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Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)

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Title Screen

Tales of Symphonia

Developer: Namco
Publishers: Namco (JP/US), Nintendo (EU)
Platform: GameCube
Released in JP: August 29, 2003
Released in US: July 13, 2004
Released in EU: November 19, 2004


AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ModelsIcon.png This game has unused models.
Sgf2-unusedicon1.png This game has unused abilities.
MusicIcon.png This game has unused music.
TextIcon.png This game has unused text.
DebugIcon.png This game has debugging material.
SoundtestIcon.png This game has a hidden sound test.
RegionIcon.png This game has regional differences.


NotesIcon.png This game has a notes page

Tales of Symphonia was one of the first Tales games to be in 3D and to get a worldwide release. It later would get a Japan-only PS2 port which added some new content, such as new costumes, techs, boss fights, a casino minigame, and various gameplay changes. This PS2 port would later be released to PS3 in all regions as Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, bundled with a port of its sequel, and to PC on Steam, this time without its sequel included. Most recently, the PC port was ported to Switch, PS4, and Xbox One as Tales of Symphonia Remastered with enhanced textures and new bugs not present in any other version.

Of important note is that the GameCube version runs at 30 FPS on the overworld and 60 FPS everywhere else, while the PS2 version runs at 30 FPS in all instances due to less powerful hardware. The original GameCube source code was allegedly lost, resulting in every subsequent port being made using the PS2 version's source code as a base, so the original GameCube version is the only version of the game that runs at 60 FPS.

Hmmm...
To do:
  • Unused text.
    • Some NPCs have placeholder messages if you go to certain places earlier than you're supposed to. The Casino and Hotel from Altamira have some.
  • Look at textures. Still more to find!
    • The Steam version has a texture with a digital signature of a developer that dates 2003. See if that is in here along with other texture oddities.
  • Debug versions of both USA discs have been leaked onto the internet, go find early localization differences if possible.
  • Are there any more notable unused models available in the Testfield_02 character editor?

Sub-Pages

Miscellaneous tidbits that are interesting enough to point out here.
Notes

Unused Graphics

Unused Item Icon

ToS Now printing.png

An unused item icon exists within the game's files, most likely used as a placeholder. It says "Now printing" in English on top of 4 vertical bars of different colours.

Lloyd's Weapons

Appearance In-Game Separated
ToS Material Blade GCN.png ToS Flamberge Icon (GCN).pngToS Vorpal Sword.png
Appearance In-Game Separated
ToS Nebilim (GCN) (In-game).png ToS Nebilim left hand (GCN).pngToS Nebilim right hand (GCN).png

Despite Lloyd fighting with dual-wielded swords, the majority of the icons for the Twin Blades items feature only one sword each. The only exceptions are the Material Blade and Lloyd's Devil's Arm, Nebilim, due to both swords of each pair looking different. Instead of being just one icon, though, both are instead made up of two separate overlapping icons. While not technically unused, the individual icons are always obscured by or overlapping the other icon (aside from the few frames it takes to fade in the second icon). It should also be noted that the fire half of Lloyd's Material Blade is the same icon used for Kratos' Flamberge, and is thus the only one that can be seen by itself in normal gameplay.

Unused Cut-ins

Upon performing Mystic Artes with Lloyd, Genis and Colette, cut-ins appear over the screen with that character's face. Oddly enough, there are unused cut-in graphics for the rest of the party members (Presea even gets two), plus Abyssion and Mithos, on the GameCube version disc. They were used in the PS2 port. You can see them here.

Unused Models/Characters

Unused Kratos Costume

In-game Default Costume Texture Unused Costume Texture
Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Unused Kratos Costume.png Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Kratos Normal Texture.png Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Kratos Unused Texture.png

Normally Kratos has the fewest number of costumes in the game, having just one alternate one, but he actually does have one more in the game. It's very similar to his default, except the lower tails of his cape are both white instead of purple. Kratos will wear this costume if his costume value is set to 02 or higher, but only value 02 will let the costume show up in battle, as other values only work on the overworld and use his default costume in battle. The following code can be used to make Kratos wear it:

005B7449 00000002

It turns out that there is actually one instance where Kratos wears this alternate costume in-game, that being whenever he rides a Rheiard. All other characters are forced to use their default costumes when riding a Rheiard, so the fact that Kratos uses this otherwise unused costume seems to suggest the Rheiards were programmed before Kratos' costume was changed.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Rutee Katrea

One of the battle models (which are distinct from overworld/NPC models) in the game is that of Rutee Katrea, one of the protagonists of Tales of Destiny. Considering one of the battles at the Coliseum has the party face off against two characters from Tales of Eternia (Farah Oersted and Meredy) and one from Tales of Destiny (Garr/Woodrow Kelvin), this is likely where her cameo would have appeared.

