is an action role-playing video game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco for the GameCube. The fifth main installment of the Tales series, it was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, in North America on July 13, 2004, and in Europe on November 19, 2004. In Japan, the game was ported for the PlayStation 2 with additional content and was released on September 22, 2004.
The game takes place in a fictional world called Sylvarant and follows Lloyd Irving. Lloyd accompanies his childhood friend, Colette Brunel, who is destined to go on a journey to save their world. As their journey progresses, they learn that saving Sylvarant endangers Tethe'alla, a world parallel to their own. The game's central theme is an .
Tales of Symphonia received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics praised the battle system, art direction, voice acting and character development, but had mixed reactions to the music and narrative, and criticized some graphical shortcomings. The game received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 and had received re-releases under the Player's Choice and PlayStation 2 the Best labels. The game has been adapted into seven manga collections, two novel series, seven drama CDs, and an OVA anime series. A sequel entitled Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was released for the Wii in 2008. Tales of Symphonia and its sequel were collected as a PlayStation 3 high definition release in Tales of Symphonia Chronicles in 2013. A Steam version was released on February 2, 2016. A remastered version was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 17, 2023.
Gameplay
thumb|left|An example of combat in Tales of Symphonia
Like previous installments in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia consists primarily of three major areas: an overworld field map, town and dungeon maps, and a battle screen. The overworld map is a 3D model, featuring a scaled-down version of the game's fictional world which the player travels through to reach the game's locations. As with preceding games in the series, the world map can be traversed by foot, on the party's quadrupedal pet Noishe, and flying vehicles known as Rheairds. On field maps, characters are directed across realistically scaled environments.
On the overworld and field maps, various skits between the characters can be viewed. Four characters from the party are chosen to battle; those not controlled by a player are guided by artificial intelligence with instructions set by the player beforehand. Damage dealt to the opponent fills a "Unison Gauge". When this is full, a "Unison Attack" can be triggered, allowing the party to use techniques simultaneously on a single enemy. When certain techniques are combined, a special attack results in additional damage.
Tales of Symphonias skill system is built around the use of "EX Gems", which come in four ranks. Each character can equip up to four EX Gems and set abilities to those gems. The abilities determine if the characters will learn Strike or Technical techniques and spells. Combinations of EX Gem abilities can also grant additional abilities called "EX-Skills". Titles are earned through story progression, side quests, or completion of miscellaneous criteria. Originally developed under the title Tales of Phantasia, its final title was revealed to be Tales of Symphonia in February 2003. An April 2003 edition of Famitsu revealed the game had been in development for two years, most of the development staff previously worked on Tales of Eternia, the game would have the most main characters in a Tales game to date, and would be the first 3D game in the series. A North American localization was confirmed at E3 2003. A conference by Namco on June 9, 2003, revealed the game would be on two disks and its theme song would be "Starry Heavens" by J-pop group Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as "Starry Heavens ver. 2013", which is performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version, as well as the PC and Remastered versions. To celebrate its release in Japan, the game was bundled with a symphonic green GameCube. To increase the North American version's appeal to Western audiences, localization producer Nao Higo replaced "Starry Heavens" with an orchestral anthem by composer Motoi Sakuraba, and focused on hiring experienced voice actors such as Scott Menville, Tara Strong, and Cam Clarke for the English voice-acting. The game was released in Japan on August 29, 2003, and was localized in North America, Australia, and Europe on July 13, 2004, November 18, 2004, and November 19, 2004, respectively. The game was re-released in North America under the Player's Choice label on July 19, 2004.
During the second week of April 2004, Weekly Shōnen Jump announced a PlayStation 2 port of Tales of Symphonia. It received new in-game additions and its theme song is by Day After Tomorrow, which is also remixed as , which is also performed by the band's lead singer, Misono, in the PS3 version, as well as the PC and Remastered versions. It was released exclusively in Japan on September 22, 2004, and re-released under the PlayStation 2 the Best label on July 7, 2005.
Scenario
Takumi Miyajima, the game's writer, explained Tales of Symphonia was planned to create a "unique symphonia", dependent on the player's choices and the affection system. Miyajima wrote many scenarios, with the most significant events centered on Zelos Wilder. Originally, Zelos' death was supposed to be canon. His survival would have been dependent on the affection system: He would die early on if he was ranked the lowest in the affection system, would die at the end if he ranked in the middle, and would only survive if he ranked the top. However, the development staff suggested to have Kratos Aurion return to the party and the team discussed how it would work. The change in scenario had Miyajima rework Zelos' death into a non-canon path of the story.
