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Tales of Symphonia: Difference between revisions
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{{quote| ''Dwarven Vow # 1: "Let's all work together for a peaceful world."''}}
Tales of Symphonia is a 2003 video game, the fifth game in Namco's famous ''[[Tales
''Tales of Symphonia'' is set in the land of Sylvarant, whose [[Life Energy]] ([[Mana]]) is being slowly drained away by the evil [[A Nazi
[[Idiot Hero]] Lloyd Irving, after [[Doomed Hometown|some hometown-related complications]], sets out to protect his childhood friend and current Chosen One Colette Brunel on her Journey of World Regeneration. Aiding them is Lloyd's best friend and [[Bratty Half-Pint]] Genis Sage, [[The Professor|Lloyd's teacher]] and Genis' older sister Raine Sage, and a mysterious [[Badass]] [[Anti-Hero|mercenary]] called Kratos Aurion.
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After a few hours the storyline drops its first [[Wham! Episode]] on you, after which the plot expands exponentially from a single [[Black and White Morality]] tale to a full-on [[Gambit Pileup]], with multiple sides trying to manipulate or eliminate Colette for their own purposes and Lloyd determined to do everything he can to protect her, even from herself.
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, ''[[
The game was adapted into three four-episode [[RPG Anime|anime]] [[OVA|OVAs]], the last of which is still in production, and 6 [[Bonus Material|omakes]]. A manga was published that covered the events of the first game and its ending becomes the first game's canon ending according to the second game (See [[Third Option Adaptation]] below). There are also several [[Audio Adaptation|Drama CDs]]. It's unlikely any of this will ever be officially translated to English, but fansubs of the OVAs are circulating around the Internet if you look. It places more emphasis on the relationship between Lloyd and Colette, and is obviously a [[Compressed Adaptation]].
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''Symphonia'' introduced several concepts to the franchise, most notably the 3D incarnation of the ''Tales''' signature battle system; nearly every single ''Tales'' game that followed in its wake (as well as a number of [[JRPG|JRPGs]] in general) owes something to it, and its influence is still felt on the franchise to this day.
A spin-off-sequel for the game called ''[[
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* [[Adventure Rebuff]]
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: There are names like Colette and Lloyd, as well as names like Mithos and Kratos.
* [[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
* [[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.}}
* [[Alternate World Map]]: Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are both visited by the heroes, with party members coming from both worlds. Eventually, the party gains the ability to travel freely between both worlds. (Incidentally, the worlds' names are [[Shout-Out|references]] to the names of the moons of the world of ''[[
* [[Anatomy of the Soul]]: Soul anatomy here seems to include Mind, Heart, and Life Energy, at the very least.
* [[And I Must Scream]]:
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* [[Art Evolution]]: The [[OVA]]'s started out great, but it just gets better with each one.
* [[The Atoner]]: Lloyd helps Colette partly to help atone for his part in Iselia's destruction. Later on, the party is joined by Regal, who embodies this trope. Kratos is also revealed to be one.
* [[Awesome but Impractical]]: [[Summon Magic|Summons]], Colette's Sacrifice spell, any of the Hi-Ougis - Presea's Crimson Devestation ([[
* [[Battle Royale With Cheese]]: When assaulting the {{spoiler|Tower of Salvation in Tethe'alla}}, every single member of your party {{spoiler|(except for Zelos, if you make him evil)}} ends up "dying" one by one... until you make it to the end and spoiler:they all pop up and inform you that they were saved.
* [[Badass]]: Kratos, Presea, and in the [[OVA|OVAs]] at least, Regal.
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** Also in the [[OVA|OVAS]]: Zelos doesn't fare so well in his second battle with Regal, though he does manage to take him down with him via a [[Last Ditch Move]].
* [[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
** Kratos, in cutscenes, can kill, stun, or block pretty much anything with a dramatic flash of light and a [[Single-Stroke Battle|single attack]]. In battle, he's not so hot. Also, all the characters with wings don't use them very often.
** 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.
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** 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.
* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Abyssion in the [[
* [[Dark Is Edgy]]: Shadow, Pronyma.
* [[Dark Reprise]]: Zelos' and Colette's themes.
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** 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? }}
** Sure, you ''can'' get to Palmacosta by taking a boat from Izoold... or, you can walk across a bridge in the other direction, and go through around the second continent in reverse order. You'll still end up visiting all of the major destinations and seeing all of the mandatory scenes, and the story will still make a modicum of sense. There's even some scenes that you can only see this way, and once you've [[Level Grinding|Level Grinded]] against the enemies on the "far" end of the continent and bought the good weapons, once you get back around to Palmacosta, every fight is a cakewalk.
