Tales of Symphonia: Difference between revisions

''Tales of Symphonia'' is set in the land of Sylvarant, whose [[Life Energy]] ([[Mana]]) is being slowly drained away by the evil [[A Nazi By Any Other Name|Desians]]. The only way to stop the Desians is the Journey of World Regeneration, a pilgrimage around the world taken by a [[The Chosen One|Chosen One]] that, when completed, will awaken the goddess Martel and save the world.

 

 

 

Like many of its predecessors, ''Tales of Symphonia'' retained the real-time battle system, the use of [[Hyperactive Metabolism|food as healing items]], the famous [[Summon Magic|summon spirits]], and the games' general tendency to include lots of [[Character Development]], [[Fantastic Racism|themes of discrimination and alienation]], and a villain with considerably deeper motives than simply being [[Ax Crazy]] and [[Card-Carrying Villain|openly evil]]. The game also contained numerous references to the first game in the series, ''[[Tales of Phantasia (Video Game)|Tales of Phantasia]]'', which turned out to be because Symphonia is a [[Prequel]] set in the same world as Phantasia, a few thousand years before.

* [[The Ageless]]: The angels. The Cruxis Crystals halts the aging process, which is why {{spoiler|Mithos Yggdrasil}} still looks more or less exactly the way he did 4000 years ago. Even Expheres slow the aging process considerably, in addition to the basic skill upgrades they give. Presea even brings up the possibility of a world of exosphere-preserved Immortals to Lloyd, who gently reminds her that they're [[Powered By a Forsaken Child]].

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Tales of Fandom Vol. 2 has skits that reveal the background of Yuan and Kratos: {{spoiler|before they became Mithos' companions, they were soldiers that fought on opposites side of the war in Symphonia's backstory.}}

* [[Anatomy of the Soul]]: Soul anatomy here seems to include Mind, Heart, and Life Energy, at the very least.

* [[And I Must Scream]]:

* [[Cute Bruiser]]: Presea, as well as Colette once she gains more angel abilities. She even lifts an unconscious Regal ''with one arm'' at one point.

* [[Cutscene Power to The Max]]:

** Not to mention the fact that a single Demon Fang from Lloyd can horribly wound Magnius and Mithos in a cutscene. A Fireball (or three) from Genis yields similar results.

** Going from a later game like ''Abyss'', ''Innocence'', or ''Vesperia'' to ''Symphonia'' can be really frustrating, because Symphonia predated free run.

** In ''Symphonia'', by default, normal attacks are A (the middle/central/somewhat over-sized face button) and special abilities are B (the left face button) on the Gamecube controller. In ''Vesperia'', normal attacks are B (the right face button) and special abilities are A (the bottom face button) on the Xbox 360 controller. It helps though that both games allow you to customize your battle controls.

** And as noted below, the [[Big Bad]] is just as much of a [[Determinator]] as Lloyd is - his ideals just got compromised along the way.

* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: Just about anyone you fight without killing.

* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]:

** The status page for characters includes both first and last names. {{spoiler|When you reach the event where Presea finds out that her sister was killed by a man called "Master Bryant", Regal's last name ''conveniently'' disappears. Regal is a self-declared murderer. Guess who he killed? }}

** Zelos also visits the bar later for the same reason.

* [[Dub Name Change]]: Genius or Genis? Refill or Raine?

* [[Deus Ex Machina]] {{spoiler|Lloyd suddenly sprouts wings at a very convenient time.}} Its not entirely implausible, {{spoiler|as Lloyd is Kratos' son, and the Angels get their wings because of their Cruxius Crystals, which are basically Exspheres, and the Desians repeatedly refer to Lloyd's Exsphere as being a super-special, one-of-a-kind, experimental Exsphere known as the ''Angelus'' Crystal. Getting unique angel wings was only to be expected, though it's unlikely the Desian who created it ever intended it to be used that way. Also, let's not forget the fact that Lloyd absorbed Mithos' Cruxis Crystal after killing him. Or that he WAS wielding the [[Sword of Plot Advancement]] at the time.}}

* [[Durable Deathtrap]]

* [[Hero Secret Service]]: Above mentioned [[Five-Man Band]], and eventually also the rest of the party in regards to Lloyd.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Much to [[The Hero|Lloyd's]] dismay, there's quite a few. Some end without people ending up dead. Others... don't.

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: Forcystus runs a Human Ranch and looks down on humans as inferior beings like the rest of the Desians, he even thinks an appropriate punishment for breaking a non-agression pact is to pit Lloyd and Genis against {{spoiler|a mutated Marble}}. What made him join in the first place? He {{spoiler|fought and defeated an army of humans who were committing genocide against Half-Elves}}! It goes beyond that, even; {{spoiler|there's a ''brief'' hint, of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety, where it's insinuated that he was a companion of Spiritua, the first Chosen of Sylvarant, and the one who came closest to fulfilling Mithos' needs until Colette came along; after she "failed" in Mithos' true aim, the insinuation is that Forscystus joined Cruxis out of guilt.}}

* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: Heimdall. There's also a [[Wutai|hidden Japanese village]], Mizuho.

