PlayStation 3 User Reviews

Quite possibly the best Tales of game in the series and one of the best JRPGs of all time. Graphics are very good and still hold for a game from the PS2 and GameCube era. The story is gripping and complex with some major plot twists that makes it very interesting. The characters are extremely good with different personalities. The world is massive with lots of exploration and lots of hidden places and items to discover. The combat is kind of hybrid between action and turn-based and it can get quite chaotic, there are parts where this combat system works against the player. Overall this game is an extremely underrated gem and it is an absolute must play for all fans of the series as well as new comers.

This game is darker than it seems at first, I was surprised and I really liked it

One of the few Tales games I had never played despite it being a lot of people's first Tales games, and I absolutely LOVED it! The whole cast was so fun and colorful, and the story and struggles they had to go through was so much fun to follow. I love how they unravel the mysteries of the world they live in, and figure out slowly they have a chance to fight back. This has officially beat Xillia as my new 3rd favorite Tales game, and I'm really glad I finally got to playing it.

It's a bit hard to appreciate the original when it's graphics have ironically been worsened (framerate being cut in half, cel shaders missing), and some odd audio **** sequel survives the transition slightly better, but there are still some audio issues, and the second game isn't exactly a fan favorite anyways. I suppose this is passable if it's your first time with Symphonia, but the Gamecube version is the preferred option.

First of all this game was made in 2004 and at that moment it would have been great but nowadays you really have to love old rpg to enjoy this game. It took me 62 hours to beat. The second part is Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World this game is from 2008 so graphics are better than the first game, the soundtrack is good and the plot is ok. A good think is that you see again the main characters although this time they are secondary characters. Most of the places are the same than in the last game but some rooms where you could access in the first game you cannot in this game and that felt odd. About the difficulty I only had to level up a little bit my team with the first or second boss. It took me 38 hours. My score for this one would be an 8. As I said the first game is an old rpg game and you notice this in every aspect of the game. I hated puzzles and I don't like to use guides because then you don't enjoy the game but, yes I used it and a lot (in the second there are puzzles but they are easy). Some people say that chiefs are very hard to beat in the first game. Well this is true if you don't use well your team. An advice: make sure you have Raine in healing mode in your Tactics. Plus, I think the first game is more for kids and young people. Plot is good but with some plot twists and a story that is getting more and more complicated to follow. One good thing is that you don't have to wait any time when you go inside a building (in Skyrim you feel you are wasting your time when you do that). i don't know, in my opinion you should play the games when they are released and not after more than 10 years. To sum up, if you love old rpgs you can buy it. If it's not the case you can choose among other good PS3 games. PS: I saw there is an OVA on youtube and I think is worthy to watch when you finish the game just because the fact that the voices are exactly the same than in the game (I think that even dialogues have been copied from the game!) Although I've only seen the first 4 episodes in English, the rest are in Japanese with English subtitles.

Un juego muy bueno la continuacion de su predecesor tales of symphonia de gamecube. La historia está a la altura de su predecesor muy buena, la musica y el estilo de combate siguen perfectas y añaden un plus que es la posibilidad de usar criaturas del propio juego en tu equipo, un exito.

Es sin duda uno de los mejores juegos de la saga tales of... Su nivel de dificultad es moderada aunque pueden cambiarla tiene una gran cantidad de sidequest con un guion muy bueno, la historia principal del symphonia es una de las mejores sin lugar a dudas, su sistema de batalla es simple pero con mucha estrategia, ademas en esta version pueden elegir si las voces japonesas o en ingles lo cual ya es de agradecer que nos permitan hacer esto, viene subtitulado a español cosa que en su momento no habia forma solo jugarlo en ingles pero aun asi se entendia muy bien. Solo tiene una cosa mal para mi y es que en Game Cube este juego corria a 60fps y ahora esta a 30fps pero aun asi es muy recomendable. 10

