Tales of Symphonia Remastered Assessment (PS4)

Nonetheless one of the extremely regarded instalments in Namco’s long-running sequence, Tales of Symphonia may very well be thought of a traditional. Certainly, it is simple neglect that the sport’s virtually 20 years previous — and Tales of Symphonia Remastered reveals that the journey really holds up surprisingly effectively.

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 strong.

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 lady named Collette, who simply so occurs to be the childhood pal 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 are a actually endearing group, and there is nice chemistry between them due to some sharp and infrequently comedic writing.

After all, your celebration members are additionally key to fight. Symphonia arguably laid the foundations for Tales titles going ahead, with its emphasis on combos, fast motion, and various combating types. By at present’s requirements, it is a comparatively primary system — and the controls are maybe a bit stiff — however battering monsters remains to be satisfying. There is a actually pleasing stream to fights as you be taught to appropriately time your assaults, pinning your foes in place with the assistance of your AI-controlled allies.

Given simply how effectively Symphonia has aged as a complete, it is a disgrace that this remaster feels so barebones. Other than an apparent decision bump, the visible enhancements are fairly negligible, with muddy environmental textures and backgrounds betraying an artwork type 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 if you’re enjoying on PS5 by way of 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 a number of tough edges, that is nonetheless an ideal motion RPG, stuffed with allure and character. The one actual draw back is that the remaster itself leaves loads to be desired.