Home > Video Games > Game Cube  $39.95   MPN: 30002 UPC: 722674300025 Tales of Symphonia Features : Fierce, action-packed battle system with hundreds of special attacks, spells, and combos Fully customizable character growth system -- change your fighting style and alter the storyline according to the characters' relationships Multiplayer fighting action - Up to 4 players can control one party member each during combat Unprecedented number of great minigames and side quests Platforms : GameCube Release Date:  08 August, 2006 Manufacturer:  Namco Availability:  This item is currently not available. List Price:  $19.99   Accessories: (none) Similar Products: (none)     Customer Reviews   Tales of...Star Ocean? Rating: 3 Some of the Tales of...titles seem to generate comparisons to the Star Ocean series. While the two are completely different games, I, too, began to see similarities...and then the similarities grew as I progressed through this title. Graphics Cell shaded. The locales are quite nice, but some of them do appear rather flat and stale at times. The graphics during battle run very smoothly and are quite nice. The detail of the characters and monsters are quite nice. Gameplay You will love the combat engine. There are a few mini games scattered throughout the game that are quite easy to pick up and play. Also, navigation isn't too difficult; though, being on foot for almost the entire game on the world map can become quite tedious. The game has a short learning curve. You can easily compare it to Star Ocean. Story When is picks up, it gets good; however, when it slows down, its really slow. Even some of the main missions seem out of place as at times they do very little as regards to progression in the story. At times, the story does drag...The story, for the most part is solid, but not all that original. The story itself is somewhat predictable. Characters Entertaining, but not a bunch I would opt to travel around the world with. Some character's personalities are a little dry while some of the others are just plain annoying. Some of the characters are almost one-dimensional as there isn't much to their personality--story wise, there really is only one character who goes through a massive change. Overall There are some sidequests...and they take you way out of your way to complete them. It would have been one thing if your character had a faster means of transportation across the world map. With the amount of random encounters, its bound to annoy anyone who just wants to get the mission done. The story has a very light-hearted sort of feel; while not necessarily geared towards kids, the plot and progress may turn some players off as they may see it as somewhat immature. The game is good, but similar to Star Ocean in many aspects. The Good: -Short Learning Curve -Enjoyable Cast of Characters (some) -Nice Graphics -Fun Combat Engine The Bad: -Considered an "inferior" Star Ocean -Some parts of the game drag -Appears to be geared towards kids -Music is repetitive and forgettable The Ugly: -The character portraits during dialogue Best Gamecube RPG! Rating: 5 This is probably your best option for RPGs on the Gamecube. Fire Emblem doesn't count as it is more turn based strategy game and not a real RPG game like Tales (you don't travel in Fire Emblem, since it is Chapter based). The Tales series are known for the "real time" battle system, where you get to control the battle hands on instead of choosing what you want your character to do (though you will most of your characters to manage on their own). The game is huge and will take a while for any seasoned RPG gamer or first time RPG player to finish. The main draw for the game is obviously for the great story. Any game that tells a good story is usually a very good RPG, of course that's just part of it. The battle system is another key factor in any RPG and Tales doesn't disappoint as it is easy to execute but at the same time there are interesting perks such as the combo system. One main draw to the series is how there is no random battles. You get to see the enemy on the screen and you get to choose if you want to engage in battle or avoid it (though the enemies will tend to pursue you to engage in battle you can normally avoid a lot of battles if you don't wish to fight). I can go on longer about this game but I will end by saying that this game definitely deserves a purchase seeing how it is budget priced and if you own a GC or a Wii you will be owning one of the best RPGs for both systems (at least for now). A trully unforgetable, fun RPG Rating: 5 Tales of Symphonia is truly the best RPG I have ever played. It's not a short game either. It advertises 80 hours of game play, and unless you are absolutely a pro at it, it will take you at least 90-94. It has a pretty decent story line too. I 100% think that if you haven't played it before, to buy it and play it. Don't waste money renting it, just buy it.