Yeah sorry about the title but was wanting to keep with the "tales of..." theme and it was either that or "Tales of a ToSer" which I dont think was entirely appropriate and wasn't sure that the meaning would translate outside the UK, or northern england for that matter.

Had hoped to get this topic up and runnign sooner but it turns out that there was more of Suikoden II to finish than I thought (a good thing I might add) and stupidly started playing Guild Wars at the weekend so that took a chunk out of my freetime.

Anyway - what is this topic about? Well in short its the dumping ground for anyone who wants to talk about Tales of Symphonia - be it a progress report on your current playthrough, a general comment about the game or a declaration of your undying love for this title. Basically as long as its in someway related, however loosely, to ToS then post away.

On to my progress so far...
Well i've carried over the collectors/monster book and my cooking abilities. The only concession i've made in making the game easier this time round is that i've carried over the titles so my stats will probably look a bit better, which might come in handy as i'm planning to do the entire game on at least hard or better as there doesn't seem to be much difference so far (and i think i may have finsihed my first playthough on hard - so may upgrade to mania sometime soon if the difficulty doesn't increase)

About 2 hours in and just defeated Botta, gone through the scenes with Raine and her exsphere and just heading out to the Triet Ruins for the first seal.

Though i'm ashamed to say that I have already been wiped out this early on - actually it was before the martel temple! - I was a little low on health and walked into one of the more difficult enemies guarding the entrance to Iselia - got into the battle rushed in to jump over the pack of wolves to separate them - forgot what game I was playing, used the totally wrong button combination (i think i used the PSP combo for jumping) and instead ran straight into the pack - well Lloyd was taken out in seconds and as everyone was bunched together - i couldn't even last long enough to get the escape to work! I'm starting to think that with stunts like that the alternative title for this topic might have been more apt!

I just can't believe how much i'd forgotten about this game - the latest example being the customizers - i spent hours searching for stuff for them and used them all the time in my first play through but it wasn't till i got to Triet that i remembered they existed. Yet stuff like where the first Wonder Chef was located I remembered as if it were yesterday - its wierd what you remember!

I'm getting back into the swing of things with this one now as i've not played a linear battle system for a while, I still go for the 'free-run' button every now and then - but have already got a 25 hit combo this early on which i'm quite happy with as i'm only level 10 and haven't got any of the higher level techs to do a proper combo.

Well plan on putting a serious dint in this over the weekend and see how it goes - looking forward to getting hold of Presea and Sheena again - the former becuase she was one hell of a fighter - the latter so i can actually try and do her character justice in battles.

Or you could have just called it “Tales of Symphonia” plain and simply =p.

I think, when I played this the first time, I had it on the easiest setting. I’ve been wanting to go back and play it, but I’ve just remembered I started a new game right after beating it the first time, but now I’d want to go and start from the beginning. I’d end up deleting the clear data as well as well though, so I don't know if I will =(. Oh well, if I ever get to it, I'll live I think.

I never did much with the Wonder Chef. I think I only ever found maybe five, six recipes, if any, haha >.o. In my replay (even though it serves no real value) I was going to go and find all the rest of them---would be something to waste the time with.

Yup, that’s it for now. I might have something constructive to edit/add later, but I can’t think of anything else (or I could, but I’m tired).

I'm replaying it, no clear data. I had clear data but for some reason its missing now...

I have it on the usual easiest setting to start out with but I've never had such problems with the game before. I just got everyone over to Tethe'alla but beating Sylph and Efreet were abnormally difficult for me. I'm not sure why since nearly all of the bosses besides the final one have always been easy for me. Sylph had to have wiped me out at least ten times, it was pathetic. But that's over with now, I'll just have to keep dragging along until the Temple of Earth where I can spam the Dragon for massive experience and gold. On this play through I'm just working on getting clothing titles basically and finishing the game to get my clear data and do it over again, better. Getting the "I Hate Gels!" title will be a challenge. I checked up on how much of those points I need to save up that you get at the end of each battle (forgot the name) for titles, max out item numbers and get 2x experience. I'll have to save up to about 3500 points. Getting points is not very simple in the game, so I won't be looking forward to that.

