On 29th August 2003, the Journey of Regeneration began...
Tales of Symphonia is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Japan today. The action RPG made a real splash when it launched on the GameCube — its international release followed a year later in 2004, and it has seen numerous ports to the PlayStation 2 (Japan only), PlayStation 3, Steam, and now modern consoles.
We've talked about the GameCube being a bit starved in terms of JRPGs, which is why Tales of Symphonia felt like such a significant moment for fans of the genre. Its use of cel-shaded visuals, anime cutscenes, and full English voice acting (which, despite being a little cheesy, many are pretty fond of) combined with the action combat made this an RPG fan favourite back in the mid-2000s.
For many, it was also their first taste of the Tales series, Bandai Namco's flagship RPG series. In North America, the franchise may have made its debut on the PlayStation with Tales of Destiny, but Symphonia was the first game in the series to reach Europe.
Acting as a distant prequel to the first game in the series — the Super Famicom's Tales of Phantasia — Symphonia follows Lloyd Irving, whose best friend is the Chosen, a person who is picked to go on a journey to restore mana to the world. Lloyd accompanies Colette alongside his best friend Genis in order to protect her, but the group discover secrets about the world order as they go.
The story isn't entirely original, but what makes Symphonia (and other games in the series) resonate with so many is the cast of characters. Lloyd is a highly relatable protagonist — straightforward, acts without thinking, but passionate about what he believes in. Other highlights include Zelos, a flirtatious Chosen who sasses basically everyone, and Kratos, a mercenary with a strong sense of honour.
There's also the game's combat, called Linear Motion Battle System (Tales is a series that loves long names). In Symphonia, it's dubbed the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System as marked the first time the series had jumped into 3D battles. While you couldn't yet "free-run" (that came in Tales of the Abyss), you could direct your character to run towards enemies in multiple lines in a 3D environment.
Put simply, Tales of Symphonia's popularity can't be understated — the game has long been reported as the best-selling entry in the series, shifting 2.4 million copies as of 2021. The newest mainline entry, Tales of Arise, has reportedly sold around 2 million copies (as of 2022), so it's probably overtaken it or is close. Symphonia also has an OVA series — which you can watch on Bandai Namco's YouTube.
However, earlier this year saw the release of Tales of Symphonia Remastered, a rerelease that was meant to serve as a celebration. Instead, it was seen as a disappointment and launched with various bugs and issues. Bandai Namco has released a few patches since it launched. You can relive your nostalgia by listening to the official soundtrack on streaming services nowadays, at least!
Symphonia did get a direct sequel on the Wii in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn Of The New World, which was excluded from the Switch remaster for some reason. If you want more Tales action though, the Switch is also home to Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, but otherwise, the series has seen limited exposure on Nintendo's hybrid console. Hopefully, we'll see more entries from this franchise on the console in the future, but for now, we'll be re-embarking on that Journey of Regeneration one more time...
Have you played Tales of Symphonia before? Do you have any fond memories of the game? Vote in our poll below and let us know in the comments.
Comments 30
I have only played 2 Tales games (Symphonia and Arise), but Symphonia is my favorite.
It's my fav game ever. My absolute number #1.
I own it on Gamecube, Steam, Switch and have the Playstation 3 Limited Edition. Also own the OVA series on blu-ray.
The Switch version still has only 30fps and has longer loading times but the other issues are now gone so I'm still enjoying it.
Love Tales of Symphonia! None of the other games in the series hit the same.
It's a fantastic RPG, it's too bad Bandai Namco ruin the game for the modern era. Such a shame really. Goes to show greed will get in the way of creativity. This is the game we should had gotten in 2023, not that PS2/PS3 garbage port that we currently got.
I've played quite a few games in the series, but it all started with Symphonia on the gamecube. One of the best and most memorable games I've ever played. I still consider it in my top 5 games ever played. Every game since has been a slight downgrade in some fashion ever since.
I've played the following: Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, Xillia, Zesteria, Berseria, and Arise. I couldn't even finish Vesperia, as I got tired of it.
Never played it which is why despite the Switch version objectively sucking at first - although thankfully they kept on fixing it and now the issues are gone according to @Hinade (personally 30fps and longer loading times don't bother me enough to not play it either) - I'm still happy that it's a thing as it will be a much more convenient way for me to eventually play it than the original and for others it will be the only one!
