Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

[ShadowV7]

I have to say, this is better than I thought so far and i'm pretty hooked on it just now. There's a few issues that's annoying me but aside from that it's great. Obviously the fact that there's no over world is a right pain, I really wanted to walk around and explore the new world and see what it's all like, second is the voice acting, seems alright so far, great to hear Kratos in the opening again, I think it's Cam Clarke again, though I can't find the VAs anywhere. Finally the last issue is the additional characters aside from Emil and Marta, they don't level during each chapter and you can't change their equipment. It really wouldn't be hard to have them level and customize, just like the over world.

 

What you said about those 2 folk not being Emils parents is interesting I thought "Why is he infront!?" when he seen them. Though in the shrine in Luin Lake, Lloyd didn't seem evil or anything, it looked like he should some remorse when saying "Oh, that Palmacosta thing again" or something,

 

Which made me think that he isn't responsible, but the Church of Martel is claiming he gave orders in his name when he didn't, and went to Palmacosta to stop it and is trying to prevent Ratatosk from getting freed since I think he's evil aswell. Only thing in the way of this is that he killed Emils 'parents' and even said "The Church of Martel"

 

I need to play more

 

[Mokong]

Oh one thing i forgot in my uber long previous post.

 

The guy with the Blue hair you bump into who talked about Asgard was his birthplace from before it was called Asgard. That was Yuan, i was smiling from ear to ear, haha, like "holy shit it's YUAN".... too bad has hasn't appeared again yet.... I just beat the Triet ruins and got the fire core, bloody pissed at Lloyd now for not explaining anything. Not explaining himself to Emil and Martha I understand, but near enough ignoring both Raine and Genis with no explanation? WTF happened in the last two years to him?

 

I'm hoping it's like a 2nd Lloyd, and the real one had been captured and knocked out or something... like this Lloyd is the ToS equvelent of Dark Samus , wishful thinking maybe.

 

Oh and as for my theory about Emil... further streghtened after the fishing scene and you get the skit where he said he never fished before... yet "he grew up" in a fishing town

 

 

EDIT:

 

Ok just on the way to Izoold and it's no where near where I thought it was gonna be on the map.

 

Looks like the reuniting of the worlds changed the geography quite a bit. I thought all the islands of Tethe'alla would just be like another continent, looking at it now seems parts are connected to Sylvarant, and some things have altered. The path from Izoold up the Hima that you could take to get to Palmacosta without going by seas isn't there.... unless you walked around the mountains behind Isealia.

 

And this further strenghtens my dissapointment in the map system and not being able to propperly walk on it. Things have actually been altered a fair bit I would love to explore that on foot discovering the changes like that would have been much better

[ShadowV7]

If they fixed the world map and customisation of the other characters, it would of been a really good sequal to the original, the original voice cast would of made it perfect. If they fixed those things, to me, it would of been in the same league as ToS. It sucks to see the potential it had to make it so much better. This had a chance to blow me away like the first, but to bad the flaws are a pain

 

Also what you said about the second Lloyd, the one piece of footage I seen with Emil and Marta and Lloyd in the Luin lake place, I thought it was a second Lloyd aswell since something seemed different. Can't wait to see how it pans out... Game is much better than I thought right enough.

 

[Ike]

I thought the map in ToS was terrible, so the lack of a map isn't a big deal for me.

[Emasher]

I thought the map in ToS was terrible, so the lack of a map isn't a big deal for me.

 

It wasn't the best. But it made the game much less linear.

 

I think the reason most people seem to have their facts wrong is because the game is meant to show what the average people thought. I have a feeling this will get corrected latter on.

 

I haven't played for the last few days and probably won't get much of another chance until thursday, but I'm still finding this game great.

 

There are so many times I want to yell "Just bang her already!" at Emil. The game really seems to be more out in the open with the relationships between characters, unlike the original.

 

Also, I'm really liking how they've added in the enemies health bars in the battles. No more of those damn lens things.

 

The way the Mayor of Luin said "The Lloyd I know would never do something like this." makes me almost certain that the Lloyd we see is either a fake or possessed, that and the fact that Colette can't find him.

 

After the Asguard human ranch, we all knew Kratos was Lloyd's father.

