History VideoGame / TalesofSymphonia

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Suffers pretty bad from it, considering how powerful the party becomes.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* BoobsOfSteel: Inverted. Sheena is the most well-endowed, but she's not the strongest fighter. Colette, a self-confessed "Ironing Board", is physically stronger and can be a better fighter. But the girl that takes the cake is [[TokenMiniMoe Presea]], who can lift logs and wield Axes and [[DropTheHammer Hammers]] larger than she is, despite [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld looking like a twelve-year-old girl]].

* ChallengeRun: Most of the things you can buy in the Grade shop at the beginning of NewGamePlus are advantageous, but you do also have the options to reduce max HP or EXP gains, if you want a harder game.

%%* NewGamePlus: The GRADE system, which allows you to purchase bonuses and even [[SelfImposedChallenge Self Imposed Challenges]] if you choose.

* SelfImposedChallenge: Invoked; several Titles exist as rewards for embarking on several common challenges, though most only require you to stick with them until various points on Disc 1, rather than the whole game.

* AchievementMockery: While the game doesn't have achievements per se, there are a few titles which are awarded for being bad at battle:

** Lots of moments, but the "Hard Path", the RelationshipValues, and the [[AwesomeButImpractical Mystic Artes]] get special notice.
** Let's not forget the teleport maze at Palmacosta ranch, or, even worse with no guide, the specific donations necessary to [[spoiler: rebuild Luin]].
** The side quests in general. They are only available at certain points of the game and, after you complete specific events, they become [[PermanentlyMissableContent inaccessible]]. Especially annoying with small side quests which take place in places you normally wouldn't go, like [[spoiler:finding and curing Clara]], earning all the titles, and finding the relationship skits (since they're all on parts of the map where we'd normally have no reason to go).
** One of Lloyd's titles requires you to keep using the wooden swords he starts with for an absolutely preposterous amount of plot, during which you'll have to pass up several equipment upgrades. Colette and Genis have similar titles, requiring you to play a large portion of the game without, respectively, letting any party members get KO'd or using any Gels. These titles are all earned at ''completely different points'', so if you stumbled upon one by accident and even realized how you got it, you might realize to go for one of the others but end up giving up the SelfImposedChallenge too early.

* ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter: [[spoiler:Kilia, the daughter of Governor-General Dorr,]] never truly appears onscreen, having been the victim of a KillAndReplace some time before the party arrived.
* ImprobableWeaponUser:
** Genis uses a kendama, a ''children's toy''. Sheena uses cards with wards inscribed on them.
*** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in both cases. The kendama is explicitly said to help Genis concentrate when he's casting, and Sheena's 'cards' are actually ofuda, which are magical.
** If you equip the fancy clothes for Presea and Zelos, they have a chance of using a giant stuffed bunny and flowers respectively.
** The strongest weapons money can buy are {{Lethal Joke Item}}s. A mop, paper fans, a tambourine...
%%* InexplicableTreasureChests

[[folder: A -- B]]

* HundredPercentHeroismRating: If you save a town and then donate money to rebuild it, eventually the townspeople will put up statues of you and your party members. Although... you have to pay for the statues, too.

* UnlockableDifficultyLevels: Mania mode, a third difficulty level [[HarderThanHard above Hard mode]], unlocks upon completing the game for the first time. The remakes add a fourth level, Unknown mode, which also unlocks when the game is first completed.

** The Shadow Blobs in the Temple of Darkness have an irritating tendency to get caught on the smallest corners if they're not herded carefully through the center of every path.

* PinataEnemy: The Dragon in the Temple of Earth is noted in the Gamecube release for dropping a whopping 10000 Gald, making it by far the best target for money farming. This turns out to have been an error; all later releases reduce it to a more on-curve 1000 Gald.

