So I've Been Playing: TALES OF SYMPHONIA [ Review PS3 ]

Tales Of Symphonia HD Review by ThorHighHeels
Game by Namco Tales Studio for Playstation 3 & GameCube
If you follow Banter Time Uncircumcised, you might know about my backlog problem. Where I had recorded the VO for a ton of videos over the period of a couple of weeks, thinking that would be a good thing to do. However, quickly afterwards, I decided to change things up a bit, and try and improve more as to avoid my shit becoming stale. And so, I was stuck with THE BACKLOG, and making videos I felt could've maybe been a bit better. ANYWAY, this is the last video from said backlog, so from here on out, you'll hopefully see a gradual boost in quality. My Nightcry review was made separate from the backlog, and people seemed to like the delivery and pacing in that one. So more shit like that yay! :3
(maybe no one'll notice or care but it's been bugging me the past weeks so I'm just glad to get it over with and get it off my chest ya know)
(also this doesn't mean that I'm completely unhappy with this vid. I'm still proud of it, but I just prefer my voice over to be a bit more spicy bruh)
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Links and all that shit:
Twatter: tinyurl.com/a2n...
Ask me stuff: ask.fm/ThorHigh...
My music: adolfnomura.ba...
Thanks for watching!

[@dreamthief286]

"...if Final Fantasy is the spoiled rich kid, SMT is the punk rock/goth kid, then the Tales series is the nerdy kid with the Naruto headband..." holy shit, never have I heard a more accurate analogy for the JRPG genre.

[@jawnzsolo]

Unemployed Millennial i am the amalgamation of all three since i’m in love with all these franchises

[@hamstrungharry259]

"Could it be?" "What?" "No, it's nothing." MYSTERY.

[@PerrydactylShow]

This is one of those games that I poured my life into back on the gamecube, but fuck I have no real desire to back to it. I gotta say tho, playing this with multiplayer is still one of my fondest memories.

[@PerrydactylShow]

Yeah. I think knowing how it's gonna end and knowing that it hasn't aged the best doesn't really incentivize me to pick it up again. Have you tried any of the other Tales games? I remember liking Vesperia back on the 360, but I haven't touched any of the other ones.

[@thorhighheels]

+PerrydactylShow I played bits of Tales of Eternia on the PSP. Which was more or less the same thing, only then with pixel art and really horrible voice acting. As for any of the others, I've always wanted to give Vesperia a try, and Tales of Graces looks pretty neat as well. Though I am getting the impression that the series as a bit of the old "once you've played one, you've played 'em all!" going on.

[@JoeSakana]

@@PerrydactylShow I recommend Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Berseria. Both have the best stories in the series by far, Abyss probably having my favorite character development arc in any video game. Berseria is top tier story wise, relatively short, and being the newest in the series, is a culmination of a lot of innovations to the battle system that will make it feel fresh compared to Symphonia.

[@alessia02starlight]

You're amazing. Hilarious style I adore it! I don't subscribe to game channels I just watch what I need but you just made me wanna get notifications from you.

[@thorhighheels]

Thanks! :)

[@KeyOfTheTwilight]

I love this game! Did you know the battle system also let you have more players control the other characters? I remember playing this game on the GameCube with my brothers and how I always die in battle and my brothers had to revive me all the time. XD

[@sorry987654321]

Tales of Symphonia is the videogamiest videogame of all the videogames. Made for everyone who knows to appreciate videogames. It simply knows exactly what that meant in the time period it was made in and I love it for that.

