  Tales of Syphonia was released Last Wednesday to some stores, but not all. I purchased it on Wednesday and the moment i got home, popped it into my gamecube, called over some friends, and we all delved into the world of Sylvarant (The world in which you are placed...at first). The main character is Lloyd. He's you typical (hero swordsman) who thinks he's always right. He's not the smartest pea in the pod, but he learns and matures the farther you get into the story. You befriend and are able to use up to 9 characters but are only 8 are able to stay in your (party). You can battle enemies with 4 people of your party, so you can always choose your favorite team for almost the whole game. Now the game can be played solo, with computer controlled allies or you can have up to 3 other friends take control of the other comp. controlled characters. The gameplay seems different in both, with computer controlled companions you can choose which moves you want them to use during battle or allow them to do their own thing or just hack and slash your way through enemies.
One good thing though, you can change around between computers and manual control (friends) so if your friends can't make it that day, switch it to auto and play on without them. This game is long, so far i've played 38 hours and still haven't even touched the second disc. I must say that even i thought that i would have hit the second disc by now. This game is huge. It's weird, the dungeons in this game are so different. Some are really easy, while others are time consuming and can get very annoying if you don't know what to do. I must say that there is alot of talking but the story is awsome. It seems to always have twists and turns the farther you go. Alot of stuff you would never expect to happen always seems to happen ( conveniant isn't it?). This keeps me going for hours.
I would have to say that i play this game around 10-12 hours everyday since i purchased it. Battle system is very easy to learn. It's not turn based which it seems it could have been if namco had wanted it to be. The controls are very simple the (A) button is your basic attack while the (B) button can cast spells in correspondance with different directions on the control stick. Like I said before it's easy to learn, and some battle it seems you can just run into enemies and hack them up without thinking about it, while others you may need certain characters because of there abilities.
Tales of Symphonia is an awsome game that i wish i could have pre-ordered becuase it came with an art-book. But hey I still got the game and thats all that matters. I am going to leave you now and get back to my game. Thankyou and good-night! 
