I thought it might have something to do with exspheres, but I have a level 1 and a level 2 assigned to Lloyd.  I hope it's not some kind of glitch or something.

[GaimeGuy]

You haven't learned them, yet.  They're READY to be learned.   Try  setting the  lower-powered Level 1 skills and using them in battle  (ex:  Use Sonic Thrust in battle, you'll learn Super Sonic Thrust, eventually.  Or use  Sword Rain to learn Sonic Sword Rain/ Sword Rain Alpha).    You might also want to try forgetting a couple of other moves  (I don't think you can know both Sonic Sword Rain and Sword Rain Alpha at the same time, so you'll need to forget  Sonic Sword Rain, and use Sword Rain in battle to learn Sword Rain Alpha,  and to learn Sonic Sword Rain, you'll need to  use Sword Rain in Battle and forget Sword Rain Alpha)

What, you thought you could just learn every move there is?  Sorry.  That's not how it works.

[Bill Aurion]

You must use techs and magic many times to learn the attacks in blue... ^_^

[Griffin]

Is there a limit to how many techs you can know? I'm already at lvl 26, but I haven't seen sonic sword rain or super sonic thrust...I have sword rain alpha and hurricane thrust.

[matt oz]

 Thank you very much GaimeGuy.  Eventually, I figured that out for myself through trial and error, but I didn't know the reason behind it.

I'm with Griffin on wanting to know if there's a limit to techs you can know.  I'm at 13 right now.
Should I forget the lower level ones in order to learn level 3+ attacks?

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Does anyone know what is a good way to get a high grade after a fight? So far, the highest I've managed to get was 1.24.

[Bill Aurion]

I find I get the best grade by performing high-hit combos and unison attacks while not taking damage...I think the highest I've gotten was 3.2, but it mostly stays between 0 and 2...

[rambo]

Is the game any good?

[Bill Aurion]

What a silly question...Of course it is!

[matt oz]

Sometimes the grade depends on who you're fighting.  I got a 10.0 grade after one battle with a boss, and I didn't do anything special that I'm aware of.  And finishing off enemies with a tech raises your grade, and increases the chance of getting items after battle.

And to answer is the game any good?:
Yes.  It's just like every other good RPG out there, except with real-time battles.  The story is exactly the same as you would find in every other mainstream RPG.  Though depending on your own opinion, this might make the game bad.

[Deguello]

"Yes. It's just like every other good RPG out there, except with real-time battles."

Which means it is already better.  ZING!

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Does anyone know where I can find the Linkite (sp?) tree? I have the ability to search for it now, but I have no idea where to look.

[Bill Aurion]

Search for a small tree surrounded by mountains(you have to fly, of course)

[Syl]

The story is a little different from "every generic RPG ever" trust me, it gets *MUCH* better at the 20 hour UBER SPOILAGE OF DOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

Which, is actually what my question is about, so if you don't want the biggest plot twist in the entire game ruined, and trust me, this is a game destroying HUGE plot twist, then don't read below.

Alright, right after you realize that everything you know is wrong, and kratos turns all evil on your ass.... Is it possible to defeat him in battle that first time?  I realized that his life wasn't absurdly high, and his attacks weren't impossibly strong (like yggdrasill) but, i'm curious as to if hes really possible to beat without new game + and what items do you get?  (He has 2 drops according to the monster list[/quote]

About the first question:
I'm level 55 or so (nearing end of disk 1, i believe) and i still haven't got the 2 skills your talking about and another one.  I think its because my Floyd is, and always has been, S-type, and those are T-type skills.  theyre also only level 2, which i means i doubt theyre better than sonic sword alpha, etc.

Highest grade i've seen was nearly 5.  I was getting roughly 3-4 grade a fight during my -nearly 100 combo defeat of the earth dragon roughly 30 times so i can get enough money to save the town subquest/training excersize-

Interesting thing i learned about techs that might be common knowledge:
At least for the melee characters, you can chain this way.

attack x3 -Level 1 tech- before that ends - level 2 tech- before that ends- level 3 tech-
I have Floyd doing about a 24 hit combo alone at this point, very very damaging.

[Syl]

The story is a little different from "every generic RPG ever" trust me, it gets *MUCH* better at the 20 hour UBER SPOILAGE OF DOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

Which, is actually what my question is about, so if you don't want the biggest plot twist in the entire game ruined, and trust me, this is a game destroying HUGE plot twist, then don't read below.

Alright, right after you realize that everything you know is wrong, and kratos turns all evil on your ass.... Is it possible to defeat him in battle that first time?  I realized that his life wasn't absurdly high, and his attacks weren't impossibly strong (like yggdrasill) but, i'm curious as to if hes really possible to beat without new game + and what items do you get?  (He has 2 drops according to the monster list

About the first question:
I'm level 55 or so (nearing end of disk 1, i believe) and i still haven't got the 2 skills your talking about and another one.  I think its because my Floyd is, and always has been, S-type, and those are T-type skills.  theyre also only level 2, which i means i doubt theyre better than sonic sword alpha, etc.

Highest grade i've seen was nearly 5.  I was getting roughly 3-4 grade a fight during my -nearly 100 combo defeat of the earth dragon roughly 30 times so i can get enough money to save the town subquest/training excersize-

Interesting thing i learned about techs that might be common knowledge:
At least for the melee characters, you can chain this way.

attack x3 -Level 1 tech- before that ends - level 2 tech- before that ends- level 3 tech-
I have Floyd doing about a 24 hit combo alone at this point, very very damaging.

