History YMMV / TalesOfSymphonia

* {{Anvilicious}}: The game's condemnation of racism is frequent and unsubtle, particularly as the game goes on. There's certainly a lot of repeatedly drumming in the point that discrimination is bad over and over. For all that, though, the game isn't ''monotone'' about "racism is bad", and is clearly [[AuthorTract written to examine the problem from as many angles as possible]]: different parts of the game focus on just about every aspect of racism you could think of, from open slavery, genocidal pogroms, and death camps, to separatism and violent supremacist movements that ultimately [[YouAreWhatYouHate prove no better than their former oppressors]], to showing how even someone who isn't overtly racist against a group is still affected by the stereotypes and discrimination against that group.

* OneTrueThreesome: While there was a modest following for Lloyd/Colette/Zelos, the OVA ended with Lloyd travelling not only with Colette, but Zelos and Sheena too, effectively launching a new OT4.

** Sheena is seen as low tier by a lot of players. Her stats are extremely low, and one key skill she learns is not until ''Level 56'', which is right around the time the party is ready for the final dungeon.

* SignatureScene:
** The boss fight against [[spoiler: Genis's friend Marble]].
** Lloyd's coffee gambit, where he [[spoiler: tricks Colette into revealing that she's losing her senses]].
** The DuelBoss fight with Lloyd against [[spoiler: Kratos]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: As far as sales go, it's the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' equivalent to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': in Japan, it was a very good, important ''Tales'' game due to the 3D jump and the advances made in game mechanics, and is well-remembered and even stands out a bit, but it doesn't ''completely'' dominate the discussion, even though every ''Tales'' game that followed does owe a little to it. '''Outside''' of Japan (in America in particular), it ''defined'' the entire first generation of international ''Tales'' fandom (outside of the ''tiny'' handful who had played ''Destiny'' and the fan translation of ''Phantasia'') and is ''the'' game people will think of when casually mentioning the series as a whole, largely due to a combination of being released on a console that was starved for [=RPGs=] and ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' magazine hyping it every chance they got.
* GoodBadBugs:
** The Tech Glitch. Normally, the TechTree is set up so that you can't learn skills from opposing branches simultaneously. However, with clever use of C-stick shortcuts and party member swapping, you can learn the final-tier skill from the branch you ''aren't'' taking, as well as the skills from the branch you ''are.''
** Just before the final boss fight with [[spoiler: Mithos]], during the cut-scene, if you advance ''any'' of the dialogue before the audio finishes playing, then when the boss [[spoiler:changes into his young form]] he'll glitch out for the rest of the cut-scene. He will just stand there, talking to you, mouth not moving, arms lifeless, body totally inert.
** As mentioned in the main article, the dragon that gives 10,000 Gald upon defeat only does so because of a typo that resulted in an extra zero -- the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 UpdatedRerelease has it only give 1,000 Gald instead. ''Chronicles's'' version, being a [=PS3=] port of said UpdatedRerelease, is the same. This unfortunately makes completing the Luin Rebuilding sidequest a ''lot'' more cumbersome than it already was; the next best MoneySpider is the Gold Dragon, which gives ''almost'' as much Gald, but appears in a later, more troublesome dungeon.
** One funny bug that's manifested in at least the [=PS3=] and Steam versions is the "dirty Sheena" bug, wherein if the player takes the "hard path" first and meets Sheena in the newly destroyed Luin, her character model will still be in its "dirty" state even after moments when it would have been cleaned up in the original version. The bug sorts itself out if you change her title to an alternate costume title and back but is otherwise kept on generally so that serious moments are Narmed up a bit by Sheena looking like she hasn't had a bath in forever.
** The [=PS2=] version onward removed the skill tree glitch, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xm5HZuLh-Y but one REALLY useful glitch]] somehow slipped by them. By moving the cursor around the artes menu in a certain way, you can scroll PAST the menu and into an almost entirely complete collection of artes for everyone including some DummiedOut ones. But the best part of this glitch is being able to find Mystic Artes in this magic glitched menu, ''[[ExaggeratedTrope being able to map them to a single button]] and being able to perform them at any time regardless of requirements.'' And since you can spam spell-based Mystic Artes, this means great things for Genis, Raine and Zelos. Furthermore it still allows you to map spells from the opposite skill tree, making a great replacement for the skill tree glitch.
* GrowingTheBeard: This is pretty much unquestionably where the series really began to find its stride. While ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' had previously used some of these plot and gameplay elements, it was ''Symphonia'' that really fleshed out concepts like the skits and character customization , and is where many of the later games pulled ideas from to flesh out the story.
* HarsherInHindsight: The Clara sidequest manages to do this to already very harsh events in several of your party members' backstories. [[spoiler: It turns out that people who mutated into monsters because of the Exspheres can be turned back into humans after all. Kratos, Regal, and Genis may not have needed to kill their loved ones, and Lloyd and Presea could have possibly kept their family members.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: While a major GrowingTheBeard for the series in both gameplay and writing, and is often seen by some as the best game in the series, as time has gone on, ''Symphonia'' tends to be seen as being less polished and refined than it was seen as in 2003. Its story was unique for its time, but some games after can make ''Symphonia'' look dated and not as interesting, while the gameplay can be outright unrefined compared to the many innovations the later titles were able to make (in particular, the lack of full field control in this version of the LMBS tends to drive people crazy). While it still is recommended for newcomers as an entry point to avoid this issue, later games like ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' or 'VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' are often recommended first due to the more developed gameplay and more complex stories.