I could just take a shortcut and only decide to get the 2x experience to make it easier, but I'd probably end up replaying the game on clear data another three times just to get everything I want. On this first play through I'm having Zelos be the character to keep just to see since I've always gone with Kratos every other time. I'll just have to deal with Zelos' "Idiot Chosen" ways I guess. And now I've just realized I'm more of a geeky fan of this game than I thought I was.

Wait, Kratos was a character you could actually keep in your party? Or am I twisted what you said? Haha...I remember Kratos leaving after you get to the Tower of Salvation (I believe, somewhere around then at least, maybe earlier), and then you get Zelos by default after that. Or do you actually get a choice between the two?

Its depending on your relationship between Zelos and Kratos. It depends on those field skits, if you trained with Kratos before he left right before the Tower of Salvation. Then near the end of the game when Lloyd is in Flanoir a couple people knock on your door. You need to deny two people, then Kratos shows up and you talk with him, which is a real big factor. So yeah...put that together and you can get Kratos on your final team instead of Zelos. If you've only gotten Zelos then I won't say what happens when you win Kratos. I've never had Zelos in my final team before, so I don't know what happens with your game. Guess that's equal, hm? XD

Either way, its towards the end of the game when you can get Kratos to join the party. Its probably only beneficial if you leveled with Kratos quite a bit. You basically get him not long before the final dungeon, but its still helpful and cool. I cant stand Zelos so I always went for Kratos. Just going with Zelos this one time to see the change in the game.

I never knew that. I always assumed that you were *supposed* to get Zelos, considering things...Haha, something for me to try for in my next run through, eh?

Sylph had to be one of the most annoying bosses for me in the first play-through and barely made it my second time round if memory serves - not sure why - think it may be the combination of speed and the one with the damn bow that always messed up my combos - not looking forward to that one this time round thats for sure.


Good luck with that one - i saw the I hate gels title and thought - forget that. I finished my first game with about 1600 grade points - spend about 1100 at the start of the game and back up to about 600 after buying a higher level ex-gem. A bit annoyed with myself as i'd just missed out on the eternal apprentice title for lloyd - didn't know about it until just after i'd messed up. Had kept the wooden swords equipped right up until going to the ranch in palmacosta, due to monetary reasons - just one step short of getting the title.



I didn't find this one out myself until a few scenes after the Flanoir event - i'd heard that was a choice that'd seriously effect the ending but didn't expect it to turn up in such an innocent guise. I was planning on going for the Kratos ending myself this time round to complete the monsters list, as some different enemies are available depending on which you choose, but with ToS:KoR on the horizon I might go with the canon ending just to make sure i remember everything that happened - ah well it gives me yet another excuse to play it another time.

As for my current progress - not too bad at the moment - just released the third seal at the Balacruf (sp?) Mausoleum and defeated our 'mysterious' assassin for the second time (though admittedly that was a close one). So far the battle thats given me the most problems was the seal of water - that seemed to take for ever to get through - gotta be the longest battle thus far - and my worst ever grade point score in ANY tales game.

Would also seem that my memory isn't getting any better - fell for the Fake in Triet Runes - was not impressed, we took each other out at virtually the same time - though it registered as a loss to me so not entirely sure who got their first - so i'm leaving that till i go back to take care of the Sword Dancer.

Got my highest combo up to 46 now that i've change Lloyd over to the S-Type attacks (Tiger Blade and Sword Rain Alpha combos are great for getting into the unison attacks) and Kratos over to the T-Types. Would have changed Genis as well as i have fond memories of Freezer lance from ToE but that'd mean missing out of Indignation one of my favourites so i'll stick with him as is. The Dragon Knights in the Asgard region are proving an excellent source of grade atm - getting an average of 34-45 combos with a unison attack's bringing up the grade to between 1.8-2.65 and getting the extra money to boot.

