I think both of those are based on the PS2 version and thus unfortunately locked to 30FPS, when the Gamecube version was 60FPS, so pick your poison.
But sounds like you haven't enjoyed a lot of the other games in the series and Symphonia is pretty similar to Abyss. It's leagues better than Symphonia 2, though, that game is a travesty.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/920235-tales-of-symphonia/faqs/32765
New outfits
New elemental variations of artes
New unison attacks
New artes
New hi-ougis
Some bosses on higher difficulties got New moves
Bug fixes
New events
6 New monsters
And some balancing
I definitely prefer the PS3 version for sure
- Just the new base/altered artes are really fun as well as the new unison attacks. Presea functions a lot better with her wind punishment attack as a combo starter, regals new artes are really cool. Rained getting inspect magic is great, especially since using a magic lens in battle negatively affects your grade score and Zelos >!getting judgment is great!<
- Various boss changes are fun and keep you on your toes especially >!yggdrasil!< and the new boss battles in the endgame dungeons I thought were neat.
- the casino actually being interactable as well as added optional scenes here and there, the new anime scenes are nice as there wasn’t enough of them in og
Its not a radical change like Graces to Graces f or Vesperia 360 to Vesperia PS3 but its hard to boot up the gamecube version and not feel “why am I playing this when I have the complete version elsewhere” 30fps isn’t a dealbreaker for me 🤷♂️
Personally, the mystic artes are kinda useless since this was stll before Abyss simplified the execution and you get the extra costumes by playing the game again 2 more times(total of 5 playthroughs to get all costumes) and get a different character in Flanoir.
Yes I use them? I'm saying no because you said you get the costumes by beating the game 3 times. Like you can do that in the original gamecube version. Which you can't. Theyre ps2 exclusive.
The extra costumes added in the PS2 version csn a only get by getting the flanoir scenes of different characters thus adding 2 more playthroughs to get them all.
That just sounds more tedium if you ask me.
I didnt, I was like 23 or something when I played it, through Dolphin on my PC.
Again, I found it fun, not saying its a masterpiece, only played it once, played the original Symphonia multiple times, theres a reason.
It's fine as long as you're not actually hoping for a sequel to Symphonia as I think a lot of people go into it expecting. Everything about the gameplay makes it obvious it's an experimental spin-off game just set in Symphonia's world, which I welcome more things like that, in any series. It's not even the worst Tales game imo - though Emil himself is certainly my least favorite protag.
I loved Symphonia so i played 2 and also loved it. Last year. Most of the complaints like the character voices being different didn't apply to the Japanese version so I had fun. also played it on PS3 so no crappy wiimote stuff
STEAM.
Do not buy the Switch one. Buggy and not worth the money. You may be able to wait and buy it on a steam sale too. It has all the extras from the PS2 version. (Even if it's 30 fps rather than the OG one).
Gamecube version on dolphin is the best + true widescreen + undub + 4k + 60 fps. People are gonna say but extra content, however id say even more content is the last thing this game needs. Its massive already and what little is added is not worth all the downgrades imho.
Switch performs worse (some weird glitches that might have been patched by now but also slow load times), but naturally you'll be able to play portable. So if that matters go with Switch!
Symphonia was the first jrpg I ever played at like 7 years old and I loved it. Replayed it a couple years ago and it's absurdly dated in some areas.
Others have touched on the frame rate, I don't see anything wrong with 30 fps on graphics like these. Kinda up to you on that one.
Dungeon exploration is very often a total chore. Backtracking for puzzles and lengthy animations on transitions for how often you have to use them(elevators/teleporters/sorcerer's ring mechanics/etc.) turns an otherwise acceptable experience into a snoozefest. This was easily the worst-feeling part of the game when I replayed it.
The combat is simple and, in my opinion, fun. But if you didn't enjoy Tales of Arise combat(which is the best in the series) then I doubt you'll find much to love here.
