Tales of Symphonia

Like previous installments in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia consists primarily of three major areas: an overworld field map, town and dungeon maps, and a battle screen. The overworld map is a 3D model, featuring a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world which the player travels through to reach the game's locations. As with preceding games in the series, the world map can be traversed by foot, on the party's quadrupedal pet Noishe, and flying vehicles known as Rheairds. On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments. On the overworld and field maps, various skits between the characters can be viewed. Four characters from the party are chosen to battle; those not controlled by a player are guided by artificial intelligence with instructions set by the player beforehand. Damage dealt to the opponent fills a "Unison Gauge". When this is full, a "Unison Attack" can be triggered, allowing the party to use techniques simultaneously on a single enemy. When certain techniques are combined, a special attack results in additional damage. Tales of Symphonias skill system is built around the use of "EX Gems", which come in four ranks. Each character can equip up to four EX Gems and set abilities to those gems. The abilities determine if the characters will learn Strike or Technical techniques and spells. Combinations of EX Gem abilities can also grant additional abilities called "EX-Skills". Titles are earned through story progression, side quests, or completion of miscellaneous criteria. ==Plot==

Setting The initial setting of Tales of Symphonia is Sylvarant, a world in a state of decline due to the depletion of mana, a force essential to life and the use of magic. 4000 years prior, a war was waged by an evil race known as the Desians, who were sealed away by the legendary hero Mithos via a pact with the world's goddess Martel. Due to Sylvarant's weakening mana, the Desians have reemerged and are terrorizing humanity, conducting biological experiments on abducted humans in facilities known as "human ranches", which further consumes mana. During this time, humanity puts its hopes upon the descendant of Martel's angels, the "Chosen", who must undertake a pilgrimage and awaken the "Summon Spirits" who protect Sylvarant. This will in turn awaken Martel, who will reseal the Desians and restore the world's mana, and the Chosen will be reborn as an angel. The Chosen's pilgrimage is complicated by the presence of the Renegades, a group that deliberately dresses in Desian garb and has assassinated Sylvarant's Chosen for the past 800 years, preventing Martel's awakening. Later, the existence of a parallel world named Tethe'alla comes to light. The two worlds are separated by a dimensional barrier that can only be passed through using magical technology (or "magitech"). They share a single source of mana and are caught in a precarious equilibrium in which mana is unevenly distributed; as one world prospers, the other declines. Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are inhabited by humans as well as elves, a race of long-lived humanoid extraterrestrials who originated from the giant comet Derris-Kharlan and can manipulate mana to cast magic. Although normally only those of elven blood can cast magic, humans such as Kratos and Zelos can gain the same ability by ingesting the powdered ore "Aionis". Offspring born between humans and elves are half-elves, who bear both the fighting spirit and curiosity of humans and the longevity and magical capabilities of elves. Because of this, they are discriminated against by condescending elves and jealous humans, and in Tethe'alla they are deprived of civil rights. The Desians are composed entirely of half-elves who act out of vengeance for this discrimination. Several characters bear an "Exsphere", a small jewel that enhances the wearer's natural abilities when implanted onto the skin, and is also used as a power source for machinery. However, an Exsphere's amplifying capability can only be awakened at the cost of a human life, and the Exsphere parasitically feeds off the user's mana unless a suppressant named a "Key Crest" is installed. An evolved form of Exsphere known as a "Cruxis Crystal" grants its user immortality, a pair of angel-like wings, and a relinquished need for human functions such as eating or sleeping, but eventually erases the user's ego if worn without a Key Crest. The Chosen is said to be born holding a Cruxis Crystal, though it is actually granted by its namesake organization Cruxis, the central body of the religion surrounding Martel. Cruxis' duty is to ensure the perpetuation of the Chosen's genetic lineage in the prospering world and to guide the Chosen's pilgrimage via an oracle in the declining world. Characters The main protagonist is Lloyd Irving, a young swordsman who joins the Chosen's pilgrimage as a means of protecting his childhood friend