Ah,
Tales of Zestiria. Practically every recent title in the series, especially
this one, has seen some form of controversy or another among the fans. I’ve
spent the time up until the American release with nothing but mixed feelings
about what I’ve been hearing in regards to this title. Now that I’m about 15
hours into the game, I can confidently say that Tales of Zestiria is one of the
best modern titles in the series (except for maybe Graces or Vesperia).Story
Legends
tell of a Shepard that will arise in times of crisis to defeat the Lord of
Calamity and purify creatures known as Hellions. This time around, protagonist
Sorey is the legendary Shepard that must embark on the journey with companion
Seraphim to defeat the Lord of Calamity. If that sounds familiar, well, it
should. Tales of Zestiria’s main premise is as clichéd as it gets. However, it
still does uphold the series tradition of deconstructing these clichés to an
extent. These deconstructions tend to be a little more subtle and aren’t as
major as in previous titles.
In
contrast to the similar settings we’ve had since Tales of Graces, Tales of
Zestiria opts for a medieval setting with inspiration from Arthurian legends.
It’s actually rather refreshing, all things considered. The cast are all really
likeable, and unlike Tales of Graces, they’re backed up by a decent main story
this time around. Overall, I find these characters to be some of the better
ones the series has seen thus far.
Gameplay
Tales
of Zestiria brings back the battle system that was used in Tales of Graces,
with several overhauls. Your Martial Artes are close to the regular attacks in
other games, while Hidden Artes are more similar to the traditional Artes in
that you can set them up however you’d like. This game introduces a sort of “Artes
Triangle”. Martial Artes can interrupt spells while they’re being cast, but are
in turn interrupted if you’re hit by a Hidden Arte. Hidden Artes, on the other
hand, will actually SPEED UP a spell’s casting time if you hit a foe that’s in
the middle of charging a spell up. This brings an interesting layer of strategy
to battle, making all types of Artes more useful.
Early
in the game, you’ll also gain the ability to use Armitization. This will fuse a
human and seraph together, allowing for a new, stronger moveset. However, these
transformations lack Martial Artes and heavily focus on specific elements. As a
result, you’ll have to take enemy resistances into consideration when choosing
to use Armitization. This battle mechanic brings a flaw with it, however. Your
party must be composed of two humans and two seraphim. If you’re missing a
human character, that means only one human and seraph can fight. This makes the
party system rather restrictive, but it’s not as bad as it was in Tales of
Xillia 2. You can also instantly switch your partner seraph while in battle as
well, which helps you quickly adapt to your enemies. Do note, however, that
fighting in tight hallways can cause camera problems as battles now take place
entirely on the field.
There
are also a lot of gameplay mechanics to manage while outside of battle. All skills are attached to equipment; this equipment can be fused to yield
higher stats and new skills. Your skills can also stack, giving you higher bonuses
as well. Outside of that, there are also Battle Actions. Each Battle Action
costs a certain amount of AP to equip (AP can be increased by finding landmarks
or monoliths out in the field), and modify aspects of the battle system or
grant you new abilities. The gist of it is that there are a lot of things to
manage, and the gameplay mechanics are more complex than in previous titles.
Graphics
Tales
of Zestiria seems to use a similar graphical style to the previous games. While
it looks good, it’s starting to show its age. We’re at the end of the PS3’s lifecycle
and the next generation of consoles has been here for nearly 2 years now.
However, the PS4 and PC versions of Tales of Zestiria generally look more
vibrant, and have a higher draw distance.
Unfortunately,
all versions run at 30 frames per second, even in battle. At the very least, it’s
a stable framerate, but the series has been known to run at a smooth 60 FPS
during battles. This is something that I hope future titles will address.
Music
and Sound
Tales
of Zestiria has a noticeably better soundtrack than recent games like Tales of
Hearts R. The battle themes are all fast, frantic, and memorable, while the
music in the field exudes a sense of adventure. In fact, I’d say that this game’s
soundtrack is probably the best one out of the last 5 titles.
This
game is also the first new title in the series that has Dual Audio. The English
voice acting is also pretty good, and brings the cast to life. I find the voice
acting so far to be a bit better than in Tales of Graces and Tales of Xillia 2.
The presence of an English dub at all is also enough to make the cast and story
more interesting than in Tales of Hearts R.
Length
I
have yet to finish the game myself, but I’ve heard people say that the game is
around the standard 40 hours. However, as Tales of Zestiria brings much more expansive
environments, players like me will most likely spend a lot more time just
exploring the areas the game has to offer.
Verdict:
9/10
Pros
- A really good cast and decent plot
- A great battle system
- A great soundtrack
- Great voice acting
- A lot more depth than previous games in terms of mechanics
- Decent graphics and colorful artstyle
- Battles are now seamless and take place on the field
Cons
- While the graphics are good, they’re starting to show age
- Camera issues when fighting in narrow hallways
- The game starts out feeling rather clichéd, and the battles are too easy early on
Despite
its flaws, I find Tales of Zestiria to be a breath of fresh air for the series.
The battle system is a ton of fun, and the characters are an improvement over
Tales of Hearts R. Don’t let the fans’ controversies deter you from trying this
game out as these issues were mainly due to the way the game was marketed in Japan. Tales of Zestiria is one of the series’s most ambitious titles thus
far, and also one of the best. If you have access to either, I recommend the
PS4 or PC versions. I’ve heard that the PS3 version runs at a less stable
framerate, and the graphics look a little worse.
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