Tales of Symphonia Unisonant Pack (HD collection)

[Choze]

Confirmed and for Europe.

 

 

Lots of extras, new music, all ps2 changes etc. etc.

[drahkon]

 

That is all.

[Sméagol]

Can someone tell me what exactly has been announced? I skimmed the video, but I don’t know what they’re saying obviously..

 

So a Symphonia 1 + 2 pack.. Only for PS3? Nice Namco. Luckily I’ve already got both games.

 

I see very cute prize figures at the end. But what is that box? Is there a new animation coming, or is it a box of all current ones?

[Debug Mode]

Can someone tell me what exactly has been announced? I skimmed the video, but I don’t know what they’re saying obviously..

 

So a Symphonia 1 + 2 pack.. Only for PS3? Nice Namco. Luckily I’ve already got both games.

 

I see very cute prize figures at the end. But what is that box? Is there a new animation coming, or is it a box of all current ones?

 

The announcement is for HD remasters of the Symphonia games in one package, due for release in Japan on the 10th of October this year.

 

The reason for it being PS3 only is because of the massive fanbase for the console here in Japan, and it technically being the only viable home console at this point in time as Wii U still isn't shifting units. Plus, it'll be the first opportunity for people who didn't adopt a Wii here to play Symphonia 2, as PS2 also had Symphonia 1 here alongside Gamecube.

 

As for the other things they announced, new song arranges, 10th anniversary goods, new costumes/something related to your party in game and the box is the special edition set of the game, you get a nice case, the game and a set of 5 figures included.

[Sméagol]

Which were those mini figures then? Damn, I want them! :p

[Jonnas]

On one hand, I'm slightly peeved that this is a PS3 exclusive. On the other hand, that doesn't really affect me much,as I wouldn't get it, anyway.

 

So, a whole new generation gets an opportunity to play the gem known as Tales of Symphonia, it's getting released in Europe, and has all the PS2 extras... The only flaw I can see with this is: will they bring the original cast back for the new soundbytes?

[Guy]

One of my favourite GameCube games! Nice announcement, but I've beat the original several times and I don't think I'm likely to go back through it again just because it's in HD - there are some really wobbly story moments in TOS I conveniently forget every time I choose to look back on it fondly.

 

The sequel is also absolutely dire, played it for about 10 minutes before relegating it to the back of the shelf.

 

Maybe they'll actually localise it with Japanese subtitles and be done with it? It'd be going against the grain for English Tales releases, but it would certainly bring the translation costs down and sidestep the issue of two sets of voice actors needing to come back to record new lines or hiring new actors and dubbing both games with an entirely new cast.

[Jonnas]

The sequel is also absolutely dire, played it for about 10 minutes before relegating it to the back of the shelf.

 

Man, that game had absolutely no sense of direction, apart from the main character. It's a shame because it had quite some potential.

[Sméagol]

That’s great to hear.. I haven’t actually played the sequel yet.. Hmm.

[Emerald Emblem]

Yeah the sequel was pretty wobbly in comparison to the original, I did manage to beat the game mind, actually got into monster collecting and the like. But was too short and was obviously an attempted fanservice game in a world where there was little left new to actually do. As I never played the PS2 enhanced Symphonia I'm willing to give it a buy.

[Blade]

Loved the original on the GC. Pity it is not coming out for Wii U or even a version on 3DS

[Sméagol]

Hmmz, I’m actually seriously considering getting that pack purely for the figures. I could give the game to a friend.. Seems I have till July to decide.

[Ike]

Japanese trailer:

 

 

15 minutes of English footage:

 

[Dcubed]

Original voices and localisation! YEAH!!!

 

That being said...

 

 

 

 

 

...the game's visuals REALLY suffer without that DOF filter... (here's a few examples below, in case you don't remember)

 

 

 

 

...In fact I think it might actually look worse than the original GCN one. The textures were clearly designed around the soft look that the game original aimed for; sure it might have been overdone somewhat, but removing it all together just makes the game look utterly terrible (those textures are just... BLEHGH! ). It feels so shoddily done!

 

In retrospect, it really highlights how much TOS 2 improved on the visuals of TOS 1.

 

At least it has the extra PS2 content. That's about the only thing it has going for me here (don't care about TOS 2)

Edited September 19, 2013 by Dcubed

[Sheikah]

So did they remove the cel shading or something?

[Dcubed]

So did they remove the cel shading or something?

 

Oh wow! You're right! I can't believe I didn't even notice!

 

Edit: Actually it doesn't seem like it's completely gone, it seems to be somewhat visible in this pic of Collette (just REALLY toned down, to the point where it's almost not there).

 

 

But the other shots seem to look completely flat! Something is seriously fucked up with the rendering here!

 

So they've removed the cel-shading, the depth of field filter and have made the outlines thinner (which doesn't exactly look flattering on these chunky models...)

 

It looks terrible, even the Dolphin emulator does a better job than this (and that doesn't even render the DOF correctly!)

 

Edited September 19, 2013 by Dcubed

[Sheikah]

Wow...the PS2 version had it removed? What was the reason for this...madness? The cel shading of the character models was what gave this game its charm. Silly buggers.

[Dcubed]

Wow...the PS2 version had it removed? What was the reason for this...madness? The cel shading of the character models was what gave this game its charm. Silly buggers.

 

No it didn't, sorry I misremembered. Was thinking of a different game (Probably one of the Bomberman Land games, I know it happened there). TOS PS2 just got its framerate cut in half from the GCN version (from 60FPS down to 30FPS), but the visuals were identical IIRC.

 

But yeah, it seems that almost all the shading is gone in the HD version; as is the characteristic DOF filter and the chunky outlines.

 

This is a botch job for sure. Lets just hope that it at least runs at 60FPS like the GCN version and not 30FPS like the PS2 one! I'd like to at least be able to play the PS2 version's extra content at a decent framerate!

Edited September 19, 2013 by Dcubed

[Sheikah]

Shame because this image captures the charm of the game perfectly

 

[Dcubed]

Shame because this image captures the charm of the game perfectly

 

Remember what I was telling you in that Zelda thread about how HD Remasters are often handled really badly? This is a perennial example

 

Be grateful for the ones that really do a good job, cause those are pretty rare.

 

The sooner GCN Virtual Console games come along (re-rendering games in high res like the N64 VC on Wii) the better!

[Sheikah]

Honestly, this is one of the few that I have ever played/seen that has appeared to be done badly (other than FPS issues). That stuff you were saying about the MGS remaster missing content etc just seemed really insubstantial / nit picky.

 

Because let's face it, it's usually hard to make games look worse than they originally did in SD unless you really don't know what you're doing. Except here, they actually managed it. :p

[Choze]

They don't seem to be missing anything besides AA. The outlines look thinner on the PS3 due to the increased resolution.

[Emerald Emblem]

Hmm, wasn't sure I could play through the game again but so far these HD visuals are really not making me change my mind, let's hope they fix the issues and see some better screens nearer release date.

Edited September 20, 2013 by Emerald Emblem

[Sheikah]

They don't seem to be missing anything besides AA. The outlines look thinner on the PS3 due to the increased resolution.

 

The cel shading is pretty much gone. It's really obvious.

[EEVILMURRAY]

So it's taken the Wind Waker route of removing the cel shading in favour of gradual shading shizzle?

 

Would be tempted but I have both. Maybe in a couple of years of something.