#TOSR

[pattyaifread]

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Hatenai Omoi Vol. 1, Alice Excerpts

I translated the prologue, part of chapter 4, and the epilogue in the first volume of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Feelings Without End by Sara Yajima.

This volume is entirely about Alice and Decus' backstory. The parts I translated cover their finale in the game, and gives more introspect on Alice's thoughts during that segment.

Prologue

She could feel the scrapes on her shoulders and chest as she laid face down. Here in the Ginnungagap, the bones of countless monsters who had lost their life were mercilessly scattered about. Those who still had a semblance of their form were the lucky ones—no doubt below laid those whose bones had long crumbled to dust. This was a Monster Graveyard. Moaning, Alice desperately tried to stand.

De…cus…

Reflected in her hazy eyes was his unmoving body, no longer breathing. Her hand trembled as she reached out to him in an attempt to get even a tiny bit closer.

“Alice… I know…you always said I was disgusting…”

Decus’ voice rose up in her mind.

“But I loved you…”

Those were his last words. She couldn’t count how many times she had heard him say “love” since they were young. However, it was the first and last time she had heard it in the past tense.

Decus…

When he was stabbed by Emil Castagnier’s sword, she instinctively let out a shriek. Unable to stand, she fell to her knees.

“...I… I loved you too. I really, truly… loved you too!”

She wondered if that voice would reach Decus.

Decus… If it was gonna come to this, then… I should have…

She could hear Emil saying something. Answering that voice was Marta Lualdi, still holding her spinners.

“Ghh…!”

Using all her strength, Alice crawled forward.

“Decus… I’m… coming for you…”

As he lay stretched out languidly, Alice reached out to his slender fingers.

The pain from the wound that Marta inflicted slowly faded into the distance. In its place, she could hear a faint whooshing sound.

Was it the wind? Wind did not blow in the Ginnungagap. That was the sound of the strong winds blowing in Hima.

I’m going home…

Alice smiled.

The orphanage where she met Decus when she was young must surely still be there.

It was an old building, and the kids would often have to repair the roof after the wind would damage it. Occasionally, a curious traveler or stray monster would wander into the small yard. The paint was peeling on the outer walls, and all that remained of the smashed windows was a warped frame.

Alice listened carefully to the sound that called her. Soon, she would no longer be in pain.

The wind grew stronger.

Chapter 4

Ginnungagap was the passageway to another world—once meant to connect Tethe’alla and Sylvarant—and now was the door to the demonic realm.

Richter, who had made pacts with the demons, was now trying to open the door to Niflheim. After confirming Richter had entered, Alice and Decus laid in wait to ambush Marta’s group. They would surely appear soon to stop Richter.

“This should be a good place to wait.”

Decus held the iron maiden in one hand and struck a pose. The reason it took them so long to reach this place was because of his so-called lucky merchandise, which weighed a ton.

“Decus, how long are you going to carry that dumb thing around? I can’t believe you brought it here of all places.”

She breathed a sigh and side-eyed the casket-style torture device.

“Well, my dearest Alice, today is the 765th day! The day my wish is to come true! There’s no way I wouldn’t bring it!”

“Is that so?” It was a typical occurrence, so Alice brushed it off.

“Hehe… Hehehehehe!” Decus looked down and burst into laughter.

“Why are you acting so disgusting?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking. Like how it would be nice to get a house after this. Let’s see… How does a place in Hima sound?

“Hima?” Alice looked at Decus, puzzled. “You can go back there if you want, but surely you of all people know Hima is beyond remote.”

Decus wriggled his body and proudly proclaimed, “That’s exactly why! I did think it through, y’know. With your flying monsters, we’d be just a hop away from work!”

“Wait, you’re including me in this?!” Alice gaped at him.

“The monsters there have decreased in numbers, and it’s become a nice place.”

“Oh, you…!” Alice glared at Decus. “You left me to go searching for Exspheres while you went back to Hima.”

“Please don’t get mad. I just wanted to take a glance to see if it was a suitable place for us to live and put you at ease.”

“...”

Does he really plan on staying with me forever?

Alice was exasperated.

At that moment, faint footsteps could be heard in the distance.

“!”

Alice readied herself.

“Alice, it looks like they’re here.” “I know.”

I’ll show you my “power.” Alice looked up with a dignified face, and then looked forward.

What appeared before her eyes was not a large number of people, but Marta and Emil, and the Centurion of Darkness, Tenebrae.  Alice was happy to see this.