[@Emiturbina]

This is the first time I see the Heavy Tiger Blade animation, normally people go to the Technical side and learn Double Tiger Blade because of combo potential

[@WorldDj4Ever]

Oh so thats way he was using only that, i actually played the game a long time ago so I forgot the mechanics but i remember i could chain atack with different arts, and i thought to myself "lol thor really likes is tiger blade"

[@lnsflare1]

I mean, the entire reason why Tales games tend to be very tropey in their premises is because they will almost inevitably deconstruct every one of those tropes down to the subatomic level. Like, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Symphonia, and Tales of the Abyss are all about deconstructing the fuck out of the idea of the Chosen One, but all of them come at that idea from different directions and using different bats. Also, does the PS3 version have random encounters? The original Game one had blobs that ran around the overworks (and I think dungeons), like in Persona 3 and 4 (5 too, I guess, though the blobs tend to be humanoid in shape).

[@mage1over137]

Yeah, I was wondering that I've only played the GC version and remember a lack of random battles being one of my favorite things about this game.

[@TheKnutification]

@@mage1over137 Only when you are in vehicles I think. PS3 version still has "the blobs" while walking the world and you see the monsters in dungeons.

[@mikem0898]

6:07 - it's a pretty standard joke but it kills me that the girl that can fly not only is the only one that makes the jump, but instead of landing she just accelerates higher into the sky, and the animation (or lack of it) only makes it that much funnier. ...and for a 1-2 punch, just after that is 6:46

[@the_glove]

Would love to hear your take on the .//Hack series and Baten Katos series

[@cashnelson2306]

why can no one remember how to type .hack//

[@the_glove]

Hard to recall

[@TouhouGaijin]

This was my first tales game. Played it on the GC. My fave is Phantasia, though.

[@RandoomDude]

Symphonia would be the most interesting Tales of remake and one I hope I get to see some day.

[@DanielSantosAnalysis]

I am kind of conflicted on this review, since you seem to criticize the game, only to backpedal on what you said. Saying the story is bog standard, but then that it actually has more going on that you might think, that there are badly written portions, but that they're actually well written in the end because they fit the characters, I think you could've done a better job of framing your arguments because it's confusing to watch.

[@Poulpeh]

But actually it is quite accurate. If i may, id say that at first watch the game feels like a random low cost animé story, with a lot of cliché , and it could be painfull to watch but quite quickly it gets better and better, more mature along with the plot twist and character developpement. Though it still feels too soft and not serious enough at times regarding the events, globally past the first part the game is pretty dark to a certain extend, has some good plot twists and its story and athmosphere are so catchy that it makes you more tolerent Toward some errands of narration.

[@FullOvellas]

Dude if when you said "techno-Auchswitz" you were doing a Yu-Gi-Oh mammoth impression... it was just flawless

[@FNoteTheVisionary]

I straight loved the hell out of this game!!! I still do!! I'm about to buy the two disc gamecube version because the version on ps3 isn't even worth mentioning, also I'm about to replay dawn of the new world!

[@jawnzsolo]

Tales is one of my favourite franchises, & Symphonia might be one of my favourite jrpgs. definitely biased since i played it in my formative years... but fuck it.

[@JetWolfEX]

You did well explaining the good and bad things sbout this game, and I agree with all of it. I played this right after finishing Phantasia, and a problem I had was how similar this seemed, especially some of the music being re-used from that game, but it ended up being worthwile. I really don't like that the world you're in is supposed to be dwindling, but it looks pristine and colorful, while the alternate thriving world looks exactly the same, Final fantasy V did that too.

[@Evilriku13]

You do know that ToP & ToS are conencted storywise right? There is a reason some leitmotif appear in both games esp when u got the same composer working on this.

[@JetWolfEX]

@@Evilriku13 Yeah, I know it's the same composer, and the games take place in the same world. Being similar to previous games isn't really a bad thing and looking back they were different enough.

[@DatOMillsGuy]

I also like when your voice over is a bit more spicy, but your soothing voice is good regardless. I don't know why but i find the cute art style really appealing. Think I'll have to add this to the long list games i have to play.

[@mage1over137]

I'm confused about why he keeps talking about random encounters.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

I got this one a while ago. Still need to play it.

