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Video Game / Tales of the Rays

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Mileena, Ix and everyone from the Tales Series

Tales of the Rays is a free to play Crisis Crossover mobile game for Android and IOS featuring characters from the Tales series.

The gameplay faithfully recreates the series' tried and true Linear Motion Battle System, resulting in fast-paced, Fighting Game style combos, as well as CPU controlled allies (with adjustable AI) in a fully 3D battlefield. Instead of gaining them exclusively through the "gacha" roll mechanic, characters are given to you for free as rewards for playing the game (either on its main quest or in side events), and the gacha style summoning aspect is only for equipment (and the attached skills) for said characters.

Taking place in the world of Tir Na Nog, our heroes Ix and Mileena enjoy a quiet life on their island village, until one day a meteor storm strikes and destroys it. They soon learn the meteors were actually fragments of the Aegis that protects Tir Na Nog from falling apart, and that as the last surviving Mirrists, they are the only people capable of saving the world. In order to do so they must create "exoflections", bringing about lands based on reflections of alternate worlds and the people within them, and destroy the threats to the Aegis known as Shimmera Glass they find within them. Of course, these exoflected worlds are based on existing Tales titles, and familiar characters join the party to help them on their quest, which is where the Crossover elements come in.

Bandai Namco was unsatisfied with its performance outside of Japan, and decided to shutter the global English version in late March of 2018, with the final switch being flipped on May 29th of that year.

The game's plot is currently split between two sagas across five story arcs. After the initial arc, each subsequent one receives a new subtitle to distinguish itself. The second is Mirrage Prison, the third is Fairy's Requiem, the fourth is Last Cradle, and the fifth is Recollection.

The first saga, encompassing the first four arcs, chronicles the story of Ix, Mileena, and their many friends in their journey to save Tir Na Nog from destruction. The second saga, beginning with "Recollection", introduces an entirely new set of protagonists—Kodama, Haze, and their companions—traveling back in time to prevent another world-ending threat. Ix, Mileena, and others return as supporting characters.

A series of humorous short anime called Tales of the Rays Theater can be watched here.

A short animation titled Tales of the Rays: Everlasting Destiny featuring Stahn Aileron & Leon Magnus was also released. It focuses on the two's off-screen activities during Mirrage Prison's final chapter, and can be viewed in-game.