 

[Mokong]

Only manged to play 5 hours yesterday even though I had the day off, mother kept asking me to give her a lift to places, then some cousins came for dinner so I had to break out GH:World Tour for some rocking action.

 

 

After doing the Ice Temple and getting out after having found Sheena after she fell down the hole, I'm pretty sure that Decus guy is the "evil" Lloyd, makes sense, he's able to shape shift to look like other people and a member of the Vangaurd. Makes sense to have him impersonate Lloyd and takeover the control of the Church of Martel army to get the civilians on the side of the Vangaurd.

 

The question is have any of the Lloyds we've met been the real one? I think only the Lloyd who took Lumens core was real if any, just the way he reacted when questioned about Palmacosta. I don't think any time you met Lloyd and an "old crew" member was there was a real Lloyd, cuz of his ignoring the "old crew" people. Or else maybe he thinks they won't believe him there is someone impersonating him.

 

I hope this turns true, it's almost obvious after seeing what Decus can do, but sometimes what is obvious is just to mislead us into expecting something else

 

Also Dirk mentioned something about Lloyd returning because a friend was in Danger and so far I have yet to met Persea, could the Vangaurd have kidnapped her to trap Lloyd?

 

[Dawgster]

Is this game compatible with the Freeloader? Or does it come with an update)and if it does, you can still use the same method as was with an imported version of Brawl?)? I just want to be sure before ordering it...

[ShadowV7]

Just order it, you'll be fine. Updates are on 1st party games only, not 3rd.

[Mokong]

Just order it, you'll be fine. Updates are on 1st party games only, not 3rd.

 

Actually the booklet on this does say the game contains an update, 1st page with the table of contents.

 

I'm sure the freeloader can work round it, considering it did for Brawl... plus I'm certain Shadow himself is using the Freeloader to play it. (I'm using the HBC cuz Disaster: Day of Crisis tricked me to update)

[Sheikah]

The game does have an update. By the way, I use a homebrew freeloader and it works fine, to those wishing to use a freeloader.

[ShadowV7]

Did anyone actually even get a prompt at all from the game though? The FreeLoader doesn't block the pop-up of updates and I didn't see any so it must be really a really old one.

[Emasher]

The update isn't going to come up if you have 3.3 already installed. Pretty much all major games have updates on them now though.

[Mokong]

Ok some good progress today, haha

 

firstly, best Skit EVER, title: "mom" near the end of Temple of Darkness... wicked, haha.

 

Oh yeah and just unlocked the Mystic Artes..... HOLY SHIT, they are awesome as hell. Those things make up for the dissappointing changes to the Unison Attack (even though I've gotten used to that and worked out it's full mechanics), seriously if you've not gottan to see those yet, just wait

 

 

Wohoo, I was right about Decus impersonating Lloyd. Like I said before was kinda obvious near the end of the Ice Temple. Near enough confirmed by Zelos during the Seles kidnapped in Meltokio... even before they mentioned the cologne smell.

 

The Lloyd vs Lloyd fight was pretty awesome too, wish it was longer they could have done an epic battle scene there

 

Feeling much better now too that it's confirmed Lloyd didn't go Darth Vader, the nightmare and confusion caused by that shocking opening scene has been put to rest.... Now him and Sheena BETTER end this thing in each others arms

 

 

EDIT: abut 24 hours after typing the above

ok maybe i shuld have kept playing last night, just got out of that dungeon and Lloyd went all weird again... WFT? That is bloody weird, he better have a good reason for this, especailly not explaining himself to Sheena

 

At least he didn't kill the people at Palmacosta anyway

 

 

 

Even more certain who we know as Emil is not actually "Emil", during the dungeon finding Seles (can't remember what it was called) the scene after fighting Richter when he calls Emil "Aster".

 

That's near enough confirmation Emil has taken on the life of someone else.

 

Once again, in the opening scene when Emil and Parents are running to get away from "Lloyd" you see his parents through "Emil's" eyes and he is behind them, then it cuts to Martha who "appears" to be saved by "Emil" though he never gives his name, he then finds the bodies of his "parents".... now if his parents were killed in front of his eyes why would he leave them only to go back? Plus on first seeing them he doesn't seem upset until the mother talks to him, all the while she "can't even see his face".