[@yaqoubalshatti205]

I first played this right at lockdown back in March. Quit playing it cause I just never really got into it, only to pick it back up earlier this year. I give it 6/10, the game feels really padded and artificially prolonged. The story has its high points, but the in game cut sciences and most of the voice acting makes even the high points kinda miss for me. Honestly, you might the think the story is trash, I would 100% get it. Have moderate expectations for this one if you haven't played it.

[@lurighashandarei1318]

I will never trust namco, by the fact that they TOUGHT WAS OK NOT TO RELEASE THE BEST ONE IN THE SAGA just because they we're 2d.

[@andresfernandomorenohernan7087]

I still hope someday we can play Rebirth, Destiny DC, Destiny 2 and Phantasia Cross with a oficial localization and HD.

[@thegoodreview7854]

So you've been playing Terms of Service?

[@mafty_x]

I hear mark of the wovles rock's theme???

[@ZJLXN]

have you thought about reviewing salt and sanctuary?

[@thorhighheels]

It's not really my kind of game I feel. I mean, I like the visual style a lot, but I've never played any of the Souls games. I kinda feel like I should at least have dug into those before covering something so heavily inspired by them.

[@hellwolf7]

Hi Thors,i wanted to ask you if you've ever heard of a Dreamcast game called "Despiria",it was never released outside of Japan,it's a mix between an rpg and a cyberpunk detective adventure game.

[@thorhighheels]

Never heard of it but it looks fucking amazing! Is there a fan translation of some kind? Not too big on importing myself.

[@hellwolf7]

***** I don't know if there is a fan translation but maybe there is an entire playthrough of it on youtube,would it be possible for you to download a rom of the game and review/play it or alternatively watch the playthrough and make a video about the game's fantasticatmosphere and unique character designs even though you didn't experience it yourself? The design and atmosphere of this game is truly unique,would it be possible for you to do something to document the existence of this gorgeous game?

[@hellwolf7]

***** I searched around a bit and i found the rom for this game,here check it out. www.theisozone.com/downloads/dreamcast/dreamcast-isos/despiria/

[@mage1over137]

I'm not sure if this is because you don't have any friends in real life, but you forgot to mention the best part of the battle system. It's 4 player co-op. It's so much more to play with other people.

[@marselaint]

Have you given Radiata Stories a chance?

[@thorhighheels]

+marselaint Nope. It's one of those games I've been interested in for years though.

[@marselaint]

+ThorHighHeels Starts slow, but once it takes off it's pretty fantastic.

[@HyouVizer]

11:56 **shitty world map ship controls** Skit title: _For Depressed People..._

[@chainedwanderer]

Is that Garow Mark Of The Wolves music? Spread the wings?

[@fieryrebirth]

Damn did this game give me an idea that the Tales of games today like to ride on Final Fantasy's coattails. Vesperia has a similar story and character archetypes, and systems that of FF9, and this game's story is almost a carbon copy of FF10.

[@Evilriku13]

U do know that basically every story concept and every character archetyp has been used not only in gaming but in story writing ever since right? Shakespeare even made a list of archetypes (42 afaik) to show the recurrent ones that were present in his time and are still the same nowadays. Its how the story and types work out with each other, and what u gain from that and for what u are doing the game that is important. Ifyou want to tell a compelling deep story, if you want to just focus on a very variable gameplay experience or if you just want some titties on screen for peopel to masturbate to in a hidden sense by calling it ecchi etc..

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

Tales of DeviantArt

[@nebulaneka8946]

Meh, the series in general is half assed, after this. I gave up. But I liked this one.

[@Poulpeh]

I agree. Abyss is somewhat okay , vesperia feels like a failed copy of symphonia and the following games are a clusterfuck of weebery and awfull gameplay.