* TaintedByThePreview: When it was revealed that the Remaster, like the Chronicles and PC versions, would be locked at 30 fps, fans were quite displeased and made unfavorable comparisions to the Gamecube version, which ran at 60 fps, questioning why its called a "Remaster" and costs $40 when it runs worse than a near two decade-old game. The fact that the Switch version has the gall to have framerate drops probably doesn't help either.

* TaintedByThePreview: When it was revealed that the Remaster, like the Chronicles and PC versions, would be locked at 30 fps, fans were quite displeased and made unfavorable comparisions to the Gamecube version, which ran at 60 fps, questioning why its called a "Remaster" and costs $40 when it runs worse than a near two decade-old game.

** Mithos Yggdrasil, the games BigBad. On one hand, many players love him for being the EvilCounterpart to Lloyd, and how threatening he is when first introduced. His interactions with Genis, and his past as a victim of racism as a Half-Elf also help give him weight to the story, making him interesting of a threat to want to stop. On the other hand, he has a sizable amount of detractors for reasons such as the rather awkward incestual tones he has about his sister, how whiny he is compared to later antagonists like [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Van]], and how his motives are ultimately shallow and simplistic compared to how imposing the game makes him out to be at first. The main draw stems from how effective he is seen as a villain, as if you find him a credible threat, he makes for a compelling villain, but if you don't, he comes across as just a poor antagonist.

* GrowingTheBeard: This is pretty much unquestionably where the series really began to find its stride. While ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' had previously used some of these plot and gameplay elements, it was ''Symphonia'' that really fleshed out concepts like the skits and character customization and made it an RPG for the ages.

* HypeBacklash: Given that it's often dubbed "The best ''Tales of'' game" by its fans, it's not surprising that some get disappointed with it as a result. Doubly so when coming back to this game after having played later Tales games, and Symphonia will be surprisingly stiff by comparison. Not bad by any means, but in comparison to advances and changes in the gameplay later titles offered, Symphonia will show its age.

** Though if you see PortingDisaster below a lot of the PC version's problems apply to the [=PS3=] version. Generally the best version of the game performance wise is the original Game Cube release.
* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The ''Chronicles'' re-release gets this a bit due to all new features that weren't in the [=PS2=] version being largely superficial. Particular points of contention are the lack of Free Run, and the preservation of the spell queue[[note]]The game's inability to show the animations of two mid or high level spells at a time.[[/note]], the latter of which was only in the original version due to technical limitations.
** And that it runs at 30 fps (because the [=PS2=] version did), while the [=GameCube=] version from ''10 years ago'' ran at 60.