    Recruitable Characters 
Note: Names in Italics are Form Change characters: moveset variants of existing characters that can be played instead of the original.
  • Original (Rainbow): Ix Nieves, Mileena Weiss, Marcus Grimm, Kocis, Karia Neamhain, Mercuria, Nazar, Baldr, Yolande
  • Phantasia (Yellow): Cress Albane, Cress (Battle Spear)note , Mint Adenade, Chester Burklight, Arche Klein, Claus F. Lester, Suzu Fujibayashi, Dhaos, Dhaos (Final Form)note , Edward D. Morrison
  • Destiny (Red): Stahn Aileron, Rutee Katrea, Leon Magnus, Garr Kelvin, Phillia Felice, Mary Argent, Chelsea Torn, Bruiser Khang, Karyl Sheeden, Lilith Aileron, Miktran
  • Eternia (Green): Reid Hershel, Farah Oersted, Keele Zeibel, Meredy & Quickie, Chat, Celsius, Rassius "Ras" Luine, Max, Shizel
  • Destiny 2 (Red): Kyle Dunamis, Reala, Judas, Loni Dunamis, Nanaly Fletcher, Harold Berselius, Barbatos Goetia, Elraine, Dymlos Timber, Atwight Eks, Pierre de Chaltier, Lymle Aileron, Karell Berselius
  • Symphonia (Purple): Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel, Genis Sage, Raine Sage, Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Sheena Fujibayashi, Presea Combatir, Regal Bryant, Mithos Yggdrasill, Yggdrasillnote , Martel Yggdrasill, Yuan Ka-Fai, Seles Wilder
  • Rebirth (Yellow): Veigue Lungberg, Annie Bars, Hilda Rhambling, Eugene Gallardo, Mao, Tytree Crowe, Saleh, Agarte Lindblum
  • Legendia (Blue): Senel Coolidge, Shirley Fennes, Chloe Valens, Grune, Norma Beatty, Will Raynard, Moses Sandor, Jay, Walter Delques
  • Abyss (Yellow): Luke fon Fabre, Tear Grants, Jade Curtiss, Guy Cecil, Anise Tatlin, Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear, Asch the Bloody, Legretta the Quick, Dist the Reaper, Arietta the Wild, Sync the Tempest, Ion, Van Grants, Peony Upala Malkuth IX
  • Tempest (Green): Caius Qualls, Rubia Natwick, Tilkis Barone, Arria Ekberg, Forest Ledoyen, Lukius Bridges
  • Innocence (Orange): Luca Milda, Illia Animi, Spada Belforma, Kongwai Tao, Ange Serena, Ricardo Soldato, QQ Selezneva, Mathias
  • Vesperia (Green): Yuri Lowell, Estellise "Estelle" Sidos Heurassein, Repede, Rita Mordio, Raven, Karol Capel, Judith, Flynn Scifo, Patty Fleur, Duke Pantarei, Duke (Radiant Winged One)note , Alexei Dinoia, Schwann Oltorainnote , Yeager, Gauche, Droite
  • Hearts (Red): Kor Meteor, Kohaku Hearts, Hisui Hearts, Beryl Benito, Kunzite, Ines Lorenzen, Chalcedony Akerman, Gall Gruner, Lithia Spodumene, Creed Graphite, Incarose
  • Graces (Purple): Asbel Lhant, Sophie, Cheria Barnes, Hubert Oswell, Pascal, Malik Caesar, Richard, Little Queen
  • Xillia (Blue): Jude Mathis, Milia Maxwell, Elize Lutus & Teepo, Leia Rolando, Alvin, Rowen J. Ilbert, Agria
  • Xillia 2 (Blue): Ludger Will Kresnik, Ludger (Full Chromatus)note , Julius Will Kresnik, Gaius, Muzet, Milla, Victor, Ivar, Bisley Karcsi Bakur
  • Zestiria (Orange): Sorey, Mikleo, Alisha Diphda, Edna, Lailah, Dezel, Rose, Zaveid, Symonne, Heldalf, Phoenix
  • Berseria (Orange): Velvet Crowe, Laphicet, Eizen, Eleanor Hume, Magilou, Rokurou Rangetsu, Shigure Rangetsu, Artorius Collbrande, Dark Turtlez, Teresa Linares, Oscar Dragonia
  • Arise (Purple): Alphen, Shionne Imeris, Rinwell, Law, Kisara, Dohalim il Qaras, Zephyr, Nazamil
  • The World (Blue):
    • Radiant Mythology: Pasca Kanonno
    • Radiant Mythology 2: Kanonno Earhart
    • Radiant Mythology 3: Kanonno Grassvalley, Lazaris
  • Link (Red): Sara, Kana, Allen, Zephyr, Lippy
  • Asteria: Claw note , Fang note , Roar note , The One Who Leads To Ruin note , Orie, Chosen Colette note , Dark Puppet Asbel note , Dark Puppet Edna note , Elle (Asteria)note 
  • Crestoria (Blue): Kanata Hjuger, Misella, Vicious, Aegis Alver

    Recruitable Collaboration Characters 
Note: All collaboration characters have Rainbow Anima
Names in Italics are Form Change characters: moveset variants of existing characters that can be played instead of the original.
    NPC Characters 
Note: Characters that made it into the game but are not playable yet, play supporting roles, or appear as bosses.