Colette Brunel. He also seeks to defeat the Desians and avenge his mother, who was said to be killed protecting the Exsphere on the back of Lloyd's hand. The other members of the pilgrimage include Lloyd and Colette's mutual friend Genis Sage, their village schoolteacher and Genis's older sister Raine Sage, and the traveling mercenary Kratos Aurion, who is hired by the village church to escort Colette. The group is later joined by Sheena Fujibayashi, a ninja from Tethe'alla who initially tries to assassinate Colette; Zelos Wilder, the arrogant and womanizing Chosen of Tethe'alla; Presea Combatir, a young lumberjack with superhuman strength as a result of Cruxis Crystal-related experiments; and Regal Bryant, an ex-convict who wishes to avenge his lover, whom he was forced to kill. The organization Cruxis is led by Yggdrasill, a half-elf whose ultimate goal is to turn all people into lifeless beings in order to bring about an age free of discrimination. Yggdrasill's secret identity is that of the legendary hero Mithos, an ageless half-elven boy who seeks to revive his older sister Martel, whom he propped up as a goddess following her death in the ancient war. Prior to Yggdrasill's appearance, the oracle Remiel, who promotes Colette's transformation into an angel, serves as the primary representative of Cruxis. The Renegades, a group attempting to thwart Cruxis' goals, are led by Yuan, a half-elf who aided Mithos in ending the ancient war and was engaged to Martel. Story Colette is summoned to her village's church to receive the oracle who will initiate her pilgrimage to regenerate Sylvarant. She is protected from an apparent Desian attack by her friends Lloyd and Genis, as well as the traveling mercenary Kratos. Lloyd and Genis are initially denied the opportunity to accompany Colette on her pilgrimage, and Colette, hoping to protect them, secretly leaves early with Raine and Kratos. However, Lloyd and Genis's violation of a treaty with a nearby human ranch leads to their village's devastation and their exile, leaving them no other option but to join Colette's pilgrimage. During the journey, the process of the Chosen's transformation into an angel is revealed to entail the gradual loss of Colette's humanity. They also encounter and eventually make peace with the assassin Sheena, who comes from the parallel world of Tethe'alla. From her, they learn how the two worlds vie for each other's mana through the journey of regeneration. Within a human ranch, the group discovers that Exspheres are cultivated within humans, with Lloyd's Exsphere having came from within his mother. Hoping to find answers from the oracle Remiel, the party meets him at the Chosen's final destination and are betrayed by Remiel and Kratos; both are revealed to be members of Cruxis, an organization that seeks to use the Chosen's body as Martel's vessel. The party is rescued by the Renegades, a group that poses as Desians and aims to prevent Martel's resurrection. The Renegades' leader, Yuan, explains that the Desians are servants of Cruxis and act to terrorize the population of the declining world and stimulate the growth of the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal. When Yuan declares his intent to secure Lloyd to further the Renegades' purpose, the party escapes for Tethe'alla, where they meet the Chosen Zelos and restore Colette's humanity after crafting a Key Crest for her Cruxis Crystal. In search for a way to save both worlds, the party determines that awakening the Summon Spirits in both worlds will sever the mana tie between them. Believing that to be the answer, they forge pacts with Tethe'alla's Summon Spirits to sever all mana ties between the two worlds. During this time, the party meets and befriends a half-elven youth named Mithos, who shares the name of the legendary hero. The groups actions instead destabilize the Great Seed, the supplier of mana to both worlds, causing it to grow catastrophically and engulf Sylvarant. The party re-stabilizes the seed using a Renegade-designed mana cannon. Colette suffers an illness that is caused by her Cruxis Crystal and was once cured by the hero Mithos, requiring the party to seek materials for a cure. In their search, they learn from an elven storyteller that the hero Mithos eventually became the Cruxis leader Yggdrasill, who split the world in two with the reality-bending Eternal Sword. After curing Colette, Lloyd is held hostage by Yuan, who reveals Kratos to be Lloyd's father and demands that Kratos unseal the Summon Spirit Origin from himself. The Renegades, seeking to germinate the Great Seed, require a pact from Origin to wield the Eternal Sword. However, unsealing Origin would result in Kratos's death. The boy Mithos also reveals himself to be Yggdrasill, attacking Yuan and rejecting his former companions. The party realizes they can save the world if they defeat Mithos, unseal Origin and wield the Eternal Sword to merge the worlds and