I love Symphonia and its characters but I find it unplayable now that I've played Abyss and Vesperia. No free run & horrible multiplayer camera just kills the battle system for me, haha. :(
To be honest, I find that the Free Run just makes the battle feel slower and less interesting. I have Vesperia and enjoy it, but I still prefer Symphonia, even if its battle system is simpler.
I got this game in 2004 on my girlfriend's advice (she introduced me to a lot of the games I like, actually) and I thought it was absolutely spectacular. Initially, I wasn't interested; after the 20 hour mark (a significant amount of time, I know), it really picked up and never disappointed me after that. While I'd previously played Pokemon, I consider Symphonia my introduction to JRPG's in earnest, which has earned it a special place for me. The game is massive, its story is interesting to say the least, and its characters are memorable. Of course the gameplay is addictive as well, which made leveling much less of a chore.
It always bothers me when people strike out against JRPG archetypes. ToS has them in droves, but that hardly matters, because they were used appropriately. I suppose my experience with them in ToS made them more palatable to me. Anyway, my favorite character is probably Raine, followed by Kratos and Collette. They all help to make Tales of Symphonia the great game that it is.
I've since played both Abyss and Vesperia. I put Abyss down after 4 hours--I hated the characters, who were all indifferent and annoying. I'll pick it up again in the future. On the other hand, I very much enjoy Vesperia and am in the process of playing it for the first time. I dabbled in Tales of Phantasia as well, which made more of an impact on me than Abyss or Vesperia.
Tales is a great series, and Symphonia seems to stand at the very top of the pack, at least in my limited experience.