This F2P game makes use of the following Tropes:

  • 11th-Hour Ranger:
    • Narratively, the casts from Tales of Crestoria and Tales of Arise due their recruitments happening right before the story's climax unfolds. And even then, only Alphen, Shionne, Kanata, and Misella are present during the final campaign. The rest of their friends are MIA and only return in the Playable Epilogue, unaware about the world-saving events that had occured in their absence.
  • Absurdly High Level Cap: The current max is 80 with statements that the game's programmed to handle up to 200. However, most of the game is designed around the assumption characters are somewhere between 50-60. Furthermore, the main stats affected by level are HP and Crit Rate, so a level 1 character with sufficiently powerful equipment can keep up on damage as high level characters, but would need to be careful about taking hits.
  • Achievement System: The game awards trophies and currency for completing events and reaching numeric milestones.
  • Action Prologue: The game quickly throws you into a boss battle to teach you basic combat.
  • Actor Allusion:
    • For the Valkyrie Anatomia collaboration, Raine and Jade are possessed by Lenneth and Lezard Valeth, respectively. Both pairs share the same actors.
    • Law and Kirito are in this boat since they share both English and Japanese actors. They even meet in the former's game.
    • Unlike other girls who get Idol costume for Idolmaster Collab, Velvet ends up cosplaying Chihiro the secretary instead. Both are voiced by Rina Sato.
    • Leon and Zelgadis are voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa. So the former dressing as Zelgadis in the 2nd SLAYERS Collab makes it come full circle.
    • In the Scarlet Nexus collab event, Veigue is wearing the costume of Karen Travers. Both Veigue and Karen were voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama.
    • Karol and Keroro from Sgt. Frog happen to share the same actor and this is actually not the first time the Tales series collaborated with Sgt. Frog, as in the Japanese version of Tales of Vesperia, a Keroro costume for Karol can be worn (And it's also wearable in Rays too.). And a piece key art for Keroro RPG depicts the Keroro Platoon with Tales characters that share the same actors. (Tamama with Coda, Giroro with Van, Kururu with Jade, and Zeroro with Cress.)
  • After the End: Tir Na Nog itself was formed after the destruction of the previous world, Nibelung.
  • All There in the Manual: The official website contains contain background information about Tir Na Nog not mentioned in the game or vaguely alluded to.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Occurs in Fairy's Requiem when the party's hideout is discovered, but they manage to repel it.
  • Aloof Ally: Characters associated with the Salvation Front after Arc 1 and the Bifrost faction after Arc 2 tend to be this.
  • Alternate Self:
    • Brought up with the Kanonnos, Kana, and the Tales of Crestoria team who initially mistake everyone for their alternate counterparts. However they quickly brush it off as something that frequently happens when traveling between worlds.
    • Zig-zagged for the Summon Spirits. They belong to Tir Na Nog, but due to the exoflection of so many worlds, they possess the memories and personalities of every incarnation throughout the Tales series which lets them have personal attachments with the party.
  • Alternate Timeline:
    • Rondoline hails from one. Cress and Mint don't recognize her despite being summoned from a point where Rondoline should have already joined them.
    • The original Swordian Masters are this due to the time travel shenanigans Elrane caused in their original world.
  • Alternate Universe: To the rest of the Tales series. The Kaleidoscope does not directly interact with each universe, but does create condensed copies of them and their inhabitants as islands on Tir Na Nog.
  • An Ass-Kicking Christmas: The annual Christmas events.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Older events usually featured one or two new costumes that can be earned if you were willing to farm for them or tackle a difficult quest.
  • Animation Bump:
    • Newer Mirrage Artes are more intricate and dynamically choreographed compared to those released closer to the game's launch. Older ones tended to be recycled artes or animations strung together with special effects added to them. Nowadays they're recreating scenes from the series or incorporating exclusive environments.
    • December 2018 introduced a graphics update that added new cel shading to everyone's models. It also began the process of slowly replacing old maps with new versions and updating everyone's textures.
  • Anime Theme Song:
    • Arc 1: NEW WALL by ALEXANDROS.
