History VideoGame / TalesOfSymphonia

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The party briefly thinks about doing this, once they get ahold of the [[spoiler:Eternal Sword]], which has the power to transcend space and time. Lloyd decides against it, realizing that they don't have the right to tamper with time, especially considering the odds of messing this up even worse.

* IncompatibleOrientation: Not in terms of sexual preference, but ''elemental forces'': Efreet and Celsius are the Summon Spirits of Fire and Ice respectively, and when they meet for a short time [[spoiler:after forming pacts with both]], the subtext is of somewhat disgruntled exes.
-->'''Efreet''': While we may be opposing forces, must you avoid me so earnestly?
-->'''Celsius''': What choice do we have? We are harmful to one another.
-->'''Efreet''': Then perhaps we should be joyous that [[spoiler:our mana has been severed]].

** Lloyd, with both [[spoiler:the title "Dimensional Swordman" and the Material Blades]] equipped and [[DesperationAttack his health lower than 16%]], can press Guard+Attack+Tech all at once and unleash Falcon Crest, creating a circle of devastating magical energy around him and summoning [[spoiler:the Eternal Sword]] to unleash a powerful area-of-effect sword strike.

** When Lloyd and Genis arrive in Triet, they see Desians putting up posters of Lloyd in hopes of capturing him for his special Exsphere. [[StylisticSuck The art is hilariously childish]], and Genis asserts that it's so bad [[TemptingFate he'll never be recognized]]. Naturally, [[InstantlyProvenWrong they're caught on the way out of town by a Desian who recognized Lloyd from the poster]]. These posters can be seen in towns throughout Sylvarant for the rest of the game.

* WantedPoster: Ones of Lloyd are seen being put by Desians when entering Triet, and it doesn't look much like him, being too ugly. Genis says that it's too ugly to match, and so the Desians will never find Lloyd.

The game was adapted into three sets of [[RPGAnime anime]] {{OVA}}s totaling at 11 episodes, along with 6 [[BonusMaterial omakes]]. A manga was published that covered the events of the first game and its ending becomes the first game's canon ending according to the second game (See ThirdOptionAdaptation below). There are also several [[AudioAdaptation Drama CDs]]. It's unlikely any of this will ever be officially translated to English, but fansubs of the [=OVA=]s are circulating around the Internet if you look. It places more emphasis on the relationship between Lloyd and Colette, and is obviously a CompressedAdaptation.

* PocketProtector: One of three items can be received in Flanoir -- a snow bunny souvenir/good luck charm, [[spoiler:a locket with a picture of Kratos, Anna, and baby Lloyd]], or [[spoiler:an 'orb' that [[AmbiguousSituation may or may not]] be Zelos' Cruxis Crystal]]. All three of them stop an arrow from killing Lloyd [[spoiler:in the Tower of Salvation]] despite none of them being large enough to merit a change his character model.

* DevelopersDesiredDate: Any of the party can be chosen as Lloyd's soul mate (not always but often a romantic relationship) based on who has the highest Affection for Lloyd. However the game heavily favours Colette for this role. While every other party member starts with an Affection score of 0, Colette starts with an Affection score of 500. She also has more chances to increase this score and less chances to reduce it than any other character. Colette also has more scenes alone with Lloyd than the other party members and the final cutscene is with her and Lloyd even if she isn't his soul mate. Zelos and Kratos, meanwhile, seem to be [[DownplayedTrope the intended "alternate" choices]], as they're the only other ones who ''must'' be chosen for eventual OneHundredPercentCompletion.

* DevelopersDesiredDate: Any of the party can be chosen as Lloyd's soul mate (not always but often a romantic relationship) based on who has the highest Affection for Lloyd. However the game heavily favours Colette for this role. While every other party member starts with an Affection score of 0, Colette starts with an Affection score of 500. She also has more chances to increase this score and less chances to reduce it than any other character. Colette also has more scenes alone with Lloyd than the other party members and the final cutscene is with her and Lloyd even if she isn't his soul mate. Zelos and Kratos, meanwhile, seem to be the intended "alternate" choices, as they're the only other ones who ''must'' be chosen for eventual OneHundredPercentCompletion.

