In-Universe, the Symphonia Self-Insert Mod is a Game Mod for Tales of Symphonia that allows you to create a pair of custom characters and add them to the game to make your very own interactive Self-Insert Fic.
Out of universe, Symphonia Self-Insert Mod is a fanfiction taking the form of a GameFAQs-style guide for this fictional mod.
... At least that's the idea. For most of the idea's lifetime, it's been more of "a thing wingedcatgirl has been rotating in her mind" than "a thing she actually put down on paper anywhere". We'll see if that ever changes.
This fan work may or may not contain examples of:
- Author Avatar: The mod creator, while not mentioned much, is described in just enough detail that it's clear she's meant as an in-universe counterpart to the fic author.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Most of the mod's effects on a run not started "properly" (without the clear flag or the mod was installed mid-run) just fix issues with the base game.
- The game now actually tells you if a cooking recipe contained any favorite or unfavorite ingredients, as this mechanic was left completely unexplained in the base game. This ends up doubly important when it comes to the OCs, as their food preferences are essentially random each run and a guide wouldn't help with them.
- When a choice affects affection, little hearts and broken hearts appear over the relevant characters' heads. Normally, this only happens after making the choice, but on the third quest, it's shown before the choice.
- The Katz exploration teams now reliably collect any treasure chests that can no longer be acquired; the base game was notoriously finicky about what counts as "lost" for this purpose. The guide writer calls out the Temple of Earth in particular, which has a section of the dungeon which becomes permanently inaccessible, but the Katz would never retrieve those chests because the dungeon as a whole could always be accessed.
- Treasure chests and skit points on the world map are now slightly visible when riding Noishe or the Rheiards, and treasure chests are visible from much further away on foot, to make seeking them out easier.
- Sidequests have more forgiving timing windows; several that could be missed completely are made available after watching the final cutscene, and anything that affects affection is available for some amount of time before the Flanoir doctor event (that being the point at which affection is no longer needed).
- Pietro no longer takes excess Gald when trying to rebuild Luin (a feature backported from the PS2 version).
- Leaving the final dungeon after defeating the Dark Dragon and before watching the final cutscene gives a vague hint that you might want to watch the cutscene before leaving, since the endgame won't open up until you do.
- Leaving the final dungeon without the Sacred Stone gives a warning that there's an entire dungeon and puzzle you might want to look into, since the whole place is technically optional (and fairly easy to overlook).
- Ascended Glitch:
- One of the mod's changes is to make the tech glitch easier to perform. According to the guide writer, the mod creator considers the new version a "cheat code" instead of a glitch.
- In the base game, Lloyd has an unused affection value for himself, which existed solely as a copy/paste oversight and didn't actually do anything. In the mod, in the unlikely event of Lloyd's self-love being in his top 3 (which originally required either save editing or severe cooking abuse; later updates added several solo Lloyd skit points on the world map), he'll have the option to go outside by himself at Flanoir, resulting in an ending where he has no soulmate and goes on his Exsphere-collecting journey alone.
- Balance Buff: The Revive Ring accessory and Resurrect EX skill, in the base game, had a small chance of reviving the user upon KO. In the mod, they instead have a smaller chance of reviving the user on KO, and then again every few seconds while still KO'd.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When the nerd challenges the newb to a duel after clearing the advanced solo challenge, the newb will ask if the nerd really needed to issue their challenge there, as opposed to just requesting a spar anywhere else. The nerd's response is that yes, this was actually required, because the modder found it easier to copy and edit the code for Celes's battle instead of creating a whole new routine to enable this fight anywhere in the game.
- Canon Identifier: The mod-added protagonists were originally referred to in the mod's instruction file as "the boy" and "the girl", before an update allowed them to be any combination of genders. Afterward, they were referred to as "the first OC" and "the second OC", which the mod creator admitted dissatisfaction with, but wasn't able to come up with anything better for several further updates, until they were eventually dubbed "the nerd" and "the newb".
