Table of Contents
- TL;DR Explanation: Why is Tales of Symphonia Multiplayer?
- How Does Multiplayer Work in ToS?
- The Benefits and Drawbacks of Playing Multiplayer
- Wrap Up
The first question I think many people are going to have when they see me writing this post is why I’m bothering to write about an almost-20-year-old JRPG in the first place.
Tales of Symphonia came out in 2003. At the time of writing this, it is 2020. It’s not as if it’s an iconic game that people are still religiously playing, like Skyrim.
This game had a massive influence on me, though, and introduced me to gaming in the first place. I bought it immediately after release, and proceeded to – I kid you not – beat it approximately 25 times.
A few years ago, it came out on Steam, but I refrained from buying it until the awkward ported console-to-PC controls were fixed. I recently bit the bullet and bought it after seeing its positive user reviews, making it the technically fourth time I’ve bought the game.
It’s been on my mind a lot lately. Needless to say, I know a fair amount about it, and I’d love to write about it even if no one ever looks at this post. Call it a dumb passion project.
One question I’ve seen online is why is Tales of Symphonia multiplayer? I thought I’d take a swing at the question and tell you what I know.
TL;DR Explanation: Why is Tales of Symphonia Multiplayer?
Photo by Paweł Durczok on Unsplash
I can’t necessarily tell you what the developers had in mind when they decided to make a JRPG – typically a one-player experience – multiplayer. What I can tell you is that this has simply been the case almost from the beginning with the Tales series.
The first game in the series was Tales of Phantasia, which was released in 1995 and only allowed for one player. Every single Tales game thereafter, with the exception of three, was multiplayer. That means sixteen out of nineteen games have been multiplayer.
I think I can say with a fair degree of confidence that it’s just been traditional for the games to support more than one player.
How Does the Multiplayer work in ToS?
In other game series, when you play co-op, you usually have both players on the screen at the same time or the players take turns. This is not the case with Tales of Symphonia.
The second player really only has control during combat, at which point they assume the role of one of the other party members. Outside of combat, only player one has any control.
This can be a little disappointing for some, especially if you purchase the game imagining an old-fashioned split screen multiplayer experience.
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Playing Multiplayer
You might be wondering what the point of multiplayer in Tales of Symphonia is in the first place. After all, the second player gets such limited screen time, they might as well not be there.
Well, there are some advantages to a second player in battle. You can tweak settings for the AI in combat, such as how much mana party members use and how offensive they are, but it’s still nowhere as good as another player.
For another thing, even if there is limited time on screen for player two, it does still allow you to enjoy the fun of playing with a friend. It’s true that they’re relegated to nothing more than a bystander between battles, but I think it’s still fun to fight alongside with someone I know.
Plus, later on in the game, some of the battles can get pretty long and difficult. This is even truer if you increase the difficulty (which you should if you want the game to be challenge at all). At that point, having the real intelligence of a second player can be quite beneficial.
Wrap Up
Tales of Symphonia has many good qualities…but its multiplayer system isn’t necessarily one of them. At least, not when it’s compared with some of the true highlights of the game.
Regardless, I still appreciated that the multiplayer option was there when I was younger. I definitely got some use out of it, and would love if I could find someone to play it with me today.