Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platform: PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Tales of Symphonia Remastered – Review
It makes one feel very old when realizing that the English version of Tales of Symphonia is almost twenty years old. The game was originally released for Nintendo’s GameCube and it was such a success that a sequel was also released several years later. For many fans of the current Tales games, we reckon that Tales of Symphonia was their starting point. Now, the question remains if the remaster was something we truly asked for and if the game still holds up after all these years. For the most part, this is still a great game, but that has little to do with the actual quality of the remastered version.
Story
Tales of Symphonia Remastered revolves around Colette, who is the chosen one to rejuvenate the world of Sylverant. Because of her quest, she has to venture out of her village to restore the world’s ‘mana’. Luckily, she does not have to undertake this quest alone, as Lloyd and several other familiar faces will join her on her adventure. What at first seems like a very typical JRPG experience becomes something that truly grows on you. Even with the game’s slow start, the characters start getting fleshed out as you progress further into the game, and the story does become rather serious and dark at times. This is what motivates you to keep pressing forward through this meaty serving of fantasy RPG content.
The story presentation is done via many dialogues, and you’ll also get the occasional cutscene thrown in the mix to add a bit more depth to the narrative. As a whole, if you’re looking for a story-driven experience, you’ll like what’s on offer here.
Graphics
Even though the game still has its original cute chibi-esque charm, this remastered version does not differ that much from the remastered version that was released nearly a decade ago, and even that version left a lot to be desired. The game still looks decent for a retro game, but as a whole, a lot of textures look quite muddy, and only the characters seemingly received a bit of extra love. Due to this, we sometimes found the characters a bit bright and too sharp compared to their surroundings. That being said, a game such as this would probably benefit more from a remake, instead of just upscaling the original game.
Sound
The sound design has not really been altered for this release. The audio mixing isn’t always on point, and this game would have been amazing with a remastered and perhaps revised audioscape. The soundtrack and the very cheezy voice acting still carry a certain charm, but even here things start to feel a bit dated when looking at the bigger picture.
Gameplay
Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a very traditional JRPG title that lacks many of the modern comforts of the genre. For the most part, you’ll be running around, battling monsters while progressing through the story. The game is a narrative-driven experience, and it still holds up quite well in that aspect. Sadly, the game is starting to show its age due to a lack of auto-save features, annoying menus, and an overall dated combat system. The same can also be said about the map or some mission objectives, as you’ll sometimes be running around the game’s environments without a proper clue what to do next.
Truth be told, while the game has a lot of finer mechanics, as is common for the genre, you’ll also play through a very straightforward experience. You try to manage your party as best as you can, while you decide if it’s useful to battle as many monsters as you possibly can, to gain more experience. The combat itself is a bit dull when comparing it to more modern titles, as it often boils down to mashing a few buttons to eventually make a tactical decision or two. The different characters bring different skills to the table, and they also handle differently in combat, which does provide a nice change of pace from the otherwise monotonous hacking and slashing Lloyd presents you with.
The game plays nicely, but we did miss a lot of modern features, such as easier-to-navigate menus, proper waypoints for quests, a better map, an auto-save feature, and so on. While many of these items are negligible when looked at separately, they do become increasingly noticeable when bundled together.
Conclusion
Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a somewhat odd remaster of a game that was already remastered several years ago. We feel as if it’s better to just play the original or the previous remastered version, as this version doesn’t bring anything worth mentioning to the table, safe for a few minuscule improvements. Tales of Symphonia Remastered’s main charm comes from its great story, and this is something that can be enjoyed no matter what version you play. While the game holds up nicely after almost two decades, it is starting to show its age as the game simply doesn’t play that smoothly when judged by modern standards. That being said, if you’re into retro games, or you simply grew up with titles such as this, you’ll probably feel right at home, or you will not find many of these older mechanics and systems too annoying. For newcomers, however, this might be a harder title to sell, especially considering the fairly high price tag that comes with the game.
Tales of Symphonia Remastered - Review,
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