Sequel and Chronicles release
A direct sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, was announced on July 20, 2007, for the Wii. It was released in Japan and North America in 2008 and in Europe a year after. The second anthology collection, , is a four-panel comic. It consists of five volumes released between November 25, 2003, and December 25, 2006, by Ichijinsha. A third anthology collection entitled had two volumes published by Mag Garden in February 2005 and 2007. The fourth anthology collection is and consisted of a single volume which was released by Mag Garden on October 10, 2007. The fifth anthology collection is . It consisted of two volumes which were released by Square Enix on May 27, 2005, and September 16, 2005.
The manga series by Hitoshi Ichimura was titled Tales of Symphonia and was an adaptation of the game's storyline. Future chapters were released in volumes by Mag Garden thereafter. Six volumes were released: the first was released on August 10, 2005, and the last two were released on July 10, 2007. 1, 2, and 3 are stories preceding the game. They were released between July 23, 2004, and September 24, 2004. First Part and Second Part follow Sheena Fujibayashi and Zelos Wilder as they tour the world a year after the events of the main game. The two CDs were released on May 25, 2005, and June 24, 2005. and are side stories with guest characters from Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Graces, respectively. The soundtrack was re-released on October 27, 2004, by King Records (Japan) for the PS2 port of Tales of Symphonia. It consists of four episodes which were released direct-to-video on four separate DVDs on June 8, August 10, October 24, and December 21, 2007. They were later released in a Blu-ray Disc collection on September 26, 2008. The series later rereleased on Universal Media Disc between June 25 and July 23, 2010. The episodes used three pieces of theme music: The opening theme is "Almateria" by Eri Kawai and the two ending themes were by Kaori Hikita and by Nana Mizuki.
The sequel series, , was announced during Tales of Festival 2008. It consists of four episodes which were released on March 25, May 26, September 23, 2010, and February 25, 2011. All four episodes received an early screening: The first was screened on March 13, 2010, in Fukuoka and was hosted by Music Plaza Indo; The second on May 4, 2010, in Tokushima, Tokushima by Ufotable; the third on September 17, 2010, in Yokohama by Animate; and the fourth on February 20, 2011, in Roppongi by Toho. The first two episodes were later aired on September 12, 2010, on AT-X. The episodes used the opening theme by Nana Mizuki and the ending theme by Akiko Shikata. Ending theme of the 4th episode is by Akiko Shikata.
The second sequel, , concludes the anime's plot. It consists of three episodes released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2011, June 20, 2012, and October 24, 2012. All three episodes had early screenings: the first was screened between September 23 and September 25, 2011, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro; the second on May 3, 2012, in Tokushima by Ufotable; and the third is on September 29, 2012, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro. The episodes use four pieces of theme musics: an opening theme by Misono and three ending themes, , , and , all by Akiko Shikata.
Reception
Tales of Symphonia garnered "generally favorable" reception from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic.<br>NS: 63/100
<!-- Reviewers -->
| GSpot = 5/10
| Gamezebo = 2.5/5
| HCG = 4/5
| NLife = 6/10
| PSQ = 7/10
| RPG = 3/5
| RPGFan = 60/100
Tales of Symphonia Remastered received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic. Its total worldwide sales for the GameCube and PS2 have reached 1.6 million units as of 2008. It was also the best-selling Tales title overseas, with more than half of its sales coming from outside Japan, having sold 600,000 units in North America and 250,000 in Europe . The 2016 PC release sold more than 250,000 copies on Steam, . The game is estimated to have sold 2.4 million copies worldwide across all platforms, making it one of the best-selling titles in the franchise. and nominated it for the year-end "Best Role-playing Game" award across all platforms. The game has appeared on many top game rankings and received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 for excellence. The January 2009 issue of Game Informer listed it at #24 in its "Top 25 GameCube Games". Nintendo Power ranked Tales of Symphonia 107th<!-- One-hundred seven --> in a list of "Top 200 Nintendo Games Ever". IGN users placed it 75th in a Top 100 Games list, while GameFAQs users put it at 81st in a similar list. In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list.