Tales of Symphonia isn't just my favorite Tales of game, it's probably somewhere in my top 5 of all video games (along with DQ8, FF12, Pokemon Crystal, and DWM2)! I haven't beaten it as much as, say, Final Fantasy XII but this playthrough was probably number 5. It was 2004 when I got the Gamcube version and got stuck a lot, not finishing until high school. As a turn-based RPG fan, this action stuff was really hard, especially knowing when to guard. I didn't get to Tethe'alla for years because I'd get frustrated and stop playing for a month. One good early memory from this time is when I rented the Beavis & Butthead movie from Blockbuster. The movie plays the song Rollercoaster of love and forever after I would replace it with Palmacosta.


Other characters should have bad wanted posters of them too


I still don't get the hot coffee scene meme, many years later

My best friend Torrin was also really into Tales of Symphonia. I don't think he played any other Tales games sadly but he really delved deep into this one. After high school I went to hang out with him at his house (around 2012 or 2013 I think) and spent the night playing Tales of Symphonia and Super Smash Bros Melee on his Gamecube. He was incredibly good with all the characters I think, and his favorite was Regal. Mine is Lloyd because, well, I'm dumb and he is able to hit a lot. I was getting sleepy and Torrin made me chug half a gallon of days old coffee to keep playing. We went through Niflheim and did some Colosseum battles then left his house to hang out at the local park around 3AM. The cops almost got us and we had to hide in the slide. Good memories...


Sheena may be the hottest protagonist, but the hottest antagonist is definitely Lady Pronyma. Look at those thighs!


I really like the Wonder Chef design

Another memory was when I waited in line at Gamestop for the midnight release of Tales of Symphonia on the PS3 around 2013 I think. It was the last time I ever bothered with that which is kinda sad to realize. There were other games releasing too such as the remake of Thief. A guy in line had really long brown hair and glasses, a bit shorter than me, and he was the spitting image of Jade from Tales of Symphonia. I felt compelled to talk to him despite being an asocial shut-in by that point. He was pretty cool and was picking up Thief. Too bad I never befriended him or anyone else for that matter. Meeting new people after high school has been incredibly difficult, and when it does happen, I sabotage myself...

Anyways, the PS3 version is a tiny bit disappointing in that it removes the Gamcube in the Renegade Base in Sylvarant. It has a bunch of extra stuff like costumes though which makes up for it I suppose. This playthrough I stuck with the original team of Lloyd/Genis/Collette/Kratos(Zelos). Getting the Berserker title made the game too easy but I'm glad it's over with for new game plus. Around the end of March I started to check out of the game and play Runescape so I called it quits, beat Mithos, and decided not to bother with Abyssion or Niflheim or the Colosseum this time. I've been teaching myself to not obsess over games like I used to and I'm getting very good at it!


The gald to rebuild Luin is worth it for the incredible weapons, which you can get very early if you grind


Ah, the Kalergi Plan. Mithos = George Soros?

I won't be playing Tales of Symphonia 2 even though it's on the same PS3 disc. I tried it again for this first time in about 16 years and it was even more intolerable than I remember. Memory told me that the voice actors were changed (no more Robin from Teen Titans), Emil is painfully pathetic, and the the first 30 minutes feel like pulling teeth. Why the flashbacks to a conversation that JUST FUCKING HAPPENED? Did Namco expect players to have early onset Alzheimers? And why are there massive gaps and pauses in between dialogue? And there's no world map, and you play shitty Pokemon with the most boring, drab, uninspired monster designs that don't fit the Symphonia world, from post-Abyss. At least there's no Wiimote in this version but I don't care to go past 20 minutes because it's an insult to anyone that played the first game.