Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Developer(s)	Namco Tales Studio
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai
Designer(s)	Daigo Okumura Kosuke Fujishima (original ToS character designs)
Series	Tales series
Platform(s)	Wii
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer cooperative

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, known in Japan as Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk (テイルズ オブ シンフォニア -ラタトスクの騎士-, Teiruzu obu Shinfonia-Ratatosuku no Kishi-), is a console role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio and published by Namco Bandai for the Nintendo Wii. It was released in Japan on June 26 2008. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World's characteristic genre name is To Believe in Resonating Hearts RPG (響き合う心を信じるRPG, Hibiki au kokoro wo shinjiru RPG). It is a spin-off of Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. The March 2008 issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine mentioned the possibility of releasing the game in Europe.

Gameplay

Rather than the fully explorable Field Map traditionally used in Tales games, a point-and-click system using the Wii Remote is used to navigate the world. The layout of the map is similar to that of Tales of Phantasia. The development team has admitted that they left the Field Map out due to production schedule deadlines. The pointer is also used for minigames and as a cursor for the Sorcerer's Ring.

Battle system

Dawn of the New World uses the "Flex Range Element Enhanced Linear Motion Battle System" (FR:EE-LMBS), combining aspects of Tales of the Abyss' and Tales of Destiny's battle systems, to create a battle experience comparable to Tales of Innocence's Dimension Stride Linear Motion Battle System. A key feature of this enhanced system is the Elemental Grid. Each battle location, skill, and monster will have an elemental attribute. The battlefield's element can be altered by using three skills with the same elemental attribute in a row. Changing the element of the field determines both the effectiveness of an attack, as well as the characters that can participate in Unison Attacks, which make a return from the original Symphonia. A meter on the lower part of the screen indicates when the attack can be unleashed. Another returning element of the series are Hi-Ougis.

A fight between Emil and Decus.

Another new feature is the ability to capture, breed, and level-up over 200 monsters to fight alongside Emil in battle. Monsters can be recruited once they have been defeated in battle. In order to increase the odds of a successful recruitment, the element of the field should align with the element of the monster. An altered version of the classic Tales affection system will also help to persuade them to join the party. Although there is room in the party for ten members, only four of them can take part in any given battle. It is noted that Emil and Marta cannot both be out of the party, one of them must be the first character in the party, as neither the Symphonia Cast nor a monster can be set to the first slot. The monsters are controlled in battle by artificial intelligence. Monsters can be stored in a pen at the Katz Guild if they are not needed in the party. There are also several sidequests available from a list to choose from at the Katz Guild.

The party obtains both experience points and GRADE after each battle. Experience points are divided equally amongst all members of the party. Once a certain amount has been accumulated, each character or monster will level up, thereby improving their stats and possibly gaining new skills. Another way to increase a monster's status parameters is by cooking them special recipes, some of which can even cause them to evolve. The variety of recipes in the game allows for a kind of "monster customization." It is noted that the Symphonia cast do not gain levels through Experience points, (instead, they gain levels during plot events) and they also cannot be higher than level 50. The amount of GRADE received depends on how each battle is fought. From the second playthrough on, collected GRADE can be used to purchase powerful items, to obtain game bonuses, or to carry skills from one file to the next.

Presentation

The only animated segment in the game is its opening. Most of the story is told through real-time cut-scenes that were filmed using a motion capture system. Skits, which are short, optional conversations between the characters, make a return; in the Japanese version of the game, these skits are fully voiced and have been confirmed to also be voiced in the North American version. Much of the music in Dawn of the New World is remixed from the soundtrack of the original Tales of Symphonia. The game also has widescreen support. Furthermore, many of the assets and locations in the game have been taken directly from the original Tales of Symphonia, but the textures have been updated.

North American additions

It has been confirmed that the North American version of Dawn of the New World will have additional features that were not present in the Japanese release. Additions include the ability to load cleared Tales of Symphonia game data to receive extra items and Gald at the beginning of the game. In addition to this, while not a new feature, the number of motion control shortcuts in battle has been increased from four in the Japanese version to eight for the North American version.