* MultipleEndings: The last few hours of the game are slightly different depending on who Lloyd [[SnowMeansLove watches the snow with]] while the doctor treats Altessa. [[DownplayedTrope The primary thrust of the plot remains the same]], but the character chosen gets the main focus in several plot scenes, and joins Lloyd [[spoiler:in his quest to collect and destroy all the Exspheres in the world]] after defeating the FinalBoss. One notable difference between the routes is [[spoiler:choosing Kratos causes Zelos to [[SuicideByCop get himself killed at your hands]] after his apparent betrayal, and Kratos replaces him as a playable party member]].

* MoneyMultiplier: The Sephira and Blue Sephira accessories increase all Gald drops by 50% and 100%, respectively. The Blue Sephira is a guaranteed drop from a storyline boss, but fairly late in the game -- the regular Sephira [[GuideDangIt is not well-signposted]] but can be acquired much earlier from Grab Bags (and then upgraded to a Blue Sephira as soon as you acquire your first Rune Bottle [[spoiler:from Kratos, if you win his OpenEndedBossBattle, or else shortly thereafter from the Chimaera enemies in the Fooji Mountains]], still much earlier than the boss fight that drops Blue Sephira).

* SaveBothWorlds: About 2/3 of the game is this trope.

* SpoilerOpening: How do you know [[spoiler:that Sheena is going to join the party and that Kratos will eventually face off with you? Simple; the cover shows Sheena, Lloyd and Zelos in fighting poses (with Colette just doing some Maiden Pose) and the trailer shows Sheena attacking and killing an enemy (like it does with all your other eventual allies) in addition to Lloyd drawing his swords in preparation for battle in response to Kratos stepping out of the shadows.]] [[SarcasmMode Subtle.]]
** For a decidedly more subtle one, [[spoiler:you know that blonde haired angel who's back we see at the start of the intro? [[BigBad That isn't Colette.]]]]

** Only 20 Magic Lenses can be held at one time.

* MoneySpider: Special mention for the dragon in the Temple of Earth, 10000 [[GlobalCurrency gald]] per kill, and is a [[RespawningEnemies respawning enemy]]. This is actually either a GoodBadBug that was "fixed" in the Japanese-only UpdatedRerelease for the [=PS2=]. It was only supposed to give 1000 gald, but an extra zero made its way into the code....
** Even better is equipping a party member with a Blue Sephiran, an item that ''doubles'' gald received in battle, netting you a whopping 20000 Gald per dragon. One can quickly become a millionaire by simply climbing over a few dozen dragon corpses.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Lloyd, Colette, Zelos, Kratos, and arguably Sheena. While the game does a decent job at giving each of the 9 possible party members their own story arcs, the plot revolves most significantly around these characters. Sheena to a lesser degree than the other four but she still maintains a slightly stronger plot relevance than the remaining characters. Interestingly it's Lloyd, Colette, Zelos and Sheena who were featured in the original North American Gamecube Cover art, and notably, the OVA decided to TakeAThirdOption with regards to which 'soulmate' ends up traveling with Lloyd on his journey around the world at the end of the story by making specifically ''Colette, Zelos and Sheena'' decide to travel with him, but curiously not the entire party.
** From a purely game-relationship perspective, Colette, Zelos, and Kratos are the only party members who if Lloyd speaks to them in Flanoir, will yield an item, subtly implying they are the ''most'' important of the bonds Lloyd forms.

* LimitedMoveArsenal: When controlled by the player, a character can only use a few moves in sequence at any one time. Computer-controlled characters don't have this problem.

* MathematiciansAnswer: The Storyteller from Latheon Gorge gives one when discussing [[spoiler:Mithos]] after Zelos reminds him that said character is considered taboo in Heimdall.
-->'''Storyteller''': [[LoopholeAbuse This is not Heimdall]].

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Lloyd and Colette, by {{Road Cone}}s. Depending on how you play the game, they may not end up together.

