Nintendo Wii Media | Tales of Symphonia Sequel: First Screens & Details

Following the unveiling of firm details regarding the Nintendo DS RPG entry 'Tales of Innocence', Cubed3 can now bring you the first batch of information and screenshots from the highly anticipated sequel to GameCube favourite 'Tales of Symphonia', sub-titled 'Knights of Ratatoskr' or 'Ratatosuku no Kishi' in Japanese, although both as still being classed as temporary sub-titles for the time being.

The game takes place two years after the events of the GameCube original and will still feature the free run-based Linear Battle Motion system that was employed in the game that has proved to be the most successful entry in the series over in the US and Europe so far. All the main characters from the original will make an appearance at some point during this outing, and they will even reportedly end up assisting the new characters - so Lloyd fans will definitely get to see him again! As for the new lead characters, they are called Emil (the hero) and Malta (the heroine). It has also been revealed that you will be able to collect monsters during the journey and enlist their aid in battle by inviting them into your party and raising / training them.

According to Shonen Jump's initial announcement, there was a teasing message of 'Will there be a new control method / system / and so on (one that up until now, has never been seen before)?! Wait until next month!' However, looking at what was shown at the official conference it seems this is likely to be related to the fact that the world map employs a 'point-and-click' approach, meaning that rather than wandering around the playing field, you instead choose your location with the Wii controller and your team then heads off to that place. This point-and-click style will also be used for all menu screens, which seems quite logical.

Also, for those worried that this may well be replacing the originally announced Swords of Legendia, fear not as a quick glance that the Japanese Bandai Namco website reveals that they are indeed separate games, with Tales of Symphonia coming to Japan in Spring 2008 and Swords of Legendia still with a 'To be confirmed' date. This game is being considerably updated on the visual front, according to Bandai Namco, with a much higher texture resolution that will be apparent when exploring the new dungeons and towns, plus re-visiting areas from the GameCube game. But this is not the only change, as there are to be amendments to the way it plays as well, with aforementioned map and menu Wii controls being just one aspect and others to be unveiled at a later date.

For those interested in the original announcement, below is a larger scan of what was initially unveiled in Shonen Jump:

Be sure to check out the first images of Tales of Symphonia: Knights of Ratatoskr in the media folder below and stay tuned for more updates here on Cubed3!