Alice had not known that Lloyd’s group, who held the Derris Emblem that Ratatosk hated, had been transported to another location. She had only wanted to surpass Marta, and say a piece of her mind.

“Welcome, to the Monster Graveyard.”

Alice lined herself up with Decus, and snapping her whip, stepped out to meet the two. She had no intention of losing.

I’ll show you whether my belief is just a show or not.

Alice readied her whip, and Decus took out his large sword from the iron maiden. Emil went after Alice with his sword.

“Watch out, Alice!”

Marta went after Decus with her spinners as he guarded Alice. Taking that gap as a chance, Emil’s sword flashed several times before her eyes.

“Ahh?!”

There’s no way I’ll lose! I came this far with my own power. I can’t allow myself to lose to Martmart of all people! I’m stronger than her!

Believing in herself, Alice continued to fight. Eventually, she collapsed. Decus was also wounded, and let out a moan.

Why… I thought Martmart can’t do anything on her own… Don’t tell me she really grew up just because the princess met her prince?

“Martmart…”

Alice, collapsed, began to stand up while calling Marta’s name. Emil’s attack had cut deeply, most likely puncturing a lung, and she had difficulty breathing.

“Alice…”

“Martmart, you know, I…”

I have to say it. Those words I’ve always wanted to say!

Alice drew nearer to Marta, slouched over. She took one step and showed off a large stumble.

“Alice!”

As expected, Marta came running over and reached out to support Alice’s body.

Martmart, you’re too naive.

Alice straightened her body and slapped Marta as hard as she could across the cheek.

“I hate your guts!”

You’re just a little princess who’s never suffered a day in her life, and gets pampered when you can’t do a damn thing!

Alice pushed Marta down and straddled her, then raised her whip high and started to strike her.

“S-Stop that right now!”

Emil went after Alice and sliced his sword sideways.

Ahh!

She closed her eyes instinctively, when suddenly she heard a noise.

“Urgh…”

Before her was a groan she knew all too well.

D-Decus?!

Decus had his back gouged by Emil’s sword as he jumped in front of Alice. He tightly grabbed Alice’s shoulders with both hands.

For the first time, Alice saw a hint of nostalgia in Decus’ unfocused pupils, as he swayed back and forth. As his lips turned purple, he muttered, trembling and with a smile, “Today… is the 765th day… It seems… it was a scam again…”

Decus…

“Alice… I know…you always said I was disgusting…”

As his voice grew hoarse, he murmured just one thing.

“But I loved you…”

His words streamed into Alice’s ears.

That was it. Standing upright, just like that, he fell forward.

No…

“Decus!”

Alice shrieked. In that moment, the armor around her heart shattered.

“...I… I loved you too. I really, truly… loved you too!”

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

As much as I wanted to yell “I hate your guts!” to Marta… All the same, I wanted to say “I loved you” to Decus…

A terrifying regret took hold of her heart. 

Why did I only realize now… That’s right, I loved Decus. So why…!

Alice picked up Decus’ large sword from the ground. The idea to use her monsters never once crossed her mind.

“DIE!!!”

She rushed at Emil, who had taken Decus’ life. Suddenly, a large impact struck her back.

“...You know… Martmart…”

When she raised her head, Marta turned her back on her.

“...Hate me if you will. But I’ll never forgive anyone who hurts Emil.”

“...I never imagined you would seriously come at me. It’s my utter defeat…”

Since when did things turn out this way… Since when…

Alice desperately retraced her path.

“You’re a half-elf.”

“You’ll become strong.” “...So long as you don’t die in the middle of it, you’ll live a long life.”

The words of the old lady living in Hima came to mind.

Just… when…

Unable to come to an answer, she collapsed face down.

Epilogue

“Decus… I’m… coming for you…”

The strong winds blowing in Hima danced in the heavens, and softly rained down on the place Alice laid. The sound faded into the distance.

Her hand finally reached his fingers, where warmth still resided. She gently overlapped his hand with her own.

“Soon… we’ll be together again…” She whispered with only a movement of her lips.

If only… I had realized sooner… Then maybe the days we spent together may have been different…

The sky that Decus had looked up to every day when he was young. With clouds torn apart by the wind, the two began their journey under that same sky, seemingly too high to set their dreams free into.

To change the world all by oneself.

To obtain “power” all by oneself.

What I really wanted was… No, this was for the best…

She knew where her destination lay.

This time, I’ll return home, she thought.

Next time though, I absolutely won’t lose! She slowly closed her eyes.

Alice’s final smile graced her lips.