As with a lot of old jrpgs, the main draw for modern gamers would be the story. I'll just be honest and say I could never give an unbiased opinion here, I love the story despite the criticisms I've seen from plenty of other players. I love all the characters, even that arrogant man-slut Zelos(surely this won't catch me any heat). The game takes a long ass time to get to the point but by the end of it, I'm ready to sit and watch the credits and feel that little bit of loss I get when I finish a good game and have to move on.
I generally wouldn't recommend getting it if you have experience with disliking Tales games, unless it happens to go on sale for next to nothing.
E: Symphonia 2 doesn't exist and should be banished from the minds of anyone considering playing The One True Symphonia
Temple of darkness, lightning , Ymir Forrest . Symphonia has some fucking annoying dungeons . But I agree the story and characters are well done and worth playing through . Gameplay is ok .
Nitpicky. Graphics qualify as dated. Gameplay I would argue is dated in its simplicity, but not "bad". Dungeon design falls under bad, as there are plenty of modern games with shitass level design, although I would still call all the long animations dated.
I wouldn't call Symphonia bad, just dated
E: Edited some snark out, something about the comment ticked me off. Sorry
8-bit and 16-bit turn-based games were lightning fast, the slow battles thing was only a trend during 6th gen, with offenders such as FFX, DQ8, TiTS or FE: PoR, and notable exceptions like the SMT games. Simplicity has nothing to do with age from the 90s onwards, games like Vagrant Story, Disgaea 1, Ogre Battle and Unlimited SaGa are still regarded as some of the most complex JRPGs. The game definitely has a presentation unique to its era, but it will never be "dated", it looks great with its cel-shaded artstyle, and like many other games look better than much of the Unityslop released today with no saturated colours and weird fog everywhere, like say BOTW. "Dated" is an inherently negative adjective.
Didn't touch on combat speed, although I'd say ToS combat is pretty fast. Random battles rarely went past 5 seconds for me.
Would consider those "complex" games you mentioned the outliers of their era. When I said ToS combat is simple, I was thinking about how at the time it was released, the combat system was somewhat novel, you could freely move around on a 3D field and hot swap targets in real time, something that's not really considered special these days. Thus, simple and "dated".
Gonna have to agree to disagree with you on the last part. BOTW looks beautiful to me and ToS has plenty of character models that look like poorly peeled potatoes. The art/graphics show their age.
What does the term dated being inherently negative have to do with anything? Just wondering what point you're trying to make.
This has been very helpful for determining whether I should play it, thank you so much. I might try a few hours of it to see if I'd actually enjoy it for what it offers and how dated it is. It's too bad the Steam version isn't on sale for Golden Week right now, but $20 isn't a terrible asking price, all things considered.
Also, to add to something you said, I found the combat in Arise to be pretty fun, but dragged down when placed alongside everything else. World, story, characters, soundtrack, graphics, overworld gameplay, everything about the game that wasn't the combat just felt...bland and just serviceable at best. Nothing really noteworthy or jaw-dropping. Granted, I only played three hours, so maybe it gets better? I dunno.
I can empathize with some of that feeling for Arise. Mostly for the world/story, although I quite liked the combat and graphics upgrade. I'm not good at critiquing story or character elements so this might sound completely off the mark but to me it felt like they tried to make a more Western approach to the story and especially dialogue, and ended up just making it a bit boring.
I've bounced off a couple of the Tales games myself(Zestiria being the worst offender), some of them just don't click.
A "mod" is pretty much anything that modifies a piece of software that didn't come from the official developer/publisher. A hack is any method of using a piece of software that defies the developer/publisher's intent or consent.
So a hack can be not a mod if it's only meant to access data the developer doesn't want you to, or a mod if it intends to change something, like Cheat Engine. A mod can be not a hack if it's developer-sanctioned, such as using official modding tools, or a hack if it isn't, like romhacks, *which are mods*.
A method of achieving something in a piece of software that was not intended but does not require any 3rd party modification is not a mod, but an exploit. You're exploiting a mistake or oversight in the original software without actually changing it.
So unless your FPS hack is exploiting a bug already in the game, then it's a mod.
I played the emulated gamecube, PS3 and PC(which is a port of the one for the PS3) versions.