 

This "Emil" had somehow lost his memory (likely "Asters" memory), and on talking with the dying mother subconsciously "became Emil".

 

I reckon his "aunt & uncle" in Luin didn't notice likely cuz they prolly haven't seen him since he was a baby and just didn't know what he looked like grown up.

 

Again in Palmacosta Mrs. Dorr didn't recognise him, yet it's only been 6 months since he left Palmacosta, then Thomas' reaction before passing out, and small things like having never fished despite growing up in Palmacosta.

 

Ultimately I fairly certain "Emil" is actually this "Aster" (bet most people think the smae after reaching this point anyway) person Richter refered to him as, and that Richter and Aster are prolly related, I'm guessing Brothers.... somehow trying to parrallell the Lloyd/Kratos dynamic from the first game.

 

And the real Emil, is prolly dead with his parents

 

 

If I didn't have work tomorrow I'd stay up till dawn (non pun intended) playing this....sure it's got a few issues as I mentioned in a previous post but i'm still absalutely loving it, only just a little bit less than the first

[The-chosen-one]

just a quick question how do you capture more then just 2 monsters i only have impa and wolf but when facing other monsters i cant capture them? or wil it only happen when you are leveling up or something?

 

forget what i asked :P i found out already haha

 

man i love this game and graphics looks better than i expected (Y) im kinda addicted now to it lol

[Sheikah]

Ain-Soph-Aur!!

 

Well this game has been great, despite the basically copied and pasted towns (and even dungeons!) and what feels like far less to do in them. The story has been a real strong point for this game, but I do wish they used all original VAs for this game as some of the returning characters do sound ridiculous (Why couldn't they have left an undisclosed sum of money on the table of the original Lloyd VA to make it happen). One last gripe is that now, after owning a HDTV, it makes the game look rather poor, and I really do wish the Wii was a HD console (even with a component cable, it's not good). Plus the same gamecube graphics (despite cel-shaded graphics, which I thought were brilliant in the other game) remain.

 

Well, those pitfalls aside, I think that the same Tales of Symphonia magic is there, and the character conversations are great. Some of the skits are fantastic and timed really well. There's a big plus - voiced skits, and you don't have to wait ages for each person's line to fade out (that was infuriating and I ended up skipping a lot of skits). The battle system is much harder than the previous game, for numerous reasons. For a start, it's very easy to get killed when undertaking missions that are just a few levels ahead of you. Secondly, you can't get ahold of uber equipment easily (synthesis takes time and involves getting hold of items that may only best be found in missions). Thirdly, monster evolving takes ages and monsters (as far as I can tell) aren't directly controllable, and replacing characters with monsters means that they are unable to use items and if they are left in the party with humans dead, game over.

 

To top things off, I'm at the very end of the game in a fight with Alice and co, and I must say that it's quite hard at my current level. I quite like the game being more difficult, as I found the last game a little easy on the regular modes, while I expect it to be at least a little trying. With the removal of herbs that boost your HP by 5% (10% when converted using rune bottles) and replacement with HP+10 items (useless), it makes the game harder but more challenging at the same time.

 

Initially I hated Emil with a passion, but eventually his character grew very well-developed with an interesting take on his personality. This is a good game overall; short of the original, but still really good. I think it may have been better to include more new areas and completely remake the towns (and improve the graphics) but as it stands; a good RPG.

[pedrocasilva]

Newsflash, Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World assraped Tales of Vesperia's first week of sales in US by a large margin; a spin-off with low budget and with a laughable approach at dubbing compared to the other's production values it's kicking it's ass and without needing a collectors edition (the aforementioned had one).

[ShadowV7]

Haha, what where the sales? I've been meaning to check it out to see how much each sold.

 

Also I quite like the VAs in this, not as bad as I thought, though it's still not right not having the originals.

[pedrocasilva]

Haha, what where the sales? I've been meaning to check it out to see how much each sold.

Vesperia First Week in US: 57,792

 

Dawn of the New World First Week in US: 61,166

 

Oh, and 61 thousand sold is already 60% of the total US sales for Vesperia (talk about a game without legs). This coming from a recycled low budget spin-off against a main one; and one that got good publicity against one that was criticized. Also, Vesperia had a limited edition who is meant usually to accelerate the initial sales of a product, who didn't translate into just that.