Rudy? No, Rutee!

Unseen Details

Map Textures

Many of the map textures in the game contain out-of-bounds details never able to be seen by the player, often in the form of signatures or notes left by developers.

Iselia

ISA_T02 ISB_T02 ISC_T02
TalesOfSymphonia-ISA T02.png TalesOfSymphonia-ISB T02.png TalesOfSymphonia-ISC T02.png

A signature that says Aiuchi 5/16 ② underneath a building.

Heimdall

HEA_T00 HEA_T02
TalesOfSymphonia-HEA T00.png TalesOfSymphonia-HEA T02.png

A signature that says Yoshiyuki Aiuchi underneath a building. The name Yoshiyuki Aiuchi is credited as a Level Designer, Town Graphic Designer, and Battlefield Graphic Support for this game.

Unused Text

Hmmm...
To do:
Add the Japanese equivalents of the below, should they exist, along with translations.

Tower of Mana

Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Colette at Tower of Mana.png

When completing the Tower of Mana for the first time, your party splits into two groups. The first group always includes Lloyd and Colette, along with a third character of the player's choosing if they got Sheena beforehand. The second group is made up of the remaining party members and is always a group of three.

Leaving the dungeon as the first party will make the parties regroup until you re-enter the dungeon, but once the player has control of the second party, they aren't allowed to leave the dungeon as the character on-screen will insist they can't leave the first party behind.

For some reason, Colette actually has dialogue if she's on-screen in the second party, despite it being impossible in normal gameplay. Other characters that aren't supposed to be in the second party (Lloyd, Presea, Zelos, Regal) DON'T have dialogue here, so Colette specially having dialogue seems to indicate there was originally more flexibility in how the teams split up.

Speaker Dialogue
Colette, Genis,
and Sheena
We can't leave
without everyone.
Raine We can't leave
everyone behind.
Kratos We cannot leave
everyone behind.

Dirk's House (Night)

Window Type B (default) Window Type A

Close to the beginning of the game, Dirk's House is seen at night. This isn't done by a lighting effect but rather by sending the player to an entirely different map from the normal one. Normally, Raine blocks the exit by standing on the bridge, and if that wasn't enough, an invisible wall is placed directly behind her. If you manage to get past both though (such as by using the walk through walls cheat), then an unused message can be found. It forces the dialogue box to be yellow and makes the second and third lines of text rapidly cycle through seemingly every colour in the game. It refers to the "retail version", which seems to indicate there was a version of the game where Raine didn't block the bridge, although she's already there in the known March 30th prototype.

You can't go outside.
This message will not
appear in the retail version.
(Source: Original TCRF research)

Water Seal

Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Water Seal Dialogue.png

If you try to burn the jars with lids using the Sorcerer's Ring, the character on-screen will have a unique comment saying it won't burn. Colette actually suffers from an oversight here; after losing her voice, her dialogue will change to ellipses as she can't talk. Even after she returns to normal and regains her voice, though, she continues to use ellipses for the rest of the game.

Furthermore, as Undine is the only Summon Spirit you are required to obtain before going to Tethe'alla, her seal is the only one you never have to revisit. Despite this, Presea, Zelos, and Regal all have unique dialogue here.

Speaker Dialogue
Lloyd I didn't think it would burn.
Colette
(Before third seal)
It doesn't look like
it will burn.
Colette
(After third seal)
...
Genis It won't burn!
Raine It doesn't look like
it's combustible.
Sheena Doesn't look like
it's going to burn.
Zelos I guess there's no way
this thing is going to burn.
Presea No target reaction.
No effect.
Regal It doesn't appear that
it's going to burn.
Kratos Yeah, no good.

Ossa Trail

Tales of Symphonia GCN-U Tethe Ossa Trail.png

The trapdoor that Sheena falls in at Ossa Trail garners unique responses from everyone, but only when it's open (if not, no dialogue is shown and instead every character uses the ellipsis bubble emote).

