Tales of Symphonia for GameCube Reviews by Gamers

I started playing Tales of Symphonia back when it first came out in middle school and absolutely loved it. I recently decided to check it out again and found that the game is still as perfect as I remember it.

Graphics: the cell shaded graphics stand up well even to newer JRPGs because of the intense vibrant color palate. While not on par with later tales games like vesperia, the comic book styling is still very compelling and fits the game well.

Story: The storyline is intricate and interesting but is very typical of most JRPGs. Someone things someone is good, finds out they are bad, decides to stop them. Sure there are lots of more detailed and interesting points but the basis is pretty standard fare, especially for the tales series.

Gameplay: Probably what makes this game so addicting, real time battle sequences. The controls for battles are precise and can be customized. The combo and attack system is very well done and flows well. Also, players can use any of 8 characters in their party to control during battles (which use 4 characters) so many different character classes can be used. The battles also allow for 4 player co-op, which can be extremely fun if you have some veteran tales players.
Other than battles, minigames, sidequests, and basic navigation and dialogue tasks are all intuitive and fun. The sidequests and titles/costume system will keep you playing for hundreds of hours.

Overall: This is an amazing game that never got very well promoted or became too popular when it was released. Looking for old copies has shown there is definitely still a great demand for this game. And for good reason, It is simply wonderful.