- Debug Room: The mod adds a few new options to the Grade Shop, one of which is a tantalizing "????" that costs a full million Grade. Purchasing it adds a glowy copy of the nerd to Katz' Island that will edit various aspects of your save data, allowing (for example) unlocking characters' entire skill trees instead of sticking to just T or S lines. If you're wondering how in the world you're supposed to get that much Grade, a random dialogue line from the copy mentions that you probably edited your save file — you're already using one Game Mod, after all.
- Developers' Desired Date: While the mod adds paired endings for the OCs with all the canon characters, it's clear that their paired ending with each other is the one the mod creator considers the canon route.
- Developer's Foresight: Normally, if a save file wasn't created with both the clear flag set and the mod installed, the OCs will simply not appear in it at all. However, if you somehow sneak them into your party, their weapons and other exclusive gear will be available in shops and elsewhere as normal, and they'll appear (with no or minimal lines) in any scene where the entire party is expected to appear. The guide writer cites a beta tester who claims this function was implemented to account for upgrading mid-save from the oldest version, which only added the OCs as playable characters and didn't change the plot.
- Dueling Player Characters:
- On the first visit to the Tower of Salvation, the OCs will have a sudden falling-out and the player will have to choose one and fight the other.
- On Kratos's route, if either or both of the OCs have high enough affection for Zelos, they'll take his side in the battle after he betrays the rest of the party (not actually joining Cruxis, just trying to make sure he doesn't die). If only one OC has enough affection, the mod will focus on the one who doesn't, fighting Zelos and the other OC as a Dual Boss. If both do, the mods will focus on the trio of Zelos and the OCs, fighting Lloyd and the rest of the party.
- After completing the Meltokio Coliseum's advanced solo challenge as either OC, the other one will melodramatically barge in and demand to test their respective strength in a duel.
- Grammar Correction Gag: After Sheena first summons Sylph in battle, a skit can play in which the newb argues that she should be saying "I summon you" rather than "I summon thee", since there's three of them and "you" is the plural form.
- Hand Wave: How exactly the mod was created or used in the early 2000s, when console hacking and emulation were both far less polished than they are today, is very carefully not brought up. The guide writer goes on a rant about piracy and that's all we get to hear.
- Healer Signs On Early: A weird, zig-zagged example. Depending on dialogue choices, the OCs might not join up with the canon characters until the boss fight to unseal Efreet. To account for this, the nerd knows First Aid and the newb has an EX skill that has a low chance every few seconds of spontaneously reviving a KO'd party member at 0 HP. Neither of them is a dedicated healer like Raine, but they can keep themselves on their feet until Raine herself is available.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The two new characters added by the mod are named by the player. Additionally, the mod restores the Rename Gem key item Dummied Out in international releases that allows name changes for the canon playable characters.
- Joke Ending: Taking down the Iselia Human Ranch at the very beginning of the game (not intended to be feasible without using several bonuses from New Game Plus) ends the game immediately, rolling the credits over a humorous slideshow of the OCs curb-stomping every adversary by themselves and twisting the game world into a lighthearted power fantasy for a pair of teenage nerds who have no reason to take this setting seriously.
- Lampshade Hanging: Several of the new Dialogue Tree options are just one OC or the other incredulously pointing out changes the mod has made. These typically result in decreased affection from the (very confused) canon characters, but may increase affection between the OCs.
- Language Barrier: An April Fools' Day update to the mod backported all the PS2-exclusive content to the GameCube version (these being the only releases that existed at the time) — but since the PS2 release was Japan-only and the mod creator doesn't know Japanese, it's all just pasted in untranslated, with the OCs reacting with bewilderment that they suddenly have no idea what anyone is saying.
- Naginatas Are Feminine: The newb, who in older versions was a girl, wields various naginata as their weapons. Updates have made this a weird zigzagging example, as they can be any gender but will still always wield a naginata.
- New Game Plus:
- The mod is designed for use only after completing the game unmodded, and as such only shows its full features on save files with "that virus-like green circle".