* [[Human Resources]]: {{spoiler|Exspheres}}.

* [[Implied Love Interest]]: In this game you can make Lloyd to hook up with several girls, but the romance [[No Hugging, No Kissing|is never too explicit]].

* [[Improbable Weapon User]]:

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: {{spoiler|Abyssion. Nothing good ever comes from an abyss. [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Except the]] [[Tales of the Abyss|Tales of It]]}}.

* [[Never My Fault]]: Lloyd is blamed for the destruction of Iselia even though ''it was Genis'' who wanted to go to the forbidden ranch in the first place, and Lloyd was the one who tried to talk him out of it. (Possibly because Lloyd was the main one caught on camera, and the mayor considers him an outsider because Dirk's house is not located in the village.) Genis even has the gall to get indignant with the townspeople for their entirely rational anger towards their homes being burned down because Lloyd and Genis violated their peace treaty. Of course, {{spoiler|at the time everyone thought that}} the Desians had struck first at the temple, so Genis has a point here.

* [[No Export for You]]:

** The [[PS 2]] port. No Garen Zesshuugeki or Fairy Circle for you. Or any of the compound special attacks that involve Regal, for that matter.

* [[No Hero Discount]]: Zig-Zagged. Shops will charge you, but certain events such as the dragon tours and trips to Thoda Geyser will not cost you anything since the people can't take money from the chosen. Yet, some people like the old man on Hakonesia Peak will still try to rip you off for a gate pass.

** Also, you do get a 10% discount in shops if you have Regal's Personal EX-Skill set, as well as a 10% bonus when selling.

* [[Not in This For Your Revolution]]: Kratos. {{spoiler|More wrong than you could imagine}}.

* [[Not So Different]]: Dangerously so, in the case of {{spoiler|Mithos and Lloyd}}.

* [[Numerical Hard]]: Applies to random battles, and most bosses. Latter bosses do get some new moves though.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: {{spoiler|Presea, Mithos, Yuan and Kratos}}, for starters.

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Subverted; the main reason the summoner mentioned by the various Summon Spirits, Mithos, is not thought to be the hero of legend is because it has become a common boy's name. {{spoiler|But then it gets played with later when it's revealed that said Mithos is not only the summoner and legendary hero, but also the game's [[Big Bad]].}}

* ~Orphan's Plot Trinket~: Lloyd's Exsphere.

* [[Road Cone]]: As expected, the official adaptations of the games make it clear that Lloyd/Colette is the main pairing.

* [[Save Both Worlds]]: About 2/3 of the game is this trope.

* [[Scripted Battle]]: The first [[Hopeless Boss Fight]] against {{spoiler|Yggdrasil}} comes right after some other tough bosses, setting it up to be even more of a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] than its hopeless nature would imply.

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: The Desians. {{spoiler|Subverted once we learn what they're doing during the time they're supposedly "sealed away."}}

** Done for every member of the party with the Flanoir cutscenes. The ones with Sheena and Colette are decidedly romantic (the creators obviously knew that people were going to ship regardless), and the other ones explore other types of affection.

** Don't forget the Z-skits: One where Genis tells Lloyd to tell Colette he loves her and another where Lloyd, in his idiocy, makes Sheena think he's willing to marry her.

** Several, such as the the snow statues of Namco characters like Pac-Man in the first game. The Tales developers gave one to themselves with the names of the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, which are taken from the moons of ''[[Tales of Phantasia (Video Game)|Tales of Phantasia]]'''s world.

** Someone in the slums of Meltokio says that he heard there was a [[Final Fantasy 7|cute flower girl somewhere in the slums]], but it turns out to be just a rumor.

* [[World Tree]]: The Tree of Mana, destroyed during the last magitek war. {{spoiler|A new one sprouts by the end of the game. As shown in ''Phantasia'', Lloyd named it 'Yggdrassil'.}}

* [[World of Silence]]

* [[Wutai]]: Mizuho. It's even one of the classical names of Japan.

* [[You Can Barely Stand]]: During your first trip to the Tower of Salvation, {{spoiler|if you lose the fight against Kratos, you face Yggdrasill with 1 HP per character.}} Yggdrasill has 40,000 HP, and your attacks do practically nothing, though, [[Hopeless Boss Fight|the boss fight is hopeless]] either way.

** Used word-for-word by Regal during the endgame [[Battle Royale With Cheese]].

** Also used by Forcystus when {{spoiler|the party assaults the Iselia Human Ranch in order to shut down its Mana Reactor before stopping the berserk Kharlan Tree.}}

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: Raine and Sheena's bonus outfits. Also Alicia.

* [[Zip Mode]]: the game often lets you "quick jump" through a dungeon you have already traversed when you have to back to go its final room for plot reasons. One time it simply doesn't happen. Lloyd gets amusingly frustrated about it in a rare moment of [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]].