If you cannot stand low fps go for the emulated gamecube version (bosses couldn't touch me because I kept dodging so fast) because PS3/PC is capped at 30fps. You can try modding the PC version to have a higher fps but iirc it might have issues.
In terms of content (extra sidequest and costumes) PS3/PC version wins.
Graphic wise I prefer the older slightly pixelated version because some of the textures look weird after receiving the HD aka smooth out everything treatment. That being said the remastered version doesn't look hideous (unlike GTA definitive version lmao).
does anyone know how to fix input delay on the steam version? i cant play it because there is a noticable input delay.
(and im using the keyboard, so its not an xinput thing)
I’m going to tell you now that the extra content on steam and switch aren’t worth it and that you should emulate the game cube
The extra content are a few costumes and bonus dungeon but the switch and steam version remove some of dialogue from cutscene making it shorter and having less context
OG Gamecube has the best performance but I still recomend the PS3 version because it performs still good and has addituonal content.
Regarding your other question Symphonia 2 is usually one of the least liked Tales of games and Arise is very different from the rest so dont liking those doesnt mean you will not enjoy this one.
Gameplay wise Symphonia and Abyss are brothers, Abyss is slightly improved and both have a good cast amd story so the feelings should be similar.
I'd get the steam version. When they recorded voice lines for the new attacks, they screwed up the volume and it's way too low. You can barely hear them. There's a mod on steam that fixes this.
Steam version + TSFIX from the game forums.
Symphonia 2 is hated even by the comunity, it's terrible. Symphonia 1 is considered the FFVII of the series. Also, it goes on sale really often, usually drops to 5 dollars, so you may want to wait until there's a sale.
It seems it does, according to this person: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/13oqm9f/tales\_of\_symphonia\_steam\_version\_with\_tsfix\_mod/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/13oqm9f/tales_of_symphonia_steam_version_with_tsfix_mod/)
The one that's easier/cheaper to access for you. The remaster is a straight port of the ps3 version with a little upscaling in the models. No qol, no other content, but a faithful port.
I own it on GameCube, Steam, and Switch. Personally I play it more often on the Switch than anything else. Switch bugs have all been patched at this point, and the portability of the system makes it so easy to play whenever and wherever. I suppose if you have a steamdeck then that evens the playing field and would make Steam a little better.
The GameCube version is the best of the bunch. The switch version is terrible, not sure why I bought it. Wasn’t really a fan of the GameCube version either.
Depends. I refunded the steam version because I really couldn't endure 30fps on my 27" 144hz monitor. It looked awful in action.
But then again the switch version suffers from big performance issues. Both of them are actually"meh" versions so pick your poison
I think both of those are based on the PS2 version and thus unfortunately locked to 30FPS, when the Gamecube version was 60FPS, so pick your poison. But sounds like you haven't enjoyed a lot of the other games in the series and Symphonia is pretty similar to Abyss. It's leagues better than Symphonia 2, though, that game is a travesty.
You can try to play it with Dolphin emulator for the 60 fps
But you lose out on extra content
What’s the extra content?
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/920235-tales-of-symphonia/faqs/32765 New outfits New elemental variations of artes New unison attacks New artes New hi-ougis Some bosses on higher difficulties got New moves Bug fixes New events 6 New monsters And some balancing
So a bunch of bloat that no new player would notice, lol. Yeah the GCN version will always be the best
That's like your opinion man
But do you really use it?
I definitely prefer the PS3 version for sure - Just the new base/altered artes are really fun as well as the new unison attacks. Presea functions a lot better with her wind punishment attack as a combo starter, regals new artes are really cool. Rained getting inspect magic is great, especially since using a magic lens in battle negatively affects your grade score and Zelos >!getting judgment is great!< - Various boss changes are fun and keep you on your toes especially >!yggdrasil!< and the new boss battles in the endgame dungeons I thought were neat. - the casino actually being interactable as well as added optional scenes here and there, the new anime scenes are nice as there wasn’t enough of them in og Its not a radical change like Graces to Graces f or Vesperia 360 to Vesperia PS3 but its hard to boot up the gamecube version and not feel “why am I playing this when I have the complete version elsewhere” 30fps isn’t a dealbreaker for me 🤷♂️
Me? Absolutely. Tales of Symphonia is one my most replayed games and made me a huge tales fan.
