14) Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Best Tales of Games
Years after Tales of Symphonia took the RPG world by storm, we’d get a direct sequel. Releasing on the Wii, Dawn of the New World follows two brand new characters named Emil and Marta.
The two cross paths with all of the main characters from Symphonia at some point, but a new monster capturing system serves the bulk of party building.
The story builds off of the events of Symphonia, with the worlds of Sylvarrant and Tetheala now combined into one. Emil and Marta find out about the Centurion Spirits and the powerful spirit Ratatosk.
Emil becomes a “Knight of Ratatosk” gaining a direct link to the spirit, who at times possesses Emil’s body.
Dawn of the New World’s combat takes place on an onmi-directional plane allowing players to move around the battlefield rather than just a straight line like the original.
The game does some interesting things with the story, like Emil believing Lloyd Irving to be a villain, but ultimately Emil and Marta just aren’t as interesting of characters as Symphonia’s ensemble cast.
It has some good monster mechanics, but using monsters in battle doesn’t lead to as much of a connection as you would have with party characters.
Dawn of the New World is a flawed sequel, but it’s good to see some of the memorable characters from Symphonia return again.