[James McGeachie]

^Less than 4000 in sales difference isn't exactly an "assraping" really.

 

It mainly shows that the 360 still hasn't got that draw to the hardcore RPG audience I guess, since you still get a big part of that kind of fanbase that will reject everything to do with Microsoft until the day they die.

 

Same fans that kicked up a moaning and whining shitstorm when FFXIII went to 360 too.

[Emerald Emblem]

I've heard nothing but good things about Vesperia, the Wii has the upper hand since people already played the first game, it has a huge fanbase and Nintendo are more familiar with RPG's. I plan on getting both games anyway, just hope the release dates aren't too close together so I'd have to pick one over the other.

[pedrocasilva]

^Less than 4000 in sales difference isn't exactly an "assraping" really.

it is assraping when we're talking about a spin-off, let's compare how much does a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy Fables sell next to a numbered intallment? just the fact that it trumps it is assraping it, delusional and surreal even. Even if it was a tie it would be laughable.

 

And now imagine "if" it were the Wii that was getting Vesperia like it should.

It mainly shows that the 360 still hasn't got that draw to the hardcore RPG audience I guess, since you still get a big part of that kind of fanbase that will reject everything to do with Microsoft until the day they die.

And despite that, a lot of the US Tales userbase bought X360's against their will because M$ moneyhatted the game.

 

The RPG demographic simply isn't there; is it the userbases? then I guess Japanese are also to blame because they don't want the console, just like they didn't want a N64 or a GC and in the end dictated where the products should head to. More than blaming anyone it's a matter of market; and they don't have the market, full stop.

Same fans that kicked up a moaning and whining shitstorm when FFXIII went to 360 too.

You're mixing the RPG demographic and the PS3tards, nice try but full of fail.

 

You can have a PS3tard who wasn't even going to buy the game while it was a secured exclusive saying he's gonna kill himself and he's not buying the game anymore now that it is multiplatform.

[Guest Maase]

Ahahahah, next time bring Vesperia to us, and you might get some money.

I wonder if most of the ones who brought Dawn of the New World are casual gamers beginning to try new games?

[Sheikah]

it is assraping when we're talking about a spin-off, let's compare how much does a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy Fables sell next to a numbered intallment? just the fact that it trumps it is assraping it, delusional and surreal even. Even if it was a tie it would be laughable.

Well it's a sequel to possibly one of the most well-loved Tales games of all time. The gameplay is quite similar to ToS 1 so I wouldn't say it's a spin-off, more a proper sequel. Maybe it is a bit spin-off like in the sense that there wasn't as much new content due to repeated areas.

[Emasher]

I played almost all day today, and managed to get to the dungeon after Izoold where you're looking for the rosemary. I'm really starting to enjoy this game now. How do you evolve monsters though, I've got a bunch that are ready for it now.

[pedrocasilva]

Well it's a sequel to possibly one of the most well-loved Tales games of all time. The gameplay is quite similar to ToS 1 so I wouldn't say it's a spin-off, more a proper sequel. Maybe it is a bit spin-off like in the sense that there wasn't as much new content due to repeated areas.

It is a spin-off, for one it isn't even called Tales of Symphonia 2, like say... Tales of Destiny 2, and the kind of recycling they did is unacceptable; and I mean unacceptable for a spin-off 5 years afterwards, let alone a main installment.

 

All Tales games have similar gameplay, specially true if we consider these guys were clearly using the TotAbyss engine and the same battle system.

 

Also the it's "tales of symphonia" thing... well, Tales of franchise is identified by the Tales of pre-title, since it has symphonia we know it is tied, but it really wasn't needed; just like the japs didn't need to know that Tales of Symphonia had it's story tied with Tales of Phantasia to buy it. Fans would know it's a new Tales, instead of a spin-off and would without a shadow of a doubt sell more like that.

 

Kinda like with Mario, they'll know what the new main platforming mario is, and that will automatically sell more than... Paper Mario, for example. For one the kind of hype behind them is completly diferent, just like on Namco's intention it was in this case. Except they chose the wrong horse, and the wrong userbase to take a piss on.