Well if memory serves its the Tower of Mana next - though not sure if the incident at Luin occurs first or not - well suppose there's only way to find out...

I'm speeding my way through the first try out. There doesn't seem to be enough grade to go around for me to get what I want at the end of the game. Extra experience, very nice. Keeping titles, I'd greatly prefer that, having Eternal Swordsman would be nice at starting levels. I think getting a boost in grade is essential to ease my pain the second time around and beyond. I want to be super prepared for my final play with the game to finally fight and beat Abyssion, which I have never done. I also haven't succeeded in beating the Sword Dancer the third time either. Certain battles are...really hard. I loathe the coliseum battles, I have a hard enough time with Lloyd/Zelos, doing it with the others is torture. Characters like Presea and Colette are not very maneuverable.

There are also some titles that seem easy to get, yet they don't make any sense. Such as Lone General and Boorish General, I don't really understand how to get those titles. I guess some are just plain annoying.

Anyway, as for me in the story. I've already completed all the seals in Sylvarant, I have all the summons up to Celsius, including the Sylvarant ones (after Sylph nothing frightens me...except maybe the final boss). Currently I'm back in Sylvarant, right about to fight Rodyle. There's a title you can get with Rodyle by having a certain combined amount of levels, but I'm pretty sure I won't be getting that. I should also say that after the Temple of Earth, fighting the dragon is the best way to get experience, money and grade. Even though the dragon continually kicks my ass, I get at least 1.5 grade on a bad run, its usually over 2. Not exactly substantial, but its the best out there I know of. I'll probably have to prepare myself for the second fight with the Sword Dancer soon, if just to fight him for the experience and grade. He drops the Yasakani Jewel, which is a nice item to have, though I have the item slots full on Lloyd, Sheena and Raine.

If you go for the fight with Kuchinawa, buy a couple Black Onyx's early when you get to Flanoir. They pay off, making Sheena, or whoever else you put those on a hell of a lot more durable. Wearing two of those, she matches HP with Lloyd, and I've given him all of the max HP upgrades I've found so far. There are another type of Onyx that raise max TP instead. Putting those on Genis or Raine turn them into gods XD.

The titles have been a help - think i'm using Master Swordman on Lloyd at the moment - my stats definitely look at bit healthy than i remember them being this early on last time so 1000 grade well spent i suppose.

Abyssion is a bitch to say the least - IIRC the longest single stage boss fight i've done - even compared to Abyss equivalent boss - i think it was my second/third try when I took him out, caught myself by surprise when he finally went down cos i just wasn't expecting to defeat him, i think luck had more than a little to do with it - just glad i'm not playing against him on the PS2 version - have you seen his move set!?. All i can recommend is if you have the time use the white quart (or what ever its called) to give your weapon 'light' attribute - it doesn't add much per hit but it'll make a difference over the long run. Spam Raine's/Genis' Prism Star Unison attack and just pray for the best. Also if you can afford the grade to take your item slots to 30 that'd be a HUGE help.

Glad i'm not the only thats less than keen on the coliseums. I only ever completed it with Lloyd, Zelos and i'm pretty certain with Presea - slow as you said but with the right accessories/move set she's by far the biggest hitter of the entire game. Managed to get to the final stage with Colette/Sheena - but with Raine/Genis i think i got stuck at the first, though i never really bother that much with the magic users in the coliseum. Guess i'll never get the 100% completion - as just thought there's no way i'll be getting hold of their coliseum weapons this time round!


Tell me about it! Wont be getting hold of the Rodyle based title myself either - i think the party needs to have a combined level of 145 or less - well i've not even reached Tethe'alla and i'm already at about 102 - so aint going to happen.


Thanks pretty much to this alone (and the Blue Sephira of course) was able to finance the entire Luin side quest - my favourite in the entire game - a good few hundred thousand gald if memory serves but again worth the time and effort.