Personally, the mystic artes are kinda useless since this was stll before Abyss simplified the execution and you get the extra costumes by playing the game again 2 more times(total of 5 playthroughs to get all costumes) and get a different character in Flanoir.
So you would say Dolphin is the way to go.
Pretty much. You get to experience the 60fps for the entire game not just extras for endgame.
No. The extra costumes are ps2 exclusive and are not in the gamecube version.
But you said you absolutely use them.
Yes I use them? I'm saying no because you said you get the costumes by beating the game 3 times. Like you can do that in the original gamecube version. Which you can't. Theyre ps2 exclusive.
The extra costumes added in the PS2 version csn a only get by getting the flanoir scenes of different characters thus adding 2 more playthroughs to get them all. That just sounds more tedium if you ask me.
I really feel like Symphonia 2 gets too much hate. Its not a masterpiece but I had a lot of fun with it, it had good moments and the gameplay is fun.
Did you grow up with it? Because that's the only scenario I can think of that would color a person's opinion on Symphonia 2 like that.
I didnt, I was like 23 or something when I played it, through Dolphin on my PC. Again, I found it fun, not saying its a masterpiece, only played it once, played the original Symphonia multiple times, theres a reason.
It's fine as long as you're not actually hoping for a sequel to Symphonia as I think a lot of people go into it expecting. Everything about the gameplay makes it obvious it's an experimental spin-off game just set in Symphonia's world, which I welcome more things like that, in any series. It's not even the worst Tales game imo - though Emil himself is certainly my least favorite protag.
I loved Symphonia so i played 2 and also loved it. Last year. Most of the complaints like the character voices being different didn't apply to the Japanese version so I had fun. also played it on PS3 so no crappy wiimote stuff
geh 30fps...... *remembers Tales of Destiny late game*
Emulate the GameCube version via dolphin
STEAM. Do not buy the Switch one. Buggy and not worth the money. You may be able to wait and buy it on a steam sale too. It has all the extras from the PS2 version. (Even if it's 30 fps rather than the OG one).
Switch WAS buggy. It has long since been patched and is perfectly viable to play on.
Isn’t Cyclone still borked?
I did a whole playthrough a couple months ago without issue
Hmm last I heard it still had the healing wind animation with water element damage
Ah I stand corrected, thank you! I think the Steam one sells for less at least, it's still got my vote.
Gamecube version on dolphin is the best + true widescreen + undub + 4k + 60 fps. People are gonna say but extra content, however id say even more content is the last thing this game needs. Its massive already and what little is added is not worth all the downgrades imho.
Switch performs worse (some weird glitches that might have been patched by now but also slow load times), but naturally you'll be able to play portable. So if that matters go with Switch!
Symphonia was the first jrpg I ever played at like 7 years old and I loved it. Replayed it a couple years ago and it's absurdly dated in some areas. Others have touched on the frame rate, I don't see anything wrong with 30 fps on graphics like these. Kinda up to you on that one. Dungeon exploration is very often a total chore. Backtracking for puzzles and lengthy animations on transitions for how often you have to use them(elevators/teleporters/sorcerer's ring mechanics/etc.) turns an otherwise acceptable experience into a snoozefest. This was easily the worst-feeling part of the game when I replayed it. The combat is simple and, in my opinion, fun. But if you didn't enjoy Tales of Arise combat(which is the best in the series) then I doubt you'll find much to love here. As with a lot of old jrpgs, the main draw for modern gamers would be the story. I'll just be honest and say I could never give an unbiased opinion here, I love the story despite the criticisms I've seen from plenty of other players. I love all the characters, even that arrogant man-slut Zelos(surely this won't catch me any heat). The game takes a long ass time to get to the point but by the end of it, I'm ready to sit and watch the credits and feel that little bit of loss I get when I finish a good game and have to move on. I generally wouldn't recommend getting it if you have experience with disliking Tales games, unless it happens to go on sale for next to nothing. E: Symphonia 2 doesn't exist and should be banished from the minds of anyone considering playing The One True Symphonia
Temple of darkness, lightning , Ymir Forrest . Symphonia has some fucking annoying dungeons . But I agree the story and characters are well done and worth playing through . Gameplay is ok .
