Recs.
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The game is set in the world of Sylvarant, a land that is on the wane due to a steady loss of mana, the energy source that is needed both for magic and to support life itself. As the crops begin to wither and hardship sets in, the people turn their hopes to the Chosen One, a servant of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing a journey of world regeneration.
Tales of Symphonia has an incredible story, a real time battle system that evolves as you gain strength, and enough side quests to keep you mezmerised for dozens of hours.
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Combat choices are completely up to you, thanks to a unique battle system
Tales games have always used what Namco calls the "linear motion battle system," a real-time, 2D battle engine that lets you move around the field and attack foes at will. Tales of Symphonia uses an expanded version of this system that's fast, fun, and easy to master.
In Tales of Symphonia, you have 4 characters with you in combat, and there are 3 different ways to fight: semi-auto, auto, and manual. With semi-auto, you control a character of your choice while the other 3 are automated and will act based on patterns you set yourself. In auto mode, every character is automated. In manual mode, every character will act only as you tell it to.
Pro It's got a marvelous story, and gets exponentially better as you discover the backstories to characters and areas
While it starts off as your typical "save the world" type of game, it changes rapidly as the player releases various seals and uncovers more about the Chosen and the Goddess Martel.
There's also 9 playable characters in the game, along with several non-player characters, each with their own backstory and development that you have to go looking for. You have to work for it, but it's absolutely worth it for how much more enriched the story becomes.