Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii, 2008)

Let me be clear-Whatever complaints I make about this game, I did enjoy it. It is not bad, nor unworthy of your money. The problem is that everything in it is dual-natured. I cannot praise something without having to add in a "but". The only exception to that rule is the music, which I found a delightful blend of the old and new.<br>
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First and foremost, the gameplay. One cannot help but compare it to the strong pace of the original Tales of Symphonia which, while not exactly blazing fast, never left you bored or uninterested. In terms of the story, this pace holds, though it seems the writers went out of their way to use every cliché imaginable. In battle, however, the game seems significantly slower paced. Some might like it, some might not.<br>
Another significant change from the game's predecessor is the monster system. It lends a "Pokémon"-like feel, even using things like evolution into higher forms. The system itself isn't bad, though it could certainly use improvement. The problem lies in that these monsters tend to draw focus from the real characters. As playable characters go, only two new ones are truly playable throughout the game, though the original eight move in and out of the party. It is often only the two main characters and their non playable sidekick, along with a host of monsters. It plays all right, but the dynamics of the group aren't as interesting.<br>
Speaking of the group, the new characters are, unfortunately, overall far poorer in quality than those one would expect from a game of such high pedigree. Emil, the main character, has a dual personality alternating between pitiful, whiny, and downright irritating to brash, rude, and entirely obnoxious. Neither of these versions are much fun very often. His newfound friend Marta is so much the personification of the "typical teenage girl" that I spent the entire game waiting for the surprise personality quirk that never came. Redeeming the cast, however, is Tenebrae, the spirit that travels with them. While not exactly a stereotype-breaking personality himself, his interactions with the others are often humorous, resulting in added dimension to decidedly 2D characters.<br>
(And on the original cast of eight, I can't say much without spoiling the game, but their personalities are decidedly different. It seems the writers had a hard time carrying them over.)<br>
Graphically, the Dawn of the New World has not done much for its appearance. It's not bad-looking, simply not very much improved since the Gamecube game. I might even believe that some locations were almost simply copied and pasted, if it were possible. It is sufficient, but the Wii can do better.<br>
The music, as noted above, is fantastic overall. Motoi Sakuraba is well-known for his work, as he should be. Sound effects are generally pleasing as well, though some have a tendency towards repetitiveness. One large problem is that the original cast of voices has been almost completely replaced. Some have better replacements than others, and it may be a serious shift for the more diehard fans of the original.
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Once again, this game is not at all a bad one. I applaud the developers for attempting to take a new direction in the series, but change is not always beneficia, and the old Tales formula certainly adds up to a stronger game than this. Still, if you want a fun way to spend some time (It is somewhat shorter than the original also), or just want to find out "the end", it's a good game to buy.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a lighthearted action role-playing game that reacquaints fans of the GameCube original with a wealth of familiar locations and faces. Although those who appreciated its predecessor's lovable characters and fast-paced battle system will undoubtedly be thrilled with New World's striking similarities, the game does little to progress beyond its forbearer aside from adding a superfluous monster-pact system. Additionally, those looking for a greater gameplay-to-cutscene ratio and a clearer, more interesting plot may be baffled by how drastically New World comes up short. The game returns you to Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, two worlds finally reunited by the birth of a new World Tree. Unfortunately, world regeneration came with a price; the death of the old World Tree has unbalanced the world, causing climate change and crazed monsters to strike every town. Marta, a girl with a special gem, is seeking to restore the balance by awakening Ratatosk, lord of monsters, who should stop the monster attacks and fix the disastrous weather. A young orphan boy named Emil soon joins her in exchange for the power to avenge his parents' death. The duo quickly meets numerous characters from the game's progenitor, but you may be disappointed if you're hoping to play with your favorites, given that you have zero control over who joins or leaves your party. Furthermore, though various plot points and background information are periodically explained, the storyline is an intimidating, convoluted mess.Exploration is restricted due to the fact that you don't get to do any on the world map, which features straightforward, menu-based navigation from city to city without the hope of random encounters. This switch dramatically increases linearity and also causes a balancing issue because it limits leveling options to dungeons alone. Progressing through the plot too quickly can leave you woefully unprepared for bosses, forcing you to revisit old dungeon haunts and repeat battles to keep up to speed. The dungeons themselves are usually limited to three key areas and pose little challenge, with their sole difficulty stemming from illogical twists and a camera that obscures important puzzle elements or your next destination, which can be maddening. Battles occur in real time and are mostly button-mashing affairs against easy foes that require almost no strategic planning short of running behind an enemy and slashing it in the back. You simply mash the attack button to perform combos that raise the attack gauge, which enables powerful unison attacks with allies. Artes, the game's special attack and magic system, include a healthy slew of options for those who enjoy spamming devastating magic between extensive combo strings. Your AI teammates are usually intelligent enough to back you up, but when their behavior turns idiotic, you may have to issue tactical orders via the battle menu. What's disappointing is that you're unable to set general targets for your party; this lack is quite vexing when you encounter healing enemies because it's impossible for you to order your teammates to attack the healer, and battles are significantly lengthened as a result. You can also combat your party's stupidity by switching between allies, thereby seizing direct control, or by enlisting up to three friends to follow your lead, which is great fun and eliminates any targeting fuss. Despite the poor score this game is fun and a must for tales fans.