[polkiuu]

Alice♡

[raindear-a]

“ Y o u h u r t L l o y d ? ”

Berserk Angels

[bluestarrob91art-blog]

Tales of Symphonia Re comic list.

Here’s the list of my Tales of Symphonia Re comics.

ToSRe Comic 1

ToSRe Comic 2

ToSRe Comic 3

ToSRe Comic 4

ToSRe Comic 5

ToSRe Comic 6

ToSRe Comic 7

ToSRe Comic 8

ToSRe Comic 9

ToSRe Comic 10

ToSRe Comic 11

ToSRe Comic 12

[patchwork-crow-writes]

It's been almost an entire year and I still get a little upset whenever I think about Tales of Symphonia "Remastered". What a waste of time and hype, honestly.

Compare to Metroid Prime Remaster which came out around the same time. While not really a remaster in the truest sense of the word, at least it has the decency to look amazing, play better than the original release, and have every type of control scheme going.

Then back to ToSR with its five-second loading screens between each encounter. In an 80+ hour JRPG. And let's not bring up the AI-upscaled graphical "Improvements". Or the 30fps-locked framerate, when Gamecube ran seamlessly at 60.

What I'm saying is emulate Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube and play it if you haven't yet done so. Save yourself 40+ quid and experience the game as it's meant to be experienced.

Sincerely, an old person whose first JRPG was Tales of Symphonia.

[h34vybottom]

It's worth noting that until ToArise, Namco was still releasing titles for PS3. Namco's delisting of the PS3 games a while back pairs w/ how other corporations are removing access to older (and cheaper) releases in favour of charging for (mostly) unchanged rereleases. I highly doubt ToA would be part of 30th anni remaster project (like whatever if it does happen).

Abyss is a weird game to rerelease for many reasons, mostly being the most "complete" Japanese version is on 3ds (This is an absurd can of worms cuz content for Abyss is so scattered and odd). Regional content is a different beast entirely and considering console games are now being based on what's approachable for a global audience, that kind of kills any straight forward rerelease.

An Abyss remaster is not preservation. Selling product is not preservation, that's just capitalism. Nothing is going to stop Namco from delisting titles again when they decide to sell the same thing again (Like they're doing right now w/ ToGF and like what they did w/ ToSR).

An Abyss R, to me, is completely unnecessary. What would be the point? Abyss is perfectly good as is. Flaws and all. Completely changing shit is the name of the game w/ every remake and besides Phantasia versions, the remakes are all almost worse off in scripts and intentions (especially the triverse games). ToDDC fucks up the timeline and storytelling. ToIR and ToHR have new characters that don't need to be there and remove lines from the original cast (This is way worse in ToHR where they remove secondary cast members, removed and rewrote lines to be worse, and removed character development to slot in Gallado, who doesn't need to be there).

I think the "western" fanbase will argue about what's better or not ad infinitum in your scenario, but the answer is the same as it always is. The remakes make for good supplementary material but should never be used as the primary text. The differences are important and what they change, remove, and fail to do matter and impact everything about the text. The issue is that people do not bother to go back to the original text. How many people have played ToP SFC before the PS1/PSP releases? Look at the focus on getting ToDDC translated (official or otherwise) instead of focusing on getting a better translation for original ToD (or you know, even playing it). A shift in how people perceive art needs to change.

So I've been doing some thinking on the rumors of a TotA remaster and how it would work out with a pattern I've noticed: even now with Graces remaster announced, every tales game to get a remaster for modern consoles and steam had, at some point, a downloadable PS3 version, and I assume that these PS3 versions are what the modern versions are further modifications of. An Abyss remaster would be the first time that method would be impossible, leading to two possibilities:

1) They go all the way back and painstakingly force the nearly 20 year old PS2 version to play nice in HD and on modern hardware, in a massive W for old games preservation and providing hope that we may one day get Destiny Directors Cut

Or, the option that I can't stop thinking about:

2) Unlike the previous remasters, they instead choose to go for a full remake in modern Tales style, in the vein of what we've seen Capcom do with their Resident Evil, with script details changed, gameplay completely reworked, and likely an all new voice cast for the english dub.

If they do go with that second option, then as with all full remakes these days, the fanbase will probably debate which is the better version, and I find it hilarious that this fanbase, of all of them, will all have to ask the questions:

Do you love the Original, or the Replica? Can you find room in your heart for both? How much of a difference is there between them, really? Are those differences important? Does that importance come from something inherent in what was changed, or does it come from your personal relationship with it? Does the existence of the Original make it okay to judge the Replica at a higher standard than normal? Does the existence of the Replica make it okay that the Original will be forgotten?

