They move at a quick pace and you often find yourself moving on from one battle to the next with little downtime. On a basic level, they’re fun because it’s fun to hit things. Symphonia carefully balances its battles in a way that keeps them consistently engaging. Sometimes it’s better to play things safe and pick a moment where your party can best support you before going in for the kill. Many enemies tempt you to relentlessly attack them, but if you fall for the bait they will quickly drain your HP and overwhelm you. Blocking ends up being a surprisingly prominent mechanic because of this balance. You must balance your understanding of the action mechanics with the long term consequences of trying to deal damage. This is a game where you’re meant to take damage, not unlike how the player and enemies take turns dealing blows in a turn-based RPG. However, the gaps force you to strategize. Symphonia’s combat may come across as stiff as a result because your combos aren’t long and it’s easy for enemies to punish you in between the gaps of your attacks. Unlike most fighting games, however, your combo options are generally limited. Tales games borrow elements from fighting games in that you can combine basic attacks with special attacks called Artes in order to maximize damage with combo attacks. While you run whacking enemies often, whacking can’t be your sole concern. The combat in Symphonia effectively bridges the gap between turn-based RPG and action game. Since you lack direct control over the battle, you have no choice but to make decisions based on the numbers at play. Turn-based RPGs by their nature fall more on the stats mattering end of the line. In many action games, you only need to understand the base combat mechanics in order to find success. In reality the vast majority of “action RPGs” lean closer to pure action games that just happen to make numbers appear when you hit things.Ī fine line exists between the RPG elements being there and actually changing how you play the game. People throw all kinds of different games into the “action RPG” bucket. Tales games are known primarily for being “action RPGs,” but in the modern day, what constitutes an RPG has become pretty diluted. It does this in many ways, but combat is the most prominent. Symphonia remains one of the best examples of this concept because it strikes just the right balance between traditional RPG tenants and fresh ideas. What makes Tales games special is how they work within convention to connect you to that traditional kind of experience on a deeper level. While the Tales series often takes criticism for its straightforward adherence to convention, that element forms an important part of their identity. Symphonia follows beats that virtually any RPG fan from the 90s will be familiar with. By the time that I played Symphonia, I was very familiar with games like Final Fantasy and its contemporaries, particularly how their stories go and how the games are structured. I describe Symphonia as a regenerative RPG because it took a lot of the things I loved about RPGs and instilled them with a new energy. The nature of regeneration versus recycling collide here, highlighting the important roles of both. Ironically, I’m talking about Symphonia now because it has once again been churned through the remaster machine. Tales of Symphonia focuses on the concept of “regeneration.” While that term carries plot significance with it, it also summarizes a lot of the impact this game had on me specifically, particularly in regards to my view on RPGs. Sometimes, however, “re”s can be a force for change they can take something you love and execute it in an exciting new way. That’s what the “re” prefix means, after all. From remakes to remasters to your favorite alternative form of reconditioning, it’s hard not to associate the “re”s with repetition or the sense you’ve done it all before. A lot of “re”-ing goes on in video games these days.
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