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Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Wii
Not As Good As The First, But Not Surprising
3.5/5 stars
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World continues the story from the original Gamecube game, but in a different way. You follow two new characters in a journey to create balance in the world again. The characters you grew to know in the first game also appear in the sequel as well, but fall back seat to Emil and Marta when it comes to the story and in battle. You can have them in your party, but they do not level up and they leave and come back at random.
Let's get some of the problems right out there in the open. First, the game didn't feel complete on several levels. You no longer travel the world like in the first game, but choose the town or dungeon and immediately go there. This makes the game very linear and there isn't the sense of adventure and curiosity as the first game. Towns didn't have as many people, dungeons aren't as long and have less puzzles, and so on.
Second, the monster befriending system is flawed and frustrating. For most of the game having a chance to recruit a monster is random and whether or not you succeed is even more random. It also seems that this part of the game is designed for plus games, not the first go around. I was able to get a couple monsters leveled up to the point where they were quite beneficial to have in the party, even to the point where I had a slime in my party over a Genis, Colette, or Raine. That doesn't mean I think it was a feature worth having in the game, though.
Third, the story doesn't come close to the first game. Not long after the game starts, you are introduced to an internal conflict Emil is having. You learn more about it at almost a snail's pace until the final 1/4 of the game or so when information flies at you to a point where you're not really sure what the heck is going on. I found Emil annoying most of the time. Marta's back story is ok, but she is paying so much attention to Emil you almost ignore it. The end of the game does give a bit more of a sense of closure to the over all Tales of Symphonia storyline so that was nice, but that doesn't happen till the very end.
There are a couple other annoying things, but they are small. You earn grade like the first game, but can do nothing with it till a plus game. Cooking isn't nearly as cool or fun, you only use it on monsters. You don't earn gald in every battle, and even at the end I couldn't quite figure out when I got it or not. The side quests you take are only with the Katz and feel like time wasters and the rewards you get are mostly unnecessary.
With all that said, this is still Tales of Symphonia. You travel the world you traveled before which, if you played and enjoyed the first game, is fun. The battles are as good as before, with new characters and skills to learn. Emil doesn't do quite as cool as stuff as Lloyd, but still. Some of the conversations still have that sense of humor, and the temples still require you to solve puzzles.
It's a fact that this game did not meet up to the standards that the first game set. With that said, I believe this game was in a no win scenario to begin with. Sequels are often not as good as the first. I don't think the designers were trying to best the first game either. It wasn't full price when it came out ($29.99), and I believe it was intended to have 1/2 the content the first game had (it took me 35 hours or so to beat). This should be considered almost more of an expansion pack instead of a sequel, and when you think of it like that it's still fun......just not nearly as much as the first game.
3.5/5
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