germinate the Great Seed. At Mithos' stronghold, Zelos allows Colette to be kidnapped in a genuine or feigned betrayal of the party (depending on the player's choices), and Mithos uses Colette's body to reawaken Martel. However, Martel rejects Mithos' actions and twisted vision, and before vanishing back into the Great Seed, she laments that the elves should never have left Derris-Kharlan. Mithos misinterprets this sentiment as a wish to leave the two worlds for Derris-Kharlan, but is seemingly killed by the party before carrying out his seizure of the Great Seed, and Genis keeps his Cruxis Crystal as a memento of his sole half-elven friend. Kratos reveals that he has been gathering materials to forge a ring that will allow Lloyd to use the Eternal Sword. Seeking atonement, he urges Lloyd to duel him and release Origin. In a symbolic struggle, Lloyd defeats Kratos and the seal is broken, but Yuan saves Kratos's life with a mana transfusion. After Lloyd forges a pact with Origin, Mithos' spirit, having survived within his Cruxis Crystal, emerges and possesses a member from the party before fleeing to Derris-Kharlan. Mithos attempts to take the Great Seed with him, but is foiled and killed by Lloyd. Using the Eternal Sword, Lloyd merges Sylvarant and Tethe'alla together and germinates the Great Seed, which sprouts into a seedling that will become the Giant Kharlan Tree. The Great Seed's spiritual incarnation, Mana, guides Lloyd toward protecting the Tree, and Lloyd proves his pact by christening the Tree with an unrevealed name. ==Development and release==

On May 8, 2002, Namco and Nintendo announced at a Tokyo press conference that they would collaborate on a number of titles for the GameCube, including a new installment in the Tales series slated for a July 2003 release. Originally developed under the title Tales of Phantasia, its final title was revealed to be Tales of Symphonia in February 2003. An April 2003 edition of Famitsu revealed the game had been in development for two years, most of the development staff previously worked on Tales of Eternia, the game would have the most main characters in a Tales game to date, and would be the first 3D game in the series. A North American localization was confirmed at E3 2003. A conference by Namco on June 9, 2003, revealed the game would be on two disks and its theme song would be "Starry Heavens" by J-pop group Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as "Starry Heavens ver. 2013", which is performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version, as well as the PC and Remastered versions. To celebrate its release in Japan, the game was bundled with a symphonic green GameCube. To increase the North American version's appeal to Western audiences, localization producer Nao Higo replaced "Starry Heavens" with an orchestral anthem by composer Motoi Sakuraba, and focused on hiring experienced voice actors such as Scott Menville, Tara Strong, and Cam Clarke for the English voice-acting. The game was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, and was localized in North America, Australia, and Europe on July 13, 2004, November 18, 2004, and November 19, 2004, respectively. The game was re-released in North America under the Player's Choice label on July 19, 2004. During the second week of April 2004, Weekly Shōnen Jump announced a PlayStation 2 port of Tales of Symphonia. It received new in-game additions and its theme song is by Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as , which is also performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version, as well as the PC and Remastered versions. It was released exclusively in Japan on September 22, 2004, and re-released under the PlayStation 2 the Best label on July 7, 2005. Scenario Takumi Miyajima, the game's writer, explained Tales of Symphonia was planned to create a "unique symphonia", dependent on the player's choices and the affection system. Miyajima wrote many scenarios, with the most significant events centered on Zelos Wilder. Originally, Zelos' death was supposed to be canon. His survival would have been dependent on the affection system: He would die early on if he was ranked the lowest in the affection system, would die at the end if he ranked in the middle, and would only survive if he ranked the top. However, the development staff suggested to have Kratos Aurion return to the party and the team discussed how it would work. The change in scenario had Miyajima rework Zelos' death into a non-canon path of the story. Sequel and Chronicles release A direct sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, was announced on July 20, 2007, for the Wii. It was released in Japan and North America in 2008 and in Europe a year after. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles was announced on June 1, 2013, for the PlayStation 3. It contains Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World with remastered graphics and additional content. It was released in Japan on October 10, 2013, and it was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in February 2014 as both a retail version and download release, with the option to purchase Tales of Symphonia as a standalone release. ==Adaptations==

