Monthly Archives: October 2013

23 Things Secret of Mana and Tales of Symphonia Share In Common

As noticed by someone who’s played each at least half a dozen times! I’d rank Tales of Symphonia easily in my top ten games of all-time and a lot of that came from how familiar it felt. I truly wonder how much I would have enjoyed it if I hadn’t played Secret of Mana over a decade earlier.

Major spoilers for both games, obviously!

 

  1. They’re action RPGs.
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  3. They’re noted for great soundtracks.
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  5. At least three-player co-op! Now there’s an RPG rarity.
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  7. Both games have a way to break boss battles with stunlock by exploiting quirks of magic animations. In Secret of Mana you can begin casting a second attack spell before the first spell’s animation ends; in Tales of Symphonia you can cancel a casting animation to reset your combo, giving most magic users near-infinite combos. (Tip: It’s easier to get the timing down for Colette and Sheeena than for Kratos, Zelos, or Regal. Raine can technically pull it off too, but it’s much, much tougher.)
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    4 down, 19 to go. And most are infinitely more interesting than the first 4!