Tales of Symphonia Goes

Tales of Symphonia Goes "Gold"

June 21, 2004, 2:27 pm EDT
Total comments: 19

That means it's finished and almost ready for release, and also that it jumped higher than any of the other contenders.

THE EPIC BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL NEARS…

TALES OF SYMPHONIA GOES GOLD!

Highly Anticipated Role-Playing Game Journeys One Step Closer To Store Shelves

San Jose, Ca., (June 21, 2004) – The perilous quest for survival will soon be a reality. Leading video games developer and publisher Namco Hometek Inc. announced today that its popular quest-driven role-playing game, Tales of Symphonia, has gone gold. Exclusively for Nintendo GameCube, Tales of Symphonia will lead players on an epic adventure filled with intrigue, sacrifice and surprises as it makes its way to retail outlets on July 13, 2004.

“Tales of Symphonia establishes a new standard for the role-playing genre of games,” said Rod Nakamoto, executive vice president of research and development.“ Combining a dynamic battle system with breathtaking graphics, Tales of Symphonia provides an incredible game play experience with its story-driven action. Fans of previous entries in the Tales series will wholeheartedly embrace Tales of Symphonia when it arrives in stores this July.”

The latest installment in Namco’s popular Tales series of games, Tales of Symphonia offers full control of characters through its unique real-time battle system, allowing for the execution and combination of multiple magic spells and special attacks. Including more than a dozen mini-games and side quests, the game redefines the role-playing genre with an emotionally driven storyline transcending more than 80 hours of game play. In addition, Tales of Symphonia features characters designed by renowned Japanese artist Kosuke Fujishima, delivering beautiful anime-style cel-shaded graphics to the game’s expansive 3D worlds.

Tales of Symphonia is rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and

carries a suggested retail price of $49.99. The game will be available in stores nationwide beginning the week of July 12, 2004. For more information about the game or to enter the “Chosen One” sweepstakes visit the Tales of Symphonia web site at http://tales.namco.com/.

Talkback

CHENJune 21, 2004

Woohoo... that means 6 months++ for me.

Have fun, guys.

Bill AurionJune 21, 2004

I'm hyped, I'm ready to roll! Unfortunately, it's still quite a ways till release... :\

Ian SaneJune 21, 2004

I'm torn on whether to buy this. I have this cycle I go through regarding RPGs. I'll buy one and I'll play it until the wee hours of the night on the first day. Then I'll get into a more normal schedule of playing it for a couple hours a week. Then the story will get over the initial conflict and a NEW conflict will be revealed as the greater evil. At this point I will lose interest in the story and will have played the game for like 20 hours anyway and I'll give up because the gameplay is so dull and the game is just so ridiculously long. It happens nearly every time with Super Mario RPG being the sole exception and thus the sole RPG I've beaten.

So you might say I have some substantial evidence that RPGs just aren't for me. Yet I'll probably still buy this and still love it initially only to grow incredibly sick of it. Oh well. At the very least I'll be supporting a third party Cube RPG and I'll own a title that will likely become rare over the years.

Burning ExcaliburJune 21, 2004

I'm an RPG'er. I love what I can get my hands on for RPG's you know? And this ToS is sounding great. I looked at it briefly in a copy of Nintendo Power. But sometimes I fall behind on new GC games to save some money. Ah hell I'll get it anyway.

WuTangTurtleJune 21, 2004

I agree with you Ian, I love rpg's but i too find myself getting sick of them. My favorite rpg is chrono trigger yet ive never beaten it. I was truely hooked by the game's characters but i took a break from playing it and when i came back to playing it i completely forgot what i was supposed to do, and never learned what or where i was supposed to do.

I've done the same to other rpgs too and thats mainly because i have a backlog of many games that i havent completely finished. I try my best to fit all my games in and not let too big of a gap between each game. I think Animal Crossing hurt my streak pretty badly, lol.

Well i have only a short time to complete some of my games before ToS comes along!

Wish me luck!

TheYoungerPlumberMichael Cole, Associate EditorJune 21, 2004

According to Jonny's impressions, this game doesn't pull any of that "surprise larger plotline" crap.

Bill AurionJune 21, 2004

Which makes sense, because Tales of Phantasia didn't pull that...

NinGurl69 *hugglesJune 21, 2004

*downloads in pants*

Jonnyboy117Jonathan Metts, Associate EditorJune 21, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber
According to Jonny's impressions, this game doesn't pull any of that "surprise larger plotline" crap.

It's true in the traditional RPG sense. You know the implications of what is going on from the very beginning. There are still tons of twists, but it's not like you're fighting one villain for the whole game, only to learn that he's being controlled by another villain (at least I don't think so, haven't seen the ending of course). It's more that you never know for sure, at any point in the game, exactly who the good guys and bad guys are. Every character in the game is either hiding something or has a mysterious past that the character himself/herself may not even understand or be aware of.

DjunknownJune 21, 2004

This is the first title I won't be getting right away. Even my seemingly bottomless wallet has limits(That and I switched my reserve from said title to Mega Man's anniversary collection)...

It'll be interesting to suggest this to my friends as a multiplayer game. It techinically is, isn't it?

Bill AurionJune 21, 2004

Yes, as long as you have controllers in the other ports, friends can control the other characters during battles... ^_^

mouse_clickerJune 21, 2004

This game is sounding more and more like Grandia 2, which is very good because that's the greatest RPG of all time (yes, it's better than Chrono Trigger ).

Infernal MonkeyJune 21, 2004

Grandia 2 > Tales. TAKE THAT, BILL!
*Tee hee hee's away*

Bill AurionJune 21, 2004

~Pantsu stealth attack!~

*smothers Infernal, who dies happy*

Infernal MonkeyJune 21, 2004

It's true.
Interesting sexy side-note, I may have to import this game. I don't know if I could wait another six-fourty months after the US release.

nickmitchJune 21, 2004

When talking of great RPGs I can only think of Earthbound. It may just be me but I love that game and I don't care who knows it!!!
Anywho I'm really excited to get this game and can't wait.

NinGurl69 *hugglesJune 21, 2004

Ache: "THUNDARR PLAY-DOH!" (Thunder Blade)

*lightning zaps Infernal, Fernandez' left eye falls off*

Infernal MonkeyJune 21, 2004

Me eye, me precious eye! Thunder Force you say? =O
*Shoots strange snake things underwater at the speed of lightning*

Me cans, me precious cans!