* SnowMeansLove: The Flanoir doctor scene [[spoiler:[[RoadCone shown in the intro]] with [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend Colette's respective scene]]]]. Subverted in that the scene wasn't exactly romantic... The conversation was mostly about Kratos.
** The OVA portrays this scene in a more romantic manner, though. In the game, the scene was not extremely romantic, but there were some hints of romance there (Around the middle of the scene, Colette asks in a rather timid voice if she can “come a little closer” to Lloyd, which he allows). However, in the OVA, she outright holds hands with him.

* SolveTheSoupCans: Many puzzles revolve around this; the most blatant example is the "quest" to obtain the Ymir Fruit. [[spoiler: You have to change the Sorcerer's Ring to make a pig slam into a tree so that the tree drops a magic seed, which you plant, which then cause magic flowers to appear on the lily pads. Then you use one of the magic flowers on the lily pads to summon a fish that pushes a chest so you get a third magic seed. You plant this one, and then magic flowers sprout on branches. You jump onto the branches and summon a bird that takes you to a place where you shove a box into the water to make a bridge and to the other side of a rock you have to shatter with a pig-summon in order to clear a path for the fruit, which you have to get over via the box bridge. Then you use a pig to make the fruit fall into the water, summon a pig to hit a tree to drop worms to distract a bigger fish that would eat the fruit, then summon a smaller fish to push the fruit past the big fish, then summon more worms to push the fruit down so that a fish waiting on the next screen wouldn't eat it, then summon the fish to swim to the next screen, time the next fish summon so that the fish swims past yet another big fish, then the fish swims through the path you created by destroying that rock with the pigs, then finally, FINALLY, you can leap onto a lily pad to grab the fruit. Why you have to do all this when one of your characters can call upon the Summon Spirit of Water and another one can '''''fly''''' is never explained.]]

* MummiesAtTheDinnerTable: [[spoiler:Presea's father's body.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: [[spoiler:Abyssion. Nothing good ever comes from an abyss. [[IncrediblyLamePun Except the]] [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Tales of It]]]].

* DeconstructorFleet:
** Pretty much every main character, including the BigBad, is a {{Deconstruction}} of a standard RPG character archetype. It's particularly savage towards the idea of TheChosenOne and just what self-esteem issues a MessianicArchetype could potentially end up with. It tears into the {{Determinator}} and IdiotHero tropes too.
** Just to clarify a bit, being a stubborn idiot may have been the only thing that kept Lloyd going when a smarter person of the same upbringing would have been done, and his unflinching idealism lead to a major HeroicBSOD or two when he learned what was actually going on.

* TheExile: Lloyd and Genis, due to being responsible for [[DoomedHometown Iselia's destruction]].

[[folder: A - B]]

** Borderline - if one is killed while wearing a Cruxis Crystal or its infantile form, [[spoiler:the crystal absorbs the wearer's consciousness and slowly 'digests' it. The disembodied soul can interact with the outside world, so much as this is possible without a body]].

* ArbitraryMissionRestriction: Features a couple examples of optional objectives. The player can earn a title for not using any [[HealingPotion Gels]] until a certain point in the game, and another title for not changing out Lloyd's [[StarterEquipment starting weapon]]--a pair of wooden swords--until a certain point in the game.

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler: Expheres are people!]]
* AwesomeButImpractical: [[SummonMagic Summons]], Colette's Sacrifice spell, any of the Mystic Artes - Presea's Crimson Devestation ([=PS2=] exclusive) is especially ridiculous, requiring her to be the only surviving party member and be below 16% HP, amongst other requirements.

* BastardBastard: [[spoiler: The pope.]]

[[folder: C - D]]

** And as noted below, the BigBad is just as much of a {{Determinator}} as Lloyd is - his ideals just got compromised along the way.

* DuelBoss: There's a few:

[[folder: E - G]]

* FlatEarthAtheist: Weirdly enough, [[spoiler:Mithos]] is one - declaring that there is no goddess. The fact that [[spoiler:he was the one who set up the CorruptChurch]] may have something to do with it.

