Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Tales of Symphonia (GameCube).

Early Character Portraits#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Investigate if these early icons still exist within the game's files.

As seen from screenshots on the official Japanese website for the GameCube version of the game under the "System" section, the player characters were originally intended to use icons of their 3D Models on black backgrounds rather than the drawn portraits used in the final game. Incidentally, these early icons look identical to the icons used for enemies in the game, just in a larger resolution.

Iselia Classroom#

The Characters page of the website includes two screenshots of the Iselia schoolhouse taken during the game's intro cutscene.

Early Screenshot	Final Game

The first screenshot shows Genis, Raine, and a younger female classmate looking back toward the camera, with Genis standing up at his desk. Also, Raine is seen standing besides her desk instead of behind it. In the final game, this particular camera angle is never used, Genis never stands up or looks at the camera, and Raine is never seen standing at this position. Additionally, in the final game, a boy sits besides Genis instead of the girl seen in the screenshot, with the girl instead being moved one desk further down.

Early Screenshot	Final Game

The second screenshot shows the final piece of dialogue from the cutscene, right before the fade to black and control is given to the player. Once again, the little girl is seen sitting besides Genis instead of the boy from the final game. Also, there appears to be a bug in the early screenshot, as Genis is standing at his desk instead of sitting, with his legs clearly going straight through his chair. Considering he was also standing in the first screenshot, it's possible Genis lacked a sitting animation at this point in development. Lastly, in the early screenshot, Colette's necklace already has its Cruxis Crystal on it. In the final game, Colette only obtains this crystal after meeting Remiel at the Martel Temple, although Colette does mention she was "born with it in [her] hand". It may be the case that Colette was supposed to start with the crystal around her neck, but it could also just be that the crystal wasn't programmed to be invisible during the intro until after this screenshot was taken.

Iselia Corpses#

According to the same website, there would've actually been more casualties during the Desians' attack on Iselia and the Renegades' attack of Martel Temple, both near the beginning of the game. This can be seen from screenshots in the "World" section of the website:

Early Screenshot	Final Game

Notice that in the early screenshot, a corpse can be seen on the ground behind Botta. In the final game, there is none there, and Lloyd and his friends instead witness a pastor dying at either the base of the Church of Martel or in the Iselia schoolhouse, depending on if Lloyd chooses to investigate the oracle or stay in class. It should be noted that, in the final game, Phaidra is standing behind Botta, but in this particular angle, he's actually so wide that she's completely obscured from view. Because of this, it's impossible to tell if Phaidra replaced the dead pastor from the early screenshot, or if she was there in addition to the dead pastor and she's just obscured by Botta like in the final game.

Early Screenshot	Final Game

Here, it can be seen that there would've been two dead bodies outside of the burning house on the right side of Iselia. In the final game, no one is actually shown to have died during the attack on Iselia, and the two NPCs shown dead in the early screenshot can actually be found alive and well later in the game.

Early Kratos Costume#

In another screenshot, depicting the cutscene where Lloyd and co. find Sheena praying at the Palmacosta House of Salvation, Kratos is seen wearing the alternate white-tailed outfit that goes unused in the final game's files, implying it was an earlier version of his design. Interestingly, while hard to tell, if you reaaaallly squint, it seems that while Kratos is using his early costume, Colette has already had her white gloves removed (which can be seen in several pieces of concept art and was accidentally made visible in some cutscenes in rereleases of the game).