Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

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LunarRaptor
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Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

Played a part of it, and I don't like it so far. The hero is a complete wimp. He got hit for three 10 HP hits when he had 300 HP, and started crying. Crying. In the heat of battle. He's highly incompetent, and his girlfriend is the most annoying 'thing' to ever come out of an RPG.
Its games like this that make me miss the old days of RPGs when heroes were still allowed to act like heroes. Alex, though inexperienced, somewhat naive, and quiet, was still a cool guy because you know he can rise to the occasion. Same goes mostly for Hiro. Cecil from FFII/IV actually came off believable as the hero. As did Terra and everyone from FFIII/VI.
This new guy, Emil, though. Oh, yeah, right. I can see why the whole town where he lives hates his guts. I would, too. And this is the guy who's going to save the world this time?

Not to mention that if you played the previous ToS title, the premise of the villain's manipulations and schemes are no mystery to the player and the whole premise falls apart, whereas the creators did a fine job of covering their villains' footprints for the first fourth of the previous game.
The creators try to make Lloyd, the previous hero, out to be the big bad guy, but its obvious that its not him, because the character we're seeing doesn't act lik him at all.

The monster hunting and training is a rip right out of Pokemon and it doesn't fit. The previous heroes, which can bee recruited at certain points, have level caps and equipment you can't change. They did, undoubtedly, to make the monster catching more necessary. Give me regular party members anyday.

Overall, I think I'm going to stick with the original. So, has anyone else played this little game? If so, what's your take on it.
"All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf the Gray

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Sonix
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Sonix »

It hasn't released in Europe yet so I can't play it. But I did check it out a little, I would maybe buy it one day. But from what I read (not only your post, but some other people as well) seems like it won't be in my library.
I haven't played first one.
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

Good choice. Believe me, either this game improves greatly, or I'll be wanting my money back.

As for the original. That was a good game. The characters actually had likeable personalities and the plot actually went places I wasn't expecting.
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Dark_Fairy
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Dark_Fairy »

I didn't pick up ToS2 simply because of all the horrible things I saw and read about it. Originally, I was going to get it. Instead, I used the money for that to get Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories.

The things that turned me off: Emil, the level cap on the original ToS crew, having monsters in your party, Emil's voice (I love Johny Young Bosch, but...he doesn't make a good Emil), and the fact that I read Sheena can't Summon any more! Sheena was one of my main party members in ToS, and the Summon aspect was a vital part of my party. It really ticked me off to hear she couldn't summon anymore.

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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

I hear that. I wished I had gotten Kingdom Hearts: RE now. Is it any better than the original version?

The really bad thing about Bosch as Emil is that in Ratotask Mode, he uses his "Ichigo voice", so I kept expecting him to yell out Bleach lingo.
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Dark_Fairy »

I think its a lot better than the original. I think the main reason why I like it though is because its in 3D, and the Organization actually have voices now. Now, I'm not happy with all of their voices because I don't think all of them fit...(Marluxia doesn't fit in my opinion), but at least most of them are pretty good.

Um, I believe the remake also has new cards and Marluxia has a new boss form. I could be wrong, since I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'm pretty sure I read/saw that somewhere.

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Monde Luna
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Monde Luna »

I'm on my second playthrough of the game right now. You will be pleased to know that the game does get better. The plot also starts to make a little more sense towards the end. However, I was still very dissapointed w/ the game for sooooooo many reasons. (DF mentioned a few of the reasons why). I don't have a problem w/ forming pacts with monsters because the story wouldn't make sense without it. Not that I used them, because I perfer to fight with the characters that I know and love. And that is where it also goes downhill, but you all already know the details so I won't go into it.

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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

Yep, I can see the game getting better already. I have to say, the prospect of playing as a guy with more than one personality crammed into his head is interesting, but I just have a hard time liking Emil, still. I've also taken notice that no who knows Emil recognizes him from before and he shaky memories. I just hope he's not going to be another Luke.
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Monde Luna
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Monde Luna »

I had a hard time with Emil at first because he's a whiner, hopefully he will grow on you too. He apologizes to much like Collette did (BTW I like her voice better this time around) but I think overall this game is just weaker than the rest.

