Tales of Symphonia Chronicles is a PS3 port of Tales of Symphonia (PS2, the bad one) and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original release date of Tales of Symphonia in Japan. Experience Tales of Symphonia and its sequel Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, all with crisp and colourful HD visuals. Enter a world of high quality anime cut scenes and endearing characters designed by renowned manga artist Kosuke Fujishima.

Let it be known that nostalgia is a cruel beast that can ruin some of your best moments in gaming. As someone who thrived off Japanese role-playing games, there were a few titles that stuck out to me as a child.

Final Fantasy X, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, and Tales of Symphonia. As such, revisiting some of these titles without nostalgia goggles can result in despair. The Tales series is one that hasn’t evolved much over the years, making Tales of Symphonia Chronicles seem like a perfect place to revisit the pedigree franchise. All great memories must come to an end though, as Tales of Symphonia is an aged product that has no place in the modern gaming world. And unfortunately, this pertains to the sequel Tales of Symphonia: Dawn Of The New World as well.What is about to unfold is the ranting of a Tales fan looking back at a once powerful Gamecube exclusive. For those who have never played a title in the series, this isn’t a bad place to start.

Just know that Graces f and Xillia feel less dated in the modern generation. To all Tales veterans, you may want to stay away. But I can’t deny that nostalgia will bring most of you here.Tales of Symphonia Chronicles isn’t a horrible game, but every facet of it has been improved in subsequent releases.Lloyd (the main protagonist) and his companions are likable enough but still borderline on generic in the JRPG genre. The plot once again demands the saving of the world.

This isn’t to say that’s a bad thing, it’s just retread ground is all. The battle system in the collection, however, is just not the pinnacle it once was, especially after the advancements made by Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Graces f. Worst of all are the cel-shaded graphics. Acclaimed during their original release, the blocky polygon design’s age takes away from the once beautiful art style.

It becomes pretty clear from the get-go the HD upscaling did not help the classic Gamecube title. As for Dawn of the New World, it isn’t so fondly remembered, and rightly so.

Ditching the cel-shading was a bad idea during its original release because it at least gave ToS an identity. Even worse, Dawn has a shorter and less memorable story. But not all is lost in this release. Even if this is an older version of the battle engine, it still is fun for those looking to discover the Tales series.The battles in Tales of Symphonia games work a bit like a fighting title. After choosing your character, players can run up and down a 2D line to their enemy.

Using specific button inputs, they can pull off special attacks (called Artes) and combos. Dawn Of The New World added a free run option, letting players move around without needing to be on a specific line.

Tales games also feature co-op. Up to four players in Symphonia can team up and control one of the playable characters in battle. And for newcomers, that’s all you need.

The difficulty isn’t high and there is only a small learning curve.Also exclusive to the Tales franchise are character portraits. By clicking the select button you can watch the characters interact through portraits about the events that just transpired.

While it’s great to have some extra dialogue to learn more about what’s going on, the lack of voice acting in these parts makes it a tedious action rather than an enjoyable one.Despite clear issues, there are some great parts of this release. Adding Japanese dubbing makes the characters much more likable, and the addition of new Mystic Artes gives much more content to an already jam-packed collection.There are clear issues with Tales of Symphonia. But if you’re willing to trust the novelty of nostalgia, than by all means try this collection out. It’s a great place for newcomers to discover a fantastic franchise. As for the fans, just don’t be surprised if your expectations don’t match the reality of the situation. What once was a great title, now feels aged and better left in my memories than in my PlayStation 3 disc drive.

Musashi wakes up, unaware of what has happened. He looks around to see he is in a bedroom, unsure as to where he is or how he got there. He gets up to leave the room, but stops when Steward Ribson and Butler Livers enter the room. Ribson informs Musashi that he was taken to this room after. Welcome back to my Brave Fencer Musashi walkthrough. In this part we awaken in the castle and are given our quest. We explore Grillin' Village trying to learn about the 5 Scrolls. We have a lead. Brave fencer musashi iso.

Fortunately you'll likely be hooked for the entirety of the chronicles since the real-time combat is so well crafted. In a somewhat 3D plane in Symphonia and a full spectrum in Dawn, there's an anxiety to be precise with the controls, even in the throwaway encounters. Taking the reins of just one team member, you can give general AI commands to the others, which does a surprisingly good job. Close combat series. Damaging enemies builds up a Unison Gauge, which when full can be unleashed as a full party pummeling.

Skills are built through EX Gems, with plenty of different combinations yielding additional bonuses. Each character can equip four EX Gems, and you gain new abilities through use, rather than from leveling up.

With all the class customizations and combat modifiers, despite being a real-time system, you'll rarely find yourself in a tedious button-mashing rut.There are a few standout features that seem commonplace nowadays, but were pioneered by games such as Tales of Symphonia. An achievement system called Titles awards you perks for completing certain objectives. Collecting ingredients for cooking recovery food after a battle highlights one of the first uses of a crafting system. Dawn of the New World adds a monster collecting and breeding feature to play around with. None of these additions are by any means revolutionary, but they do add more layers of gameplay to either supplement combat stats or provide a practical side hobby.