Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for Fans of the Original, Otherwise..., November 11, 2008
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Pros:
+Good looking game
+Fun battle system
+Returning characters who do more than simply make an appearance
+For the most part, good voice acting
Cons:
-Battling can be a button mashing affair
-A slow story to start
-Too linear
-If you haven't played the first game the plot becomes harder to understand throughout and it is just harder to appreciate
When Tales of Symphonia debuted on the Gamecube, it became an unprecedented cult classic. Since then there have been several Tales games to come about, but none have hit the spark Tales of Symphonia did on the Gamecube. Fans of Tales of Symphonia will probably come to Dawn of the New World with open arms. Newcomers, however, might do best to play the original first.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World takes place two years after the original. The story itself can seem a bit complicated at times. Mostly because there are a lot of things thrown in from the first game. In terms of being a sequel it's not bad in the sense that it brings in familiar faces who do more than just present a cameo, and that it also has you revisiting areas, but it also refers to the first game many times down the road. Needless to say, if you haven't played the first Tales of Symphonia, some of the story just might not click right away and you might even find some of it to be a mess. The original game had a lot to swallow and much of it you'll be expected to remember. It also doesn't help that the story isn't all that well paced. It takes a while for it to jump into things. Tales has never been great about jumping into the story, but for some reason it's a bigger problem with Dawn of the New World.
On the other hand, the characters in and of themselves are interesting. You'll learn a lot about them, and familiar faces returning also helps matters along. There are also skits that are optional side conversations that add to the story and characters. It's easy to like the characters, and it's nice that skits are voiced this time around, unlike the original Gamecube title.
Also like many Tales games, get ready for a lot of conversation and exposition. There's some good humor within the game and most of the dialog isn't bad at all. The voice acting is strong, for the most part, but there are some areas where it's laughable.
One of the bigger differences between Dawn of the New World and the original Gamecube title actually comes from the fact that the world map completely restricts exploring. It's now a point and click mechanic. On one hand, considering the amount of running around you'll be doing, it's nice to have that quick and easy access. On the other hand, part of the fun of an RPG is exploring. The new world map system makes the game much more linear than it really has to be.
When you're exploring dungeons, however, the game can be exciting. Mainly because Dawn of the New World doesn't get rid of the battle system the Tales series is known for. Once in battle, Tales plays similar to an action RPG where you can run up to enemies and start clobbering away. You've also got special attacks called Artes you can use provided you have the right amount of TP. There are times when the game can become a button mashing fest, but there are times when some genuine strategy is needed. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World isn't exactly an easy game. When you're not controlling the other characters they are controlled by AI that, for the most part, does a good job. Luckily you can issue commands and customize things if they aren't to your liking.
Dawn of the New World isn't a bad looking game by any means. It ditches the cell shaded look for something a bit more realistic. It doesn't look quite as artsy as the first game did as a result, but it's not terrible by any means. You'll also visit a lot of locations from the very first game that look almost exactly the same. The same could be said of the music. There are a couple returning tracks that are remixed but there's some new stuff as well. Tales of Symphonia didn't exactly have memorable music to begin and Dawn of the New World isn't different in that regard either. It's not bad music, you just won't find yourself remembering any of it.
Unfortunately, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World doesn't exactly have a massive appeal. This is a game meant for those who enjoyed their romp through the Gamecube original. If you've never played the original game, it might be a little harder to get a grasp on everything that's mentioned throughout the plot. It's perfectly accessible to newcomers and they'll probably like it if JRPGs are their thing, but its hard to deny that the game is more appealing if you were a big fan of the first one to begin with.
|
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 out of 5, January 1, 2009
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
Lets start with the pros:
1. Good graphics. Improve greatly but still kept the original form from its predecessor so fans of the original Tales will be delighted.
2. New concept. Introduction of befriending monsters! (That's right! The very monster you kill you can now befriend and have them join you and level them up like Pokemon!)
3. Very good voice acting. Usually when you get these japanime (is what I like to call them) based game and you have the dubbed American version, voice acting is terrible. However, this game really hit it on the spot with the voice acting. Awesome job (way better than the predecessor).
4. Interesting plot line. It kept me interested though I have to say these japanime games really need to drop the cliche of memory problems/split personality issues. Really why does every hero has to have a problem with their memory?
5. How you run into monsters actually affects the start of the battle! Yes it does! If you run into them from behind, you start the battle with them being dazed and vice versa.