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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

I doubt I will like Emil, ever. He whines more than Shinji Ikari from Evangelion ever did (though he's starting to toughen up), and his other personality is a complete, well, I won't say it here.
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brightshield
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by brightshield »

I also found Tales of Symphonia 1 to be far better than 2. In fact, I didn't care for 2 at all really.

If I had to rate them I'd say:

ToS = 10/10
ToS2 = 5/10
Last edited by brightshield on Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Monde Luna
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Monde Luna »

Brightshield you are absolutely right Symphonia 1 trumps 2 on all levels. Did you do all the quests? I did on my second playthrough and discovered a little more story there which was nice, but overall the game was a dissapointment.

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brightshield
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by brightshield »

I did some of the quests, but the game just didn't interest me enough to do them all. Not to mention that I was also playing Persona 4 at the same time, and that game is way better. In fact it's become one of my favorite RPGs ever.

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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Nobiyuki77 »

I don't like it as much, but it's not horrid either. I hate the main character, his girlfriend is stupid. But Tenebrae's awesome. :-p He should be the main character.
-Nobi

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Sonix
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Sonix »

Well seems like I won't be able to play it for quite some time...
http://www.n4g.com/wii/News-258618.aspx
"And yet, I've realized that maybe living a "decent" life means you won't ever have a "good" life."

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Monde Luna
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Monde Luna »

Sonix wrote:Well seems like I won't be able to play it for quite some time...
http://www.n4g.com/wii/News-258618.aspx
That's okay honestly it is a game you will be able to survive w/o playing. While it's not as bad as DS it was still a let down.

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LunarRaptor
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by LunarRaptor »

Well, I just finished the game. (Spoilers)












So, I'm actually supposed to lose the final fight if I want a halfway decent ending, then? Well, I officially have another thing to add to my dislike list of this game. Not only does the game go out of its way to belittle everything the heroes from the previous game accomplished by having everyone -Borgan- and whine about their lot in the grander scheme, but it also contradicts the official timeline of the Asalia world. Ratotosk changing the Order of the Universe so that only the elves need Mana?! Uh-huh. Yeah, right, which explains why the world was well on its way to destruction in Tales of Phantasia before you fixed the damn Tree...again.
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Lunar Eclipse »

No, it doesn't contradict the Aselian timeline. It actually fixes an enormous plot hole that the original Symphonia created. In Phantasia, the world was able to survive without the assistance of the world tree. It's just that mana would cease to exist with its death. The world itself would not die without Yggdrasil and the mana it provided. Tales of Symphonia contradicts this by tying the fate of the world to the survival of the Giant Kharlan Tree. Dawn of the New World fixes this by unhinging the planet's fate from the world tree's fate.

If you want to complain about a game that contradicts the Aselian timeline, you should be complaining about Symphonia, not Dawn of the New World. Symphonia created a number of issues in the timeline, and if anything, Dawn of the New World is an apology for these inconsistencies and an attempt at reconciling Symphonia with Phantasia.
Let those who war with life forfeit their own! -- Mareg, Grandia II

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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Dark_Fairy »

Dark_Fairy casts REVIVE!!

Ok, yeah I'm reviving this just because I don't see the point in making a new topic since it's only a few months old. I normally don't post back in older topics but...

I've decided I like Dawn of the New World. Yup, after I ranted about how I thought it stunk, I actually bought it and I like it. My only peeves is that the Symphonia cast is useless in battle (at least to me). They aren't as useful as they were in the original.

Now, I'm probably going to get attacked because of this, but...I like Symphonia 2 BETTER than the original, at least character and storyline wise. I think Emil is the cutest thing ever! It's funny, I think I had actually mentioned something about how he was annoying sounding (I'm not going to check if I did) but I love him now! X3

I'm almost done with the game, I'm at the final dungeon training since I got my butt kicked by two certain people... >_>

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Monde Luna
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Re: Just got Tales of Symphonia 2. A rant.

Post by Monde Luna »

Who are you and what have you done w/ Dark_Fairy? :wink: In all honesty though I am glad you like the game.

Most of my TS2 complaints have to do w/ the Symphonia cast as well. And although I am going to go out on a limb and agree that the overall storyline in TS2 is better, I personally still prefer the first. I guess sequels will never be better in my eyes. :)

Enjoy the ending, I hope you get the good one.

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