#tales of symphonia replay

[baronaliswritingcorner]

TOS Replay Stray Thoughts #1:

Ahh, playing Tales of Symphonia is like coming home. ❤️

It's been some time since I wrapped up my years-long 100% completion run, so just for fun, I'll provide some wisened/wisecracking commentary along the way. Starting...NOW!!!

-As I'm playing the GC version, it's funny how I went from "the NA opening instrumental is totally rad and Starry Heavens is generic anime schlock" to, uh, kinda the opposite.

To this TOS veteran, said instrumental still "represents" the game for me, but in retrospect removing the Japanese songs is a really cynical practice. (And I'm saying this as someone who doesn't care for Modern Tales at all.)

-HNNNNGGHHH THAT ISELIA THEME JUST INSTANTLY DROWNS YOU WITH NOSTALGIA JUST LISTEN TO THAT RUSTIC AIR

(Seriously, what's up with the different instrument in the PS2/OST versions??? Dunno what that sound is, but it's no good.)

-Who is Vidarr? What's his deal? No one knows, but I'm thinking he's in desperate need of a character study -- one diving into the complex themes of Do Not Get In Our Way and Ugh I Lost To A Bunch Of Kids.

-"I gave the Chosen a lifetime's supply of gels for her journey!"

Then where are they, guy? 'Cause I didn't get a single one when they joined my party.

(There's a story here...were they lost in a tragic accident? Or is Kratos a gel addict?)

-"What are you saying? Do you realize how many died here because of him?"

Scott Menville condemning Scott Menville.

-Kratos in Triet: Lloyd, you are growing stronger -- you've realized you can't just swing your swords mindlessly.

Also Kratos in Triet: Your swordsmanship is bad and you should feel bad.

(Both in-character! But they're bundled too closely.)

-Colette: ohnoitsbroken

That needed another take.

-Lloyd shoots a Renegade with the Sorcerer's Ring and that frees him because??? (As you can tell, nitpicking's a habit of mine.)

-One storytelling flaw of TOS -- particularly in the first act -- is that it's a little *too* frontloaded with foreshadowing. It practically spells out Colette's fate no less than three times before you leave Iselia! That resigned "yeah" of hers on Lloyd's balcony was enough.

-I love Clumsy Colette, but I've always felt Ditzy Colette comes off as a little too dumb/mean-spirited. (Never liked the "you need to act more Chosen-like!" scene early on) I guess you could say it's a coping mechanism of sorts to distract herself from her inevitable death, but I don't know if that works.

-"You got re-ject-ed!"

See, even Genis knows Lloyd and Colette are meant to be. Oh, sure, he's laughing at Lloyd's expense now, but he's crying on the inside. I promise.

Annnnd that's it for now! I'll be posting more thoughts on the regular, so stay tuned for further Tales of Symphonia geekiness!

[malice-kingdom]

Colored version of half of this piece in honor of the remaster ✨🌸

[redheadlesbianfreak]

Not sure if this is a weird thing for me to say, but I’ve always appreciated the way Tales of Symphonia handled the “two dads” thing as a gay woman. I’m happy that in one of my favorite games, the main character has two Dads (and one Mom!).

Like this game came out in the early 2000s. They could’ve easily gone with the “I can only have one Dad” or “Blood is more important” thing. But they didn’t. The game constantly reiterates that Dirk is Lloyd’s father. Their lack of shared blood doesn’t matter and this is repeated by both of them.

And when Kratos comes into Lloyd’s life, he’s upset at first, which is more than understandable given the circumstances. But he accepts Kratos as his second Dad, his bio Dad. He’s openly proud and happy that he has two Dads, and that will always be so special to me. :,)

[bigboobshaunt]

Btw I forgot to say this when I posted that Colosseum/Dolphin was running just right on my laptop but I did also grab a lot of gcn games that struck my fancy.

