This article was originally published in Italian on Thegamesmachine.it in 2015.
The fifteenth episode and the last to be released worldwide, Tales of Zestiria finally makes its way to European gaming platforms. Besides being the debut of Bandai Namco’s J-RPG saga on the PS4—though it’s just a port of the PS3 version—Hideo Baba and his team’s latest effort also marks the beginning of what should be the first in a series of releases on Steam. It had been clear for some time that the Japanese had become more and more interested in the numbers driven by Valve’s giant, a fact further confirmed by the arrival of big names in gaming from the Land of the Rising Sun, like Square Enix, Capcom, and Konami. Still, in this climate of vibrant novelty, this latest manga-style iteration—celebrating the franchise’s twentieth anniversary—takes anyone approaching it back to times of yore. The return to medieval-inspired atmospheres, abandoned in Tales of Xillia and its sequel, brings to mind the early days of J-RPGs, first on SNES and then on PlayStation platforms.
Sorey, the protagonist’s name, is a young man who serves as a bit of a prototype for the average Tales Of hero. He’s pure-hearted and incredibly naïve, having been raised for years by supernatural beings called Seraphim, who are central to legends and invisible to ordinary human eyes. But of course, the protagonist of this story isn’t just anyone; he’s the Redeemer, a mystical figure described in ancient texts as essential for the balance of the world. Sorey and his Seraph companions (distinguished by element and color, as per Super Sentai tradition) soon find themselves tasked with saving creation from a threat far more menacing than the imminent war everyone’s talking about, a threat that lies hidden within human nature itself. Following a fairly stable pattern within the narrative structure that’s characterized Tales Of for the last twenty years, Zestiria struggles with situations that often feel overly familiar, failing to evoke the gravity and epic scale one would expect from a journey that is, in many respects, filtered through a Japanese aesthetic but that strongly recalls biblical tales.
The real issue, however, is the shallowness with which many plot points are handled. Let’s face it: Tales Of has never been known for its originality or particularly intricate plots. The series’ twenty-year charm has always been tied to the charisma and characterization of its protagonists, often voiced by famous Japanese voice actors to capture the attention of the domestic audience. I admit, I was surprised lately by the remarkable sensitivity shown in the writing at certain points in recent entries; trivial things, almost always marginal details when considering the overall story, but personally I appreciated them enough to consider the relationship between the two protagonists in Tales of Xillia one of the best I’ve seen in modern J-RPGs, a genre that’s seemed to lose much of its luster in the past decade.
Tales of Zestiria, however, remains a rather bland iteration from a narrative standpoint. This doesn’t mean the story is unpleasant—in fact, quite the opposite—but the excessive shallowness with which various moments are handled and the simplicity with which others are wrapped up in a “tarallucci e vino” (casual resolution) manner certainly don’t make it one of my favorite entries. On the other hand, the protagonists are delightful, except for Rose, an unbearable and unrealistic Mary Sue who seems almost forcibly inserted into the story. The skits, those secondary scenes that have become the hallmark of the series and showcase the relationships between the heroes while revealing juicy details of their backgrounds, are also convincing. It’s a shame to see such a good cast wasted on such a little interesting and courageous subject, but I’m equally sure there will be future cameos, guest appearances, and crossovers where the main characters can still make an impact.
Compared to the past, the gameplay sees a renewed focus on exploration. The connective areas in Tales of Xillia that framed the travel between cities now give way to much larger environments, though they are less sophisticated in terms of morphology. These areas are dotted with points of interest, such as archaeological discoveries, passages that can be accessed using specific abilities, and monoliths inscribed with tips for advancing in the adventure. Interacting with many of these hotspots rewards players with points that can be used to enhance the offensive abilities of the heroes in battle, making experience points almost irrelevant. This is also in light of the new equipment growth model, which departs from traditional J-RPG mechanics and can be overly complicated in the early stages, but once mastered, allows players to optimize resources. And the secondary quests are great, easily accessible and all tied to the main plot. Saying goodbye to MMORPG-style fetch quests has never felt so good.
Fortunately, the real-time battle system remains the crown jewel of the game. The linear motion battle system from Tales of Graces F has been revamped, bringing the battles directly onto the map without any transitions. The different combat techniques are placed in a mechanism that resembles rock-paper-scissors, where certain moves negate others, and where successive strikes increase the damage dealt, often leading to astounding results. While every action in the field costs precious CC points, it’s equally true that player skill, particularly dodging, is rewarded with additional actions. And here, the Fusion mechanic makes an appearance, allowing the Seraphim to merge with human protagonists, combining parameters and elemental affinities while unlocking advanced offensive techniques. An addition that might seem unbalanced at first glance, but whose use requires careful consideration: fusing with a Seraph companion isn’t always the answer to every emergency.
On the aesthetic side, it’s worth noting that Tales of Zestiria remains a PS3 game, clearly belonging to the previous generation of consoles. The PS4 version is of course better (and practically identical to the PC version with max settings), with less pop-up, almost no aliasing, and high-resolution textures that highlight the character models in all their magnificence, but still far from the current graphical standard. As always, when it comes to the Japanese industry, most of the effort by the graphic designers has been invested in the characterization of the main characters and the important supporting characters, while the enemy pantheon and NPCs are recycled assets from previous episodes. Zestiria is technically the best of the Tales of series, but it’s certainly not the most visually stunning. This is because the exploration model has abandoned the fixed camera and thus forced designers to create larger and more complex environments. It’s a shame Bandai Namco didn’t take a page from Monolith Soft and its Xenoblade Chronicles. Imagine how great it would have been to see the fantastic animated sequences by Ufotable come to life in a well-crafted game world, just for once. On the bright side, the entire soundtrack is excellent, with the Japanese voice track finally available for selection, allowing anyone to appreciate the quality of the original voice acting. The duo Motoi Sakuraba/Go Shiina composed an excellent musical score, one of the best in the series, and honestly, I hope Sakuraba soon makes way for Shiina to take the helm. No offense to Sakuraba-san, who’s in particularly good form in this Tales of entry, but there’s just no comparison between his work and that of his colleague.
Tales of Zestiria is a compromise between innovation and tradition that unfortunately suffers from a fluctuating narrative quality and a technically unimpressive profile. The best features of the Tales of series are present, with a strong cast of protagonists and an incredibly fun battle system, but they inevitably give way to less successful aspects that don’t ruin the enjoyment or the fun the game manages to deliver. However, perhaps for the twentieth anniversary of the series, we deserved something more.
