Tales of Symphonia Remastered Finally Getting a Patch, But Fans Still Aren’t Happy
Bandai Namco has announced that it will be rolling out Patch 1.2 for Tales of Symphonia Remastered on May 18, just over three months after its release. But fans are still angry over the issues that have been present in the game.
According to the patch notes the company released on its site Tuesday, the update will fix a variety of quality-of-life issues that players have reported since the game came out in February. These include:
- Fixed an issue that was causing significant processing slowdowns while moving through the sandstorm area of “Triet”.
- Fixed an issue where the game would freeze at the end of certain boss battles.
- Fixed an event where the screen would black out and become inoperable while navigating certain world maps and towns.
- Fixed an event where the background music would be interrupted when moving to the world map after a battle.
- Other minor bugs have been fixed.
However, those updates won’t be enough to satisfy players, especially those who own the Nintendo Switch version of Tales of Symphonia Remastered. In one Tales subreddit, when u/guccyjuicy asked if the game is a bad experience for new players, the majority of fans complained that the Switch version is a botched port of the original GameCube version due to severe performance issues, frequent crashes, long load times, and framerate drops.
U/tetsunokokorox1 even noted, “The battle system runs at the same speed as the original Gamecube version and the character responsiveness is also the same. Any sort of difference in controls or responsiveness is purely on the mind of the player. The Switch version does not have the same framerate stability [as] the other versions and it is pretty noticeable because of the drops.”
To make matters even worse, the patch doesn’t do anything to fix any of the major complaints, most notably issues with the frame-rate, missing text, transparency issues, and more.
Tales of Symphonia was first released on GameCube in 2004, and while it remains beloved in many quarters, it continues to be bedeviled by uneven ports across the PS2, PS3, and now the Switch. The patch is expected to go live on Thursday.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
Tales of Symphonia fans have finally received the patch they have been desperately waiting for, but it has left some of them still unfulfilled. Bandai Namco has released a long-delayed update for the remastered versions of the game, which initially released in 2016. But some players report that the patch has failed to resolve issues with the game’s visuals and framerate, instead delivering only minor tweaks like improved camera control and additional voice-lines.
The original 2003 game, Tales of Symphonia, is a cult-classic for many hardcore gamers, and it was remastered for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2016. It was meant to be a faithful recreation of the original game while giving players an updated experience. Unfortunately, the remaster was plagued with more than a few technical problems that have plagued fans since launch, including rampant slowdown, odd visual artefacts, and inconsistent audio.
During the past few weeks, fans were hopeful that the latest patch would resolve some of the performance issues that have been consistently reported. However, when the update finally deployed, there was little in the way of big change to the game’s visuals or audio.
Mail, a fan of the Tales of Symphonia series, said on the game’s official forums: “If I’m being honest, I’m pretty disappointed in this patch. I had really hoped it would give the game the overhaul it deserves. But it seems like we’re still stuck with the same problems we’ve been dealing with for years now.”
Indeed, many fans have their hopes up for a grand re-release of the game. Unfortunately, it seems highly unlikely that Namco Bandai will be able to provide such a remake in the near future.
Unfortunately, Tales of Symphonia remains an unfinished port. For all of Bandai Namco’s attempts to improve the game, it seems unlikely that it will ever equate to a full port of the original. Until they can come out with a real remake, players may be stuck with the same issues they’ve had to deal with for the past three years.
