As promised in this topic
http://androidforums.com/android-games/675427-symphony-origin.html here is the review made by me. This is actually my first review...
So ever since I was a little kid (not that I am old now, 18 years old and counting) I loved RPG games. I was always fascinated by dragons, other monsters, swords and magic. When I was 8 I noticed some RPG games that had all of the above. But I was too young, couldn't speak English and it was simply complicated for me. So I was stuck with FPS games which all had indicators where to go and were easy. Just shoot. Then at the age of 10, after 3 years of English school I played my first RPG. Was it coincidence that the first RPG I played originated from Japan? I don't think so. That summer day in June of 2004 I became JRPG fan, Final Fantasy fan. So when I finally got my android phone, which was just few months ago I immediately went to google play to search for some. There were some, but none were to good. Then I discovered Kemco and their games. Even tho I am young I enjoy and love retro styled games, and Kemco's rpgs RPGs were exactly like that. It was like I found a treasure chest. And their newest RPG is probably their best. Believe me I know what I am talking about as I played Symphony of Eternity (first game in Symphony series I guess), Alphadia, Grinsia, Aeon Avenger and so on. The first thing that stands out is again very nice opening, done mostly with still shots and with beautiful song. Even those who don't understand Japanese can enjoy the singers voice and feel something. After opening we get standard game menu for Kemco's games. New game, continue and options along with news button and "contact us" button.
The game starts with a scene of main character training. Almost immediately we are informed that his parents were killed by the Evils and that he wants to become a soldier so he can fight Evils and avenge his parents. Castle is attacked by one monster, you fight him, lose and accidentally you wake up a golem and thus starting an adventure. First of all, in Symphony of The Origins nothing is what it seems to be. As you play you will be surprised many times by characters, tho at one plot twist it was not so smooth and it was actually quite predictable and maybe rushed a little. As far as the story goes it is quite interesting and it is not decent, it is better than that, it is actually very good. It still has some cliche moments but it is improved compared to the Eternity. It is almost as if you were watching a very good anime. The story is mostly focused on golems and their powers. You learn a lot about ancient golem race called proto-golems, how they were made, what was their purpose and you learn that golems from previous games are all actually proto-golems. Yes, all golems from previous game are mentioned, and you actually learn that Dau is most powerful and that Evils leader Jenowin want his power. This also brings back the hope of seeing Dau and other characters in third installment of the game, that is if they make it. It's obvious that golems are most important in the game and that Dau is somewhat special. Tho we never learn how proto-golems disappeared. Considering this game was build just for phones it has improved graphics, beautiful sprites, colorful but those colors don't hurt your eyes like in some games. Everything is simply beautiful. But aesthetics aside, the game shines in all other aspects. If you cared for characters and liked character development in Eternity prepare to care even more for characters in this game. Ryle, Rumil, Deonas, Karin and Runatie (that actually has a major role in this game) and even some enemy characters are what makes this game amazing. You will love them all. Three times I was almost brought to tears, two times when some of the characters "died" and third time at the very end of the game, when they show the CG of all character grown up and one of the characters that "died" returning to life, tho those were tears of happiness and sadness because there is no more (I so regret not being able to take a screenshot and put that last image as my wallpaper). Yes, that is how much a JRPG fan will fall in love with this game.
There are some small changes considering gameplay and interface. First of all, map button is removed. Now you have only a mini map, which to my surprise works very well and shows all passages so you can easily find halls where hidden chests are. Then again when you are on the world map you don't have "next" indicator like eternity, so if you had not payed attention to dialogues you will end up lost. Luckily in most of the towns there is an NPC that reminds you where to go. Items are pretty much the same, tho there are some special items like flower bouquet or miniature castle. I still have no idea what purpose they have in game, especially considering that castle item is quite expensive (3000g). Also there is rarely a need to buy a lot of potions and amulets and other stuff, as well as some weapon parts as they are scattered across the dungeons in chests. Also great way to get items and avoid buying them is by stealing them from every enemy. Yes, almost every enemy has some kind of potion, mostly potions of life, while bosses have rare items and more expensive potions. Also you can now steal gold. With some enemies you can steal 20g, with others 50g, but with bosses you can steal any sum ranging from 1500g to 5000g which is also amazing. There are also some chests containing gold. Weapon system is also changed and now mixed with skill system. You no longer "wear" tablets. Now skills come with weapon, main part of the weapon that is called blade (there are 3 parts of the weapon, each part giving you some bonus or special ability, like regeneration or heal ally, tho you can't permanently learn those skills). At first it may seem a bit complicated, like I thought it was, but it is quite easy once you start using it. Be aware that main weapon parts are rarely found in chests, and I thin only once I found a bow and nothing else. Other parts are located in chests. There is also no need to buy new blade unless you want to learn new skills. You can simply improve your weapon to another level, tho after level 6 it becomes very, very expensive (30000+g). Armor and accessories are the same as in Eternity, you buy them or find them and that's all, you can't improve them. As for skills, there are some that are the same as those in Eternity, but there are some cool ones, especially the ninja character skills are awesome. When fighting you can actually combine skills of two characters to make amazing finishing moves (Chrono Trigger anyone?). You can only use finishing games once when at least one part of death gauge is full (for combining you need 2 or more). Yes there are ninjas, and there is romance, tho a little strange, like thousand years old demon (who actually is not a demon, you'll see if you play what he is) falling in love with a 12 year old girl (who grows up to be beautiful woman).
Fighting in the game is pretty much standard, attack, skill, items, run away, special move and defend. Mana points no longer exist, now you have stamina bar which refills very fast, so you can spam skills as much as you want to. I liked that, tho I imagine some players hating it as it makes the game easier, tho this is on normal difficulty level, perhaps on hard level it is different. Animations are beautiful, never lags (even on low-end devices, trust me I've completed the game on such device). Some enemies have armor, so you are required to destroy the armor first so you can make more damage, otherwise you deal a small amount of damage which makes fights longer. Enemies also change appearance and behavior once you destroy their armor. Every main enemy has it's own motives.
I pretty much liked every aspect of the game, except for some cliche moments and ugly sea graphics. Yes, when you are on the boat you are forced to watch ugly sea. This game has a lot of good parts, actually it consists mostly of good parts, but it also has some minor flaws and one MAJOR flaw, it's length. I managed to beat the game in 8 hours and 30 minutes. Yes, I needed almost double that time to finish the main part of the Eternity game and additional few hours to complete extra content. In this game for extra content you have to pay with points which you have to purchase (write a review on google play and you get 50 points for free, which are unfortunately not enough to buy that extra content). Considering the game price this is not a good decision. Luckily it has a great replay value, and you can start a new game with your save file (which I will do because I really gotta take the screenshot mentioned at the beginning of this review).
I don't often give maximal ratings to games, but this one, despite its length, deserves 5 stars out of 5.