Speaker Dialogue
Lloyd It'll be painful if I fall.
Colette It looks like it'd hurt if you fell.
Colette
(Voiceless)
...
Genis It looks like it'll hurt if you fall.
Raine It's the mountain pass
maintenance tunnel.
Sheena ...The nightmares are
coming back to me.
Zelos What's this trap door?
Presea Would anyone actually
fall into a hole like this?
Regal What is the purpose of this hole?
Kratos ...

Unused Items

There are multiple unused items (at least three) within the GameCube version's files, plus one extra Japanese-exclusive item that is unused in all international versions. All of these items won't show up in the inventory if obtained due to not having a set "Category". What this means is that they won't be visible under any of the item categories in the inventory, although as proven with the Rename Gem the game does still recognise them as being in your inventory when obtained. To be able to view them, unequip Lloyd's second accessory slot and use the following code, replacing xxxx with the unused item's ID. The item will then be placed in Lloyd's second accessory slot.

025B6BCC 0000xxxx

Rename Gem (ID 01F3)

TOS Rename Gem in Inventory.png

ToS Rename Gem (GCN).png

In the Japanese version of the game, an item called "リネームジェム" (lit. Rename Gem) can be found on the Sylvarant world map in the trees just outside of Izoold, and can be used to rename the playable characters in dialogue and menus (the audio still uses the original names, though). This item was replaced with a Lemon Gel in the international versions of the game, likely due to issues regarding the international version's variable width font. Colette's name alone is 7 characters long in English, meaning all text boxes would have had to accommodate all characters being renamed to seven letter names, which may have been considered too much of a hassle for a mostly pointless feature. Regardless, the item, its icon, and even a translated description for said item are all present within the game's files.

The Rename Gem in particular seems to have intentionally had its item category removed so that it won't be counted toward the Collector's Book, which also means it can't show up in the inventory in non-Japanese versions. Despite not showing up in any of the categories, if one adds the Rename Gem to Lloyd's equipment (using the above cheat) and unequips it, the player will be able to rename all characters via the status screen, so the game does still know you have it. Also, due to the Rename Gem only allowing the player to enter names of 6 letters maximum, if you delete a letter in Colette's name, it will be impossible to give her her correctly spelt name again.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

へルム (ID 014B)

ToS Now printing.png

This item, へルム, which translates to "Erumu", or literally "Helm", is the first completely unused item in the game. It is also the only of the unused items to have no unique icon (instead reusing the "Now Printing" icon) and to not have its name translated to English. Its ID is right at the end of the other Helm armour items, so presumably another Helm item was planned to be included at some point. Equipping it does not seem to do anything, even if it's placed in the head armour slot. It has no description.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

The Chosen's Bible (ID 01FE)

TOS GC Bible.png

This peculiar item shows up in the middle of all the Valuables (key items) in the game, and was likely meant to be one itself. It has no description, so it's unclear if the "Chosen" in question is referring to Colette, Zelos, or one of the previous Chosen such as Spiritua. Interestingly, the cross design seen on its cover is of the standard Christian cross, which is used nowhere else in the game, so it's likely this item was scrapped early on.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Step Ring (ID 0200)

TOS GC Step Ring.png

This item shows up almost right after The Chosen's Bible and was likely also meant to be a key item given its ID placement and the various other ring Valuables (e.g. Pink Pearl Ring, Spiritua's Ring, Assassin's Ring, etc.). It has no description, so its intended purpose is anyone's guess.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Areas

Dirk's House (Destroyed)

Two unused maps can be found within in the game's files that show Dirk's house in total disrepair. The usual music is replaced with one of the sad songs used in the game, the same used when Lloyd and Genis are banished from a destroyed Iselia. Dirk is also nowhere to be found. It's unknown where this was intended to be used, although seeing as it's using the same music, it may be that Dirk's house was intended to be destroyed along with the Iselians' houses at the beginning of the game.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Debug Rooms

On the US version, after enabling the following Action Replay codes, you can press Z when on any area to teleport to the following locations, although there is the risk of your character getting stuck in the scenery. You can also save and load for quick access to these areas.

Testfield_01

VJ1M-Q37G-XE3X0
0HHN-RVA3-CGGJ2
P3WY-K2VC-404EP

There are two NPCs here, and a bunch of airships lacking collision detection. The area's 3D model itself abruptly cuts off at some point. It seems to be meant for testing camera angles:

  • The female NPC will say "Meow?" and trigger a cutscene where one of the airships takes off (but stays suspended at a certain height), then a close-up of you and her. You can move while in the cutscene.
  • The male NPC has two options; the first one will trigger a cutscene where the camera pans very far away from the whole area but approaches with a panoramic view. The whole area model and even the skybox borders are visible. The second option spawns some monsters.