I guess its basically just us two comparing our spoils. =p

I beat the game, like I said I was going to speed through it, I did. I wasn't going to be keeping my titles so I figured there wasn't really a point in it. I beat the final boss (I really wish I could just call him by name but whatever) at around level 65. Basically Lloyd, Sheena, Genis and Raine just rock. But I beat it with Zelos just to see what it was like since that's the 'true' story ending. This time around I'm going for Kratos, but I'm making sure that I make everyone learn their tech's on time. I didn't use Zelos all that much through the story and when I tried to make him learn tech's, he wouldn't learn them. I had Fireball up to around 70 uses and he refused to learn Explosion, that was slightly annoying, but I didn't use him too much that time around so oh well. I'm being more careful this time around. Since on this one I'd like to buy the Title's with my grade, I've gone a little title crazy.

I missed out on getting the one for Collete with no dying until the Tower of Mana...because of that stupid temple of water boss Genis died, which also signified the end for my "I Hate Gels!" title. I probably would have done better, starting over and taking Genis out and putting Kratos in...but I didn't feel like restarting. Not that big of a deal anyway.

Actually, when I beat the game, I forgot that you get a 1000 grade bonus to spend, which made me a very happy man, since I gave up and only got up to 400 some grade. So, I got my 2x experience and bought a bunch of the smaller stuff, including improving how much grade I get per battle, so far being very helpful. I just beat the temple of wind, I'm going to the Asgard Ranch now to fight Kvar and I believe I have over 300 grade now, so I'm pleased. I'm already almost level 30 now, so hopefully when I get there, I'll get my revenge and beat Sylph into the ground when the time comes.

I would join in on comparing spoils, but I'm not likely to get a chance at having a go with the game anytime soon =(. I don't think I ever got many of the title's though. Basically I just got them as they came to me; I never did anything special to get them.

Going back a bit to PAL's previous post, who was Abyssion? I sort of, yet don't, recall which boss that was. Actually, I'm not sure I ever fought it/her/him...

For the coliseum, I never got past round one. Pathetically lame and so totally like me? Definitely. I tried it with Sheena and Lloyd mostly, so in my next run-through I’m going to try and get somewhere in the Coliseum next time, even if it means using someone I’m not used to, like Genus or Regal. It’s sort of lame I never did anything with it to begin with =(. I might vary which fighter’s I use in battles (in general) as well. I guess it’d never hurt to be able to use them all...

And, of course, this post would be totally worthless without...

Sheena <3

Ah the classic summon spirit battle line up - an old favourite. Though I've been using Kratos/Zelos quite heavily throughout this time round - didn't actually use Raine until the seal of water and didn't use her regularly until the end of the next seal as just had Kratos handling the healing. Spent a while sorting Zelos out when i first got him to make sure he was up to scratch - that took a couple of hours. But now Raine's learned Field Barrier, Acuteness and Nurse she's reclaiming her place slowly but surely.


Tbh i've been having the same problems with a lot of characters this time round. Zelos/Kratos both refused to learn Air Thrust and then Healing Wind long after i'd fulfilled the criteria for unlocking them, and Lloyd's been doing the same with his Lvl 3 techniques - i've found quite a few of them have been learned when i'veused a totally unrelated tech - dont know what was up with that.



Sorry about the titles, its bloody frustrating when you spent so much time on something only for it to go pear-shaped due to a single slip-up - though there's always next time.
But speaking of titles, i've been fairly lucky of late as i've accidently stumbled across a few. Zelos's 'Casanova' when i was trying to see what kind of end battle quote you'd get with him and three of the girls, Regals 'Pratfall King' thanks to the dragon in the Earth Temple and Colett's 'Single Minded' when i changed her over to the T techs.



Whoa at this rate you'll be taking over me - god i must be slow, though not as slow as I originally thought with my first play-through. Turned out it only took me 69 hours to finish compared to the 128 hours i'd previously mentioned (was getting mixed up with Dragon Quest VIII) - i've put about 30 hours in so far - so not doing too bad on time.
It is me of has this battle with Sylph got a bit of a grudge match vibe about it?



