Wii Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World's biggest drawback is simply that it's a direct sequel to Tales of Symphonia. While this provides the game with a fairly large potential audience of fans, the story draws very heavily from the events of the first game, and while it's possible to pick up the pieces during the game, those who haven't played Tales of Symphonia will likely find themselves lost. Dawn of the New World is a game made for Tales of Symphonia fans, and isn't likely to find an audience outside of that. The game lasts roughly forty hours, and is surprisingly challenging. The game's difficulty can be increased for those seeking additional challenge, but cannot be decreased from its default setting, which should provide plenty of challenge for the typical gamer. If you're a rabid Tales of Symphonia fan like myself, Dawn of the New World could easily be your game of the year. However, its flaws are noticeable, and most people will find it an enjoyable, if somewhat unremarkable, experience.

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The visuals are a bit of a disappointment. While the art style and character designs are solid, the game's engine is simply not up to snuff. Aliasing problems persist throughout the game, and in certain cutscenes, the background shimmers as the camera pans, creating a very disorienting effect. While the game thankfully suffers no slowdown during gameplay, loading times are unacceptably long and frequent, often lasting several seconds just to begin a battle. Aside from the opening video, the game also doesn't feature any anime cutscenes, which is rather disappointing.

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