[@Makoto03]

Symphonia on gamecube was one of the first rpgs i ever played and the first game i bought with my own money as a kid. I loved it despite the characters being pretty anime cliche, but at the time they felt fresh to me. The combat system was amazing and i prefer it over the standard turn based. :)

[@thorhighheels]

+Ryumoau Yeah it was pretty much the same for me. I wasn't at all familiar with anime cliches back then, and I didn't even know RPGs were a genre. All I knew was Final Fantasy and the few anime they had on TV(which were like the coolest thing ever of course) So seeing one game combine both kinda made me lose my shit xD

[@lanasrj]

you're fucking awesome

[@thorhighheels]

+Rodrigo Lanas no u

[@dollars9597]

Play the one that came out on wii!!

[@fredator3840]

What do you think about sound/music mixing in this game ? (all "tales of" games actually are the same regarding sound editing...). I think it's really really bad, like it's done by a dumb teenager. There is music everywhere during cutscenes, all the time, even during sad moments or dialogues... it's pure crazyness. The sound director should quit. I tried the Tales of Bersaria recently, the sound editing was so bad, it was like some kind of turkish/russian shity movie... :-(

[@thorhighheels]

omg that comparison to Turkish movies haha. I've seen Turkish TV a few times, and it's truly baffling how terrible the audio is. I wouldn't say it's quite THAT bad in this game, though it's certainly pretty awkward. I've also played through Tales of Graces recently, which seemed like a definite improvement over this. Still even then, there were a few emo scenes, where they just kept the happy town music going uninterrupted. And sometimes some lines also sounded like the voice actor had a bucket over their head. I really don't know why that is too. I mean, the Tales series isn't exactly high budget, but Namco's a big studio. Surely they can manage some decent audio lol

[@fredator3840]

Yes exactly! I also tried Tales of Graces F, great combat, funny dialogues, all the usual stuff... everything is better except for the still weird sound mixing... and you know, there are those little cutscenes that pop up anytime to annihilate the game pacing. You have to stop playing and listen to uninteresting stories like "Oh! I cooked an egg yesterday" or "Look at the sky, it's so blue" (with dubling and animation, so they have money for that!) because you're too afraid to miss an important part of the subtle "characto devuropumento". I'am a bit angry at this series because I'd love to like it but I can't!

[@ValExp543]

lot of people love this game, but sadly I dont (prefer final fantasy)

[@hemangchauhan2864]

What a coincidence. I was thinking of getting it.

[@assassindelasaucisse.4039]

Soooo yeah... However... bitches!

[@Mambo.Canibal]

99% weebs on the comments

[@okistash3075]

ummmm you just gained like 4k subs lol

[@Iychoenk]

Why everybody love this game?

[@_krbrs_]

PS3????? This is some Granstream Saga shit

[@Nekucloud]

I like this video, but this is still my least favorite Tales of game.😊😒

[@car1it05WAY]

You're my least favorite tales 😑😑😑

[@Nekucloud]

car1it0sWAY No need for hostility just because I don't like this game, not everyone has to like the same things. I don't like Tales of Symphonia, and that's my opinion.😡

[@thorhighheels]

Really? Which would be your favorite then? I've only played Symphonia, Graces F, and Eternia, so I don't know too much about the series, but I definitely would like to try the others as well.

[@Rex13013]

ThorHighHeels Graces f is my favorite, but if you're interested can you try Xilla? I would like to see what you think of it. I actually like it btw.

[@jglaziers]

Man, you swear a lot in your review. There are kids watching your reviews, you know.

[@thorhighheels]

Kids need to learn swear words somewhere.

[@jglaziers]

I enjoy swearing as much as the next guy, but when you're reviewing a video game that lots of youngins play, swearing is unnecessary, and makes you sound kind of ridiculous.

[@thorhighheels]

I disagree. I'd rather just make my videos like how I would want to make them.

[@jglaziers]

Ok. Good luck.

[@fredator3840]

Life without swearing is like a winter without snow dude

[@weeKenDGames]

Is that music from Deadly Premonition ?

[@thorhighheels]

+weeKenDGames Yup!