Whenever you do get the time i'm sure they'll be people about who'll reminisce - i'm going to be the same when ToS:DotNW hits the states - i'm just going to have to avoid that particular progress topic like the plague till it gets released in the EU *touch wood* hopefully shouldn't take too long - ToS took about 3 months if memory serves. Do you reckon you'll be able to get yourself regular access to a Wii by the time DotNW comes out?


Abyssion - right its the optional boss that was the culmination of the Devil's Arms sidequest, you had to find and locate each of the pieces of equipment one for each of your characters (e.g., Devils Eye (Colette), Gates of Hell (Sheena), etc). The catalysts quest was the TotA equivalent - even using some of the same names I 'd be more specific with details but dont want to say too much in case you've not done any of it, but hopefully that'll be enough to jog your memory. Basically for me he was the most difficult and annoying boss in the entire. If you remember a boss where you wanted to throw the controller threw the TV screen then this was probably the one.


Hate to say it but I think your first mistake was going with Sheena, *ducks for cover* it may just be me but I just cannot get used to her in battle - as i said in an earlier post I was going to give her another try this time round - but I actually find it easier to use Colette than Sheena - which is a shame considering she's one of my favourites outside of battle and seems to do much better when the AIs controlling her, but i'll stick with and see if I get any better

Right onto my progress before this post gets really out of hand...

Am now in Tethe'alla, got hold of the Rheairds (sp?) defeated Gnome, reached Flanoir, my favourite town in the entire game, and just defeated Celsius.Getting to grips with the new chracters, though had forgotten just how bad Regal is to use - finally back on form with Presea though still waiting for the speed boost item.
Enjoying the skits atm, a couple of which i'm sure i missed the first time round, favourite up to now has got to be 'Tingles' with the electrically charged sorcerers ring. Had forgotten about the banter that goes on between Genis and Zelos at this point of the game -
Quote of the day:
Lloyd: Professor, what's a philanderer? Is it something to eat?

Definitely come across other things that I passed by last time. The mouse holes in the sewers of Meltokio (dont know how i missed them). A scene Ozette with the woman in the Inn regarding Kratos searching for something - with an option at the end that seems to open up more events - waiting to see where that goes.
In short - am enjoying the game and once again its eating heavily into my free time, and now with Fire Emblem being released over here my Wiis finally gonna get some proper use.

And on a side note...
BEWARE the bridge in Mizuho - literally got stuck to an NPC that decided to cross at exactly the same time as I did, spent the next five minutes frantically running round in circles as the NPC slowly revolved on the spot. Even resorted to cycling through the character I had viewable on screen just praying to get loose - just about to switch off and resign myself to having to do everything again when i managed to get free - nearly lost 2 hours of game play because of the bastard. So in short be careful when crossing the bridge - especially if you've not saved in a while!

My sister’s fiance has the Wii, and though she said that if I got it I could play it, it wouldn’t be until she/they visit again, and I have no idea when that would be, and for how long even.



Ah. The name sounded familiar, but I guess I haven’t actually fought Abyssion. I think I was still missing one of the Devil’s Arms. Either that or I had them, but was in such a hurry to beat the game I just nixed it. That was something I was going to work on (along with all those other objectives) in my next run-through. I'll look forward to having fun with him >.o.





Unfortunately (and I’ll hate myself forever for saying this), I quite agree...I never got her to do much for me in battle, so I pretty much just stuck with Lloyd after that.

Really? I think Sheena's quite easy to use, right along the lines with Lloyd and Kratos/Zelos. Although with a couple of her seal attacks I tend to miss. Then again, on my last play through I only played as her shortly a few times. Like, when the group splits up, I'd much rather control Sheena than Colette or Raine. And of course the Kuchinawa duel, you have to be careful with that, even though he doesn't have much HP. I don't mind using Sheena though, she's a good character. Granted, all of the characters can be good with tech's learned and high levels. Kind of a shame, Regal was one of my favorite characters but it seems usually he gets the short end of the stick with being put into parties. Granted, there isn't really anything spectacular about Presea and Regal besides good damage dealers. Anyway, the only time I manually control other characters is to quickly learn their techs. Granted there isn't much use since even if Zelos learns those mid level magics, he won't use them anyway. When he's played by the computer, he never uses any magic besides healing.