Plot

File:ToS2 screen02.jpg

Lloyd and Emil.

Background

The game is set in the same world as Tales of Symphonia, but right after the finale of that game. The two worlds of that game, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, have been melded into one.

After the lands became one, maps were rendered useless and the climate went through many vast changes: desert towns became frozen wastelands and lakes dried up into valleys. All of this stems from an overlooked factor in the unification of the worlds: the spirit of the old Kharlan Tree, Ratatosk, still exists somewhere, and its slumber has sent the world into chaos.

To complicate matters, tensions are escalating between the people of the two worlds. The citizens of Tethe'alla look down upon the people of Sylvarant due to their inferior technology, and the people of Sylvarant fear the citizens of Tethe'alla for their power. Two years have passed since the worlds were first merged, and the citizens of Sylvarant have created an army, known as the Vanguard, with which to rise against the Church of Martel and the people of Tethe'alla.

One day, the Church of Martel goes to war with the Vanguard, and Sylvarant's city of Palmacosta is caught in the crossfire. Countless innocent lives are lost and the city is consumed in flames. This event comes to be known as the "Purge of Blood", a massacre allegedly led by the same Lloyd Irving who helped unite the worlds two years before.

Dawn of the New World possesses multiple endings: the game's conclusion is decided by the actions the player has made throughout the game. There are three possible endings.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Dawn of the New World takes place two years after the events of Tales of Symphonia. The protagonist is named Emil, and nearly all of the main characters from the original Symphonia return: only Kratos, who acts as the game's narrator, does not return in a playable capacity.

Voice cast

The skit scenes in the localized version of Dawn of the New World will be fully voiced. There are conflicting opinions about the game's voice acting on IGN: Mark Bozon stated that the voice acting was stronger than the previous game, whereas Matt Casamassina said that "the voice acting is...simply atrocious.

Character	Japanese seiyū	English voice actor
Emil Castagnier	Hiro Shimono	Johnny Yong Bosch
Marta Lualdi	Rie Kugimiya	Laura Bailey
Richter Abend	Kenji Hamada	Kyle Hebert
Tenebrae	Hochu Otsuka	Terrence Stone
Aqua	Yoko Honda	N/A
Alice	Mami Kingetsu	N/A
Decus	Akio Suyama	N/A
Brute	Rintaro Nishi	N/A
Hawk	Yuuji Kishi	N/A
Magner	Chafurin	N/A
Lloyd Irving	Katsuyuki Konishi	Brian Beacock
Colette Brunel	Nana Mizuki	Heather Hogan
Genis Sage	Ai Orikasa	N/A
Raine Sage	Yumi Touma	Tara Platt
Zelos Wilder	Masaya Onosaka	N/A
Regal Bryant	Akio Ohtsuka	N/A
Sheena Fujibayashi	Akemi Okamura	N/A
Presea Combatir	Houko Kuwashima	N/A
Seles Wilder	Hiromi Konno	N/A
Yuan	Toshiyuki Morikawa	N/A

Music

The opening music has been reworked into an orchestral theme for the English version of the game, similar to what was done to Tales of Symphonia. The Japanese version's theme song is "Nininsankyaku" (二人三脚, "Three-Legged Race" or lit. "Two People, Three Legs") by misono.

The original soundtrack for Dawn of the New World spanning four CDs was released on July 9 2008.

Reception

Dawn of the New World sold 120,000 copies in Japan on its first day of release and concluded the week of June 23rd to June 29th (with Dawn of the New World being released on the 26th) with over 151,000 copies sold. This made it the bestselling game of that week. Reviewers of Famitsu magazine gave the game a score of 31/40 whereas Famitsu Wii+DS's reviewers gave the game a 35/40. In a report detailing Namco Bandai's results for the first fiscal quarter 2009, the company revealed that as of 6th August 2008, Dawn of the New World has sold over 215,000 copies in Japan.

External links

• Official Japanese website Template:Ja
• Jump Festa 2008 Trailer