I'm starting to feel for Natalia, and how she was so fond of Asch.

[frayed-symphony]

Happy Tales of Symphonia Remastered launch day!

[dweeborea]

Full sized version of the Colette I drew as a part of the Release Day Chibi Collaboration for @tosrcountdown !

Colette has always, and still is, one of my absolute favourite characters of all time- I felt so lucky to have the opportunity to draw her!

[abyssalchronicles]

TALES OF SYMPHONIA REMASTERED is coming to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Early 2023!

A limited edition Chosen Edition was also announced, with pre-orders currently open at Bandai Namco's stores: US pre-orders | EU pre-orders

[lovebytz]

Only 17 days until Tales of Symphonia Remastered is released! I encourage everyone to not only check out the game but check out the @tosrcountdown account which this piece was made for! Textless version under the cut!

[re-reclass]

symphonia is coming to switch quick everyone do the petrification glitch dance

[pattyaifread]

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Hatenai Omoi Vol. 2, Marta Excerpt

I translated a short passage from Marta's chapter in the second volume of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Feelings Without End by Sara Yajima.

The passage is about how Marta obtained her spinners.

Marta spent her days with her mom cooking and nurturing flowers. However, after she passed the age of 10, she was allowed to hold and look at the various swords and grim-looking weapons in her home—which until that point she had been told to not touch because they’re dangerous—and this naturally caused a curiosity in strength to bud inside her.

“Mommy, do girls need to be strong too?” She tried asking her mom who was tending to roses in a vase while in the garden. “I think I should learn how to use a weapon and get strong.”

“I wonder,” her mother responded casually while plucking thorns from the stems. “I think perhaps it’s best for girls to be protected by a strong man.”

“So did you marry Daddy because he’s strong?”

“That’s not the only reason… But it’s true your dad is quite strong. Enough to obtain unshakeable faith from his subordinates.” Her mother boasted with a smile. 

“It would be nice if one day a prince would appear to protect you.” Her mother said while handing over a rose. Marta’s eyes lit up drastically as she took it.

“A prince?! Like the kind from stories?!”

“That’s right.”

“Whaaat, you mean I have my very own prince too?”

“Of course, silly. You just haven’t met him yet.”

What should I do? Thought Marta while twisting her body. As a result of being pampered since a young age, she never had the habit of doubting herself or being in denial. Should she wish for it, it would be granted.

“Hey Mommy, a prince usually wants to marry a princess because she’s beautiful, right?”

“Usually, yes.” Having finished arranging the flowers, her mother nodded as she picked up the vase to carry it to the bay window in the living room.

“Oh my gooosh! I have to hurry and become the fairest in the land! I’ll grow out my hair, get a thinner waist, and become an elegant lady—oh!”

Marta clapped her hands together. “That’s it! I just need a cute weapon that will match the cute clothes I wear! Mommy, do you have any ideas?”

“Let’s see…” Her mother trailed off as she went to grab a magazine from Brute’s study.

“This is your dad’s, but it’s full of weapons. Why don’t you look through it and see if you find something. But just know: I’m not buying it for you. I’m against you carrying around anything dangerous.”

“Got it. I’ll only look.”

Marta sat back on the sofa and flipped through the pages. The various pictures made it clear just what kind of shape each of the weapons were.

“Ugh, they’re all so grim. Sickle and chains and man catchers, even the names are ridiculous.” 

Marta laughed and then suddenly proclaimed, “Oh, this is so cute!” She pointed at a weapon.

“A rotating blade… It's called a spinner. It looks like a halo!”

With this, I can use them all cutesy and be just like a butterfly! I’ll try asking Daddy.

Although her mom had said no, she knew if she tried asking her dad, Brute, he would definitely buy it for her. And so just as she expected, albeit it came with the condition that it was only for self-defense, Marta obtained her spinners.

[shimiyuroom]

テイルズオブシンフォニアリマスター発売記念イラスト

制作時間：約8時間

[actualaster]

I really hate Bamco trying to call it "TOSR"

ToS-R has been Dawn of the New World/Knight of Ratatosk's JP abbreviation. I hate them trying to steal it for ToS's remaster. :/

Anyway I will never associate it with anything but Ratatosk's game, they can try but I refuse.

[bluestarrob91art-blog]

The first use of the sorcerer’s ring! ToSRe comic 8.

[latias-eevee-hatori]

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World Aster’s Coat