* [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons]]: The Dragon Rider and his noble steed, the <s>Velociraptor</s> [[Call a Rabbit
* [[Disc One Final Dungeon]]: First there's the {{spoiler|first}} visit to the Tower of Salvation in Sylvarant, then it's {{spoiler|the Second trip to the Tower of Salvation in Tethe'alla (the third trip to the tower overall)}}. And then after ''that'', it's {{spoiler|Torent Forest}}.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]:
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* [[Empty Room Psych]]: In Welgaia, there is a building with five floors, each with two identical small rooms. All but one of them are completely barren, and it's on the first floor anyway, making the whole thing all the more [[Buffy-Speak|psyche-y]].
* [[Eternal English]]: The fact that people from {{spoiler|Sylvarant and Tethe'alla}} still understand each other after 4000 years of near-complete separation is pretty amazing, they don't even have different ''accents''!
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Precious Puppies]]: A sidequest involves naming all the dogs.
* [[The Exile]]: Lloyd and Genis, due to being responsible of [[Doomed Hometown|Iselia's destruction]].
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** Colette: [[The Chick]]
** Sheena: [[Sixth Ranger]]
* [[The Force Is Strong
* [[Foreshadowing]]:
** Most of it is only obvious in hindsight. During subsequent playthroughs you'll probably wonder how you missed some of them. There's even some on the western box art. Notice how, of all characters, It's Lloyd/Colette and Sheena/Zelos that appear on the cover? (with Lloyd & Sheena being in front, and Zelos & Colette being in the back?) {{spoiler|Essentially, it's showing two Sylvaranti along with their, for all intents and purposes, alternate-dimension counterparts.}}
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* [[For the Cel of It]]
* [[Follow the White Rabbit]]: The party finds their way through the Torent Forest by following a small animal that leads them along the correct path so they don't get lost.
* [[Gainax Ending]]: Hoo boy. After defeating the final boss: {{spoiler|Lloyd remerges the worlds, and the Eternal Sword then vanishes. Then the Summon Spirits appear to tell them that the Seed and Derris Kharlan are leaving and the world is gonna quickly die of mana deprivation without them. The heroes think they're screwed without the Sword, but Lloyd needs to try to save the world anyway, and so his Exsphere reacts and he promptly ''sprouts angel wings'', of a completely different style compared to Colette's, and flies to the Seed along with Colette. When they reach the Seed, they think it's too late, but then the Eternal Sword randomly shows up again, and with its power they germinate the Seed.}}<br /><br />{{spoiler|As the Seed falls to Earth, Tabitha, the [[Artificial Human]] made as a failed attempt to create a mechanical vessel for Mithos's sister Martel, is standing in the ruins of the Tower, and the seed falls on top of her, opens up, and she's infused with a whole crapton of spirits we've never seen before, including Mithos's sister, and when Lloyd and Colette come down to earth, she introduces herself as the Goddess Martel, the Goddess that Mithos ''made up'' for his [[Path of Inspiration]]. She's made up of all those spirits, and is the new guardian of the new [[World Tree]]. She shows the heroes what the Tree will look like when it's grown (which looks like the [[Game Over]] screen), and tells them that in its current state, it will die, so they have to give it happy thoughts or something, and Lloyd has to give it a new name. Then Lloyd goes "This tree's name is- * CREDITS* }}<br /><br />The name thing is a bit of a joke. The game is a prequel to [[
* [[Gainaxing]]: Visible on {{spoiler|Martel}} in the ending cutscene. Also, pick Sheena as your avatar character and run around.
* [[Gambit Pileup]]: Let's just say there's a lot going on.
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** If you equip the fancy clothes for Persea and Zelos they have a chance of using a giant stuffed bunny and flowers respectively.
* [[Inexplicable Treasure Chests]]
* {{spoiler|[[Inferred Holocaust]]: This is the prequel to [[
* [[Invisible to Normals]]: Presea and Abyssion are the only people out of a population of two whole planets who can hear Nebilim's voice.
* [[Is It Something You Eat?]]:
{{quote| "Professor, what's a philanderer? Is it something you eat?"<br />
[[Double Entendre|"I don't think you'd want to eat one."]] }}
* [[It Sucks to Be
* [[Kick the Dog]]:
** Each of the Desian Grand Cardinals has at least one of these, from Magnius snapping a bystander's neck for failing to address him as "LORD Magnius!" to Kvar's casual attitude towards the [[Powered
** {{spoiler|Colette}} gets a ''literal'' [[Kick the Dog]] to demonstrate just how far gone her transformation has left her.