    • Arc 2: ミライリスト (Future List) by GIRLFRIEND.
    • Arc 3: ミライからの光り (Light from the Future) by DEEN
    • Arc 4: I believe by Boa
    • Arc 5: Back to Life by Ayaka Hirahara
  • Anti-Frustration Features: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise here.
  • Anti-Grinding: Contains the typical limit breaking mechanics found in most RPG-themed mobile games. Character levels in particular are initially capped at 50 despite having the potential to go up to 200. And even when you do raise the cap, the amount of experience required to level up skyrockets dramatically.
  • Anti Poop-Socking: Every quest requires AP to access, with harder missions requiring more. AP slowly recharges over time.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: The English translation made Cress speak like this...for some reason. It could be an attempt to distinguish Phantasia as the oldest in the series, but this mannerism becomes bizarre when Cress joins alongside his childhood friend, Chester, who uses modern slang, and Cress encounters people summoned from more than 4,000 years into his past yet they all speak normally.
  • Apocalypse How: Class X. With the exception of Sellund where the general populace is unaware about what's truly happened, the rest of the world has been consumed by the Voidstorm. The only remnants are what's best described as ghosts of lost souls desperately clinging to life, some of which manifest as shimmera.
  • Apocalypse Maiden: Bifrost believed mirrites to be this which is why they declared war on Sellund.
  • April Fools' Day: Regularly pranks players with half-serious additions to the game.
    • Year 1: A fake trailer for a WHIS mini-game.
    • Year 2: Released the WHIS mini-game for 1 day. Later released permanently after some additions and adjustments.
    • Year 3: A fake trailer for a 3D sequel to Tales of VS. An amended version released the day after confirmed Kongman as one of the next characters joining the playable roster.
    • Year 4: Released a donjara mini-game for 1 day.
    • Year 5: Released a trailer for a polwiggle as a playable character, complete with Mystic Arte. The "playable" part was a joke, but the Mystic Arte wasn't when it later showed up in a boss fight.
  • Arbitrary Headcount Limit: Though you amass quite the selection of characters, you may only bring 4 per quest, and one helper from online. The affinity system is meant to ameliorate this to some degree, encouraging you to use the parts of your roster that are favorable to the situation.
    • Subverted with the Tower, where while you're still only using 4 party members at a time and don't even have a helper this time, you can pick every single awakened character you have and switch the next party member in after someone gets knocked out.
  • Arc Number: 876 and 765 tend to appear in reward values, the Goroawase Numbers for Bandai Namco.
  • The Artifact:
    • Despite having its own cut-in, Ix's Overray form never gets featured after its debut in Chapter 6.
    • Story chapters not having exactly 15 quests.
    • Quest objectives requiring a certain amount of mirrage artes performed are still present but no longer demand a number that requires players to handicap their attack power because enemies die too easily.
    • You can tell how old a character is if they have more than three 3* weapons and then counting how much they exceed that amount.
    • Before they were revamped, enhancement dungeons had become largely obsolete due to spirro items and trade shops being a much more reliable source of experience, money, and upgrade materials. The main reason to run them before were the mission rewards associated with them. But once they ran out, they usually served as an energy sink for the 0-2 days per month that no events were live.
  • Artificial Stupidity:
    • Allies don't take advantage of the mechanic where artes used with a full CC gauge have guard-breaking properties unless Iron Stance is still active. They attack immediately if not on the defensive.
    • Despite being relatively competent at backstepping, allies are unable to discern if attacks hit multiple times which may lead them to dodge the first hit but take full damage from the rest.
    • Healers without attack spells have tendencies to walk up and start bashing enemies if everyone's buffed and healthy. Mint in particular used to be infamous for it until she received more ranged offensive options.
  • Ascended Extra: Similar to Tales of Asteria and its story arcs, a few returning characters receive higher billing as key figures after Arc 1.
  • Attack of the Town Festival: A frequent plot for events.
  • Audience Participation:
    • The Japanese version occasionally holds polls to determine future characters:
