Tales of Symphonia (2003)

Tales of Symphonia (Japanese: テイルズ オブ シンフォニア, Hepburn: Teiruzu Obu Shinfonia) is a Japanese role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003 in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the Tales series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13, 2004 and in Europe on November 19, 2004. In Japan, the game was ported for the PlayStation 2 with additional content and was released on September 22, 2004. The game takes place in a fictional world called Sylvarant and follows Lloyd Irving. Lloyd accompanies his childhood friend, Colette Brunel, who is destined to go on a journey to save their world. As their journey progresses, they learn that saving Sylvarant endangers Tethe'alla, a world parallel to their own. The game's central theme is Kimi to Hibiki au RPG (君と響きあうRPG, "RPG that resonates with you"). The game's reception was generally positive with critics praising the gameplay but criticizing the plot. It received a Japan Game Awards in 2003 and had received re-releases under the Player's Choice and PlayStation 2 the Best labels. In the United States, over 100 thousand copies were sold during the first two weeks and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Since its release, Tales of Symphonia spawned a substantial media franchise in Japan. The game has been adapted into seven manga collections, two novel series, seven drama CDs, and an OVA anime series. A sequel entitled Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World was released for the Wii in 2008. Tales of Symphonia and its sequel was collected as a PlayStation 3 high definition release in Tales of Symphonia Chronicles in 2013. A Steam version was released on February 2, 2016.