* [[Kid Hero]]:
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* [[Mighty Lumberjack]]: Presea Combatir is a female lumberjack. She [[Older Than They Look|looks about twelve years old]] but carries an axe bigger than some of your other party members.
* [[Mind Screw]]: Is that coffee hot or iced, Lloyd? To elaborate: {{spoiler|Lloyd is noticing Colette is acting more distant and odd, so he comes up with a mind screw in order to get her to reveal it. Lloyd offers to make coffee for Colette, and makes it hot. He only TELLS her it's iced, and she notes how cold it is after he says it. He then tells her that he lied to her and they talk about her distancing herself.}} This gets bonus points, of course, for being ''in character'' and intended, since the whole point {{spoiler|is to mind screw Colette into admitting that the angel transformation process is obliterating her humanity one step at a time and she isn't mentioning it to anyone}}.
* [[Money Spider]]: Special mention for the dragon in the Temple of Earth, 10000 [[Global Currency|gald]] per kill, and is a [[Respawning Enemies|respawning enemy]]. This is actually either a [[Good Bad Bug]] that was "fixed" in the Japanese-only [[Updated Rerelease]] for the [[
* [[Motive Decay]]: {{spoiler|After Martel rejects Mithos, he goes from wanting to bring about (an albeit twisted and unnatural) equality to the world to wanting a world where he can live with his sister, at the cost of leaving the world to die}}.
* [[Mummies At the Dinner Table]]: {{spoiler|Presea's father's body.}}
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* [[New Game+]]: The GRADE system, which allows you to purchase bonuses and even [[Self-Imposed Challenge|Self Imposed Challenges]] if you choose.
* [[No Export for You]]:
** The [[
** None of the [[OVA|OVAs]] have been released outside of Japan. Fortunately, the fans have translated them.
* [[No Flow in CGI]]: Just compare the opening cinematic to actual gameplay footage.
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* [[Power Gives You Wings]]: The strongest characters are all angels with translucent, multicolored wings. Yggdrasil even has wings ''on his wrists.''
* [[Power Glows]]: Both the angels with their [[Power Gives You Wings|glowing translucent colored wings]]. Also, Lloyd's "[[Sword of Plot Advancement|ultimate weapon]]," the Material Blade.
* [[Powered
* [[Precursor Heroes]]: Mithos's party.
* [[Preexisting Encounters]]: The first ''Tales'' game to use this mechanic instead of [[Random Encounters]].
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* [[Schizo-Tech]]: Justified in Sylvarant because the Desians have been stunting the technological advances of the rest of the world. Played straight in Tethe'alla which is mostly post-Renaissance in design; except for Sybak which is a [[Steampunk]] town; and Altamira, a modern resort town with skyscrapers and working elevators.
* [[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
* [[Secret Shop]]: It's in {{spoiler|Luin, after you rebuild it}}. And they sell the strongest [[Lethal Joke Item|Lethal Joke Items]] that money can buy.
* [[Self-Imposed Challenge]]: Invoked; several Titles exist as rewards for embarking on several common challenges, though most only require you to stick with them until various points on Disc 1, rather than the whole game.
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** 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.
* [[Shout-Out]]:
** 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 ''[[
** 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.
** Some of the equipment items are also shout outs. The [[One Piece|straw hat]], for example.
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* [[Solve the Soup Cans]]: Many puzzles revolve around this; the most blatant example is the "quest" to obtain the Ymir Fruit.
* [[Spank the Cutie]]: After finding out they skipped class, Raine proceeds to spank Genis.
* [[Spell My Name
* [[Spoiler Opening]]: How do you know {{spoiler|that Sheena is going to join the party and that Kratos will eventually face off with you? Simple; the cover shows Sheena, Lloyd and Zelos in fighting poses (with Colette just doing some Maiden Pose) and the trailer shows Sheena attacking and killing an enemy (like it does with all your other eventual allies) in addition to Lloyd drawing his swords in preparation for battle in response to Kratos stepping out of the shadows.}} [[Sarcasm Mode|Subtle.]]
* [[Standing in
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: {{spoiler|Zelos. Big time. See: His Flanoir scene, or the cutscene in which you kill him if you chose Kratos in Flanoir. Mithos, as a type C,}} might count, too, at least until [[The Reveal]].
* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]]:
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* [[Video Game 3D Leap]]: First game in the series to use 3D battles, although free-range 3D running didn't come until ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]''.
* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting]]: Kilia changes voluntarily from some kind of purple monster-thing into a human child and back.
* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: It's a [[Tales
* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Oh so much use of this. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] at one point.
* [[Wing Pull]]:
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