Tales of Symphonia is the first non-Mario RPG I ever beat. I loved watching my uncles play Final Fantasy VI and, once I got a PlayStation, I ended up buying both Final Fantasy VII and VIII. I enjoyed both of them, but I didn’t have the attention span to sit down and complete either. It didn’t help that I rarely understood the depth of their gameplay, outside of spam “Attack.”
It took many years for me to get into JRPGs, but I continued to purchase them. I spent an entire three day weekend playing through it and had a blast. After that, I loved JRPGs. I’m not sure about today, but at one point it was the most common genre in my collection.
You’d think I’d feel nostalgic about Symphonia, but I can’t say I have any real feelings for it. Maybe it’s been too long, but no particular moment or aspect stands out in my memory. I remember RPGs I played afterward much more fondly, like Skies of Arcadia and the original Baten Kaitos.
One day, I’d like to get back to the Tales series. Since playing Symphonia a decade ago, I’m having a hard time finding a reason to play them. They seemed fine, but none of them looked particularly different from Symphonia.
The last few games, like Zestiria and Xillia 2, have had some interesting bits and pieces about them, but work and college largely got in the way of me picking them up.
(Header Image Source: Pintrest)
