Which Version of Tales of Symphonia Should You Play - All Ports Reviewed & Compared (+ DOTNW)

Thank you to JayMota16 and the Tales of Symphonia speedrunning community for their info as well as vetting this video.

This is a comprehensive review & comparison of Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. This also includes Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 is also here; for the PlayStation 3 there's a collection known as Tales of Symphonia Chronicles. This also includes the latest release: Tales of Symphonia Remastered. We'll cover content, gameplay, visuals, bugs, and audio differences found among every version of the game. This comparison should inform you of any and all significant differences between each version of the game. It'll also provide common ground for discussion among which version others may prefer & the points of contention to refer to in discussion, in addition to clearing up potential misconceptions.

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Codes featured:

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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:15 - GameCube
2:49 - PlayStation 2
6:35 - Wii (Sequel)
7:05 - PlayStation 3 (Collection)
10:29 - Steam
11:26 - Remastered
15:03 - Final Thoughts

[vincent]

It’s crazy how the original version from 3 generations ago is still the most optimal version to play.

[dongodongo]

Tales fans really did not get mad enough for this to get fixed

[pages]

This sort of reminds me of Sonic Adventure situation, where all future ports were based on a somewhat janky port, which slowly adds more and more jank since each port breaks new things.

[JayMota]

Glad to have been apart of this video. Now if only Namco would fix the new version or better yet just reverse engineer the GC code to give this a proper remaster. One could only hope :^)

[ryantimms]

you rule, dude. this is the kind of obsessive detail we need more of in videogame content.

[Flareboxx]

I love Symphonia, but the missing voice lines and lower fps from the Gamecube version is seriously crazy. I'm still holding off on buying the remaster in the hopes that they'll fix it (or even release an official PS5 version with improvements), but I don't anticipate them doing anything. This was obviously just a way to make a quick buck, and its obvious they didn't put much care into it.

[lboy]

Raine's missing bunny ears are actually an intended censor in western versions of the game with this costume, it's to avoid any infringement on the Playboy Bunny design.

But in the PC version, using this costume causes some textural glitches with Raine (sometimes she turns green, wrong textures get mapped to her body).

[hemangchauhan]

Thank you for your continued efforts.
I think any damage to story content is severe. Dialogue missing or wrong voices damage the experience in a story focused game. Bamco Studios should really look into making their ports better.

[mesmorrow]

This is what happens when a company behind a product does cheap minimum work on refreshing an exsisting product, it becomes issues on top of issues and when you look back years later you have multiple failed attempts at recreating something to the point where it's now held together by duct tape and glue, all of this could have been avoided had they simply made one good version of this game and ported that for the next 10-15 years.

[ntybkrx]

I was so dissapointed by the PS3 version. It was my first time playing and when I first tried to combo in combat I immediately thought "this sluggish combat CAN'T be what everyone else fell in love with...This cant be right!" The FPS difference is noticable even to a new player lol

[VodkaVodoka]

As always, I appreciate these in-depth looks into the different versions. But one thing that I don't see hardly anybody mention about Symphonia re-releases, is that in Gamecube original you could map moves into the C-stick, but in every versions since then you're not able to map moves into the right analog stick.
That is just completely baffling to me. It allowed for way more options in combat, but as it is, the right stick remains completely unused in combat.

[markthomas]

It's such a shame they put so little effort into these ports. It seems like it's getting worse all the time now. I shouldn't have to do research to figure out an older version is better. Would be nice to see if you do the new Record of Agarest War that just released on Switch. Pretty niche game but your video would be very interesting.

[eyeball]

It's insane what a disservice they did this game. I'm thinking about playing it for the first time since I originally got it on the GameCube and honestly it's looking like I should just play the GC version again on my Wii U.

[Timbeon]

Wild that Symphonia's on its fourth rerelease, and the original Gamecube version from 20 years ago is still the one that runs the best and has the fewest weird issues.

[Chummy]

Austin, your videos are absolutely essential for people like me who have a large Rom library and can't figure out which version of a game to play. Thank you for your work!

[fallen_tsu]

excellent video!
prayers for a proper version update or so in the future, It's such a shame that this game just seems to get the short end of the stick each time it gets brought up as a new port or even cameo in games, very sadge.
also I can't get over that scene with kratos and his stomach, there is a huge purple patch on there that is not the same shade of purple only present in the "Remaster" versions of the game ( seen in 0:54 in the video) which also seemsto affect how everthing else looks in that part of his model.

[lordaathras]

And this is why I will always play ToS on the GameCube. No other ports could compare to it honestly. So happy I still have a working copy of ToS for the GameCube <3

[Anfinith]

20 years in, and the GameCube version is still the best way to play the game, and oh man am I so glad to have one copy with me.

[ShadyPlatinum]

How can you keep making a game worse with each release.

[GoldenSirius]

Never played the game but IMO the GC version looks best. That thick cel-shaded look is just so appealing.