Tales of Symphonia Remastered Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Speedrun Tips

Tales of Symphonia Remastered from Bandai Namco brings one of the most noteworthy JRPGs of all time to the forefront of modern gaming once more.

Symphonia, initially released in Japan in 2003, was the first breakthrough game in the series in North America in 2004, earning rave acclaim and setting the groundwork for future installments.

It established a foothold as a critical title in GameCube's lifecycle as Nintendo desperately grappled with finding non-Final Fantasy RPGs to beef up the console's library and has since been released on Sony systems and PC, too.

This latest remaster doesn't add or change much outside of visuals. Meaning, whether the source material has aged well enough to be more than a nostalgia-button puncher will dictate whether it's worth a look.

Graphics and Gameplay

Symphonia was a brave effort at the time, going full 3D mixed with a stunning cel-shaded style, the latter a big leap forward for the series.

And at the time it was a stunner. It mixed walking around a 3D overworld with navigating towns and dungeons with battles handled by running into a monster on the overworld before being transported to a separate battle scene.

Visually, the cel-shading wowed audiences back then and the art style was distinctive. That's still mostly true, though 20 years of RPGs have lessened the impact of say, the expected sandy deserts and beachside cities.

Presentation-wise, this is a remaster in a light sense. Muddy textures and awkward blocky characters remain. And it would have been nice to see some scenes mixed up and possibly re-told, as seeing highly emotional moments acted out via the awkward overworld character models just doesn't hit right, especially when an anime has since down the major moments so much better.

The audio portion of the game remains classic, at least. The stunning soundtrack returns and does one of the best-ever dubs of a Japanese game thanks to some amazing voice acting from heavyweight actors. Bonus points because players can choose between the English and Japanese audio options.

The gameplay loop won't be unfamiliar to RPG fans. Players roam the overworld, visit towns and tackle dungeons with different gimmicks, although actual Zelda-styled puzzles aim more at providing good pacing than a variety of different challenges.

Pacing is a very important word with Symphonia. It's a very long game, but the balancing act it walks of high story drama and combat in a genre that struggles mightily with bloated runtimes is one of the big reasons it remains a beloved classic.

Similarly, combat was amazing upon initial release but understandably feels stiff in 2023. It's 3D and in real-time which are positives. But the player remains locked on to at least one enemy at all times and is restricted to a 2D plane. It is downright essential for players to get familiar with the proper timing for blocking and the strategy involved in predicting an enemy's movements before attempting a combo they can't stop. Combos based on directional inputs and timing are nice, but things don't really open up until Artes enter the fray.

Those powerful magical attacks are where Symphonia really opens up on battlefields. Running around using basic attacks and techs while juggling item usage to keep the whole party alive is fun. However, putting strategy and timing into the use of elemental attacks or healing for each of the party members is a strategic blast. Players will also eventually unearth Unison Attacks, which adds another layer of depth.

That's not to say combat isn't fun—it's quickly engrossing. But it's impossible not to mention that combat in the genre and in video games as a whole has come a long, long way since this initial release. That probably won't stop players from getting absolutely hooked once the good stuff starts flowing.

Story and More

The land of Sylvarant, stricken with an energy crisis requiring "The Chosen" to trigger Regeneration in order to save the planet—let's stop there and say Symphonia is very JRPG cookie-cutter stuff.

But only early in the journey.

Players assume the role of Lloyd, friend of the current Chosen, Colette. They journey together, fending off evil Desians, picking up new party members, trying to solve the mystery of Exsphere devices and so much more.

While it sounds as trope-y as it gets, and in some ways it is, players paying close attention will notice underlying themes of racism and mature subject matter that will come to the forefront in time. The cutesy visuals, in fact, sometimes clash in an almost uncomfortable manner with some of the things happening (see: early Human Ranches).

In its heyday, Symphonia was so beloved in part because of the stunning twists that happen within the storyline. The cookie-cutter JRPG dressing changes to something else in a hurry. But two decades later, something of a trendsetter hasn't aged so well and some stiff writing with emotional pitches all over the place doesn't help.

That doesn't mean it won't grip new players. Enthralling characters abound and the narrative keeps adding to the cast for quite a bit of game time.

Even to this day, the number of side items and conversations with each character is staggering. No proverbial stone goes unturned when getting to know the colorful cast and players who take the time will find it hard not to care about how things play out for each one. In this way, Symphonia really set the bar for a player's relationship with party members in RPGs.

Similarly, Symphonia always handled progression in a fun and interesting way with the Titles system. Completing certain side quests or other prerequisites earns the player and allies very specific titles, which offer dramatic boosts to key areas. Only one can be equipped at a time, which makes for some splendid build diversity and seemingly endless party combinations.

Same story for the EX Gem system, which enables notable stat boosts and in important cases, new skills (such as being able to do multiple combos mid-air or increasing overall movement speed). Players earn these from beating bosses and general exploration and characters can equip up to four at a time, again hitting the theme—there are hundreds of interesting combinations for individual characters and parties as a whole.

It doesn't stop there, either. Beyond gear management and being able to change things on the fly mid-combat, players can set some rather in-depth strategy for all of their party members, which the game heeds quite well.

Then there is the all-important cooking, which will provide the expected benefits. The list of ingredients and possibilities is long, as is the case with most everything here. Ditto for sidequests, which provide important bonuses.

Add in an open world to explore, a wow-worthy number of Titles and other things to earn and there's a reason trophy hunters back in the day needed 100-plus hours to 100 percent the game.

This being a remaster, the technical front is important, though. Performance is a mixed bag. This release will inevitably get criticized for being capped at 30 frames per second (30 FPS) when the GameCube release ran at 60 FPS. It's not the end of the world, but some notable frame drops from that 30 in busy dungeon areas are disappointing.

The game still offers a good amount of options, but it's also a big letdown to see the lack of an autosave function implemented. While there's a certain charm to needing to manually find save points in some games (see: Dead Space), this game would've benefited greatly from a save-anywhere feature.

These sensible upgrades to a classic come at a rough time for the release too—the surprise drop of the Metroid Prime Remastered showed just how souped-up a former GameCube juggernaut can be on modern hardware with modern design decisions.

Speedrunning Tips

How big is this game?

View it through a speedrunning lens—world-record runs still took north of seven hours.

Typical advice stands the test of time here. The game now allows players to skip special movie cutscenes and skits, but runners will just have to mash buttons to get through the unskippable dialogue boxes (of which there are many over the course of the game's runtime).

There are also options to have party members auto-equip the best loadouts, which cuts down on time spent in menus.

By far the biggest tip, besides practicing routing for the best paths through the game? Perform well in combat to be able to afford big upgrades at the GRADE Shop early, which will dramatically cut down on encounter difficulty.

This sounds basic, and in a way it is. A JRPG run for a game that came out in the early 2000s that doesn't feature a bunch of sequence breaks simply boils down to getting efficient, executing well and knowing what side content to skip.

Conclusion

Symphonia typically stands at the top of the list or near it when ranking games in the series. That same charm in the twist-filled story and writing and stunning build diversity that made it such a hit faithfully returns here.

As a remaster, Symphonia is a bit of a letdown. There's not a lot new and it has run better in past versions. It's nice to have the Switch's mobile functionality to take the classic on the go, of course, but this arguably isn't the best version of the game.

As a game? This is Symphonia, a hit that stands the test of time well. As fans can attest, it's always worth revisiting. The combat is a blast, the pacing of the story keeps players coming back for more and it's impossible not to care about the characters. This means it's better late than never time for would-be first-time players to finally experience it, too.