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is my first "Tales of" game , I guess it was a good star considering the fans think of Symphonia 1 as the best game in the series. And i cannot already say that it's the best in the serie, it's for sure a great game. First it's important to say that those games are part of the "remastered" family so do not expect gorgeous graphics, even if the framerate is steady and the art direction is pretty cute it still is a very old game (Symphonia 2 looks a bit better but once again it's obvious that the game is from an older generation). I didn't notice any bugs during my gameplay which is the minimum for a remastered game. From now on i'm going to talk more about each of the two games on their own. So gameplay wise the first game offers a nice open world in the old-school style: your character walks on the world map as a giant with more or less random encounters (you see there is a monster but don't know how many and wich type). The fighting is pretty cool with the management of your TP (= mana) in real time fighting. The cooking and synthesising aren't very useful but it's still makes some nice features. There is some side quests on the game but they're kind of hidden and on your own it's probable you'll miss some. Concerning Dawn of A New World (aka Symphonia 2) the fighting system is the more or less the same (maybe a bit more difficult than the first one), unfortunately there is no more open world and the game becomes more of a dungeon-RPG which is probably the main downside of the game , the synthesising and cooking systems are more developed and the game adds a monster training (like pokemon) feature that may disturb you a little at first but once you get used to it, it's pretty cool. Concerning the story the first game is really awesome, it will last about 50 hours to finish it, it has great characters, multiple plots, some nice twist you really are always looking for the next the chapter of the story, and the world of Symphonia is pretty well thought and it was a pleasure to discover it. For the second game even if the story is also pretty good but the lack of innovations both when adding characters but mainly locations (most of the dungeons were already there in the first game) takes away the discovery. It'll last about 30 hours to finish the second game. So in conclusion if I'd have to give a mark for each game the first one would be a 9 and the second a 7 but for the collection I'll stick to 9 because the first game is worth the price on its own and it makes the second game look like a nice extension included in the game which is always good to take.

In a way, Tales of Symphonia was doomed to a sub-par score. Much of the Tales fanbase seems to have developed a severe case of nostalgia blindness towards some of the older Tales games, and none more prevalent than the ever touted 'best of the series'. Make no mistake, Symphonia is an old, dated game that falls a fair short amongst modern JRPGs. No HD re-release is ever going to change some of the underlying flaws with the game. I hardly have to say that they really cheaped out on the graphics. The models are blurry, stiff and have only a couple of extremely jerky animations to accompany them (the talking animation looks like they're always grinning, ruining any attempts at emotional scenes at all) . Backgrounds are boring, towns are uninspired and everything looks like it's barely been touched since its original release. In regards to the soundtrack, it's not bad but unlike other Tales games, no track is going to stick with you after you power down the console. On top of this the repetitive sound effects are likely to annoy you very quickly. The gameplay is as barebones as it gets. Then again, nothing less should have been expected from a game this old. Imagine any other Tales games except your only options are block, attack and artes. That's the entire battle system. There are a lot of archaic design choices from this game as well, such as: magic being completely unblockable, the enemies only able to receive hitstun sometimes. Notably bosses rarely seem to be bothered by your attacks and will continue going about their business regardless. Consequently, the battles become boring; a chore. With such a complete lack of options and such a mountain range of difficulty, you'll find yourself wanting to avoid battles. Which you can't. You'll find plenty of grinding in this game. And don't expect much from your AI teammates - you'll have to hold their hand for the entire ride since they seem to have been injected with an extra dose of artificial stupidity. The story is average. So average. The first half of the game holds a predictably boring arc through typically boring RPG shenanigans. Even despite the later twists and turns, it's hard to care about any of the characters. So many of them barely emerge from their shell of loose caricatures slapped together Tales of Symphonia isn't nearly as much as the hype would have you believe. Perhaps is was an outstanding game in its time, but against the future refinements to the series its flaws only stand all the more prevalent.