TalesOfSymphGC-Debug1.pngTalesOfSymphGC-Debug2.png

Testfield_02

RFC5-5E97-4MK8U
0HHN-RVA3-CGGJ2
5RNB-EABT-9RX9B

TalesOfSymphGC-Debug3.pngTalesOfSymphGC-Debug4.png

This is by far the most interesting area: it features a row of blue Katz which, when talked to, allow you to freely edit their characters' 3D models! The available options are:

  • Character: here you can choose from all the PCs and NPCs in the game (but not enemies), including some dummied-out and glitchy ones. Most of the values of the other options ("filthy dogs" and "registered character") crash the game.
  • You can change the mouth and eyes, too.
  • EN makes manga-style emoticons appear above their heads.
  • Motion makes them do a specific animation, although you need to go to the loop options to prevent it from abruptly stopping.
  • Bones options enables you to rotate any bone in the 3D model by any angle you wish. Video.
  • There are Skin, In-between frame and Option (?) settings.
  • The last option enables you to revert the character to their original appearance.

Woof..

There are also three pink Katz, one of which is obstructed initially by the camera view, which changes after talking to any of the blue Katz:

  • The bottom/rightmost pink Katz has four options: "Titles", "Techniques" (written in red), "Recipes", and "Weapon test". The first and the third options allow you to unlock all of the Titles/Recipes in the game, while Weapon test causes your character to hold their weapons (not the model of the weapon they have equipped, but rather the generic weapon models used in all overworld cutscenes). Selecting Techniques doesn't do anything, instead displaying the message "Under Development".
  • The pink Katz behind the row of blue Katz has the same options as the blue ones, except it changes YOUR character's appearance, allowing you to walk around as any NPC model.
  • The pink Katz above/leftmost of the blue Katz has options from 000 to 010, which seem to just crash the game.

Unused Techs

Hmmm...
To do:
A new, better video is needed. The current one is very old, low quality, missing multiple unused techs, and also shows multiple techs that ARE used in the final game mixed in with the unused ones.

Some techs are only available with Action Replay codes. Some actually function and do damage, but most will just crash the game.