*** Related to that, the standing and running animations for Desians are so ridiculous that it can be impossible to take some of their story scenes seriously.
*** There's also the scene where Yuan is on the ground and [[spoiler: Mithos]] proceeds to kick him and do an EvilLaugh. It's totally hilarious if you don't continue, and [[spoiler: Mithos]] just keeps kicking Yuan while he's down. The icing on the cake is Lloyd in his idle pose like he's thinking, "Huh, so that's how gravity works..." It's massive spoilers but it can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luwfQNOSgUk&list=PLAV-xzjVBR0XVBQtMzyGmF_MW2Va3yZPs&index=39&nohtml5=False in this video.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: While a major GrowingTheBeard for the series in both gameplay and writing, and is often seen by some as the best game in the series, as time has gone on, ''Symphonia'' tends to be seen as being less polished and refined than it was seen as in 2003. Its story was unique for its time, but some games after can make ''Symphonia'' look dated and not as interesting, while the gameplay can be outright unrefined compared to the many innovations the later titles were able to make (in particular, the lack of full field control in this version of the LMBS tends to drive people crazy). While it still is recommended for newcomers to avoid this issue and remains a strong entry, later games like ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' are often recommended over it.

* SpoiledByTheFormat: the DwindlingParty in the Tower Of Salvation is an absolute PlayerPunch as party member after party member performs HeroicSacrifice after HeroicSacrifice... leaving you with Lloyd, a solo FragileSpeedster with no defense, no self-healing to sustain him through long battles, and no additional mechanics to compensate for these weaknesses. "It would be impossible for him to complete the game on his own!" [[TheBusCameBack Correct]].

** While he has some understandable reasons for it, Mithos, the BigBad, spends a huge amount of screentime after he is revealed as Yggdrasil effectively whining about how bad the world is, how he wants his sister back, and that he's doing what should be done. It detracts from the seriousness because he sounds like a child throwing a temper tantrum instead of a complex AntiVillain. This may have been intentional of course, but for those who didn't sympathize with him, it's eye-rolling to see the BigBad acting in such a manner.

* CultClassic: It never sold as well as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', but it's very fondly remembered all the same.

** Kratos' Level 100 Title is "War God".[[note]]There's really no chance this was on purpose, as ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' came out two years after ''Symphonia''.[[/note]]. Also, Kratos betrays his son, and whenever they meet, Lloyd has a tradition of shouting "KRATOS!!" and the two become rivals, and Kratos is also Lloyd's father, before Kratos becomes a returned angel. Considering all of this happened in the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series, except with Kratos taking Lloyd's place, it is very hard not to think that this game foreshadowed the series.

*** It gets even more hilarious (and [[HeartwarmingInHindsight heartwarming]]) with ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4,'' due to having similar plot threads: A supernatural being named Kratos, who is long disillusioned with his past misdeeds, going on a journey with his WideEyedIdealist son whom he has a rather strained relationship with.

* HypeBacklash: Given that it's often dubbed "The best ''Tales of'' game" by its fans, it's not surprising that some get disappointed with it as a result. Doubly so when coming back to this game after having played later Tales games, and Symphonia will be surprisingly stiff by comparison. Not bad by any means, but in comparison to advances and changes in the gameplay later titles offered, Symphonia will show its age. Adding to it, while Symphonia is where the writing team really hit their DeconstructorFleet, later games had more complex main characters and antagonists.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The final form of the FinalBoss comes right out of no where and gets no explanation ''at all''. The cutscene beforehand doesn't naturally Segway into either, leaving it as just a odd choice for the finale.

%%** Colette learning Judgment immediately after [[spoiler:becoming an angel]].