Comics Tales of Symphonia spawned seven manga adaptations after its release: six anthology collections and a traditional manga series. The first anthology collection, , consists of five volumes which were released between November 25, 2003, and February 25, 2006, by Ichijinsha. The second anthology collection, , is a four-panel comic. It consists of five volumes released between November 25, 2003, and December 25, 2006, by Ichijinsha. A third anthology collection entitled had two volumes published by Mag Garden in February 2005 and 2007. The fourth anthology collection is and consisted of a single volume which was released by Mag Garden on October 10, 2007. The fifth anthology collection is . It consisted of two volumes which were released by Square Enix on May 27, 2005, and September 16, 2005. The manga series by Hitoshi Ichimura was titled Tales of Symphonia and was an adaptation of the game's storyline. Future chapters were released in tankōbon volumes by Mag Garden thereafter. Six volumes were released: the first was released on August 10, 2005, and the last two were released on July 10, 2007. 1, 2, and 3 are stories preceding the game. They were released between July 23, 2004, and September 24, 2004. First Part and Second Part follow Sheena Fujibayashi and Zelos Wilder as they tour the world a year after the events of the main game. The two CDs were released on May 25, 2005, and June 24, 2005. and are side stories with guest characters from Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Graces, respectively. The soundtrack was re-released on October 27, 2004, by King Records (Japan) for the PS2 port of Tales of Symphonia. It consists of four episodes which were released direct-to-video on four separate DVDs on June 8, August 10, October 24, and December 21, 2007. They were later released in a Blu-ray Disc collection on September 26, 2008. The series later rereleased on Universal Media Disc between June 25 and July 23, 2010. The episodes used three pieces of theme music: The opening theme is "Almateria" by Eri Kawai and the two ending themes were by Kaori Hikita and by Nana Mizuki. The sequel series, , was announced during Tales of Festival 2008. It consists of four episodes which were released on March 25, May 26, September 23, 2010, and February 25, 2011. All four episodes received an early screening: The first was screened on March 13, 2010, in Fukuoka and was hosted by Music Plaza Indo; The second on May 4, 2010, in Tokushima, Tokushima by Ufotable; the third on September 17, 2010, in Yokohama by Animate; and the fourth on February 20, 2011, in Roppongi by Toho. The first two episodes were later aired on September 12, 2010, on AT-X. The episodes used the opening theme by Nana Mizuki and the ending theme by Akiko Shikata. Ending theme of the 4th episode is by Akiko Shikata. The second sequel, , concludes the anime's plot. It consists of three episodes released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2011, June 20, 2012, and October 24, 2012. All three episodes had early screenings: the first was screened between September 23 and September 25, 2011, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro; the second on May 3, 2012, in Tokushima by Ufotable; and the third is on September 29, 2012, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro. The episodes use four pieces of theme musics: an opening theme by Misono and three ending themes, , , and , all by Akiko Shikata. == Reception ==

Tales of Symphonia garnered "generally favorable" reception from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic. Its total worldwide sales for the GameCube and PS2 have reached 1.6 million units as of 2008. It was also the best-selling Tales title overseas, with more than half of its sales coming from outside Japan, having sold 600,000 units in North America and 250,000 in Europe . The 2016 PC release sold more than 250,000 copies on Steam, . The game is estimated to have sold 2.4 million copies worldwide across all platforms, making it one of the best-selling titles in the franchise. and nominated it for the year-end "Best Role-playing Game" award across all platforms. The game has appeared on many top game rankings and received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 for excellence. The January 2009 issue of Game Informer listed it at #24 in its "Top 25 GameCube Games". Nintendo Power ranked Tales of Symphonia 107th in a list of "Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever". IGN users placed it 75th in a Top 100 Games list, while GameFAQs users put it at 81st in a similar list. In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list. ==Notes==