      • The 1st determined which character would join in Chapter 10. The winner was Velvet.
      • The 2nd determined which main antagonist would join the party. The winner was Mithos.
      • The 3rd determined which "young" character would join alongside a designated partner. The winners were Genis & Presea.
      • The 4th determined which middle-aged man would join the party. The winner was Malik.
    • The official Twitter account also gathers feedback.
      • A pre-registration campaign for the Mirrage Prison arc was held with rewards at certain milestones. The final one was implementing Dist as a playable character. Unfortunately the campaign failed to reach it, but the developers still tease the possibility.
      • A retweet campaign was successful in adding Phoenix as a playable character.
      • Polls are used to decide what new exclusive weapons to release in the Turtlez Shop.
    • A live stream was used to determine the scene for Mithos' mirrage artwork. Viewers chose the moment he reveals his true identity and starts kicking an injured Yuan while laughing maniacally.
  • Back from the Dead:
    • The Four Shadow Generals' motive for joining the Salvation Front. Each of them has a loved one they wish to bring back. Three of them are successful by Mirrage Prison
    • Most of the Living Dolls' new hosts are people who perished in the mirrage wars.
  • Background Music Override: Certain quests and events have this.
  • Badass Army: If it weren't for Rule of Drama, one has to wonder why the party isn't curbstomping threats left and right with how many powerful fighters they recruit.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Gaius, Victor and a few alternate costumes.
  • Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: When Ix is refraining from exoflecting more worlds due to ethical concerns, Phantom ends up finishing the job in pursuit of more omega nexuses.
  • Bad Powers, Good People: Omega nexuses. It's less of an issue for those who don't rely on magic, but their existence is still a potential threat to the world.
  • Bag of Spilling:
    • Claus loses all of his summons and must forge new pacts with Tir Na Nog's spirits. The same applies to other summoners, but they still have regular magic or martial arts to fall back on.
    • Downplayed for everyone else who've only lost their Story Breaker Powers at worst.
  • Beach Episode: The annual summer events.
  • Big Brother Worship: Some of the younger party members develop this attitude towards Yuri much to his annoyance.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Occurs very frequently.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Meredy's dialogue is initially written in Melnics. Deciphering it produces awkward but coherent English.
  • Bilingual Dialogue: Keele and Meredy can do this without even realizing it.
  • Blessed with Suck: If a world contains methods for Time Travel or something similar, its exoflection can produce omega nexuses. Even though they stabilize exoflections, the Life Energy they absorb and the special type they produce threatens the world.
  • Blood Is Squicker in Water: The last hit of Presea's gacha Mirrage Arte (detailed under Family-Unfriendly Violence) is viewed through the reflection of a puddle of rainwater that turns red after the blood falls into it.
  • Bodybag Trick: Sync does this to infiltrate Asgard and rescue some hostages.
  • Boss-Only Level: Some quests are like this. You can tell because they usually give you a Mirrage gauge bonus at the beginning of the quest to make it easier to get your Mirrage artes ready when you're only gonna fight a single battle.
  • Bragging Rights Reward: Chaos difficulty quests pit you against extremely powerful bosses to the point the recommended power level is 99,999 (a value impossible to achieve during that time). Formerly, winning only rewarded you with a few puny chiral crystals that could be farmed in larger quantities from the easiest quests. Averted with current releases that have much more enticing rewards.
  • Breather Episode: Events tend to be this. They mostly serve as ways to introduce new characters before veering off into an Excuse Plot.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory:
    • Downplayed with summoning. It's only used for weapons which have artes tied to them. You're generally given most characters for free, with at least two or three weapons for each, and an unlockable Mirrage Arte soon after. It's generally suggested to just work with what the game gives you instead of paying money, unless you're really attached to a specific character.
    • Later updates allow you to obtain a character if you manage to roll one of their associated mirrages or 5* gear. This is also a bit of a zig-zag, as it's intended to be a kind of Anti-Frustration Feature since it allows you to recruit event-limited characters when their event isn't running.
