Tales of Symphonia

In Japan, Namcos Tales franchise commands serious respect (and respectable sales numbers), but here, the two Tales of Destiny PS1 titles barely caused a ripple. Hopefully, the series can produce a bigger splash on the RPG-deprived GameCube.

Itll surely help that Symphonia is the first chapter to sport 3D visuals. We tried to use the GameCube hardware to its fullest potential, while still keeping the essential elements that make the Tales series special," explains Producer Makoto Yoshizumi. His effort shows: The vibrant, lush visuals spruce up whats essentially an old-school RPG. Youll encounter tons of playable characters, massive towns to explore, dungeons to traverse, and diabolical beasties to dispatch. The newfound third dimension also alters the previous games Linear Motion Battle system (basically a side-scrolling morass of cute characters pummeling bad guys), since you now have two axes on which to move your characters. Dont worry about this new complexity mucking up the games flow, though combat is still as fast as ever.

Chatty Cathy

One aspect that hasnt changed a bit, however, is your party members incessant verbal banter. The talkative characters help players connect with their party members and make it easier to really get into the game, says Producer Makoto Yoshizumi.