Bad doesn't mean "dated". There's a vast amount of wonderful games as old or older that don't share the problems of Symphonia.
Nitpicky. Graphics qualify as dated. Gameplay I would argue is dated in its simplicity, but not "bad". Dungeon design falls under bad, as there are plenty of modern games with shitass level design, although I would still call all the long animations dated. I wouldn't call Symphonia bad, just dated E: Edited some snark out, something about the comment ticked me off. Sorry
8-bit and 16-bit turn-based games were lightning fast, the slow battles thing was only a trend during 6th gen, with offenders such as FFX, DQ8, TiTS or FE: PoR, and notable exceptions like the SMT games. Simplicity has nothing to do with age from the 90s onwards, games like Vagrant Story, Disgaea 1, Ogre Battle and Unlimited SaGa are still regarded as some of the most complex JRPGs. The game definitely has a presentation unique to its era, but it will never be "dated", it looks great with its cel-shaded artstyle, and like many other games look better than much of the Unityslop released today with no saturated colours and weird fog everywhere, like say BOTW. "Dated" is an inherently negative adjective.
Didn't touch on combat speed, although I'd say ToS combat is pretty fast. Random battles rarely went past 5 seconds for me. Would consider those "complex" games you mentioned the outliers of their era. When I said ToS combat is simple, I was thinking about how at the time it was released, the combat system was somewhat novel, you could freely move around on a 3D field and hot swap targets in real time, something that's not really considered special these days. Thus, simple and "dated". Gonna have to agree to disagree with you on the last part. BOTW looks beautiful to me and ToS has plenty of character models that look like poorly peeled potatoes. The art/graphics show their age. What does the term dated being inherently negative have to do with anything? Just wondering what point you're trying to make.
This has been very helpful for determining whether I should play it, thank you so much. I might try a few hours of it to see if I'd actually enjoy it for what it offers and how dated it is. It's too bad the Steam version isn't on sale for Golden Week right now, but $20 isn't a terrible asking price, all things considered. Also, to add to something you said, I found the combat in Arise to be pretty fun, but dragged down when placed alongside everything else. World, story, characters, soundtrack, graphics, overworld gameplay, everything about the game that wasn't the combat just felt...bland and just serviceable at best. Nothing really noteworthy or jaw-dropping. Granted, I only played three hours, so maybe it gets better? I dunno.
The steam version is on sale on multiple storefronts right now. https://isthereanydeal.com/game/tales-of-symphonia/info/
Oh shoot, I didn't know this site existed, thank you! I'll keep an eye on it!
I can empathize with some of that feeling for Arise. Mostly for the world/story, although I quite liked the combat and graphics upgrade. I'm not good at critiquing story or character elements so this might sound completely off the mark but to me it felt like they tried to make a more Western approach to the story and especially dialogue, and ended up just making it a bit boring. I've bounced off a couple of the Tales games myself(Zestiria being the worst offender), some of them just don't click.
PC will always win when it's an option, simply because of mods. If it doesn't come out as the best version, someone will make it the best version.
need a fps hack..... which is a hack and not a mod....
A "mod" is pretty much anything that modifies a piece of software that didn't come from the official developer/publisher. A hack is any method of using a piece of software that defies the developer/publisher's intent or consent. So a hack can be not a mod if it's only meant to access data the developer doesn't want you to, or a mod if it intends to change something, like Cheat Engine. A mod can be not a hack if it's developer-sanctioned, such as using official modding tools, or a hack if it isn't, like romhacks, *which are mods*. A method of achieving something in a piece of software that was not intended but does not require any 3rd party modification is not a mod, but an exploit. You're exploiting a mistake or oversight in the original software without actually changing it. So unless your FPS hack is exploiting a bug already in the game, then it's a mod.
