With the recent disappointments of previous years for JRPG’s with long production schedules and perplexing narratives, there is always one series that I can go back to almost every year and cherish for a few weeks: the Tales of series. The Japanese RPG is my favorite genre of gaming, and despite Tales of not having the same production values as other series’, it still shines on the PS4 with its outstanding art direction. Tales of Zestiria, however, is not the best in the series. It fails to include a progression system, and its combat is simpler in comparison to the last mainline entry, Tales of Xillia.
The story of Tales of Zestiria is somewhat standard fare for a JRPG. Two nations are at war with each other, a hero called the Shepherd emerges among the people, and the world needs to be purified of the darkness that dwells around it. While a return to the standard formula is refreshing amongst the post-apocalyptic or super serious RPG’s of nowadays, the tale of Sorey and the gang changes the formula slightly. The majority of the group are seraphim, beings of magic who once roamed the earth alongside humankind. However, many years after the calamity of darkness, they are no longer believed in and cannot be seen except for a certain few. The issue of Sorey, the Shepherd, seen as talking to himself brings up an issue that is not seen in many JRPG’s. It’s a cool concept as the others only see him performing out of this world moves and magic rather than the seraphim.
What doesn’t change the formula are the cast of characters in the game. While Sorey and Mikleo, the two best friends of the story, have excellent chemistry because of the writing and their voice actors, they mostly feel like flat archetypes of the genre, as if they are lacking a personality. Sorey is the pure-hearted Shepherd whose naivety gets him into trouble, Mikleo is the loyal wise-cracking best friend, and Alisha lacks any personality whatsoever and only fills the role as the love interest for Sorey. Oh and spoilers…(Highlight to reveal) she’s a princess…so she’s even more of a JRPG stereotype. Edna is the snarky teenage girl of the group whose quirks get tedious after a while. Lailah is an air head, but she does have a great quirk in which she talks about something completely irrelevant when Sorey and the gang ask about the Shepherd’s duties. The one character who is interesting is Rose (spoilers) is par, who is a happy-go-lucky assassin (kind of an oxymoron, right?); she’s part of an assassin group who takes jobs, but they only go through with it if the one they are targeting is malicious. With the 13-14 hours I’ve put into Tales of Zestiria, I haven’t had enough time with Zaveid to formulate an opinion on the character, so I will update the review if anything changes.
Despite the little iteration in terms of characters and story, the game gives off a nostalgic feel that has been lost for what seems like years. Amongst the crowd of first person shooters and dark, open world RPG’s, this game is a breath of fresh air. The classic character archetypes of the genre, the comedic elements, the darker themes (that actually bring up some philosophical ideas), lighthearted moments, and a classic light vs. evil narrative all make Tales of Zestiria’s story magical to play through. That magical facet is why I always come back to the Tales of games time and time again, and it’s present once again in Tales of Zestiria. The voice acting, overall, is also stellar, especially between Sorey and Mikleo’s actors, who seem to be reading lines in the same room. All the voice actors delivered their lines well, and the personality of the voices fit their characters perfectly. There were also multiple believable performances from Mikleo’s voice actor, Michael Johnston, during the more emotional scenes. If you’re more into Japanese dubs, there is the option of switching to the Japanese voices, but in this review, there is only a focus on the English portion.
The battle system in Tales of Zestiria feels like a step back from the previous mainline entry, Tales of Xillia. Rather than having the cross system between characters, battles feel disjointed from the team. You see, in Tales of Xillia, the cross system between characters allowed for combos ahead and behind enemies, as well as special abilities. It was cool, as each combination of characters allowed for new ways of interpreting a battle. With Tales of Zestiria, it would have made a lot of sense to have this system return as the seraphim are connected to the human characters and each other. The battle system is also repetitive. While you unlock special moves every once in a while, the battles become mindless with the few skills it offers. Sure, the addition of secret artes that occur during a combo are fun to string and add something new to the Tales of series, but it doesn’t compare to the systems that other entries offer.
In Tales of Zestiria, it feels like you have less control of how the characters progress, and it’s a shame they didn’t continue with what previous entry did (once again). Tales of Xillia had the Lilium Orb, which had a similar system to Final Fantasy X. There is a web you can steadily unthread as you level up. Each spot on the web had higher attributes and new abilities. It was interesting to change the character the way you wanted he or she to be. In Tales of Zestiria, it is instantly unlocked for you when you level up–it barely feels like an RPG. You can combine items together to create stronger weapons and more beneficial accessories. You’re also able to unlock abilities that change the game’s “battle actions” like running faster in the game or an aerial recovery, but that’s pretty much it. I hope in the next game that they bring back the progression system that Xillia had.
Zestiria has made some progressions for the Tales of series despite its streamlined gameplay. For instance, Tales of has never looked better. The anime inspired look of the series really pops on the PlayStation 4 with its sharper edges, larger environments, and vibrant colors. The blue and the green overtones of Tales of Zestiria are beautiful to look at, and the environments are filled to the brim with the fantastic art that the series is known for. Once again, it’s a treat to see a game that deviates from the typical post-apocalyptic/shooter look of most games that are released in this generation. The wonderful art direction of Zestria has given me a world that I want to explore.
While the soundtrack is mostly synthesized like in previous games, it still has a grand feel. The grand sweeping themes of the field music to the somber tones of the town music make ear candy for gamers despite the lack of an orchestra. The essential battle music and the victory music also don’t fail to deliver. The battle music has a high intensity drumbeat and a wonderful strings lead melody. The victory music sounds triumphant with its percussion, and the strings match the epic mystical tone of the game. I can only imagine how Motoi Sakuraba’s soundtrack would sound with an orchestral backing. Next time, Bandai Namco! Next time!
While playing Tales of Zestiria, I was sick with a cold throughout the majority of it, and the game was a great medicine for my days of solitude, coughing, and wincing. The story, although providing a typical story and character archetypes, is refreshingly nostalgic. The look of the Tales of series has also never looked better, and the music is once again superb. However, the lack of a progression system and interesting combat plague this particular entry. I’d recommend checking out Xillia first if you are a newcomer to the series. If you have played the Tales of games before, check this out.