User Name In-game Description Incantation Notes
Lloyd Aurora Slash , none Requires 48 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Lloyd Final Justice , none Requires 40 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Lloyd Holy Guardian , none Requires 18 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Lloyd Sonic Burst , none Requires 42 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Colette -????- , none Requires 100 TP to use. Light element.
When used, Colette will enter her casting animation but never finish it.
The name of this tech is shown when Colette uses her Mystic Arte, Holy Judgment.
Colette Dancing Sickles , none Requires 20 TP to use. Wind element.
Crashes the game when used.
Colette Final Fury , none Requires 25 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Colette Grand Cross , none Requires 85 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
In later versions, this is instead a Light element Angel Skill, and costs only 40 TP to use.
In this version, it causes Colette to play her Angel Skill casting animation infinitely.
It also for some reason prevents the player from opening the menu, although guarding to spell cancel fixes this;
dying does not return control, causing a softlock until you die or the AI wins, unless you have other characters already set to manual.
Colette Grand Fall A bit Power Hammer falls from
the sky.(sic)
none Requires 12 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used. Presumably would've been part of her Pow Hammer line of techs.
Colette Listra none none Requires 15 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Colette Listra (again) , none Requires 15 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used. Seems to be identical to the other Listra,
except this one has a single comma in its description instead of a blank box.
Colette Mirage Saber , none Requires 30 TP to use. Lightning element.
Crashes the game when used.
Colette Sephiroth , none Requires 150 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game when used.
Later versions of the game give this unused tech an unused incantation,
which itself was given an unused translation.
Genis Divine Power none none Requires 42 TP to use. No element.
Very short casting time, crashes the game as soon as it's cast. Uses the same effects and circle characters use when casting an Angel Skill.
Genis Tetraspell none none Requires 48 TP to use. No element.
Very short casting time, crashes the game as soon as it's cast. Uses the same effects and circle characters use when casting an Angel Skill.
In Tales of Phantasia, this is one of Dhaos' artes, and casting it will use each element's novice spells in succession.
Raine Bloody Lance , repeats last used spell's incantation Requires 4 TP to use. Dark element
Dark-element palette swap of Holy Lance, which is otherwise exclusive to Pronyma and Shadow.
Raine Dark Sphere , repeats last used spell's incantation Requires 4 TP to use. Dark element.
Dark-element palette swap of Photon, used by Kilia, Pronyma and Shadow.
Raine Magic Shell none none Requires 12 TP to use. No element.
Very short casting time, crashes the game as soon as it's cast. Uses the same effects and circle characters use when casting an Angel Skill.
Raine Sacred Light none Life be thy sustenance and destroy the enemy! Requires 75 TP to use. No element.
Has a seemingly completed (and very elaborate) animation, along with incantations in both
Japanese and English, but has no effect. Was finished and used as her Mystic Arte in the PS2 version,
making use of the previously unused quotes.
Sheena Summon: Heart Summon a Spirit.,(sic) Uses same quote as when using Summon: Corrine Requires 100 TP to use. No element.
Functions identically to Summon: Corrine aside from the name being different. Presumably this would've originally summoned Verius,
the Summon Spirit of Heart, whose side quest doesn't actually grant anything in the final game.
Zelos Judgment Angel skill: attack all enemies using the
light of judgment.
none Requires 40 TP to use. Light element.
Zelos uses this as an enemy in his boss battle, but it isn't available for the player to use. Every subsequent version of the game starting with the PS2 port
allows players to use this tech. Also in the GameCube version only, Zelos has no incantation while casting, but one was added in every later version.
Zelos &
Kratos
Eternal Chaos none none Requires 42 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the instant you try to use it, so it's not a spell.
Zelos &
Kratos
Gungnir none none Requires 50 TP to use. Wind element.
Despite its Wind element, its casting animation is the one used for Angel Skills.
Later versions of the game turned this into a Unison Attack, but in this version it just crashes the game.
Zelos &
Kratos
Spirit of the Earth none none Requires 30 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the instant you try to use it, so it's not a spell.
Presea Eternal Wind none none Requires 254 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game. Later versions of the game give this an unused spell incantation, which would make it her only spell.
This is also by far the most expensive tech in the game.
Presea Finality Infliction none none Requires 30 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game.
Regal Dragon Fang none none Requires 28 TP to use. No element.
Aside from lack of a voice, works perfectly fine.
Regal Dragon's Talon none none Requires 45 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game. Finished for later releases.
Regal Dragon Strike none none Requires 32 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game.
Regal Heaven Rising none none Requires 42 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game. Finished for later releases.
Regal Heel Kick none none Requires 14 TP to use. No element.
Aside from lack of a voice, works perfectly fine.
Regal Rage none none Requires 50 TP to use. No element.
Crashes the game.

Sound Only

Hmmm...
To do:
Add the remaining unused voice clips. Also put the actual quote instead of romaji.

The Sound Test has some battle cries recorded for scrapped Techs (though most of them were seemingly removed from the English version). Some were implemented in later versions.

Raine:

  • Fairy Circle: Banbutsu ni yadorishi, seimei no ibuki o koko ni. Sohite, warera ni kago o. Fairy Circle! (Offer us life essence nurturing all creatures, then bestow us your protection: Fairy Circle!) - This was finished and made into one of two Mystic Artes for Raine starting with the PS2 version.
  • ...

Kvar:

    • This particularly...lewd callout for minor boss Kvar is found amongst his attack name callouts but is unused in-game. Unless he actually had an attack named Booty Call, this was likely a joke.


Unused Music

Within the "sound" directory of the game's files, there are six unused music tracks.

temp1.song

A single, quiet piano key.


temp2.song

A very fast-paced, high-energy tune. Sounds like a battle theme. It doesn't seem to match the rest of the game's soundfont.


temp3.song

A laid-back track that sounds very much like a town theme.


temp4.song

A somber rearrangement of Zelos' theme.


temp5.song

Another single piano key, slightly longer than temp1.song.


bgm_etc004.song

Sad-sounding cutscene music.

Playable Noishe?

TOS Debug PCs.pngTOS Noishe in Menu.png

There is some evidence that suggests Noishe may have been intended to be a playable character at some point during development. If character ID 0A (10 in hexadecimal) is cheated into the party, they will have the name Noishe. Changing this name with the Rename Gem will actually update Noishe's name in cutscenes in the same way that other player characters have their names updated; this functionality can be seen here. Additionally, in the second debug room, when selecting a model, Noishe is listed under the PC category rather than the NPC category. Aside from that, this "Noishe" character is in a very unplayable state and crashes the game incredibly easily.