** While he has some understandable reasons for it, Mithos, the BigBad, spends a huge amount of screentime after he is revealed as Yggdrasil effectively whining about how bad the world is, how he wants his sister back, and that he's doing what should be done. It detracts from the seriousness because he sounds like a child throwing a tempertantrum instead of a a complex AntiVillain. This may have been intentional of course, but for those who didn't sympathize with him, it's eyerolling to see the BigBad acting in such a manner.

* {{Moe}}:
** Colette, in spades: Cute face: check. Small, delicate body: Check. [[CuteClumsyGirl Adorably clumsy]]: Check. Adorable voice, courtesy of Creator/NanaMizuki in Japanese and Heather Hogan-Watson in English: OOOOOH! Soooo check! TheWoobie as big as you can get: CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!
%%%** [[WhenSheSmiles Presea]] and [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Genis]].

** Apparently, that rainbow {{Kitsune}} with a feminine sounding voice and name (Corrine) is male. [[GenderFlip Except]] in the manga, unless that was a translation error or something.

!![[center: [- [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/TalesSeries Alternative Character Interpretation]] | [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/TalesSeries And The Fandom Rejoiced]] | [[AwesomeBosses/TalesSeries Awesome Bosses]] | [[BrokenBase/TalesSeries Broken Base]] | [[Monster/TalesSeries Complete Monster]] | [[DieForOurShip/TalesSeries Die For Our Ship]] | [[FanPreferredCouple/TalesSeries Fan Preferred Couple]] | [[GameBreaker/TalesSeries Game Breaker]] | [[Narm/TalesSeries Narm]] | [[PlayerPunch/TalesSeries Player Punch]] | [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap/TalesSeries Rescued From The Scrappy Heap]] | [[ScrappyMechanic/TalesSeries Scrappy Mechanic]] | [[ThatOneAchievement/TalesSeries That One Achievement]] | [[ThatOneAttack/TalesSeries That One Attack]] | [[ThatOneBoss/TalesSeries That One Boss]] | [[ThatOneLevel/TalesSeries That One Level]] | [[ThatOneSidequest/TalesSeries That One Sidequest]] | [[TheScrappy/TalesSeries The Scrappy]] | [[Woobie/TalesSeries The Woobie]]]]-]

* FanPreferredCouple: Quite a few examples since Lloyd can be paired off with anyone, but notably Lloyd/Sheena and Zelos/Lloyd for the HoYay shippers.

* CaptainObviousReveal: Mithos [[spoiler: actually being the BigBad in another form is pretty obvious from the get-go, given the fact he just happens to be found by the party in the ruined Ozette, yet doesn't have a scratch on him in the middle of an enormous fire, looks ''eerily'' similar to Colette, the ''incredibly'' suspicious fact he not only stole a Rheaird without being spotted by the Renegades but has a flute that can summon ''Aska'' and the odd breadth of knowledge he has for a supposedly isolated half-elf.]] Even Zelos comments on how quickly he's accepted by the party and wonders how they can trust him so easily.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The game's condemnation of racism is frequent and unsubtle, particularly as the game goes on. There's certainly a lot of repeatedly drumming in the point that discrimination is bad over and over. For all that, though, the game isn't ''monotone'' about "racism" is bad, and is clearly [[AuthorTract written to examine the problem from as many angles as possible]]: different parts of the game focus on just about every aspect of racism you could think of, from open slavery, genocidal pogroms, and death camps, to separatism and violent supremacist movements that ultimately [[YouAreWhatYouHate prove no better than their former oppressors]], to showing how even someone who isn't overtly racist against a group is still affected by the stereotypes and discrimination against that group.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The game's condemnation of racism is frequent and unsubtle, particularly as the game goes on. There's certainly a lot of repeatedly drumming in the point that discrimination is bad over and over. Different parts of the game focus on just about every aspect of racism you could think of, from open slavery, genocidal pogroms, and death camps, to separatism, to violent supremacist movements that ultimately [[YouAreWhatYouHate prove no better than their former oppressors]], to showing how even someone who isn't overtly racist against a group is still affected by the stereotypes and discrimination against that group.