Dawn of the New World Review: Exploring the New World

NOTE: The images used in this article are promotional pieces from the developer.

Dawn of the New World picks up where Symphonia left off: Tethe'alla and Sylvrant are now part of a single new world, leading to racial tensions and climatic change. The more advanced Tethe'allans look down on the comparatively more primitive Sylvrantians. Half-elves are still hated and nature has mysteriously gone out of wack; lakes are drying up, the icecaps are melting, deserts are freezing over and forests are catching fire. In order to bring balance back to the world, two kids from Sylvrant, Emil and Marta, set out on a quest to find and hatch centurion cores. Centurions are special monster guardians that act as protectors and stabilizers of the land. Every step of the way, Emil and Marta are confronted by Lloyd Irving, who is also after the centurion cores for unknown reasons.

The story kind of retcons everything to fit a new narrative that is actually fairly straightforward compared to that of its predecessor. The entire cast from the first game make a cameo appearance as temporarily party members, but their inclusion in the story feels  forced; done more for the sake of fan-service than for meaningful post-game development. I honestly can't think of one moment where their inclusion was absolutely necessary for plot progression. They stuck around for a dungeon or two and then were forgotten about. Some of the choices made in regards to their personality were also questionable. Take for example the opening scene, where Lloyd is accused of burning down towns and killing innocent people. Surprisingly few of his friends defend him. Out of the entire group it is Zelos, not Colette or Genis, who vouch the most for Lloyd's character. The new voice actors for the returning cast were also hit or miss; Lloyd in particular was very off.

 

 

I wasn't fond of the two new protagonists either. Emile is a whiny coward that apologies for everything little thing and lacks self-esteem to an unbelievably frustrating degree. At some point he develops a split-personality that is confident and resorts to violence every chance it gets. The worst part is that the change occurs abruptly, often without warning at the randomest of times. Marta doesn't even factor into the story much. She spends most of her screen time clinging to Emile, professing her love to him despite having just met, and getting jealous of the other female cast members. Tenebrae, the duo's sidekick, was the best new character introduced. He's loyal, playful, sophisticated and occasionally snarky. He felt like the experienced adult and voice of reason amidst a bunch of bratty youths.
 

Every location from the first Symphonia game is revisited in Dawn of the New World. For the most part they are virtually unchanged, unlike the overworld map, which is not an open space that can be traversed anymore. Instead, the player selects a town or dungeon from a menu and is teleported there. While the menu style overworld map makes it impossible to get lost, it also strips away a sense of adventure. I was able to forgive the change because maps in the Tales games have always been hit or miss with me. A new feature not found in any other Tales game is the recruiting of monster allies into the player party. Emil can bond with defeated monsters so long as four out of five of the "elemental grid" slots are the same. Artes and attacks used by the player and enemies during combat will alter the elemental grid; it is an unnecessary system that adds an extra step to an otherwise straightforward process. Up to four party members can be taken into battle. Two of them will be main characters. The other two slots are filled by monsters that Emile has tamed, or by a temporary guest character from the cast of Symphonia; their levels and gear will be fixed. If both of the main party members die in battle it's game over, even if the monster(s) are still alive. 

During combat the player will have to switch between blocking with the square button and attacking with either the X button for melee attacks or the circle button for special tech attacks, now referred to as "artes". Pressing circle alone or in conjunction with an analog stick direction will trigger one of multiple mapped arte attacks. The team's number of successful strikes will gradually fill a meter that triggers unison attacks when maxed out. A unison attack gives Emile or his monster ally the opportunity to rapidly inflict damage in a single attack. Each monster companion has an element, special ability or move that is useful in battle. As monsters level they learn new moves and eventually evolve à la Pokémon. When monsters evolve they are reverted back to level 1, but keep all of their skills and twenty percent of the previous form's stats. All regular Artes from the previous form are lost. Thankfully, monsters level much faster than the player, so having to build them up again never became a chore. On the flip side, there isn't much incentive or reason for the player to switch up their team. Almost any two high level monsters will be suitable for the entirety of the game, effectively ruining the whole gimmick of recruiting new monsters. At the very least it would have been nice if the monsters factored into the story more, or were useful for things outside of combat.

 

I was a fan of the character design work, particularly on the monsters Aqua, Fenrir, Orion and Simurgh. The battle system was serviceable but lacking substance, and I wish they had incorporated the monster taming system into the game better, especially given it was the main gameplay gimmick. It would have been nice to do more with the player's monsters outside of combat as well, such as riding, freezing water, burning vegetation, etc. Having characters from the previous game return was an unnecessary addition that felt too fan-servicey; easily some of the worst elements in the game. All of the charm and sincerity of the first title was missing.

Dawn of the New World doesn't do the original game justice, which is the main problem most people have with it. If Dawn of the New World had been released as an original game focused on an entirely new cast of characters, without cameos from the original party, then it might have managed to stand on its own. It is not the worst game ever, but it is one of the weakest Tales games available.

 

First posted to videogamegeek.com on February 20, 2020.

 

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