After playing (and LOVING) the original Tales of Symphonia a few years ago, it was a no-brainer that I just had to try out the sequel. Granted, Dawn of the New World had a HUGE prequel to live up to, so I wasn't expecting a miracle. But I must say, while it certainly has some flaws, it should make Tales of Symphonia fans very satisfied...

POSITIVES:

+ GOOD STORY - One thing that engrossed me in the first was a good storyline. It's almost like watching a movie. A well-defined plot that has you itching to figure out what's to come!

+ LOTS TO DO - I've been told that total playtime can range anywhere for 40-100 hours, depending on how much you care to do. Plenty of side quests and items to get - just like the original. Nothing like getting your $40 worth!

+ FAMILIAR SETTINGS/CHARACTERS - I found it nice recognizing familiar settings and cast for the original. The first ToS has such a great crew that they just had to come back again - 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!'

+ HIGH REPLAY VALUE - As with the first, beating the game is only the beginning. You can use GRADE to replay it with some advantages. AND, there are THREE seperate endings to watch! Yeah!

+ MAP FEATURE - I like being able to point and click where I want to go rather than spend several minutes roaming the countryside and fighting monsters. A NICE new feature!

NEUTRAL

o GRAPHICS - While improved over the previous Gamecube version, it seems to me that they could have done just a bit more to make them dazzle my eye. I like the more fluid motions of the characters, but still yawn at some of the other animations. The only thing that I TRUELY enjoy are the cut-scene animations. The rest is good, but not great.

o CONTROLS - Maybe it's because I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but the controls seem a bit more awkward than before. I find myself accidently hitting the wrong button in battle - very frustrating.

NEGATIVES:

- WHINY PROTAGNIST - I know that things do change as the game progresses, but it's hard to root for such a wimpy main character. I find myself cringing everytime he talks.

- CAST VOICES - This is a minor thing for some, but I just got too used to the original voices from Tales on the Gamecube. Now when I here the new ones (like Lloyd) I keeping saying to myself...'that's not Lloyd's voice'. Fortunately, some characters ARE voiced identically as the first.

- AUTO/MANUAL TROUBLES - The wife likes to play as Marta, but for some reason, the settings seem to constantly shift from Auto to Manual between scenes. This results in us frequently tweaking the settings. Maybe it's just something we're doing wrong, but didn't have that problem with the first.

OVERALL

Tales of Symphonia fans will find yet another RPG game to become enfatuated with. New RPG fan should still appreciate it, but maybe not as much as hardcore Tales fans. Just for the record, newbies do NOT have to have a background on the first to understand this one (although it would help). Either way, it's HANDS DOWN, the best RPG currently out for the Wii. And, with a MSRP of $40, it's a REALLY good deal.

The game is very interesting, and a special edition, more action, and strategy.. this game is very complete, but This game is very good, gives players a lot of action,
fun, entreterniment and strategy. is a game that allows us to
really outside of normal gameplay, with this
make improvements how to play, is certainly one more game
Special made for Nintendo Wii, I recommend to everyone ..
I love this game

I bought this product because I'm a big fan of the "Tales of.." series from Namco. I enjoy the story lines as well as the game play. The fighting style is in real time and very much different from every other RPG. Overall, I would deffinitly purchase this product again if I didn't already have it.