Additional details on Tales of Symphonia

In the latest issue of Famitsu magazine, Tales of Symphonia producer Makoto Yoshidumi was interviewed, and he revealed additional details on the game. In the interview, Yoshidumi said that Tales of Symphonia had begun development two years ago, simultaneously with the development of Tales of Destiny 2. Most of the members on the development team are the same as the Tales of Eternia staff.

Tales of Symphonia will have the largest cast of main characters in the series. There will be only one main storyline in the game, but subplots can be uncovered by playing the game multiple times. The game also has a relationship system, which affects the hero's relationship with other characters in the game. For example, if the relationship point is high toward a character, an event related to the character may occur. If the point is low, the character may leave the party. The relationship point changes depending on decisions made in various situations.

The new battle system for Tales of Symphonia is called the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle system (ML-LMB system). The battle screen, which looks completely 3D, will actually play on invisible planes that make the battle system run similarly to previous Tales games. By targeting an enemy with a character, the player can create a plane in which the character and the enemy will be moving around. However, the same enemy can be targeted and fought by another character, creating a plane from a different angle, which gives Symphonia a 3D feeling compared to previous titles in the series.

In Tales of Symphonia, using special abilities can determine the growth of the character. If a special ability focused on speed is used, the character's growth will lean toward agility. If a special ability focused on power is used, the character's growth will lean toward strength. The SP system from Tales of Destiny 2 will not be adopted in Symphonia.

The overall size of Tales of Symphonia is not different from Tales of Destiny 2. However, the volume of speech is comparatively more. Tales of Destiny 2 was developed with five volumes of script, whereas Symphonia was developed with seven volumes of script. While the traditional dialogue system showed the upper half of the character's body, only their faces will be shown in Symphonia. Although the characters will not lip-synch perfectly, they will have more facial movements. Unlike in previous games, in Symphonia the character dialogues will not be based on game hints, but rather on private conversations. This will relate to a new, unrevealed mode in the game.

Tales of Symphonia will still have a ranking system, with more variety of ranks than in Tales of Destiny 2. Cooking will also still be in the game, but its mechanics have yet to be revealed. There will also be minigames that take advantage of the 3D environment of the game. Tales of Symphonia is planned for release in the summer, which is a first for the Tales series. The game is currently still in development and is 30 percent complete.