Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for the Wii (known as Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk in Japan) takes place two years after the first Symphonia games. The lands of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla were combined at the end of the world regeneration. The Tethe'allans look down on the Sylvaranti because of their lack of centeral government. The Vanguard protects the people of Sylvarant but, any town that is associated with them are destroyed by the Church of Martel, which is run by Lloyd Irving. Not only are the inhabitants of the once seperated worlds clashing with one another, the weather balance has shifted. In lands that were once deserts are now covered in snow while snow is melting in the once colder regions. And the cause of these climate? Dormant centurions, which control elemental based monsters and, in order to return the world to normal, the lord of all centurions, lord Ratatosk, must be awaken.

The main character is a young boy, Emil Castagnier, who, after his parents dying in the Palmacosta purge, moves to Luin to live with his aunt and uncle. The people in town blame him for the problems they are facing, which leaves him frightened and soft spoken. Until he meets Richter, a mysterious man that Emil later refers back to whenever he is faced with a major decision. He meets a girl named Marta Lualdi who is carrying Ratatosk's care on her forehead and is on the run from both the Church of Martel and the Vanguard. He forms a pact with the centurion of darkness, Tenebrae, in order to save Marta from Richter, who is trying to get the core from her. Together, Emil and Marta go on a journey to revive the centurions and awaken Ratatosk, hoping to restore the world to it's natural state.

Though most critics hate this game, I really enjoy it. The graphic are good if you take in to consideration that it is for the Wii. Also, the new characters are really deep and it's always nice to see the characters from the previous game (and you can even play as them too). Emil goes through amazing character development and, in the end, learns how to stick up for himself. Tenebrae likes to make fun of people or start fights, which always end out humorus. And Marta... well, likes to devote her time and making Emil fall in love with her. My favorite character is Lady Alice who is in charge of the Vanguard's combat unit. At first glance, she seems like a sweet, innocent girl but she is later revealed to be quite sadistic and will use anyone to get what she wants (even Decus, who constantly confesses his love for her only to be shot down). Also, the battle music is really good (this blogger really like's the battle theme for Alice). And the plot has some sweet, hearfelt moments. And, in this game, you can capture monsters to fight with you.
There are a few bad points to the game, I'll admit. For one, they only kept two of the original voice actors from the first game: Colette and Kratos. Though, Zelos' new voice sounds amazingly similar to his original, some of the others don't (especially Lloyd's). Also, there isn't a world map, so you're unable to blindly walk around to level. Instead, you are given quests which sometimes don't really help and are time consuming. The worst part though is that the only people you can level are Emil and Marta, seeing as the others leave your party and come back, gaining levels whenever they return. In the end, Emil and Marta can get up to level 250 while the rest of your party are stuck at level 50. The only way you can play as characters other then Emil and Marta is by changing it whenever you get in battle. But, once in a new battle, it will return to its original settings. And the equipment for those other members also can't be changed. Another down side is that there aren't any new places to visit and, in fact, all the centurion cores are in the temples you visited in the first game.

But, over all, I loved this game. Even though many reviews give this game a low rating, it's still worth playing if you loved the first game.