Tales of Symphonia

[Lindy]

If you've played ToP, you'll notice some nice touches in ToS, since ToS is far in the past of the world of ToP. Things like...

[spoilers]When Lloyd and Colette are talking about Treant's Forest, and how they hope everyone can see it in the future, it remains exactly the same as it was in the future, still not allowing half-elves in, still needing the king's permission to enter Heimdall and the Ymir Forest.[/spoilers]

Or

[spoilers]Lloyd uses the Vorpal Sword and Flamberge to split the power of the Eternal Sword, in ToP, Cless and Klarth use Origin to reforge the Vorpal Sword and Flamberge back into the Eternal Sword for him to use and reveal Dhaos' castle which exists out of time and space, much like Cruxis.[/spoilers]

[Excelsior]

i did not know this game was at all related to phantasia. but then again, i never beat phantasia. so, are u supposed to know (SPOILER)what lloyd names the tree at the end of the game?

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Probably not. My guess is (SPOILER)Muffin

[Lindy]

i did not know this game was at all related to phantasia. but then again, i never beat phantasia. so, are u supposed to know (SPOILER)what lloyd names the tree at the end of the game?

Well, Lloyd names it (SPOILER)Yggdrasil, out of respect for Mithos (and also because the tree of life is called Yggdrasil in mythology and we can't break from that now can we!, and then when you see it again in ToP (SPOILER)you meet Martel, who lives inside the tree of mana which is dying because people have been wasting mana on wars and making weapons

[GooeyToast]

So, FFX didn't have any RPG cliches at all? OH NO FORBIDDEN LOVE.

ToS' story was pretty different from FFX, since FFX was a matter of beating some huge enemy after gaining random summon powers, whereas ToS was about regenerating the world, something that changed rather swiftly, but it took a whole damn boring game in FFX before anyone said "HOW ABOUT WE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT?". Only a pretty damn small portion of the game is at all similar to FFX, you must have just been too short sighted to have seen that fact.

Boring, lifeless characters? Where the backstory of each and every one of them is explained, where every character participates in the story sequences and always has something useful to say? Oh sure, FF was great with that with the one random thing Generic Old Guy #3 said, or when Generic Young Hero #2 decided to speak out against injustice.

So, all in all, from what you've said, you clearly only played the first few hours of the game, probably found the combat too hard as, SHOCK HORROR, it wasn't turn based and then gave up and went back to another generic FF game. HOORAY FOR YOU, you don't deserve to play ToS anyway, it's too good for you.

That seems a little harsh. I wouldn't really compare the game to FFX, but I would say that it was pretty cliched. Worse, the story was pretty predictable and at times seemed to be trying to throw in some big twists for profound results but wasn't quite able to pull it off.
The characterization was decent, but not good enough to make me care much about any of the characters. I was also actually surprised by how easy I found the game. I read numerous reviews stating the battles were very hard, but I only remember dying a few times throughout the entire game.

Thank you Azar, for backing up my point. LIKE I SAID, ToS was VERY full of cliches and also pretty poor VO. Sure, ffX had cliches, but what rpg doesn't? The only differnce with ToS was that the story was like a mass jumble of every other rpg out there, nothing original.

And as for finding the combat "too hard" and "not turned-base", the combat for me wasn't hard at all, and as a matter-of-fact, i've played more action/rpgs and non-turned-based rpgs than i have regular.

Finally, i played more than 17 hours of the game without much happening at all, while i went through basic designed dungeons with mediocre "puzzles" and constantly fighting the same enemies OVER AND OVER AGAIN, so you can't say the game is "too good for me", because I've been there and played that.

Next time, Lindy, before you explode on somebody for not liking a simple video game, you might want to make sure what you're saying is true, and not truely opinional.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I'm only 7 hours in, I just got to the "mosouleum" something like that. And I want to know, later in the game, does somebody give Kratos more money than you already paid him, so he can destroy you?

[XxSephirothxX]

I'm only 7 hours in, I just got to the "mosouleum" something like that. And I want to know, later in the game, does somebody give Kratos more money than you already paid him, so he can destroy you?

Or, you could play the game like it's designed and not find out major plot points.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

It's just an assumption, might as well say it, or I shall find out anyways elseware. The story IS too predictable.

[NM]

If you really want to know, Lone Wolf Leonhart i'll tell you. (SPOILER) Kratos does turn on you, but it's not for money, he has other motives.

The plot for me is very similar to FFX as well. A chosen one and her group of protectors visiting shrines to pray to save the world, as told by religious teachings. Someone having to sacrifice themselves for the good of everyone else. Someone else not agreeing with that, and finding another way, to save the world and keep the other person alive. If that isn't Final Fantasy X's plot copied, then what is! Alright there are other elements to the story, but the basic plot is the same as FFX.

As for predictable plot. I'll agree with that. I figured out something about Kratos in the first couple hours of the game, thats finally revealed in the last few hours, of the story.

[Lindy]

Unlike FFX, the plot completely changes from the "group of protectors and a chosen one" style a short way in, and the rest of the game is a matter of exacting change, rather than it happening RIGHT at the end of FFX.