* DevelopersDesiredDate: Any of the party can be chosen as Lloyd's soul mate (not always but often a romantic relationship) based on who has the highest Affection for Lloyd. However the game heavily favours Colette for this role. While every other party member starts with an Affection score of 0, Colette starts with an Affection score of 500. She also has more chances to increase this score and less chances to reduce it than any other character. Colette also has more scenes alone with Lloyd than the other party members and the final cutscene is with her and Lloyd even if she isn't his soul mate. Zelos and Kratos, meanwhile, seem to be the intended "alternate" choices, as they're the only ones who ''must'' be chosen for eventual OneHundredPercentCompletion.

* DevelopersDesiredDate: Any of the party can be chosen as Lloyd's soul mate (not always but often a romantic relationship) based on who has the highest Affection for Lloyd. However the game heavily favours Colette for this role. While every other party member starts with an Affection score of 0, Colette starts with an Affection score of 500. She also has more chances to increase this score and less chances to reduce it than any other character. Colette also has more scenes alone with Lloyd than the other party members and the final cutscene is with her and Lloyd even if she isn't his soul mate.

** [[LimitBreak Mystic Artes]] are [[GuideDangIt completely unexplained]] and also not ''called'' Mystic Artes; weapon-based Mystic Artes are called a "Lv. 3 Special Attack" even though that term is also used for the third tier of normal weapon-based techs, and spell-based Mystic Artes aren't referred to by anything other than their individual names.

* AcrophobicBird:
** Colette has wings and can fly, and will sometimes think to go check out high places that Lloyd can't reach -- but ''only'' when the devteam has decided it's the intended interaction. You're out of luck any other time it seems useful, like in most box-pushing puzzles, or a certain quest involving picking a fruit from the high branch of a tree.
** Sheena can call upon the Summon Spirits to aid her, and occasionally does so outside of battle to get certain PlotCoupons, but she'll never do so to help you get past those mandatory box puzzles, even when time is of the essence, or even save lives in certain cutscenes. Some of these instances can be explained by [[GameplayAndStorySegregation the gamedevs not wanting to keep track of which pacts have been made at any given time]], but not all.

* DudeShesLikeInAComa: In Episode 4 of the OVA’s Tethe’alla Episode (Episode 8 overall), Lloyd causes such a situation with the still-soulless Colette.

* StockAnimalDiets: A handful of item drops from animal enemies are food that that animal might eat -- rabbits can drop carrots, snakes can drop eggs, and rats can drop cheese.

** Similarly, Sheena can call upon the Summon Spirits to aid her, and occasionally does so outside of battle to get certain PlotCoupons, but she'll never do so to help you get past those mandatory box puzzles, even when time is of the essence, or even save lives in certain cutscenes.

* AchievementMockery: While the game doesn't have achievements per se, there are a few titles which are awarded for being bad at battle. Some of them actually give decent stat growth bonuses, so experienced players will actively seek to obtain them.

* InterfaceSpoiler: Save on the world map, and your location is listed as [[spoiler:Field: Sylvarant]].

** [[spoiler: "The hero Mithos Yggdrasill, his sister Martel, and their companions Kratos and Yuan."]]
** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:"''This'' world will be saved!"]]
** "Release [[spoiler:Origin's seal, or your son dies.]]"
** Much earlier on: [[spoiler:"My daughter? Don't make me laugh. You '''inferior beings''' just started calling me her father on your own!"]]

* NoFlowInCGI: Zig-Zagged. On one hand, Colette's elbow-length hair is stiff as a board; on the other hand, Lloyd's {{Hachimaki}} ScarfOfAsskicking ''thing'' flows pretty realistically (albeit prone to model clipping). To be fair, having an anime opening and several [[IncrediblyLamePun anime-ted]] cutscenes certainly provides a good comparison between flow levels.