I've probably blathered about this before on 61FPS, but the original Tales of Symphonia marks the most time I spent with a game during the last generation of consoles. I spent over 100 hours milking that game for all it was worth, and I don't regret it at all--though, to be fair, at the time I was living at home and only marginally employed. So when a semi-sequel to one of my favorite games snuck up on me, I had to check it out; and while common sense told me the my disappointment in Tales of Legendia and The Abyss may indicate Dawn of the New World's quality, I decided to pick it up anyway. (I'm a weak, weak man.)
As a sequel to Symphonia, Dawn of the New World is a pretty shameless cash-in full of recycled assets with a decidedly last-gen look. But, in coping with its shamelessness, New World has some interesting qualities; namely, its status as a direct successor to a previous RPG. Outside of stuff like FFX-2, you don't find games like this too often--most RPG sequels usually end up taking place 100 or 1000 years before/after their previously-released games. Not so with New World; the events of Symphonia are in the not-too-distant past, which actually explains the state of the in-game world. Turns out that 100-hour quest from Symphonia actually made things worse, and managed to turn Symphonia-protagonist Lloyd into a ruthless killer. Go fig.
And, in keeping with the connection to the previous game, importing your complete Symphonia save rewards you with a meager set of items (with a few very rare ones thrown in) to start your quest. It's a nice extra, and quite possibly the only example of cross-generational save imports outside of Suikoden III.
In the hour-or-so that I played New World last night, I only made it to three different battles--all of which were "YOU CAN'T LOSE" tutorials, so that should give you some insight into the pacing of this game. As with most modern JRPGs, the introduction of New World is completely weighed down with pointless exposition that could have been integrated in a less passive way--say, by starting the game with the player actually doing something and working in some quick flashbacks while he or she moves along. Seasoned JRPGers may be used to lousy pacing, but one element of New World may actually turn off the most battle-hardened Tales vet: our hero Emil, who starts off as one of the most pathetic, simpering, and browbeaten heroes in JRPG history. Case in point: your first mission in the game involves building up the courage to thank someone. I think Emil starts of with a dignity level of zero to make his change throughout the game more significant, but that doesn't make him a less-annoying character.
The most fun part of the Tales games--the battle system--seems to have been left intact, so that makes me happy; I was known to grind for levels in Symphonia for the sheer joy of it. I'm just looking forward to the point where New World actually lets me play it. Hopefully that's not more than a few hours in.
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