6. Those mini scenes now have sounds! You can actually hear them speak. And BTW I found many of them hilarious (kept me laughing and entertained).
Now the bad:
1. Not much has change besides the new concept of befriending monsters. Same old hack and slash, building up combos, ect. ect. One thing I dislike about this is the lack of skills they offer. Much less than what the original had.
2. You can only use 2 main people. Yes the game previews are misleading! While old Tales of Symphonia heroes do reappear again and do join your party, you cannot control them. You can only essentially control the two main protagonist of this series. (You can't control the monster that you befriend either).
3. AI is really stupid. Unlike the prequel the sequel setup for AI strategy is really bad in the sense that there is barely anything at all. Most of your option are "Attack Freely", "Block Magic", "Frontiness" and other of the sort. You tactics are really limited to the option that they give you. (So don't expect AI to do all of the work. Oh and I also love how when you're hp is low all the AI starts to heal you instead of just one...).
4. Corniness. O-M-G some parts are really corny. "I realize now your kindness is not really a weakness." "I will always love you forever." ect. ect. If your into that mushy stuff then I guess it won't bother you that much but it bothers me a lot.
5. Marta is extremely annoying sometimes (this is just my personal opinion though).
6. Short. Even with doing sidequests and other things I finished the game in under 25 hours (pretty short for an RPG imo).
7. I wish they had like help journal in the menu because honestly a lot of the concepts were confusing for me so a help option would be really nice idea in the menu.
8. Where are the other Centurions? I mean the prequel actually shows you all the summon spirits but in this game you only get to see two out of 8 centurions...? Did they just get lazy and didn't want to design the other 6?
Neutral stuff that could be good or bad depending on you:
1. As I mentioned, though new concept are introduce most of the battle still hasn't change from the prequel. This means same stuff you've been doing in the last game. Whether this is good or bad depends on you really.
2. While skills were limited in the sense of you can't use between S or T in this version it makes things more simple. (You don't have to be worried about all the skills you'll miss if you choose S instead of T, and likewise). Again, good or bad depends really on you.
3. You no longer have the option of exploring the map. Initially key places appears on the map and you have to select them. You can't walk around the world map like you did in the prequel. This means game time and exploration cuts down dramatically. And also the tediousness of walking around only to find a dead end on a map...
4. Stay loyal to its predecessor. Not much has change. However, you really need to play Tales of Symphonia before playing Dawn of the New World to truly appreciate all the game has to offer (there are more references back to the prequel). But maybe too loyal. I want a little bit of uniqueness too you know?
5. Dungeons are short and easy to solve. Which makes the game easier to play. (Though I haven't tried this on hard mode yet so it may take longer... but that just means stronger monster).
My overall view of this game:
Basically, IMO this game was put together as a fan service for all those who were madly in love with Tales of Symphonia. People who haven't played the original will probably not enjoy this game as much as I can. The plot was stable but I found it... rushed in a sense. The game was cut really short as well. I found myself really disappointed though in the fact that I couldn't control my other heroes (that was a huge bomb shell for me). Though I was mostly impress with the voice acting (definitely hire these voice actors again). So my recommendation is, if you liked the prequel you'll probably like the sequel. If you didn't like it then I suggest not buying it since you'll probably won't like this as well. But hey not bad for a game that only cost 40 instead of the 50 right?
|
|
|
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful, November 24, 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I just recently received this game a couple of days ago. I really love the Tales of series the most. Using the Wii remote for it isn't that hard, but my hands get a little tired from holding it for so long.
Anyway, I should talk about the gameplay. You probably already know about the basic plot of the game but nothing of the gameplay or what a person who has played it thinks. I love the plot, even if it is sad to see Emil hating Llyod so much and he will say that constantly to others when he tries to go find him, at least until he meets Raine and realizes why the people of Iselia defend him so ardently. Despite this, I find the conversations funny and entertaining.
What I find disappointing is that it no longer lets you have the characters cook for each other like in previous Tales of games. You also have a system where you can travel quickly to other towns which is a plus to be sure, but sadly you have little to no opportunities to level up and bosses could crush you alive. You have to go to a heavily populated monster area to level up on your own.
I loved the first Tales of Symphonia. And this game has a really interesting plot!
Since I've finished it, I feel that it ended much too quickly and it didn't have that many subplots to suit me. Tales of games are filled with those diverting subplots and I felt disappointed that they took out most of them. And you can't change much about the previous Tales of Symponia characters, only the current ones. Overall, it does have a good plotline and characters.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