[matt oz]

The game's story is like every other RPG out there.  You play as a stubborn teenage boy, who's on a quest to save the world by collecting/unlocking something.  There's a main female character with special powers, and throughout the game there's awkward romantic tension because they both secretly like each other.  There's also an experienced fighter who teaches you things along the way.  This is the archetype for most of the RPG's that I've played.  And that's just the beginning.

I found Tales' story to be strikingly similar to Final Fantasy X.  You have some girl (Yuna/Colette) on a quest to save the world from something destructive (Sin/mana depletion).  You find out during the course of both games that the main female character will die if you go through with the whole saving the world thing.  And so you must do something else in order to save the world.  In FFX, Auron keeps the secret from you that he's dead, while Kratos keeps the secret that he's an angel in Tales, and they're the experienced fighters mentioned earlier.

Anyway, that's why I call this game generic and just like every other RPG.  Don't get me wrong, though.  This game is great.  The battle system is fun.  The puzzles in some of the later dungeons are great.  And the story is interesting, but I've heard it before.

And about the tech skills: at first, Lloyd was S-type, then he gradually changed to T-type during the game.  I didn't understand why.  I use a pretty even combination of A-button attacks and tech attacks.  Doesn't matter though.  I've never had a problem with a battle yet.

[Griffin]

Just beat the game last night with a clear time of just over 53 hours. There are a lot of things I didn't do, but damn....I think this game beats out every FF game I've played. I got bored easily with the FF games not even halfway through them, so it took me months to beat them, but I kept on truckin on this game.  I officially don't care about the FF series anymore after playing Tales...it just feels so much better. Never once did I have to mindlessly run in circles on the overworld for an hour to raise my level, and the battle system is far better than any other RPG I've ever played (even Chrono Trigger, my favorite RPG of all time). I never even touched the Orders part, and I actually didn't use combination U. Attacks either. The system is very in depth, and I can't wait to play through it again and really dig into the different strategies I never tried.  Sure the storyline is basic RPG style, but I had a better understanding of these characters than the ones in FF...based a lot on the skits that take place. Voice acting was also extremely well done, except with some of the minor characters.

I just have two questions about the end of the game, so if you haven't beaten the game, don't read this, since it contains at least one very major spoiler:

At the very end of the game, during the anime cut scene when Lloyd is asked to name the Great Tree, I didn't actually hear him say the name...did he say the name, and I just missed it, or did the cut scene end right before he named it??

Also, when I decided to try and start a new game and got that GRADE shop, I noticed that there wasn't an option for keeping your exp/levels, or your weapons/armor....do you have to start over with these with a new game, or do you keep both regardless?


Overall, this game was/is fantastic, and I'm already looking forward to playing through it again....the only other RPG I've ever played (on PC or console) that has made me WANT to play through it again is Chrono Trigger. That's when I know I have a great game.



EDIT: Oh, Matt Oz, I think your T/S status depends on the ExSkills you choose in the game. I'm not 100% sure though. I spent most of the game time at S, but I also went back and forth occasionally. I think the book explains it, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering things like that

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Griffin, to answer your first question, the scene cuts off right before he says it.  For your second quesiton, you have to start over.

[DaTwig]

To move your bar toward T, you need more Ex Skills that are T type.  It's the same for S type.  Also, there is an [Acc.] equipable item called the Technical Ring, which disposes the equipped characters' type toward T.  Don't ask me what disposes means, cause I dunno.  I'm not sure if there's a Strike Ring.
Depending on how many T/S ExSkills you have, the more it will move when you level up.  If you have all 4 Exskills on T, then your character will get to T faster.  If you have 2 T and 2 S, then your bar will not move.

[matt oz]

I've got a question for anyone who's right near the end, or for someone who's beaten the game:

Right now, I'm at Mithos' castle in Derris-Kharlan, and throughout the game I've encountered these weird black treasure chests that I was unable to open.  I was just wondering if you're able to open them your first time through the game.  Like if there's some item you need, or if you can only open them your second time through.

If anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about I've seen them at the Latheon Gorge, and in a room near the elevator in Welgaia.

[Bill Aurion]

You were able to open them as soon as you reached Flanoir...

*here we go!*

In Flanoir, in the first area, you should see a slumped-over guy blocking a doorway...He will introduce himself and give you the "key" to opening those chests...What is contained in them are a few of the "Devil's Arms," which are Darkness weapons for each of your characters...The man(Abyssion) will tell you the rest of the details...

[matt oz]

I could've sworn I talked to everyone there.  I just beat the game a few hours ago, and decided to read through a walkthrough on GameFAQ's, and I was really surprised at how much I missed.  I thought I had done almost everything, but I missed out on the Devil Arms, most of the alternate costumes (I got the noble costumes, and a chef costume for someone), a bunch of optional boss battles, one minigame, and some other stuff too.

The one disappointment I had in this game was that I felt the battle system was never explained well enough in the game.  There was stuff I didn't fully understand until 10 hours in the game.  I had to go back to the instruction book so many times in the beginning.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the ending.  And I'm glad that they didn't have some final twist at the end that would leave room for a  sequel.  I hate when games do that.  But one question about the ending: Why did Martel fuse with Tabatha?  I know that Tabatha was a failed Chosen or something, but I didn't fully understand that.

[DaTwig]

about matt oz's last spoiler:
Tabatha wasn't a failed chosen, she's a robot.  They don't have the word "robot" in their vocabulary so they called her (it) a doll that was able to talk and stuff by magic.  Tabatha was a failed experiment of some sort I'm guessing.  On another "project" besides the "chosen" ones.  I'm guessing. There's no proof that what I say is true.