This game is more amazing then I actually thought it was. Story - Seems cliche at 1st but gets better and better. What builds up the story is the amazing cast of characters. Characters - Lloyd - is the cool I'm going to save the world type of protagonist. Raine - in the beginning wasn't that interesting but later on when her back story is explained you just feel really bad for her and also Genis I'm feeling sad talking about it right now. Zelos - is a pervert he's also the guy that lights things up when something sad happens he's also hilarious and most of the characters in the game don't really like him I am 1 of the few people who actually thinks he's a cool character. Colette - is the selfless nice girl she's also clumsy. Some might not like her but I love her maybe because Colette's character is exactly the type of personality I like in real life. Shina - she's a summoner and that's enough to make her a cool character. Presea - Presea rarely talks in this game but her backstory is kind of sad but even that is not enough to make me say she's a great character. Regal - At 1st I saw Regal as just another character to add to my party but his story is just so sad. I can't really describe Regal he has blue hair handcuffs and kicks enemies in combat instead of using his hands. Kratos - What more can I say other than he's a badass. At 1st I used to hate Kratos like Lloyd did but as the game goes on he becomes a very interesting character even after beating the whole game I still want to know more about him. I also have alot of respect for Kratos too. The Villains, The Desians & Angels - Loved all the villains loved fighting them loved how evil & sinister they are. Emil - Worst character ever he should go commit suicide or at least let me go into the game and kill him myself. I see no future for him at all. At least his character gets a little bit of development I haven't beat the game yet but I still think I'm going to hate him after I beat it. The good thing about Emil is that he has a dark alternate personality called Ratatosk who is much more of a badass than Emil could ever hope to be. Ratatosk also has a good voice actor I don't know his name but he is the voice of Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach. Marta - Not bad but not interesting. The only reason Marta is in this game is because she loves Emil I don't know how anyone can love a pathetic loser like Emil? But she does. Marta also has an obsession with Emil Dawn of The New World might be Yandere(You have been warned). Marta is at least more tolerable then Emil is. Graphics - Great only complaint is the Overworld which looks like graphics from a PS1 Game enhanced for a PS2 Game and put into a PS3 Game. Gameplay - I don't know why but the beginning is kind of hard just a tiny bit difficult because they don't give you enough items and they throw you into a boss battle expecting you to be good at playing already. But after the 1st Boss its smooth sailing for the player. The game gets so much more fun later on and it also gets more challenging too including some of the puzzles. I ended up stuck in the Temple of Darkness for a really long time almost 3 days. I even stopped playing the game for 1 day because I couldn't solve the puzzle. Sound - Motoi Sakuraba did a surprisingly good job Standing The Pain, Desert Flower, Searching A Seal, Dry Trail & Keen Edged Blade are just some of the amazing songs in this game. The 2nd game is mostly remixes of tracks from the 1st game. I personally prefer the original over the remixes but some of them are not bad. Replay Value - Really high I don't know why but everytime I play a PS2 Game I get nostalgia and this game is the samething. I never played this game in my life until I got it for PS3 but I feel so immersed into the Symphonia World that I want to experience the whole thing again. There's also 2 other reasons to replay the game 1 is because this game has some moments in them where you can change what happens there are also some decisions you make that will effect your relationships with party members. Based on some decisions party members might die or 1 of them may not participate in the final battle. The 2nd reason is because you can start the game again but what you have when you start the game again depends on the amount of points you get. You can start again at Lvl 35 you can take all your items with you and etc its like a New Game+ Mode. Overall - This would be a 10/10 if it wasn't for Dawn of The New World which takes Symphonia and rips it apart from the inside. I haven't beaten it yet but alot of people will tell you DOTW isn't really all that great. I'm simply here to praise the masterpiece of the 1st Symphonia which has given me alot of nostalgia & memories.

I absolutely loved this game. The game is challenging, even in the easiest mode, and it has pretty hard bosses. Also, the game is filled with side-quests and optional bosses. I really think that the game is one of the best you'll find in the PS3 library.

Sometimes a game looses a well deserved score just for a hater, and no, is not someone with a different opinion, someone may say he hated zelda a link to the past, and thats good, but the game's still a masterpiece no matter what. Same happens here, if you LOVE rpgs you simply have to play tales of symphonia, end of story. Great visuals, music, amazing story and the gameplay is not bad at all. This game is actually one of the best rpgs since a while, along with xenoblade, last story, and a very few others. I can say is better than all final fantasies in cd format tied with 9 maybe. So if you didnt played it on the Cube be nice to your videogaming needs and get this, looks even better with the overhaul on the ps3! And has the sequel which is nothing big but is not bad either.

Don't believe any of the hype or fake reviews, ToS is one of the worst in the series by far - Its plagued with terrible A.I scripts, poor and bland plot points and awful combat that is very unbalanced and tedious. For "new players", they'll either give up really early in the game due to the poorly balanced combat, or the fact you'll get a "game over" a dozen times over until you get a certain "healer" join your party and even then, the gameplay is still extremely difficult until you can master the combat system to a point you can infinity stunlock enemies, without that - expect alot of frustration. If you can stomach the high difficulty and frustration factor and look beyond ToS major flaws then you could find somewhat of a solid JRPG but beware, this one isn't for the faint-hearted or newbie JRPG player. Expect lots of grinding to over-level boss encounters if you haven't mastered the infinite combos.

A really good RPG series with a great story, varied combat, and beautiful graphics. Really worth all the praise it gets. Dawn of the New World isn't as good, but still great.

As a long time JRPG fan; I had always heard of how good the Tales games were; yet I had never played any of them. After this remaster came out, I decided to correct that situation by starting with Symphonia, one of the most beloved titles in the whole saga. The game did´nt disappoint at all: its a perfect example of what, to me, is the fundamental equation behind any good RPG: an epic story, well-paced and filled with adventure, plus a memorable cast of likable, diverse characters that moves such story forward. Worth mentioning is the tight, highly dynamic and entertaining combat system (battles go quite faster that in your usual "turn-based" RPG), which apparently is a constant for the Tales games. I absolutely recommend this game, to both new and old JPRG fans!