- The mod has its own clear flag, set upon completing a full run with the OCs, and adds several additional features on further games with the mod clear flag set, which the modder officially refers to as the "third quest".
- No Name Given: The mod creator is only ever referred to as "the mod creator" and variants thereof; unlike the guide author, she doesn't even get a screenname.
- Old Shame: The mod creator is not fond of some of the OCs' dialogue in the oldest versions of the mod; we don't see it directly, but apparently it was very fourth-wall-breaky and "lOlrAnDoM". The guide writer thinks it was hilarious and makes a point of keeping a reupload of the old versions, as well as some relevant save states.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: The mod-added protagonists have a falling-out after the first visit to the Tower of Salvation, due to differing viewpoints on how to handle Colette's angel transformation and other upcoming plot points. Depending on how the player handles this, they might go so far as to permanently separate.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: In-Universe: The update that allows both OCs to be any gender was the mod creator's reaction to realizing she was trans. This is also an out of universe example, as this detail was added after the fic author had the same experience.
- Relationship Values: The mod expands on the canon affection system by giving all party members relationship values that individually track how they feel about each other character. In the "latest release", the only ones that are actually used are the OCs' values; they can get a paired ending with each other or with the canon party members if they have sufficiently high affection in both directions.
- Riddle for the Ages: While the nerd is agreed on by the in-universe fandom to be pretty clearly based on the mod creator, the inspiration for the newb (or, for that matter, whether the newb even is inspired by anyone) is completely unknown. The guide author speculates that they might be based on someone the mod author had an unrequited crush on, but admits that he doesn't know enough about the mod author to even know if that's plausible, much less identify any specific people meeting that criteria.
- Self-Insert Fic: On two different levels:
- In-Universe In-Universe (yes, twice), the advertised purpose of the mod is to insert yourself into the game — though as the guide points out, the Character Customization doesn't actually know who you are, so you could just as easily play a crossover fic.
- In-Universe just once, the first OC is a nerd who has played canon Tales of Symphonia dozens of times before entering its world to kick off the events of the modded game, and the guide writer says that their default appearance looks a bit like some selfies the mod creator posted a long time ago. Not coincidentally, the default look became both more androgynous and less depressed-looking with the "gender freedom" update, sparked by the mod author realizing she was trans.
- Sequence Breaking: Of a sort... the mod adds new branches to the sequence, allowing players to go off the rails of the original plot. The most blatant example is the option to bumrush the Iselia Human Ranch at the very beginning of the game, resulting in either a Non-Standard Game Over or a joke power-fantasy ending, depending on whether you win the ensuing boss fights.
- Solo Sequence: If Lloyd goes outside with Kratos at Flanoir, but both OCs have high affection with Zelos, Zelos and the two OCs will leave Lloyd's party, and the mod will focus on them for the rest of the game. During this ending, the OC with lower affection for Zelos will occasionally leave on their own to ensure canon events still proceed without issue.
- Spared by the Adaptation: It's possible for Zelos to survive the ending where Lloyd goes outside with Kratos at Flanoir, if one or both of the OCs has high enough affection with him. He'll still fight the party at the Tower of Salvation, but he'll survive the fight thanks to the OC(s) and leave the party voluntarily because he doesn't feel like Lloyd trusts him.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: If the OCs are the same gender and enter into a romantic relationship, absolutely nobody comments on this in any way, despite the fact that they are the only visible same-sex couple in the entire game. This is partly The Artifact from earlier versions of the mod, in which they had fixed genders and so this would never happen, and partly the mod author not really wanting to write people making a big deal out of it.
- The Watson: "The newb" is unfamiliar with the world and plot of Tales of Symphonia, and they're not privy to all the details of the plan behind the OCs' presence, allowing "the nerd" to explain things to them — and, by proxy, the audience — whenever it's convenient.
- Weapon Specialization: Like the canon characters, the OCs both wield a unique class of weapon: the nerd wields spears and the newb wields naginata.
