Tales of Symphonia Remastered Reviews
I can see why Tales of Symphonia is considered a favorite in the series. Like other entries, it’s a solid experience with fun combat and a compelling story, but it shows its age in the modern gaming landscape. It doesn’t help that the remaster is quite a lackluster effort that could have made this outing much more worth it. Don’t get us wrong. Tales of Symphonia Remastered is not a terrible game by any stretch, and it does tick all the boxes of a fun and solid experience, but we’re saddened by the feeling that it does deserve much more than the remastering effort that we got. With so many games out on the market today, check this one out if you’re hankering for an old-school experience.
Tales of Symphonia is an all-time classic JRPG and arguably the best Tales Of game ever made. Ironically, Tales of Symphonia Remastered is easily one of the most disappointing remasters of all time. There are no significant improvements visually, audibly, or gameplay-wise that warrant buying this version. In fact, it’s worse than its original release in terms of framerate and stability. For a company that just put out one of the best remasters of the 2020s thus far with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R, it’s shocking that Bandai dropped the ball this hard. If this is what Tales Of fans have to look forward to in the future, it may be best to stop asking for remasters of other entries altogether.
Unlike the Chronicles version for PS3 in 2013, Tales of Symphonia Remaster does not disappoint in the technical and graphic component. The 60fps would be the icing on the cake, but there are other arguments and general improvements here that also deserve attention. It is a cult classic of the JRPGs and a son of a generation with a methodology of its own and therefore must be celebrated and caressed.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The thing that stands out for me the most about Tales of Symphonia Remastered, though, is that underneath the remaster is the construction of its original game. It shows in the animation choices, art direction, combat and stage design. The Tales games were intelligently made and genuinely interested in telling a fun story and providing a good time. Helped along by a great cast of characters, a reasonably well-written plot, and a fairly addicting combat system. Tales of Symphonia Remastered offers up a generous portion of an earlier generation’s take on the JRPG genre for first-time visitors to the series.
For newcomers, Tales of Symphonia Remastered is a great pickup but for veterans looking for more, you won't find anything new here sadly. If you are collector of the Tales games it will be worth adding to the collection.