In fact, the FFX-style section only occurs for a short portion of the first disc.

All of your are proclaiming that this game copied FFX when you're basing it on a tiny portion of the game, it's a HUGE game, with a massive story. Try looking at the rest of the story before you claim it copied FFX, which by the way, copied enough damn games already anyway.

World regeneration is VERY different from just collecting summons and going to destroy a giant monster that's after the world, it's a matter of the world itself breaking down rather than a giant monster exacting damage upon everyone.

Next time, Lindy, before you explode on somebody for not liking a simple video game, you might want to make sure what you're saying is true, and not truely opinional.

Next time, why don't you play more of a game and actually more of the story before you try and claim that it completely copied something else, and it doesn't take 17 hours before you get into the change in plot anyway, you must be pretty bad at it if you're playing it THAT slowly.

I stand by the fact that the game is too good for you, go back to playing your poor quality, overproduced FF games and enjoy mediocrity.

[GooeyToast]

If you think FF games are of "poor quality" and are "overproduced", then why the hell are you on a FF fan site?!!!

Also, you can't take the fact away that it did definetly copy FFX, even if it was for a "little while".

I don't know, maybe I will pick it up again when i'm done with all my other rpgs, but as for now i don't feel any real need to go pick it up. It just didn't appeal to me that much.

[Lindy]

Why am I on an FF fan site? Because I USED to like the games, they've just steadily turned into crap. If you look, I never post in the FF forums, so good one with that argument there, I'm not allowed to have an opinion about FF being bad on an FF site? Genius, purely so.

Secondly, even if the story was "copied" from FFX, it was better, considering how deeply it went into it, for example, Yuna went to pray at certain locations, blah blah blah, Colette goes to certain locations to unlock seals on the world, and with each seal unlocked, she slowly becomes an angel and loses the ability to feel anything, the need to eat, her voice and eventually her soul. Now did that latter part happen in FFX? NOPE.

You're just basing it on the fact that Colette is going around with a group of protectors to save the world, even though it's for a totally different reason than in FFX, approached in a totally different way, and takes up only a small portion of the game.

Well whoop de doo, no other game has had a chosen one following around the world with a group of protectors, NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AT ALL.

FFX has copied games before it, which copied games before that, which has copied games before that.

It's a general story idea, it doesn't BELONG to FFX, and it was written and performed in a totally different way from FFX as well, with totally different character styles.

So the only link is a chosen one and a group of protectors, oh yeah, really copied.

[GooeyToast]

Why am I on an FF fan site? Because I USED to like the games, they've just steadily turned into crap. If you look, I never post in the FF forums, so good one with that argument there, I'm not allowed to have an opinion about FF being bad on an FF site? Genius, purely so.

Well, maybe it's a good thing that you never post in the FF area. I'm sure you'd proabably go crazy on anybody there who simply disagreed with you about a game.

You know, I don't at all mind people who dislike FF, because they probably have their own reasons for not liking it, just as i have my reasons for not liking ToS. But, when you act like you're 100% right and constantly feel you have to prove your point with BIG CAPITAL LETTERS and sarchasim, then that's just being an @$$hole about it.

It's a general story idea, it doesn't BELONG to FFX, and it was written and performed in a totally different way from FFX as well, with totally different character styles.

Yeah, most of the characters may have been different from X, but what about other FF's? To me, Kratos seemed an awfully lot like Cloud (the spiky hair, the big sword, he's not exactly the talkative type, he's a mercenary!!!) and a mix of Auron (he is very calm and relaxed, he seems to always offer words of wisdom, he lets his sword do the talkin'). And i know you can say that both Cloud and Auron were not original in any way, and that they too were based off other rpg characters, but to tell you the truth, how many other spikey-haired, silent mercenaries with a big sword were there before Cloud? I'm pretty sure he was the pioneer for all of those types of characters to come.

Now, can we just stop it at that, please? I'm getting tired of arguing with you over a simple thing like a game. I'm sure we both proved our points on the issue, and, quite frankly, i'm getting tired of typing on it.

[Lindy]

Kratos was ACTUALLY based on Dias Flac from Star Ocean : The Second Story, their image and fighting styles are very similar, as is their demeanour.

This is simply because the people who made Star Ocean and Star Ocean 2 (Tri-Ace) were an off-shoot of Wolf Team that made ToP and then the concurrent Tales games.

It was a subtle nod to their friends over the water at Tri-Ace.

And I dislike it when people form an opinion when they've played a minimal portion of a game's story when it runs to a truly epic scale.

I'd say it was a pretty huge achievement if ToS can copy FFX's story and manage to fit it into the first few hours and then expand onto a much larger and more interesting set of events.

It also doesn't say much about the story of FFX if it can be crunched into a few hours of gameplay in terms of story.

So you decide, is ToS good at compressing a story, or does FFX just have a godawful one?

[XxSephirothxX]

I think people often read too deeply into characters and video games. Some of threads on this site are crazy like that. I don't think Kratos is in any way based on Cloud. For instance, Lloyd is a kid, uses swords, and wants to protect people. Does that make him like Tidus? Maybe a bit. But it certainly doesn't make him BASED on Tidus.