2010-10-23, 12:15 AM
Oh, yay, Tales discussions!
Having played several TotW (bad, don't do it), ToE, ToP (partially), and ToS, I must say that Symphonia is far from my favorites. I just thought the character development wasn't there. It was apparent that the characters would change over time some how, because it is Tales, and they do that. But I didn't get enough of each character's sidestory enough to fully appreciate them. Though the story is a bit complex with plot-twists, Symphonia might be one of those Tales games you'd have to play more than once in order to appreciate and understand the story. I loved the battle system, but I can't say that I loved their characters. I didn't really like how you only had an option of Zelos or Kratos at all, their styles are completely different (notice "Attack"). I didn't like how the graphics look either, it just didn't bring the characters to life. If the graphics were more like Abyss, I would have probably looked at it a lot differently too. At times, when I stared at Lloyd's reactions as he talks, it looks like he's soul-less, though this doesn't apply to all characters.
I tend to prefer Tales that are in 2D a bit more, because the artwork is very beautiful, and doesn't seem like the typical 3D RPGs that are being released these days. Abyss looked interesting, never got a chance to play it. Graces looks great, haven't gotten a chance there either. I can't even compare Symphonia to Eternia because the characters are too different, but I've always been biased since Eternia was my 1st, and will most likely be my favorite for a very long time.
I'm just disappointed that not many Tales fans got a chance to try Destiny II (NA release name) / Eternia because of either:
a) Expensive prices for PSX version on eBay, Amazon, etc
b) PSP Import is also expensive, and difficult to obtain.
I have both versions, and I enjoyed both equally. Nothing was altered (to my knowledge), and because of how the characters from Eternia developed over time was the huge reason why I always prefer it over others.
Having played several TotW (bad, don't do it), ToE, ToP (partially), and ToS, I must say that Symphonia is far from my favorites. I just thought the character development wasn't there. It was apparent that the characters would change over time some how, because it is Tales, and they do that. But I didn't get enough of each character's sidestory enough to fully appreciate them. Though the story is a bit complex with plot-twists, Symphonia might be one of those Tales games you'd have to play more than once in order to appreciate and understand the story. I loved the battle system, but I can't say that I loved their characters. I didn't really like how you only had an option of Zelos or Kratos at all, their styles are completely different (notice "Attack"). I didn't like how the graphics look either, it just didn't bring the characters to life. If the graphics were more like Abyss, I would have probably looked at it a lot differently too. At times, when I stared at Lloyd's reactions as he talks, it looks like he's soul-less, though this doesn't apply to all characters.
I tend to prefer Tales that are in 2D a bit more, because the artwork is very beautiful, and doesn't seem like the typical 3D RPGs that are being released these days. Abyss looked interesting, never got a chance to play it. Graces looks great, haven't gotten a chance there either. I can't even compare Symphonia to Eternia because the characters are too different, but I've always been biased since Eternia was my 1st, and will most likely be my favorite for a very long time.
I'm just disappointed that not many Tales fans got a chance to try Destiny II (NA release name) / Eternia because of either:
a) Expensive prices for PSX version on eBay, Amazon, etc
b) PSP Import is also expensive, and difficult to obtain.
I have both versions, and I enjoyed both equally. Nothing was altered (to my knowledge), and because of how the characters from Eternia developed over time was the huge reason why I always prefer it over others.