Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk

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Region Lock-out
Please note Japanese Wii games will not boot on USA or European Wii consoles due to the inherent region-lockout on Japanese Wii game discs. A Freeloader is required.

» Press the A + B button to bring up the following options:

NEW GAME - Begin a new adventure
LOAD - Resume a game from memory
CUSTOMIZE - Set game parameters and options

» Start a new game and somber music plays followed by a narrator's voice who reads off a prologue that's accompanied by still images. After the recitation, the camera peers into a burning village. A figure walks and then leaps. In the next scene a young girl named Marta Lualdi is holding a red orb in both of her hands and staring into it. Inside is the imprint of a butterfly. In the distance, voices may be heard and she begins running while armed soldiers chase after her. The narration begins anew and explains the conflict between Tethe-alla and Sylvarant.

» In the next scene, Lloyd Irving faces two innocents and draws both of his swords. He leaps and apparently slashes both of them dead. The camera switches back to the girl from earlier who's cornered by four soldiers. She raises the orb to her head, prays and bright lights fill the screen. Next, she's lying on the ground with a glowing redness in her head. The orb has integrated itself within her. A blonde boy named Emil Castagnier approaches and sees the soldiers who were after her have fallen.

» The camera switches over to the two innocents from earlier who are now lying on the ground. Emil approaches them but the woman wakes and speaks to him. The male appears dead. After speaking to her impassive blonde boy, she dies. Emil Castagnier says "OKA-SAN" slowly and then screams "OKASAN."

» Fade to black. Emil is lying in bed when an animal howls outside. He wakes up and walks into the middle of the room. He's in an inn in the town of Luin. Control is handed over to the player at this point.

» Movement is handled through the analog stick on the nunchuk while the Wii Remote controls a screen pointer that sort of looks like a metal feather duster.

» Exit the inn and explore the town. Speak to people by running up to them and press the "A" button.

» The camera is fixed position and there's no facility for rotating the game world to get different vantage points. The view of the game is comfortable however with an expansive 3/4 overhead view of the action. There are occasions when running behind a building that the player loses sight of the protagonist but only for a short while.

» There is only a little bit of voice acting in the game from the protagonist and the lead characters. Speaking to a normal citizen in town will not elicit any vocal responses, just text bubbles.

» The movement of Emil Castagnier and his overall design is reminiscent of Sora of Kingdom Hearts fame.

» In-game details are well done. Flags wave to and fro, the grass looks natural, towels that are hung out to dry undulate realistically. In the next area (Chnoir Lake's Cave) that Emil visits, there's a boat in disrepair that's on a dried up lake. The mast is broken, the deck is dilapidated, and lengths of rope is strewn over it. Make sure to check out the area behind the boat because there's a chest there.

» Go to the west and you'll see a statue of Lloyd Irving with both swords in the air in front of his body in an attack stance. Emil looks at it with a sneer and turns to leave when two lads approach him . There is voice acting from both sides in this portion of the game. Emil explains to the two boys that Lloyd Irving killed his parents but they're unsympathetic and one of them shoves him to the ground and he falls against a warrior with red hair and glasses. The boys run off and Emil is befriended by the warrior who has a sword to his left side. He heads into town and Emil looks after him and holds a sort soliloquoy before control is handed over to the player once more.

» Back in town, Emil approaches the warrior who's standing in front of a statue of Colette Brunel who holds a sceptre and the two get acquainted. Emil is unsure of himself but he gets through the conversation.

» Occasionally during the game there are voice chat sequences that may be activated by pressing the "C" button. This function was first seen in the Tales of Destiny remake where background information that might not be obvious is recited by a character by himself or by characters in conversation.

» To trigger the next event, head back into town and then walk to the east where the bridge is located. You'll be able to pass through the bridge and explore the world afterwards. Movement from major locale to major locale is handled through a world map which lists the available routes.

» Upon leaving town, Emil is immediately attacked by some sort of bear creature that stands upright. He'll be able to get a few good slashes in but he's eventually rescued by Marta who leaps into action and fells the bear with a slash attack. The bear drops but eventually gets up again. The two steel themselves for a battle.

» The fighting system is similar to other Tales games but there is 3D movement available. To attack, press the "A" button and to block, press the "Z" button. Holding down the "C" button and moving with the analog stick will allow hero to move in 3D instead of just lateral movement. Emil can slash three times in a row before the game system pauses his attacks and he'll have to wait about a second before slashing again. With Marta's help and healing magic, defeating the bear is a cinch. After the bear's death, Marta and Emil speak and she remembers him from earlier although he isn't too sure. Their interaction is accompanied by voice acting.

» Emil will occasionally get flashbacks of recent events along with attendant introspection on the event.

» Emil starts the game with 100 GALD. He can't afford much so save up.

» To save your progress at any time, press the "+" button and move the cursor to the option on the bottom of the screen. Press "A" and press "A" again on the first option. A screen with a column of "DATA" fields on the left will appear and you'll be able to save your game to any one of the 30 slots.

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