Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World Review

If there is one downside to being a fan of the role playing genre, it is the lack of direct sequels. Sure, there have been bad sequels, just to me information technology has ever been a little sad to spend hours growing attached to the cast and exploring the world of a great game, just to never run into them again when you achieve the conclusion.

With that in heed, imagine my delight when Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was announced – a sequel to one of my favourite games of all time. Having finally had the gamble to play information technology subsequently an agonisingly long wait, I tin ostend that while it may not be everything that was hoped for, it is still a very proficient game.

The first and near obvious positive is the premise. The get-go game ended in typical RPG fashion – with the assumption that the globe was at present at peace and everyone would alive happily ever after. The sequel shatters that by inviting us to explore a world whose people are suffering peradventure more than e'er before.

Not only is that a far more than realistic depiction of what would happen after the events of the original but information technology links the two together in a way an entirely new crunch could not take done. Add to that the revelation that someone from the previous game is plainly responsible for at to the lowest degree part of that suffering and y'all have a compelling mystery that drives half of the main plot forward.

Then there is the elementary joy of returning to that world. Most of the locations that were present in the first game are exactly the same every bit they were before just with improved graphics, which is fine by me. They were beautiful earlier and are even more so now.

In that location are also enough new locations and updates to places that need them – such equally the town you are living in at the start of the game – to make the earth feel alive. At that place are a few missteps, though; it was definitely a error to remove the world map, and the only town that has changed significantly without a genuine reason should take been left untouched, as it is non an improvement.

The same can be said of the sound. The soundtrack is primarily the aforementioned every bit before, with a few minor rearrangements and new tracks scattered here and there, which is over again fine past me. The music was one of the most impressive aspects of the original game and information technology works over again here. The but bad piece of music is the new sleep music, which has been changed for no apparent reason and is not even remotely soothing or relaxing.

And then we have the vox cast, who for the well-nigh part maintain the run of bright acting in the Tales games. The 2 new lead characters, Emil and Marta, have been provided with voices that suit their personalities perfectly, while those actors that worked on the first game and have returned to their roles are fifty-fifty ameliorate than they were before.

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Alas, the bulk of the returning characters are now voiced past new actors. While about of them suit their roles, one or two of them are truly dreadful and will stand out whether you are familiar with what they sounded like in Tales of Symphonia or not. For those of you that are, you will go accustomed to many of them simply those few volition really hurt your enjoyment. On the plus side, you are never with them for very long.

The battle organization, equally must be considered a tradition of the Tales series at this point, can be either a very deep feel or an practice in button bashing depending on how you choose to play. The biggest addition to that battle system is the power to include the monsters yous run into in your party.

When you defeat them in battle, you tin can make a pact with the monster and from so on y'all can use them in your battle party. There is a limit on how many you tin travel with at any one time, just you can put over two hundred of them into storage. It is deceptively uncomplicated and you may well find yourself sinking hours into improving their stats and skills.

Very much linked to the monsters are the Centurions, elemental representatives that you lot assemble throughout, and unfortunately they are perhaps my biggest problem with the game. My reason for disliking them is because beyond their chemical element, they also represent an amazing lack of effort from the writers.

In the first game, the heroes were searching for the 8 Summon Spirits; in the sequel, they are on a quest to find the viii Centurions. Not but do those Centurions represent the same viii elements as their Summon Spirit counterparts, the game makes no bones about the fact that they are to be constitute in exactly the same locations. Frankly, that is a laziness that borders on the insulting.

All the same, the dungeons they are found in are expanded enough to make them interesting once again, and the addition of Centurions did give u.s. Tenebrae, the Centurion of Darkness and one of the master cast, who is simply brilliant. Honestly, he may well be among my five favourite characters from the entire serial.

Of form, no review of a Wii game can go abroad with not mentioning the controls, though Dawn of the New Globe doesn't really break whatsoever new ground. Movement is controlled with the Nunchuk while options of every kind are selected with all the usual buttons, meaning information technology isn't much different to using a regular controller.

The Wiimote is, however, necessary for 1 or ii mini-games and also for aiming the Sorcerer's Band, a staple of the series that has returned in one case more. The controls work just fine in all these situations, with the simply problem coming in battle when response is occasionally a little on the wearisome side.

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In the end, it seems nosotros have a tale of 2 games, where practically every attribute of the experience has both its good and bad points. Thankfully, the good generally outweighs the bad. Fifty-fifty my disappointment at how short the chief plot is tin can exist countered by the cognition that telling a compelling story is far more of import than runtime.

Sure, it does feel slightly rushed at first when you are constantly rolling in coin and in a new town updating your weapons seemingly in one case an hour, but y'all eventually go caught up in the momentum. As for the coin issue, you are nevertheless limited to 20 of any 1 item, so you cannot but stockpile your manner through the game.

As with whatever game, whether or not you will like this one depends upon what type of gamer y'all are. However, if like me yous are a fan of the original, the Tales series, or JRPGs in full general, I cannot see any reason why yous will not observe a lot to love about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

8

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Source: https://www.rpgsite.net/review/2895-tales-of-symphonia-dawn-of-the-new-world-review

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