Putting him in the party on console will immediately crash the game when opening the menu due to Noishe lacking any menu graphics, although Dolphin is able to ignore this. His level, stats, equipment and title are seemingly nonsense and change constantly depending on what point in the game the player is in, although his luck stat doesn't change when sleeping at an inn as with other characters. His HP is always in the negatives when unequipped, but sometimes his equipment will let him have HP (said equipment is almost always random glitched items). His tech list always shows that he is able to learn Fire Ball and First Aid, although entering a battle with Noishe will immediately crash the game so it's impossible to learn them. If selected to be the party's cook, the game will lag considerably but not crash. As a cook, Noishe has a ridiculous amount of stars in every recipe (so many that they go off-screen) and also has an absurdly long list of extra ingredients, often including duplicate ingredients and bugged items. Certain recipes will also freeze the game if selected while Noishe is the cook. Trying to control Noishe while in a city or dungeon will always crash the game. Switching to Noishe on the overworld works but he will be invisible. Trying to mount Noishe while being Noishe will make Noishe appear and make all inputs stop working (although the game doesn't crash), but switching to controlling Noishe after mounting him with a different character works fine. Similarly, Noishe being on a Rheiard is fine, but if he is in control while mounting or dismounting them, player input stops working again. Both instances require a system reset as not even the menu can be opened in this state.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Rheiards with Less Than Four Characters

In normal gameplay, once the player reaches Tethe'alla, the party never drops to below six party members at a point when the player has access to the overworld, meaning there are always enough party members to ride all four of the Rheiards normally shown. Despite this, the game actually accounts for if the player has parties of size three, two, one, or even zero by changing the amount of Rheiards that will appear on-screen.

Regional Differences

Careful, you'll lose an eye.
This page or section needs more images.
There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

Edit Playable Characters' Names

There are three separate buttons dedicated to "delete" and "backspace" respectivelyThese stats were legitimately obtained--you can't prove otherwise!The cast's official Japanese names, romanized

As mentioned above, in the Japanese version only, you can edit the names for all of your party members with the Rename Gem, either by selecting it from the Valuables section of the inventory, or by selecting a character's name in the Status screen. As the item was removed in international versions, the naming screen is left inaccessible. The unused Rename Gem functionality in English versions can be seen showcased in the video below. Interestingly, when hitting the Default button to set a character to their default name, characters will use the Japanese spellings of their name. Colette will default to Collet, Genis to Genius, Raine to Refill, and Sheena to Shihna. All other characters will use the normal spelling of their name.

Voice Acting

The skits in the localized versions of the game have no English voice acting and are completely silent. The timing of the text boxes remains unchanged from the Japanese version, however; for instance, Sheena spends a lengthy time saying "I..." in the English version, accounting for the longer Japanese equivalent of the sentence. This was a trend in the series that continued until Tales of Vesperia's release in 2008.

Sound Test

In the Japanese version, a Sound Test is unlocked upon completing the game, available on the title screen. It was made unavailable in English versions, much like in Phantasia's GBA port, but is still fully functional, featuring a very early translation that retains the Japanese names (Refill instead of Raine, for example). It can be enabled with either of the following cheats, replacing the Customize option on the title screen:

(NTSC)
Enable Sound Test
W3HR-1A7X-5QU90
CZN1-KAJD-5GPXZ
XB6T-UA6G-18ZEH
G0XN-MQ9H-EDPM7
JBMZ-Y73T-DAQRN
(PAL)
Enable Sound Test [Ralf]
XGUQ-E7F0-FDE5Q
277A-Z7P6-6TR5B
7418-AAPT-VF8RK
KYEA-QNT8-97GG5
5E6E-EBJN-H8FF0
(Source: Freeza, Ice Mario)

Opening Song

The Japanese version's opening song is "Starry Heavens" by Day After Tomorrow. This was changed to an instrumental song, "Tales of Symphonia Suite", in the international versions.

Japan International

Heroic Theme

When Genis casts Fireball on Yggdrasill during the cutscene at the Tower of Salvation, an instrumental "Heroic" version of the opening theme plays. As the opening song was changed in international versions, the heroic theme was accordingly updated.

Japan International

Text Fonts

The US and European versions have completely different fonts for dialogue and other text.