Tales of Symphonia Review
Developer:
Namco Tales StudioPublisher:
NamcoConsole:Nintendo GameCube, Playstation 2Release Date:
July 13, 2004Genre:
RPG/ Action RPGRating:
T-Arron FergusonThe ‘Tales of’ Franchise is an often unnoticed strand of RPG’s. Whilstcertainly proprietor to a rather vigorous brand of militant fan, its various installments have not entered the public consciousness in quite the same way as the likes of Final Fantasy (even my mother, whose game knowledge extends to “that yellow munchy fella”, recognizes an image of Cloud, even if she has no idea who or what he is). Whilst there can be a million and one reasons for this, one to me is their fluctuating quality. Whilst this same negative could be equally applied to the aforementioned alternative, it is arguable Final Fantasy has taken more of a negative tale spin- whilst the “Tales of” franchise has had a rather sporadic history of bounding between high caliber genre benders to derivative rubbish since its inception. Yet at the epicenter of its legacy rests one truly fine game that ranks as a personal all-time favourite: Tales of Symphonia.
I loved Tales of Symphonia. It was one of the reasons I stopped playing my Xbox and PS2 and went to play my brother’s Gamecube. I didn’t even know they had this for PS2!
