Tales of Symphonia centers around a young boy named Lloyd who lives with his father just outside of Iselia, a town in the dying world of Sylvarant. According to legend, a Chosen will rise up from among the people and complete the "Journey of World Regeneration", which is supposed to restore the life giving mana back to the land, and vanquish the Desians, the anathema of the people. Collete, Lloyd's lifelong friend, is the current Chosen of Sylvarant. As the story opens, Collete receives an oracle from the Goddess Martel instructing her to begin her journey. As she is receiving the message from the Angel Remiel, the temple is attacked by what the townspeople believe to be Desians. The priests and temple guards are slain, and Collete herself became endangered, but Lloyd and his Elf friend Genis had followed Collete unknowingly to the temple and take up the sword to defend her. With the help of a traveling Mercenary named Kratos, the attackers are killed and the Chosen is protected.



From here, Genis' older sister Raine, the teacher of Iselia's school, along with Kratos, take on the role of Collete's escort and protectors as she begins the ever so important Journey of Regeneration. Lloyd is very put out when he is left behind, hoodwinked regretfully but purposely by Collete herself, in an effort to protect him from the dangers of her journey. However, Lloyd does not have much time to lament because the Desians of the Iselia Ranch have entered the town looking for him. They proceed to burn the town until Lloyd and Genis step forward to face their leader, Forcystus. Going near the ranch is forbidden by the treaty made by the Mayor and Forcystus and due to dire circumstances, Lloyd broke that contract and was discovered by their security cameras. Both the boys are forced to fight an abomination and after successfully killing it, are still punished by the townspeople, and Lloyd is banished from Iselia.



With nowhere to go, and only Genis and his Father for friends, Lloyd decides to catch up to Collete's group and help her on the World Regeneration. They meet in the desert town near the Seal of Fire, at first reluctant to let Lloyd come along, but eventually allowing it in the end. From here, the group sets out to release the Fire Seal, the first step in the World Regeneration process. Overcoming the traps and final monster encounter, Remiel descends from the Heavens to answer Collete's prayers. He grants her power from the Heavens, giving her wings. As they leave the temple, Collete collapses from what appears to be exhaustion, so they set up camp for the night.



In the morning, everything seems ok, so the group sets out once again to look for the water seal. While traversing the Ossa Trail, they encounter a clumsy assassin who attempts to take Collete's life. They defeat her for the time being, but she retreats and vows to come after them again later. A small fishing town provides Lloyd and his friends with passage across the sea to the great coastal town of Palmacosta. It is there they butt heads with the Desians once again, culminating in the destruction of the Palmacosta ranch, and the death of one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals, namely Magnius. Further traveling brings them to the water seal, which they successfully unlock after another trying battle. Remiel once again descends from the Heavens to bestow upon Collete further powers of an angel. And once again Collete collapses outside of the temple, slicing open her arm in the process. When Lloyd notices the size of her wound, he is greatly concerned for her, but she says it doesn't hurt, something Lloyd just doesn't understand.



Encountering many more trials along the way, the group finally releases the last seals and heads to the Tower of Regeration, the symbol of hope to the people. There they must climb its great many stairs to the altar above, and it is there that Collete will complete the final step of World Regeneration. But there is more to this journey than meets the eye...



By: ElvishImmortal

Playability? Well, lets start with the battle system. Real-time. That's right, this game, like it's predicessor Tales (and Star Ocean) games, breaks from the old fashioned pause-menu-menu-command-action-repeat formula. However, the goodness of ToP, SO, and SO2, has been streamlined and fleshed out. Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan) and VII (with their timed menus (waiting in realtime before the menu reappears) just can't compare to it.

By moving a particular character into the top slot in the character list, you can take direct control of that character in battle, from an option on the Techniques list.