series were aired on AT-X as a promotion to the sequel of the series. The episodes used three pieces of theme music: The opening theme is "Almateria" by Eri Kawai and the two ending themes were by Kaori Hikita and by Nana Mizuki.<ref name="Ep 3">Credits from {{Cite AV media |title=Tales of Symphonia The Animation" Volume 3 |date=October 24, 2007 |publisher=Geneon Universal Entertainment |id=FG-8008 |medium=DVD}}</ref> The sequel series, , was announced during Tales of Festival 2008. It consists of four episodes which were released on March 25, May 26, September 23, 2010, and February 25, 2011. All four episodes received an early screening: The first was screened on March 13, 2010, in Fukuoka and was hosted by Music Plaza Indo; The second on May 4, 2010, in Tokushima, Tokushima by Ufotable; the third on September 17, 2010, in Yokohama by Animate; and the fourth on February 20, 2011, in Roppongi by Toho. The first two episodes were later aired on September 12, 2010, on AT-X. The episodes used the opening theme by Nana Mizuki and the ending theme by Akiko Shikata. Ending theme of the 4th episode is by Akiko Shikata. The second sequel, , concludes the anime's plot. It consists of three episodes released directly to DVD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2011, June 20, 2012, and October 24, 2012. All three episodes had early screenings: the first was screened between September 23 and September 25, 2011, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro; the second on May 3, 2012, in Tokushima by Ufotable; and the third is on September 29, 2012, by Cinema Sunshine in Ikebukuro. The episodes use four pieces of theme musics: an opening theme by Misono and three ending themes, , , and , all by Akiko Shikata. A Blu-ray box set containing all three series was announced on June 1, 2013, and released on November 6, 2013. Reception Tales of Symphonia garnered "generally favorable" reception from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic. Alan Averill and Steve Thomason of Nintendo Power declared the game to be the GameCube's best RPG, as well as one of the best Averill had played. Jeremy Jastrzab of PALGN regarded it as a "top gameplay experience", praising the depth of its gameplay and story. Jonathan Metts of Planet GameCube said that although the game "clings to many of the well-worn RPG elements", its distinct battle system, story, and visual presentation allowed it to