Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii, 2008)

After playing (and LOVING) the original Tales of Symphonia a few years ago, it was a no-brainer that I just had to try out the sequel. Granted, Dawn of the New World had a HUGE prequel to live up to, so I wasn't expecting a miracle. But I must say, while it certainly has some flaws, it should make Tales of Symphonia fans very satisfied...

POSITIVES:

+ GOOD STORY - One thing that engrossed me in the first was a good storyline. It's almost like watching a movie. A well-defined plot that has you itching to figure out what's to come!

+ LOTS TO DO - I've been told that total playtime can range anywhere for 40-100 hours, depending on how much you care to do. Plenty of side quests and items to get - just like the original. Nothing like getting your $40 worth!

+ FAMILIAR SETTINGS/CHARACTERS - I found it nice recognizing familiar settings and cast for the original. The first ToS has such a great crew that they just had to come back again - 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!'

+ HIGH REPLAY VALUE - As with the first, beating the game is only the beginning. You can use GRADE to replay it with some advantages. AND, there are THREE seperate endings to watch! Yeah!

+ MAP FEATURE - I like being able to point and click where I want to go rather than spend several minutes roaming the countryside and fighting monsters. A NICE new feature!

NEUTRAL

o GRAPHICS - While improved over the previous Gamecube version, it seems to me that they could have done just a bit more to make them dazzle my eye. I like the more fluid motions of the characters, but still yawn at some of the other animations. The only thing that I TRUELY enjoy are the cut-scene animations. The rest is good, but not great.

o CONTROLS - Maybe it's because I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but the controls seem a bit more awkward than before. I find myself accidently hitting the wrong button in battle - very frustrating.

NEGATIVES:

- WHINY PROTAGNIST - I know that things do change as the game progresses, but it's hard to root for such a wimpy main character. I find myself cringing everytime he talks.

- CAST VOICES - This is a minor thing for some, but I just got too used to the original voices from Tales on the Gamecube. Now when I here the new ones (like Lloyd) I keeping saying to myself...'that's not Lloyd's voice'. Fortunately, some characters ARE voiced identically as the first.

- AUTO/MANUAL TROUBLES - The wife likes to play as Marta, but for some reason, the settings seem to constantly shift from Auto to Manual between scenes. This results in us frequently tweaking the settings. Maybe it's just something we're doing wrong, but didn't have that problem with the first.

OVERALL

Tales of Symphonia fans will find yet another RPG game to become enfatuated with. New RPG fan should still appreciate it, but maybe not as much as hardcore Tales fans. Just for the record, newbies do NOT have to have a background on the first to understand this one (although it would help). Either way, it's HANDS DOWN, the best RPG currently out for the Wii. And, with a MSRP of $40, it's a REALLY good deal.

Let me be clear-Whatever complaints I make about this game, I did enjoy it. It is not bad, nor unworthy of your money. The problem is that everything in it is dual-natured. I cannot praise something without having to add in a "but". The only exception to that rule is the music, which I found a delightful blend of the old and new.<br>
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First and foremost, the gameplay. One cannot help but compare it to the strong pace of the original Tales of Symphonia which, while not exactly blazing fast, never left you bored or uninterested. In terms of the story, this pace holds, though it seems the writers went out of their way to use every cliché imaginable. In battle, however, the game seems significantly slower paced. Some might like it, some might not.<br>
Another significant change from the game's predecessor is the monster system. It lends a "Pokémon"-like feel, even using things like evolution into higher forms. The system itself isn't bad, though it could certainly use improvement. The problem lies in that these monsters tend to draw focus from the real characters. As playable characters go, only two new ones are truly playable throughout the game, though the original eight move in and out of the party. It is often only the two main characters and their non playable sidekick, along with a host of monsters. It plays all right, but the dynamics of the group aren't as interesting.<br>
Speaking of the group, the new characters are, unfortunately, overall far poorer in quality than those one would expect from a game of such high pedigree. Emil, the main character, has a dual personality alternating between pitiful, whiny, and downright irritating to brash, rude, and entirely obnoxious. Neither of these versions are much fun very often. His newfound friend Marta is so much the personification of the "typical teenage girl" that I spent the entire game waiting for the surprise personality quirk that never came. Redeeming the cast, however, is Tenebrae, the spirit that travels with them. While not exactly a stereotype-breaking personality himself, his interactions with the others are often humorous, resulting in added dimension to decidedly 2D characters.<br>
(And on the original cast of eight, I can't say much without spoiling the game, but their personalities are decidedly different. It seems the writers had a hard time carrying them over.)<br>
Graphically, the Dawn of the New World has not done much for its appearance. It's not bad-looking, simply not very much improved since the Gamecube game. I might even believe that some locations were almost simply copied and pasted, if it were possible. It is sufficient, but the Wii can do better.<br>
The music, as noted above, is fantastic overall. Motoi Sakuraba is well-known for his work, as he should be. Sound effects are generally pleasing as well, though some have a tendency towards repetitiveness. One large problem is that the original cast of voices has been almost completely replaced. Some have better replacements than others, and it may be a serious shift for the more diehard fans of the original.
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Once again, this game is not at all a bad one. I applaud the developers for attempting to take a new direction in the series, but change is not always beneficia, and the old Tales formula certainly adds up to a stronger game than this. Still, if you want a fun way to spend some time (It is somewhat shorter than the original also), or just want to find out "the end", it's a good game to buy.

If you love ToS on your Game Cube, you must bay this part to.
I think ToS is one of the best games you can play on your wii.
The Storry is great, you must try it.
I did not want to tell you to much, but I can not find the right words to tell you how fantastic this game is.
Greatings from Germany
Xenaria

The game itself was pretty good, but the cutscences were murder! It was great to have a story line and know the details of what is happening and so on. But there was just way to many of them.

Dawn of the new World is not as epic as its predecessor but its still enjoyable for us fans that loved the first story. I wish they would have pursued that same line but its better than nothing.

Loved the game, if you love zelda you will definitly love this game. It is the best one made so far, who says third and fourth games or movies are always bad.. Not this one.

This is a beautiful game.
The graphics have improved so much since the last game, it's incredible.
It does take some time to get used to and the voices did change (and in general took a turn for the worst) But it is more than worth the money.

i love rpgs games.this game is great!it came with a game guide which makes me play the game alot faster and easier.got the game and the game guide on a gud price.

This is a great game, especially if you like action, catching monsters and training them to defeat your enemies, and evolving them into even stronger monsters. It's a great game although it does swear quite a bit. I like the game a lot.

Very fast shipping. Awesome product, it was in mint condition when I received it. Very happy about this sale and strongly recommend anyone buying from this person.

It is a role playing Wii game with auto battles. It's very good. You play a young boy. who battles monsters to save a city. You rescue people and grow stronger as the game progresses.

Ny children liked the original Tales of Symphonia; this is the new game with better graphic and they enjoy playing this game together.

A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Great condition! really love it <(^@^)>
A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Enjoyed the game and it was great with 4 players. Dawn of the New World (Wii)Great Entertainment and good value for money.

good product, fast shipping------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great Game, but a bit harder than the one before, but over all, i like this way~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ToS: Dawn of the New World is a great sequel to Tales of Symphonia! The story, music, gameplay, and voice acting is superb! If you liked Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, this is a absolute must get game!

one of the best games i have ever played. ive played all the other tales games and this was one of the best ones i have had the time to actually play.

I bought this game as a gift to my husband who is into the series. He really likes and enjoys it. It has great graphics and game play. Playing it on the wii is very fun and different. The game keep syou guessing. Great game!