My top 3 Tales games:
1. Abyss
2. Berseria
3. Symphonia
Yet, Symphonia is the one I played first and hooked me with the series
Loved it. I still have my Gamecube copy. One of my favorite games of all time.
Probably my favorite JRPG, with both the original Golden Sun games following. But again, nostalgia may be a great part of it, because whenever I see images of the switch game, I feel like it is an entirely different game and it is not.
That's why I prefer not to replay it again. Let's leave those good memories intact.
So have they fixed the switch port enough? A few comments are saying it’s fixed but some are saying it’s not fixed enough.
Symphonia was considered THE rpg on Gamecube back in the day, and it was good, but I got way more into Baten Kaitos, especially Origins. Hopefully the remaster does those games justice, and gets enough attention to warrant a 3rd entry. Monolith Soft could probably use a break from Xenoblade, Right?
I adored both Arise and Vesperia, have Symphonia but so far haven't played it. Think I also got Berseria? on Steam and one other I cannot recall the name of.
Symphonia had rekindled my love for jRPGs after the SNES-era jRPGs had fallen out of style. It has all the corny modern jRPG tropes and it still manages to pack a punch
@judaspete I’ve always wondered why the heck did Monolith soft ditch Baten Kaitos for so long and kept going with Xenoblade. Then I figured out that Bamco still has a leash on the IP rights of BT, and everything made sense. It’s Bamco the ones holding the series still.
I have Chronicles on PS3, but my TOP 3 is Abyss, Xillia and Vesperia.
@Serpenterror why PS2/PS3 ports is garbage for you?
Started playing the other day and honestly, it's about as fixed as it's gonna get. Most of the problems (other than 60fps) have been fixed/patched, including battle screen transitions and while it's not 60fps it's a very solid, acceptable 30fps.
Sheena has the most interesting character development for me. Interesting character to play and to follow.
Symphonia is imprinted in my nostalgic memory. A little scared too replay as I don't think it'll meet the expectations of my memory, but a game to celebrate nonetheless!
@judaspete loved both back in my gamecube days, but never bought the sequels. I heard that both the sequel to Symphonia and (Prequel) of Baten Kaitos were bad, so I never really gave them a chance.
So, was Origins really good? If so, I might even consider getting the remaster, considering that it includes both BK games.
@Bankaj exactly why I am not getting it too. Impossible level expectations
@Diowine It’s subjective, but BK Origins was better overall than the first game for me. The story is deeper, the music is more amazing, and the battle system is more streamlined with faster battles. When I went back to replay BK 1, I really missed the battle system of Origins. You should definitely check it out when it comes in sept.
The game did remind of 16-bit RPGs with new weapons and armour in each town and some in the wild. Levelling up the usual stats.
But the combat blew me away. Action packed as it should be, with spells going off while combos are being executed. It was really well done.
20 years later, Gamecube version is still somehow the best running one lol
I have Tales of Vesperia on Switch, ready to play whenever I want. I liked Symphonia back in the day. Question is now: Symphonia or Vesperia? Which one is better?
@judaspete I always preferred Baten Kaitos and Paper Mario TTYD over Tales of Symphonia, but I might be a unusual case.
Destiny is still my fav. They really need to make a Destiny 1 & 2 collection. Doesn't even have to be a full on remake, I'd be happy with ports.
I liked Dawn of the new world better.
@Savage_Joe thank you for the detailed opinion! Now I want to check it out
@Savage_Joe BK didn't sell much, especially Origins. Nintendo wouldn't have made a new one either. This series lives or dies based on how the remaster performs.
@Diowine Origins gives a first impression of being a dumbed down, lazy cash grab. Backgrounds are reused from the first game, there's no defense round in battles anymore, health regenerates after each encounter, there are three playable characters, and they all share from one deck. However, the characters are more interesting than the ones from EWatLO, the story is better, and the battles move very fast. If the system hadn't been simplified, it would be hard to keep up. Plus, since health regenerates, they made enemies hit harder. Even minor ones could take you out quickly if you aren't paying attention. It really is a lot of fun, and unique, even compared to it's already unique predecessor.
Wow, I play the sequel and forgot all about it. Aside from that, it's a shame that Bandai Namco did not treat this remaster with more respect.
It's sad that any new version they launch it's worse than the original. 30 fps instead of 60, more and more bugs... it's the time for a remake Namco!
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