I had an issue with Abyssion as well, I was only missing one Devils Arm, but when I went to Flanoir he was gone, so I don't know if I needed to get that last one or not. Oh well, I never bothered with him anyway, though I will soon enough. As for titles, I think I've been doing pretty good. Besides missing out on the ones for Collete and Genis. I got 8 titles for Lloyd. Though I guess that isn't saying much since he has a total of 27 if I counted right. Still, I just got into Tethe'alla now. I just beat Pronyma on the Fooji Mountains and have to go through the Meltokio Sewers. Its not particular hard, its just a putsy dungeon, so I dislike it. The Sewers and...Latheon Gorge I believe. Those are the two dungeons I really hate doing in the game...and Ymir Forest.

I can tell leveling really does work, Pronyma wasn't much of a challenge at all, then again with Colette and Raine at least with Angel Feathers and Proton, she isn't much of a boss. Although Raine didn't have Nullify so Ponyma's Acid Rain was kind of annoying. Anyway, I think I'll try and get Zelos to learn his magic early, I'll need the extra money since by the time I get to Ozette, all of the new weapons and armor will destroy me. Or I could wait and go to Altamira semi early. I don't remember if I can dock there or if I need the Rheiards working.

Don't feel too bad PAL, its a long game so a play through takes awhile. I finished the first go through in roughly 50 hours. Most RPG's take me 40, but even I rushed through, so I think that's a testament to how thick with story Symphonia has. Although after playing it through several times, it starts to feel rather segmented, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

Oh yeah, before I forget. Yes, Sylph will and will forever be a grudge match. I take much pleasure in beating those three bitches to a pulp. And I did so this time in flying colors, no one came even close to dying. Of course with two healers I made sure of that XD. It did help that Kratos already had Healing Wind. Also in a way I'd like to beat Abyssion, possibly on this play through to unlock the Devil's Arms. Not all of them are all that good to use, some of them lower defense or intelligent substantially, which isn't so cool. But I never worry about evasion or accuracy, I dont see how those two even work. When the monsters up close, I always get hit and when I'm up close, I never miss. So those two stats seem pretty irrelevant to me. But I already have around 1200 kills, so Lloyd with Nebilim would be a monster. XD

A lot of my attacks with Sheena miss - which is what i've got against her in battles, maybe things would go a bit better in Semi-Auto but i'm right next to the enemy when I activate the techs so they should hit - i'll just leave her to the AI - it seems to know how to use her effectively enough.
Colette is OK with the right move set - she's better with the para-ball moves as you can link them with the likes of ring whirlwind/whirlwind rush, though you'll end up missing out on Hammer rain and its subsequent union attack. Her normal attacks though are a bit slow and unreliable, more so than any other character except genis.

As for Abyssion you might have actually completed collecting the devil arms - did you check to see if he was at the Alter of Shadow - I can't be certain but i think he goes straight there once you've got all nine.


I second that! Just finished Ymir forest - how frustrating was that, especially since i'd not spoken to the elf and not gotten the tip about the butterflies, i was doing OK till those damn fish! Now moving on to the Latheon Gorge - that dungeon I remember all too well. The sewers is just needlessly long winded - especially when you push the control stick just one step too far on the last block right near the end.

What you said about it being segmented makes perfect sense - when looking back at the game you can easily identify what I think of as chapters or acts, with perhaps for some people a lack of cohesion between them in places. Though i think this is the same for most games and just becomes more noticeable on numerous playthroughs. Is this what you meant or have i just gone off at a tangent?