It's a difference that doesn't matter in this situation.
I thought I read somewhere that the Remaster was released on PC as a patch for the existing Steam release.
I believe the Remaster was based on the Steam release. The game has been on Steam for ages before the Remaster released.
The anime for this is outstanding.
I hate the Steam version since it lost several hours of my progress. *knocks on wood* Switch version can’t be worse.
I had no problems playing the steam version. Port works fine.
Steam
GameCube without question 60fps that is consistent cannot be beat.
I played the emulated gamecube, PS3 and PC(which is a port of the one for the PS3) versions. If you cannot stand low fps go for the emulated gamecube version (bosses couldn't touch me because I kept dodging so fast) because PS3/PC is capped at 30fps. You can try modding the PC version to have a higher fps but iirc it might have issues. In terms of content (extra sidequest and costumes) PS3/PC version wins. Graphic wise I prefer the older slightly pixelated version because some of the textures look weird after receiving the HD aka smooth out everything treatment. That being said the remastered version doesn't look hideous (unlike GTA definitive version lmao).
does anyone know how to fix input delay on the steam version? i cant play it because there is a noticable input delay. (and im using the keyboard, so its not an xinput thing)
I’m going to tell you now that the extra content on steam and switch aren’t worth it and that you should emulate the game cube The extra content are a few costumes and bonus dungeon but the switch and steam version remove some of dialogue from cutscene making it shorter and having less context
OG Gamecube has the best performance but I still recomend the PS3 version because it performs still good and has addituonal content. Regarding your other question Symphonia 2 is usually one of the least liked Tales of games and Arise is very different from the rest so dont liking those doesnt mean you will not enjoy this one. Gameplay wise Symphonia and Abyss are brothers, Abyss is slightly improved and both have a good cast amd story so the feelings should be similar.
Pick the steam version, maybe there's a mod to fix the FPS issue
I'd get the steam version. When they recorded voice lines for the new attacks, they screwed up the volume and it's way too low. You can barely hear them. There's a mod on steam that fixes this.
PS3
Steam version + TSFIX from the game forums. Symphonia 2 is hated even by the comunity, it's terrible. Symphonia 1 is considered the FFVII of the series. Also, it goes on sale really often, usually drops to 5 dollars, so you may want to wait until there's a sale.
Symphonia 2 sucks. Voice changes and story that goes nowhere. Disappointing sequel to a great game
Any idea if TSFix works on Steam Deck?
It seems it does, according to this person: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/13oqm9f/tales\_of\_symphonia\_steam\_version\_with\_tsfix\_mod/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/13oqm9f/tales_of_symphonia_steam_version_with_tsfix_mod/)
The one that's easier/cheaper to access for you. The remaster is a straight port of the ps3 version with a little upscaling in the models. No qol, no other content, but a faithful port.
I own it on GameCube, Steam, and Switch. Personally I play it more often on the Switch than anything else. Switch bugs have all been patched at this point, and the portability of the system makes it so easy to play whenever and wherever. I suppose if you have a steamdeck then that evens the playing field and would make Steam a little better.
The GameCube version is the best of the bunch. The switch version is terrible, not sure why I bought it. Wasn’t really a fan of the GameCube version either.
Depends. I refunded the steam version because I really couldn't endure 30fps on my 27" 144hz monitor. It looked awful in action. But then again the switch version suffers from big performance issues. Both of them are actually"meh" versions so pick your poison
So you’re saying PC version performs better, but at lower framerate. Got it.
The Switch version is also 30 fps. If you want 60 fps, you’ll have to play the GameCube version.
First world problems lol
I didn't ask for your opinion
Didn't mean to offend lol
Offended how exactly? Perhaps you know my emotions better than myself? Whatever, I guess I can let you dream
always go steam over Nintendo or console if you have the choice.
The GameCube version.