Quick Links
Tales of Symphoniais often regarded as one of the best JRPGs on the GameCube, which is why having the option to play through it on modern hardware with enhancements to its visuals and controls justifies the Remaster almost instantaneously. However, this also means this will be the first time for many players to experience the world, story, and gameplay for the first time.
RELATED:Labyrinth Of Galleria: The Moon Society - Beginner Tips
Despite being nearly two decades old at this point, Tales of Symphonia has a surprising amount of depth in not only its characters, world-building, and narrative, but its gameplay and combat system are also incredibly varied and deep. There is so much to see and do in the world of Sylvarant, and all of its twists and turns will keep you engaged well throughout your adventure.
Switching Playable Characters
One of the more unique aspects of Tales of Symphonia is the ability toswitch characters on the fly,whether that be duringcombat encounters,whenexploring the various towns and dungeons,or whentraveling across the vast overworld.On the surface, this may seem like it’s only for cosmetic purposes, letting you roam around as your favorite character, but there is much more to this than you think.
Certain charactersin Tales of Symphoniahave access to unique side actions in villagesthat willreward you with valuable Titles, Items, and more.For example, if you selectColette as the controllable character,you canpet the dogs found in every region.Petting every dog will unlock the “Dog Lover"Titlefor her,raisingherINT, EVA, and ACC by +4and targeting those Stats whenever she levels up.
Some characters you meet a bit lateron in your playthrough willreceive free Items from female NPCs,while some will grant you unique Outfits or Titlesfor mastering Cooking or speaking with specific characters. This system is quite extensive, and you may miss many things your first time through, but that’s what New Game Plus is for!
Titles Effect More Than You Might Think
Speaking of uniqueTitles,they offer a unique wrinkle into your overall progress, allowing you tohone in on specific Statsfor your party members. Let’s take the aforementioned “Dog Lover"TitleforColetteas an example. It will give her a+4 bonusto herINT, EVA, and ACC Stats,but there’smuch more to itthan that. If you equip this Title to Colette,anytime she levels up, she will gain significant bonusesto herINT, EVA, and ACCStats.
When selecting a Title, you will see someStatsareGrey,others areGreen,and some may even beRed.These colorsindicate how much of a bonus you will receive upon leveling upto those Stats. You can see what each color means below:
AllTitles have their pros and cons,andsome may not even have an impact on your Stats.Some Titles arepurely there for cosmetic purposes,serving as the game’s “Outfit” option, allowing you tochange the attire of your party members.Overall, Titles are extremely important and valuable in Tales of Symphonia and should not be overlooked.
Exploration Is Crucial
Like every JRPG out there, Tales of Symphonia haslots of secrets for you to discover,whether that be anoptional Side Quest, a rare Item, or better gearfor your party members. This game hasmany villages and dungeons,giving you hours upon hours of things to see, do, and explore.Before advancing the plot or following the critical pathof a dungeon,take a moment to check every nook, cranny, and side path you see,as you will likely come across things that make the extra effort worth it.
Furthermore,exploring is also an excellent way to level up passivelyby “lightly farming” enemies. If you are poking around the massive overworld or dense dungeons, you will bump into countless amounts of enemies, which means you more or less get free EXP. So long as you are at the proper level for those areas. Heading off the beaten path is rarely a bad idea and can lead you to some of the game’s most valuable Items!
Saving Your Progress
Before exploring the overworld and dungeons, you shouldSave your progress,as some areas may be too high a level for you to be in, which can put you back quite a bit if you haven’t saved in a while. While this may seem obvious, stopping at aSave Circlein a village or dungeon can slip the player’s mind, leading to a devastating realization if you die and lose hours of progress.
There is alsoone more method of Saving you may not be wary of:the ability toSave your progress whenever you like when exploring the overworld.You can achieve this by doing the following steps:
Be sure todo this EVERY TIME you step foot into the overworld and just before entering a village or a dungeon.Youshould also Save in the overworld before you take an alternate pathway or want to exploreit, as you never know when you will stumble into an area that is too much for you at your current level. We cannot stress enough how you should Save every chance you get, as losing valuable progress can be deflating and discouraging and can happen in the blink of an eye.
Items And Cooking
As we’ve touched upon relentlessly already,Itemsare a crucial part of Tales of Symphonia, andthe early portions of the game can be pretty challengingin this department. At the start of the game, you will be in the village ofIselia.Here, you canpurchase Gels and Ingredientsfrom the “Halo"shopin thesouthern part of the town.We suggestdoing this as soon as possible,as youwon’t have many healing itemswhen starting.
However,we also recommend not going too overboard,askilling enemies will grant you Gels,but you should have some on hand before you fight any enemies, just in case. You should alsopurchase some Ingredients from the shop whenever you’re able to,as you willlearn how to Cook relatively earlyon and willlearn the recipe for Sandwichesin the opening hours of the game.CookingcanrestoreyourHP and TP,but it can alsocleanse you of Ailmentsandboost Stats temporarily,making it a crucial part of Tales of Symphonia.
Learn How To Backstep
Lastly, you should learn and master the art ofBacksteppingduring combat as soon as possible, as it will give you the upper hand in most battles. To perform a Backstep, you need tohold the Guard button(Square of PlayStation), thenpress the direction opposite of where you’re lookingon yourD-Pad or Analog Stick.So, if you arelooking right, Hold Square, then press Lefton your D-Pad to perform a Backstep.
Backstepping may not seem like a very useful mechanic, but once you get it down, it will be yourgo-to method against melee-based enemies and most bosses.This tactic willenable you to evade most melee attacks and a wide range of special attacks,making it crucial to learn and master. One last thing of note,you should always Guard after you attack,as your enemy will almost always retaliate afterward.