** Welgaia gives off a very 'endgame' vibe, and has two save points within two screens of each other. [[spoiler: When you revisit the 'holy' city during the ''proper'' endgame, one save point is between two of three YouAreNotAlone cutscenes and related minor {{Optional Boss}}es, with the third being that two screens away from the hub - thus combining Foreshadowing with an AntiFrustrationFeature.]]

** All of this makes more sense on subsequent playthroughs, if you read the text a little closer. [[spoiler:One of Mithos' reasons for what he did was that, just as Martel would absorb the Great Seed if she was revived, the Great Seed would absorb her if it was sprouted. It's just that until the end, no one really understood what that ''meant''. The other spirits that joined her were the souls of the other Chosen Ones, who had died in Martel's name while trying to fuse with her soul, their souls instead absorbed into the Great Seed; the composite spirit of Martel and the Chosen Ones became not a true goddess, but the guardian spirit of the new mana tree, who happens to be named Martel because that's the dominant spirit. Lloyd's unusual wings are most likely because of his special Angelus Exsphere, which was noted as being unique throughout the game. As for the revival of the Seed, this one is harder to see, but after he destroys Mithos' crystal, the sparkling fragments of it flow into Lloyd's Exsphere. When he and Colette are then trying everything they can to revive the Seed, that same pattern of sparkles flows out in reverse - the remnants of Mithos' spirit, [[FridgeBrilliance seeking peace with his sister and contributing the final burst of mana that allows the Seed to revive.]]]]

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: When Raine gets the Unicorn's Horn, and when Colette loses her voice. Not to mention a rather subtle one comes from when you notice Kratos's AI behaviour - he actually uses First Aid on Lloyd ''quite'' a bit.
** Zelos is introduced with [[ALadyOnEachArm two ladies on each side]]. When he joins your party not long after, he's got a Lv 2 EX Gem equipped with his [[ThePornomancer Personal]] EX Skill.[[note]]That is, the EX Skill named "Personal" - which, for Zelos, gives him rewards when he talks to ladies[[/note]]

* GoThroughMe: Happens a couple of times with varying results.

[[folder: H - L]]

* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: A lot. For both Colette and Zelos. This was one of the reasons this game was notable - it was when the VideoGame/TalesSeries started to ''really'' embrace this trope.

[[folder: M - N]]
* MalevolentArchitecture: Lampshaded at a few points.

* MeaningfulName: Genis and Raine's Japanese names are Genius and Refill. Also, one of the towns razed by the Desians is named Luin (just remember the whole [[JapaneseRanguage L/R thing with the Japanese language.]])
** Following the same naming traditions as Luin, there's also Exire, the floating city that's home to ostracized half-elves.

** [[spoiler: In the {{OVA}}, Presea gives one to Regal, after she finds out he killed Alicia, her sister. She tells him to fight back, but he's just too guilt-ridden to do anything. She only stops when Alicia comes back for a few moments to tell her that Regal isn't to blame.]]

[[folder: O - R]]

* 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.

* RedHerring: Raine exhibits some menacing behaviour early on; an EvilLaugh is heard from offscreen with her {{Leitmotif}} playing in the background, and upon receiving a Key-Crested Exphere from Lloyd, her eyes light up. All of this leads only to the revelation that she is ''fascinated'' by ruins, ancient stuff, the like - NOT that she is going to betray you. [[spoiler:Which helps the way Kratos ''does'' betray you.]]

[[folder: T - Z]]

* TeleportSpam: [[spoiler: Mithos is fond of this.]]

* ThirdOptionAdaptation: The ''Manga's'' ending is canon.
** The OVA series ends up giving Lloyd ''three'' traveling companions instead of a single 'soulmate' character in the story epilogue: Colette, Zelos, and Sheena (who are arguably the most important and commonly picked of Lloyd's potential 'soulmates').

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "The hero Mithos Yggdrasill, his sister Martel, and their companions Kratos and Yuan."]]