[yamsgarden]

Wip of my og queen, Sheena ^0^ I’m thinking of making a little sculpture based on the Gamecube cover but dunno if it’ll actually work OTL

Now, moving on to Zelos :3

[mcgilou]

oh ye. smth nifty is an irl bestie got me the arise dlc for my b-day. still haven't touched it bc been trying to finish what i have left of main story first. but more tales of i will not complain

[floressas]

im replaying tales of symphonia, so did a quick fanart :D

[dany36]

😔👍❤️

sigh.

time to finish berseria i think. :(

[enfieldkit]

Been replaying Tales of Symphonia for the first time since it came out 20 years ago (excuse me while my bones turn to dust) with my husband and roommate.

I've been playing Genis, because I will always play a small mage boy, and we've just unlocked the ability for my spell casting time to be randomized.

Let me tell you that is the funniest shit I have seen this whole game. Sometimes it takes me half the combat to cast Eruption, and sometimes the spell hits the enemy before my finger leaves the button

This is definitely not a mechanic I played with when I was like 12, play old games you used to love guys, they're a treat

[fontasticcrablettes]

Tales of Symphonia is a game that I dearly love that also possesses a number of dungeons that make me want to pull my hair out on every replay. But... which one do you dread the most?

[baronaliswritingcorner]

TOS Replay Stray Thoughts #3 (Palmacosta Pt. 2/Thoda Geyser)

-Lloyd chewing out Dorr is very powerful – Scott Menville knocks it out of the park here – but much as everyone remembers “Don’t you start spewing the word “justice!” I hate that word!”, I always wondered where that came from. Yes, it’s easy to tie into his frustrations with empty platitudes surrounding racism and sacrifice, but remember that he’s still very naïve to the Journey of Regeneration’s true nature (let alone the existence of Cruxis) and thus he maintains a very black-and-white disposition towards the Desians. There’s the Iselia Human Ranch incident, yes, but “justice” isn’t one of the hollow excuses by given Iselia’s mayor/citizens, so it feels a little sudden.

Putting this way: we’re (successfully) roused by Lloyd taking action as everyone else keeps their heads down, but I always felt this particular outburst still feels a little undeveloped/early.

-Speaking of justice, ever notice the inconsistency with Dwarven Vow #7? In cutscenes it’s “goodness and love will always win”, but in the battle quote, it’s “justice and love will always win.” A localization error, perhaps, but I wonder if Lloyd’s second-hand embarrassment plays a role into his feelings over justice…?

-“My healing arts cannot save even one single life…?”

This line from Raine also struck me as a tad odd – yes, it’s meant to show her regret with Dorr breaking through the cold pragmatism she always displays, but it also implies a perceived inadequacy with her healing magic that’s never touched upon again. Always felt like a clumsy attempt add another layer of depth to a already tragic scene. - “And…if you somehow find a way to save my wife…please, help her return to her human form. When my daughter comesback, I don’t want her to be all alone…” Oh no…we save his wife much, much later, but Clara’s the one who ends up all alone. And we never see her reaction to her family’s death. How sad…

-It’s sorta funny how key items randomly drop into your lap early on, but I guess the Desians WOULD be carrying that Hakonesia Peak pass, huh? Throwing around their murderous weight as they travel to and fro, I’d imagine.

-Magnius is pretty boring – the other Cardinals usually have something going on but he’s just there to screech “vermin” in that generic bad dude voice of his while twirling his non-existent mustache. He’s not much better in the anime – ever notice he just straight up disappears after Colette’s hypnotic Holy Song? – but the manga’s interesting in how he divulges Raine and Genis’s half-elf identities. (In the game, he just mentions how they “can’t let go of their elven blood” – which, to its credit, does tie into Raine’s assurance to Genis that “we’re not like them – we’re different.”)

-Raine sure is worldly, but how is she so familiar with magitechnology? Might it have something to do with her time in Tethe’alla? Hmm…how many times did she play with the self-destruct button over there?

-Check out that highly disappointing ranch explosion – the prowess of Gamecube graphics right there LOL

-The washtubs are a perfect symbol of Sylvarant’s…uh, antiquatedness. Prime comedy, right here. Poor Raine, having to endure low-budget tourism…twice over!

-wait how did Noishe fit in the washtubs

-“Even I make mistakes. I made a terrible one…”

Laying it on a little thick, aren’t ya, Kratos???

(Actually, that reminds me: did you ever notice how the PS3 port removed ellipses wholesale across the script for whatever reason? Personally, they tend to play into the basic syntax I mentioned before with unvoiced dialogue, but as you can imagine, that “throw the baby out with the bathwater” approach leads to problems of its own.)

