The new abilities aren’t just for the player’s party, either–some bosses have them, too. Unfortunately, since these attacks have never been voiced in English before, those lines are pulled by voice actors that might sound convincingly enough like the originals… if you could really hear them. They can be difficult to pull off, but it’s a nice touch. Most have at least one or two added to their basic set, but those who didn’t originally have an ultimate attack (known as Mystic Artes in later games) now have one added in, complete with cut-ins. One is even tied to the casino in Altamira, which is actually playable this time around, and includes a slot machine and an interesting modified version of Blackjack.Īnother thing that’s added to Tales of Symphonia is a large set of brand-new attacks for each character. These are unlocked through new events, which go along with a decent set of other newly-added scenes. It’s not as easy to get all of these, though, as quite a few are tied to the game’s different endings, but some options are Lloyd’s clothes for Colette, a samurai outfit for Lloyd and Kratos, and more. Each character also has another new costume, added originally in the Japanese-only PS2 version of the game. Barring that, you’ll unlock them by starting a New Game Plus. The alternate costumes teased by the press leading up to the game get unlocked instantly if you have have a Tales of Xillia save file. If you’re looking for more than just a prettying-up of the game, though, the original Tales of Symphonia, in particular, has a lot to offer. When you first load it up, it’ll play a subtly changed rendition of Starry Heavens, but it’s worth waiting at the title screen to watch Soshite Boku ni Dekiru Koto come up–this time, it’s an awesome techno remix! Tales of Symph0nia takes it a step further and has two versions of the intro, both of which are actually slightly new. They use the Japanese songs, and the version we originally got is nowhere to be found. The only audio that’s really been outright replaced is in the intro sequences of the game. (Because of this change, a lot of in-battle lines are now subtitled regardless of your preference.) Overall, what you can get that way is a more consistent experience. Again, this is not a problem in Japanese. Also, one of my main gripes with Dawn of the New World, originally, was that almost the entire English cast had been replaced. The Japanese voices, though, do extend to them. In English, Tales of Symphonia was one of the last games in the series that didn’t have voice acting during skits. Even if you don’t normally prefer Japanese audio to English, it does offer a couple of advantages. A handful of tracks, like Iselia’s theme, sound quite different after this treatment. This time, though, each song plays as originally intended, making for a more complete sound. If you listened to the soundtrack you would have heard one instrument in each song that didn’t come through in the game. First, in the original Tales of Symphonia, one of the audio tracks didn’t come through. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles has a handful of improvements in that department. Where there is a graphical discussion, audio comes with it. A couple places in the game also have some gorgeous new animation sequences. On the other hand, a couple of things, like the explosions from blowing up certain enemy bases, don’t look like they got much attention (and, arguably, those needed it the most in the first place). The text and other 2D objects look perfectly HD-sharp, and 3D models have greater detail and smoothness. Spells and other special effects, particularly, often have a brand-new and greatly improved look. Everything definitely looks a step or two sharper and nicer, but some things received a much more detailed treatment in that regard. The first, and most obvious, aspect of this PlayStation 3 remaster is the updated, HD graphics. While I can’t fully review Chronicles without mentioning the value of its two root games, I want to focus mainly on what it alone has to offer. That’s because I absolutely love Tales of Symphonia–but this is not a review of that game (which I’ve already done), or a review of its sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, which is the other half of this package. When Tales of Symphonia Chronicles came out, I jumped on it and pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition right away. It’s no secret–I’ve always been a fan of the Talesseries, and Tales of Symphonia, in particular.
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