Mixed, at best. the GC one, Symphonia, was good and had a good ending... couldn't see why a continuation would make sense and was actually being not too trusting, because, continuation often fails, see all the continuations that already exists in RPG games, more to the point, FF. But, the continuation for Wii was actually good... to me. Many thought it was pointless or even bad. I'm not a die hard fan of the Tales of series of games, I only play them to enjoy and have fun. So... why a 5? Easy. This particular edition has many problems, frame rate and loading times. for a Ps3 game that is unforgivable, since the Ps3 is obviously better than the GC. And yet, the game suffers from them, meaning, Namco did nothing to this game... aside from porting it. Which isn't good enough. Especially if they want full price for a direct port of a Ps2 game. Advice? Stick with the GC one.

I never played Tales of Symphonia when it originally came out so I decided to give it a chance this time around. I'm a little less than 20 hours in and my experience so far has been very solid. It starts out a little slow but definitely starts to pick up pace the farther in you go. The combat system is very different when compared to a normal JRPG, which will allow this game to be remembered for quite sometime. The only draw back I have found within this game is the voice acting, its rather hit or miss for most people and in my case it is quite awkward. If you never played this game back when it came out I suggest giving it a go, and if you're tight on money, I would recommend just buying the original Tales of Symphonia off of the PSN for $20 cheaper because the secondary story is somewhat lackluster.

Sometimes, well oftentimes, graphics are overrated (e.g., Chrono Trigger). And sometimes a plot is so good you forget the game is 10 years old. I did not play Symphonia on my Gamecube, and if not for this re-release I would have definitely missed out. Further, you get two games for less than the regular price of one.

It has to be said. The original Game Tales of Symphonia is still one of the Best JRPGs of all Time. This collection has such a large content for this price... ToS 2 is not quite so good, but not too bad either, but simply for the first game on this **** just unbelievable good. Played it now for nearly 10 hours, and the graphics are not that bad for a HD-Edition :)

Tales of Symphonia is one of my favorite RPG's of all time but this version isn't what I would consider the definitive version it's decent but not great. The addition of the Japanese Voice track and the revamped graphics are worth the purchase. However there are some things you should know: This is a direct port of the Japanese PS2 Edition and some of it's problems (like decreased framerate) are still intact. This version runs at 30fps instead of the original 60fps this is both a good and bad thing. The good thing is that the game runs without slowdown but the bad thing is that the game looks and feels less fluid than the Gamecube Version it is a bit disappointing especially considering the PS3's hardware. The next issue is the World Map if any of you replayed the Gamecube Version just recently you will notice the movement speed on the World Map is significantly slower than the original this sure to try your patience as it now takes longer to reach towns or dungeons. The new attacks and mystic artes are nice but they don't add up to much in the end. If any of you imported the PS2 Version back in the day one noticeable improvement you may notice is the loading times. The loading times are a lot faster compared to that version they still aren't as quick as they are on the Gamecube but it's a close enough match. the overall port is good for newcomers but if you already have the Gamecube Version then you will probably want to stick with the original game.

A good port of a classic JRPG, this bundle, for anyone who is already interested in it, was mainly made for the first game, the original Tales of Symphonia, and not its sequel. But if you never played the Wii-exclusive sequel before, this is a good chance to play it. The original is a classic game and it's what really started the Tales series popularity in the U.S. back when it came out for the Gamecube. While the battle system has been refined over the last few games, it's still very fun and it is a good chance to revisit a game that, at least for myself, I haven't played in years. The graphics are dated, obviously, even with the HD touchup they got. And I personally can't stand the fact that the skits aren't voiced in this game like they started to be in Tales of Vesperia. It can also be a bit hard at times, especially in the early game. You'll need to grind for a bit at the beginning to even stand a chance against some of the early bosses. But this is a classic game that every RPG fan needs to play. And, if you're even a little interested in the sequel, this is the best chance to play that version as well.

Somehow a port ot a ten year old game **** best game in the PS3 library. This game was a classic with deep challenging gameplay, a massive adventure, a top-notch story, a great soundtrack, great characters, and the newest edition has dual audio, 720P resolution, and although the battle framerate technically drops from 60fps to 30fps, this actually leads to a smoother experience as there is less stutter/slowdown. If you're an RPG fan, you owe it to yourself to play ToS. It's nothing like the mediocre Xillia or the terrible Graces F, by the way.

Such a great JRPG. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles has outstanding graphics - one of its strongest points. The combat is phenomenal, and the adventure element is to die for. I highly recommend it!