Tales of Symphonia Remastered Evaluation (PS4)

Nonetheless one of the extremely regarded instalments in Namco’s long-running sequence, Tales of Symphonia could possibly be thought of a basic. Certainly, it is easy overlook that the sport’s virtually 20 years previous — and Tales of Symphonia Remastered reveals that the journey truly holds up surprisingly nicely.

The storytelling’s somewhat ragged, and a few gameplay parts — like traversing the world map — have aged poorly, however the primary characters stay a enjoyable bunch, the journey itself is at all times entertaining, and the fight system is stable.

The plot is all in regards to the ‘Chosen’ — a, er, chosen one who should embark on a pilgrimage to save lots of the world. On this case, the Chosen is a woman named Collette, who simply so occurs to be the childhood buddy of protagonist Lloyd — a reckless younger man who stumbles into the function of Collette’s guardian as she units off on her quest. Whereas the overarching story has its cliches, Lloyd and the gang carry the narrative. They seem to be a really endearing group, and there is nice chemistry between them due to some sharp and sometimes comedic writing.

In fact, your get together members are additionally key to fight. Symphonia arguably laid the foundations for Tales titles going ahead, with its emphasis on combos, fast motion, and numerous combating types. By immediately’s requirements, it is a comparatively fundamental system — and the controls are maybe a bit stiff — however battering monsters continues to be satisfying. There is a actually fulfilling stream to fights as you study to accurately time your assaults, pinning your foes in place with the assistance of your AI-controlled allies.

Given simply how nicely Symphonia has aged as a complete, it is a disgrace that this remaster feels so barebones. Apart from an apparent decision bump, the visible enhancements are fairly negligible, with muddy environmental textures and backgrounds betraying an artwork model that also pops. Even the menus look like barely enhanced as textual content, icons, and character portraits can stay fairly blurry. What’s extra, the sport’s capped at a disappointing 30 frames-per-second, and the frequent load screens could be only a contact too lengthy — even once you’re taking part in on PS5 via backwards compatibility.

Near twenty years later, Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a reminder of how neatly crafted the unique GameCube and PS2 title was. Barring just a few tough edges, that is nonetheless an important motion RPG, stuffed with appeal and character. The one actual draw back is that the remaster itself leaves so much to be desired.