I've always been slow with games - i think my average has got to be over 65 to 70 hours (though granted most of the RPGs i've played are the longer ones) - i think i spend too much time just wondering around making sure i've not missed anything. This play through has been considerably lengthened as i'm after Zelos' 'Gigolo' and Colette's 'Dog lover' so its a lot of searching and a lot of talking to NPCs again and again - though i'm not complaining as i've gotten a lot of sweet items thanks to Zelos.

Yeah so now as you've probably guessed i'm on the second disc now - gotta love those anime cut scenes, just wish there were more of them - looking forward to see what they do in DotNW as TotA had considerably more of them with better content - so hopefully Namco will keep the trend going.
Currently level 57-59 so i think i've got most if not all of the techs now. Surprised to find that Lloyd can actually link two sword rain techs together which isn't usually allowed but thats another plus for going down the S-Tech route.

Tbh i was very close in joining you in swearing a vendetta against the trio of bitches. For reasons unbeknownst to even me I laid off of getting Efreet and the Sylphs until after going to Tethe'alla. Turns out the HP of the sylphs almost double when you do this! They handed me my arse on plate big time. Hell my second attempt resulted in me switching off the console in disgust - it was a massacre. I'd swapped over to the Lloyd, Sheena, Zelos, Raine combo - Raine could just not hack it. That bastard Yutis was constantly interrupting spells and taking out the healers with her bow and one of them managed to take out 3 of my characters in one go with air thrust, even though each of them still had about 2/3 health.
Finally took them down when i swapped Raine out for Genis. Found the best way of getting though this one is to take out her with the shield (Fairess?), i think she's the big hitter with Air Thrust, then take out Yutis - once them two are down its easy enough to corner Sephie. Though i think what tipped the battle in my favour was the fact that Sheena went into over limit twice - Gnome oh how i love you right now! Having Genis use ground dasher and Zelos use Grave during the unison attacks helped considerably too.

Efreet was particularly bad as well - his special attack, the one where he grabs hold and lifts your character in the air and set them alight - almost a certain KO each time, didn't help matters that he went into over limit at least four times and started spamming explosion.

Had a bit of a problem with Forcystus as well - thanks to poor party choice, another dungeon where you have to split up the team - i thought I was going to able join the parties back up before the boss battle so split the group into Lloyd, Kratos, Raine and Regal the second with Presea, Colette, Genis and Zelos.
This left me with a pretty weak team, missing the heavy hitting combos of the likes of Presea and Genis' spells to interrupt those of the enemies but once i'd got rid of one of those robot things I got a bit easier.

This weekend has been a good one for combos! Thanks to a nicely timed Tidal Wave of Genis' allowing me to link a few combos of Lloyds and Presea's followed by a unison attack brought my combo up to 91 against Rodyle. Took on the second sword dancer, thanks to Prism Star got a combo of 88 and 95 and then when taking on the dragon in the Temple of Earth got a combo of 120! My best ToS combo by a long way (my best before friday was 71) - know its nothing compared to some of those ones floating around youtube, but i'm really pleased with this

Well thats that playthrough finished with.

Had forgot how good the ending actually was (wish I could find a decent copy of the artwork used for the summon spirits during the cutscene) and listening to the end credit music reminded me why I went and got the soundtrack.

Still didn't get to grips with Sheena, though with the number of times I had to redo the Kuchinawa battle I was getting better by the end.

A quick breakdown:

Game Time : ~ 60 hours
Levels : 81-83
Grade : 3063
Side Quests:
Abyssion - I managed to get through this with 5 life bottles left over, and considering I was in hard mode I consider that a HUGE success. Granted I now think that Nebilim from TotA more difficult mainly due to the mystic artes.
Niflheim - completed - but after getting down to the 15 level for the second time (trying to get Presea to lvl 80 to get the Gaia Cleaver) just wanted to get it over and down with and took the boss out by equipping Nebilim - so felt a bit of a cheat with that one.
Titles Managed to get a fair few, including Zelos' Gigolo and two of the cooking titles (the first time in any tales game i've managed to do this) brining Lloyd's total up to 21. Though missed out on Sheena's Treasure Hunter as missed about 3% of the treasure chests.