Once again, it’s been a little while since I wrote a Tales of Symphonia article…and since I can’t resist doing so, I felt like I just had to again.
I think, if you look closely enough, just about any game has horror elements in it. Sometimes, you have to really stretch to find them, especially if you’re looking at a game like Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak…but I think they’re still there.
Because it’s Halloween season at the time of writing this article, I’m going to take one of my favorite games, Tales of Symphonia, and try to find those horror elements in its bosses. Fortunately, I won’t have to stretch as hard here as if I were trying to do the same thing with a Hamtaro game.
Scariest Bosses in Tales of Symphonia (and Where to Find Them)
Exebula
The Exebula looks like a vaguely humanoid blob. At a glance, you might find it to be purely uninspired. What could be scary about it?
It’s not the appearance that I think makes it horrifying, though – it’s the backstory. You see, the Exebula wasn’t always a monster. It was once, in fact, a tragic old woman named Marble that you meet in the beginning of the game.
Forced to toil away under the constantly looming threat of torture in a place called a human ranch, Marble is a character who’s meant to tug on your heartstrings. Unfortunately, her ending isn’t the happy one you’d hope for. Through a jewel called an exsphere attached to her skin, her captors are able to transform her into the monster you see above – and you, the player, are forced to kill her.
If you think you’re showing her mercy, consider the fact that, later on in the game, Raine gets the ability to cure people turned into monsters from exspheres. If her transformation had happened later, you could have likely saved Marble. You don’t need to go out of your way to find her. You’ll encounter the Exebula pretty early on in the game in Iselia.
Kilia
Kilia actually looks like she deserves a spot on this list. And the picture I included doesn’t even show her at her worst; as you drop her health lower, she’ll sprout these disgusting tentacles from her back and start floating.
But like the Exebula, she also has a grim backstory. Kilia isn’t fully human, but she’s pretended to be for an unspecified amount of time. Like a parasite, she’s wriggled her way into the family of the Governor-General of Palmacosta, mimicking his daughter.
The real daughter has been dead all along, but you don’t know this until Kilia sheds her disguise and takes on this vile purple form. This is, without a doubt, one of the more disturbing aspects of the game. Can you imagine if you never knew someone had died because a monster pretended to be them after their death? Can you imagine if a monster did that to you?
Anyway, you’ll find Kilia in the basement of Governor-General Dorr’s building. I hesitate to call it a home, because there’s a prison in the basement and a meeting room on the first floor, but I’m not sure if he actually lives anywhere else.
Sword Dancer
Here’s a fun-ish fact: out of all the monsters on this list, the Sword Dancer is the only one that appears in the opening video for the game. I’m not sure why. Maybe because it’s the most impressive-looking?
Anyway, the Sword Dancer is a recurring optional boss. You’ll find it in three locations throughout the game: the Ossa Trail cave, the Gaoracchia Forest, and finally in the Iselia Forest once you’ve encountered it the other two times.
It doesn’t have the oddly disturbing backstory that the previous monsters on this list do. However, it is implied that it’s a demon from the ethereal realm of Niflheim looking to rebuild its form. In order to do so, it needs to fight strong opponents.
This is why, every time you beat it, it reappears somewhere else with a new feature on its skeletal body. That leads us to an ominous implication: defeating the Sword Dancer the third time might not make it go away – you might have just helped it get even stronger.
Rodyle
Rodyle doesn’t really look all that frightening when you first meet him. He just has a cunning, weaselly, greaseball look with his slicked-back hair and unctuous smile.
The monster pictured above is the result of his lust for power overcoming him. When your party confronts him in his undersea lair, he equips an unstable exsphere to his body, resulting in him becoming an Exebula, just like Marble.
Other than that, it’s only his distorted voice and hideous laughter that really make him creepy. I felt like his appearance alone was probably enough to justify his presence on this list.
Shadow
Honestly, I’m not sure there’s a way you could make the spirit of darkness unintimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be quite as alien as this monstrosity, which looks vaguely Lovecraftian in origin.
What’s creepiest about Shadow, I think, is the way he talks. He only ever speaks to your party in a whisper. He also always communicates in broken sentences, as if he truly is from another world that has no need for words.
Oh, and let’s not forget his title: the Envoy from the Dark Abyss. He sounds like a pleasant companion, doesn’t he?
You’ll encounter Shadow in the Temple of Darkness. Of course, he’s in the basement of the temple, so you’ll have to descend tons of flights of stairs into what feels like the center of the world.
Tips for Handling Boss Fights
So how do you deal with all these horrifying bosses? Frankly, I feel like any tip you’d apply to another RPG boss fight mostly applies here.
For instance, make sure you’re stocked up on healing items, which are gels in this game. I also recommend maxing out your supply of life bottles, especially if you’re playing on a higher difficulty. Being able to resurrect dead characters will save your butt over and over again.
Also, consider using a strong party format. I’ve discussed the best party formats in Tales of Symphonia previously, if you need more tips on building a good party.
Obviously, your group should be decked out in the best gear, too. Usually, that will be whatever you found in a chest most recently or purchased in the last shop. However, I also have a guide to the best armor in Tales of Symphonia.
Finally, make sure you’ve saved as recently as possible. Tales of Symphonia has a checkpoint-based saving system, so you can only save at certain points in the game. I personally use every single Memory Circle (which is where you save) I come across, even if I feel like I just saved mere minutes ago.
Wrap Up
See what I mean about any game having its own horror elements? Tales of Symphonia is no exception to that rule. You don’t even have to look that hard to find creepier parts in this game.
I’m definitely not planning to do a version of this article for Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, though. That would be a nightmare – and not in my favorite spooky way. (Although, according to one person on our team, there is a haunted house level in Ham-Ham Heartbreak, so maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to do!)