-killer starfish comin’ at ya and getting all slaphappy!!!

-this boss is the worst ugh I hate that bubble gun attack

-wait how’d they set up camp on that tiny hot spring

-“When you become an angel, I wonder if you'll go to the Tower of Salvation, too? If that's the case, we should just ask you after you go. I'm looking forward to your stories!”

oooooof

[the-howling-wind]

The beautiful Chosen One!

Been replaying Tales of Symphonia on the Remastered version, Zelos is always awesome and deep

[lildoodlecat]

Alright tales followers and ppl who like clicking buttons help me out

Feel free to add opinions/reasonings in the comments ✨✨

[Giving this a week bc I want to hopefully finish an rpgmaker game i was playing before I jump into another tales,, and also bc I'm so busy I'm not sure I would even have time to start one before then anyway lmao]

[roseofblogging]

I'm replaying Tales of the Abyss for the first time in a long time, and I keep tearing up over my sons (Luke and Asch!) and all of the trauma they refuse to acknowledge they have. I fiercely love Luke at his bratty, self-centered stage, but also his commitment to treat other people better post-Akzeriuth has stuck with me ever since I first played the game as a teenager. (i'm old now)

✩°｡⋆ boys would rather kill each other than go to therapy ⋆｡°✩

Tales was also a really important community to me from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. I'm not so involved in the fandom anymore, but I remember going to a Tales of Symphonia forum (the one with the skit faces we all used!) as my first online space I really interacted in, and then in 2008 I did my first cosplay as Luke, and by 2010 I'd made a lot of friends to meet up and do group cosplays with! I miss y'all ;_;

Photo by WashedOtaku Fon Master Ion: stealthos-aurion Anise Tatlin: Kimmy Cosplay Arietta the Wild: Celsius Luke fon Fabre: Rose of Battle Asch the Bloody: Zeiharu

a bonus:

[transfemininomenon]

truly felt so nice replaying golden sun..... i played it & the lost age sooo much as a kid i really was just so obsessed with the characters and world and everything about it. also was so obsessed with the way you could transfer your data from the first game over to the second and have your exact character levels & items from the first game transfer over on top of it impacting different little story events it was SO cool especially for 2003

that set of games & tales of symphonia really were my top big game obsessions and i still get so nostalgic for them both

[kohakhearts]

Raine Sage for 1, 14. Colette for 18. And um. (Trying to remember which Tales games you like, haha.) Milla for 10?

thank you!!! wow this one was kind of tough, i may be due for a symphonia replay lol

1: why do you like or dislike this character? (raine)

i like her because she’s an icon honestly. she’s weird about the things she loves and she makes it everyone else’s problem and that is legendary behaviour tbch. i also think her backstory is SUPER compelling and i actually kind of love the idea of taking a lifelong fixation due to Trauma and turning it into something positive, idk. the writing could’ve been better but you could say that for most tales games lol

14: assign a fashion aesthetic to this character. (raine)

cottagecore popped into my head first so i’ll commit to that

18: how about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire? (colette)

colette and zelos have SUCH an interesting dynamic and i love their parallels a lot (something about the way colette becomes an angel to help everyone and loses her consciousness in the tower of salvation vs. how zelos does it to help himself/his sister and the first time we see him be fully honest about his intentions is in the tower of salvation (per the kratos route, anyway)). the “two chosens” skit also lives rent free in my head, just like…the way zelos says he could never be like her. and she really does think he’s a better person than he is because she thinks everyone is better than they are lol but one thing i love about their dynamic is how like…zelos’s fate depends on lloyd’s trust in him, but the one other character in the party who seems to trust him at all is colette - and she does that way before lloyd does! but for zelos it doesn’t feel authentic i guess, because she trusts everyone. and idk i just think that’s a super interesting part of their dynamic that the game doesn’t touch on much

10: could you be best friends with this character? (milla)

tbh the xillias are some of the only tales games i haven’t played, but based on spin-offs and stuff i’m going to say yes. i think she has a sense of adventure that i would appreciate as a closet thrill seeker lmao

character ask game