The "Tales" role playing series has
been around for many years. A few years ago Tales of Symphonia was released for
the Nintendo GameCube. This game proved to be extremely popular, and it was only
a matter of time before a sequel was made. Finally, players’ wishes have been
answered with the Nintendo Wii sequel entitled Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the
New World.
The story of this game is set a
couple of years after the conclusion of the first game. Players are thrown into
the shoes of Emil, a very spineless character who is seemingly afraid of
everything. Players must partner up with Marta and many other friends to try to
prevent the destruction of the world. All in all, the storyline is cliché and
has a "stale air" about it. The main reason hangs on the actions of the main
character. Emil is nothing more than a whining, sniffling crybaby with very
serious self-doubt issues. The other reason for the stale air is that players
have played this exact same scenario with a much stronger storyline and
characters.
Dawn of a New World is an extremely
long game. Players looking for a game that will keep them occupied for a long
time will have to look no further than Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New
World. This, in itself, presents a challenge because of the huge adventure;
players will have to do a ton of backtracking. As any gamer knows backtracking
is the bane of gaming and a huge waste of time. Not only that but this game is
beyond linear. The game will tell players where to go, how to get there, and
nothing more. When there is the optional side-quest, it still doesn’t leave any
room for freedom as it is just complete this quest to move on. This kind of game
was fine a decade ago, but the genre has evolved beyond this linear gameplay to
allow for a more robust experience.
The battle engine for Dawn of the
New World is decently created, but it has a very "been there done that" feeling
to it. Thankfully the battles are not random; players will be able to pick and
choose which fights they want to take on. Since the battle is in real time,
players can move around the battlefield waiting for right time to strike. They
can press the A button to hit the enemy and hopefully chain attacks together for
more damage. Pressing the B button will allow players to perform various magic
attacks, and pressing C will allow all four characters in the party to perform a
unison attack. Another handy button is the Z button which allows players to
guard against incoming attacks.
As previously stated, players can
have up to four members in battle at any given time. Players can go into the
battle menu and assign the computer characters various strategies to use while
in the midst of battle such as healing or attacking roles. After the battle is
won, players will be awarded with skill points which can be divided up between
the party. In this way, the characters can learn more skills. It is here where
players have to be strategic so they do not give all the skills to one
character. They can evenly spread them around.
A new feature to this series is
players can capture monsters they fight, and use them in battle later on. These
creatures can level up and gain new and more devastating abilities. A downside
is these monsters cannot equip items, and there is only a certain amount of that
can be in the party at any given time. The extra monsters can be dropped off at
various locations, but that involves more(!) backtracking.
The pacing for this game is
horrible. For instance, when players start the game it takes nearly twenty
minutes before the players can move the character for the first time, and over
half an hour just to get to the first battle. The main culprit is the way the
game’s story unfolds. Certain times the game is unfolded using anime cut scenes.
Other times there is an ominous voice that directs the story and shows a scene
in the background. The problem here is that there is no way to make the story go
faster. Players will have to look at a background, read the text or listen to
the voice. When it completes it will take another five to 10 seconds (or more)
for the next scene to show. Unlike most games which give players the option of
continuing a screen if they are finished reading, players are forced to
read/listen to every. This happens all throughout the game and is beyond
unbearable.
The graphics for this game are not
necessarily bad, but they are not great either. The problem steams for the fact
that this game looks like a GameCube game. There have been many other games
released from this system that shows off its power, and Dawn of the New World is
not one of them. One thing that gamers will not understand is how the loading
screen for moving to new locations and other things seems to take forever. The
problem is since the graphics are not super advanced, there should be no need
for a lengthy loading screen. The player interaction with the world is seriously
lacking, players cannot check bookshelves for books, read notes on wall, and
other things that this genre is known for.
On the flip side of things the
animations for the characters are really good – especially during the various
battles. Fans will also love the animated skits when players have conversations
with other important characters. The skits are very well done and the animation
is perfect.
The sound for this game is very bad.
The English voice actors did a horrific job delivering the various lines. While
it is great to have a game that uses real voice acting on the Nintendo Wii, the
developers could have done a better job by either hiring a new cast, or leaving
in the original Japanese language . As it stands people will be very put off by
the voice acting. The music doesn’t fare any better, in fact it is either too
much in the player’s face or it is questionably absent.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New
World is rated Teen.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The game features very traditional gameplay that many gamers will enjoy
but the problem is lack of innovation. The real-time battles are great, but the
game is to linear for its own good.
Graphics: 7.4
The presentation of the game is done really well. The problem is that
the game looks exactly the same as the previous game released on the GameCube.
Sound: 4.0
The music tends to lean on the side of aggravating. The voice work is
horrible!
Difficulty: Easy
This game is extremely easy to jump in and play. There is not a real
challenge to be found, especially if you are a veteran of this genre.
Concept: 5.0
There is nothing new here that really takes RPG games to new heights.
Overall: 7.1
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is not a bad game, but is
suffers from "Been there done that" syndrome. This does fill in the void in the
RPG genre, which is something the Nintendo Wii is seriously lacking, many gamers
will be disappointed with the extremely linear nature of this game. Hopefully
more RPG’s are on the horizon for this system.