    • Another example somewhere between the normal trope and an Anti-Frustration Feature: the Turtlez Shop. It allows you to use prisms to buy character-specific items and basic Mirrages for most of the cast. This is a good way to fill out their builds, especially if you missed part of the event for some reason. The catch? Buying 3* weapons costs 400 prisms... And buying 4* weapons costs twelve hundred prisms. If you somehow need to use the Turtlez Shop to max LB one specific 4* weapon, Martel help you.
    • Mascot characters such as Dark Turtlez and Lippy can only be recruited by spending 100,000 prisms each in the Turtlez Shop. Once that has been achieved, their equipment must also be bought with prisms.
  • Brought Down to Badass: Returning characters who don't have access to their god-like powers anymore but can still hold their own without them.
  • Brutal Bonus Level: Anything above the 50th floor in the Tower of Progenitors. Each month's iteration throws players into a Boss Bonanza that requires their best fighters to overcome.
  • The Bus Came Back:
    • Although there are no plans to include them in the near future, the 3rd character poll options featured Julio & Caro from the obscure Narikiri Dungeon sequels alongside Ruru & Mika from the even more obscure Tales of Mobile spin-off series.
    • With the closures of Tales of Link and Tales of Crestoria, the members of their respective casts appearing as playable characters have become this.
  • Butt-Monkey: Dist can never catch a break. Even the nicer members of the party have taken to treating him like a misbehaving dog...which he ends up reinforcing.
  • Call-Back: The 5th Anniversary splash screen is an updated recreation of the one from the game's initial months, this time with all the returning characters donning their spirit gear outfits, including Alphen whose game debuted about half a year earlier. Ix and Mileena's outfits are updated to their newer versions while Kocis and Karia N also join them.
  • Came Back Wrong: Implied to be what happens if you try exoflecting someone from a point in time when they're supposed to be dead.
  • Can't Live Without You:
    • Nexuses' lives are tied to the exoflected continents. If any of them fall before the Aegis is completed, it could be disastrous.
    • Mirrites in relation to their masters unless the master uses a technique to sever a link and grant the mirrite independence
  • Casting Gag: For the crossover with The Idolmaster, also a Bandai Namco Entertainment franchise, Marta, Leia, Mileena and Collette have their own idol costumes; fittingly enough, the former three's respective voice actresses, Rie Kugimiya, Saori Hayami and Haruka Terui, also star in the other franchise as, respectively, Iori Minase (original series), Kaede Takagaki and Momoka Sakurai (Cinderella Girls), while the latter is a more direct nod to her voice actress Nana Mizuki, herself an award-winning singer.
  • Character Roster Global Warming: Boss characters are released very infrequently, often for good reason.
  • Chromatic Arrangement: Ix, Mileena, and Phillip.
  • Clone Angst:
    • Luke in the beginning of Chapter 3 remarks that it's ironic for a duplicate to be duplicated in a roundabout fashion. However, he takes the matter surprisingly well, though he's also quick to avoid the topic all together.
    • Ix experiences this upon discovering that he and Mileena are exoflections as well. Although he seems to get over it, his bottled up insecurities eventually manifest as a xerom that the party must defeat.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: The punishment for the captured nexuses who refuse to work with Asgard.
  • Combat Medic: Quite a few characters, true to their source games, are this, although many more tend to fall more toward the combat side (Mileena, Jude, Elize, Laphicet, Mikleo, Rutee, Sophie, Raven, Natalia), while a select few others lean toward the medic/buffer side (Meredy, Mint, Marta, Raine).
  • Combos: Stays true to the Tales series' Fighting Game influenced Linear Motion Battle System, with a surprisingly deep system that once mastered can let you make long combos to prevent your foes from fighting back.
  • The Comically Serious: Creed has become this post Heel–Face Turn.
  • Cool Airship: The Heimdallr.
  • Cool Big Sis: Sophie towards Little Queen after she succesful convinced her.
  • The Corruption:
    • Subverted for seraphs and other beings from their world. Malevolence no longer affects them or just makes them feel uncomfortable at worst.
    • Phantom inflicts this on the Four Shadow Generals.
    • Lazaris starts transforming humans and animals after escaping the Empire.
  • Counter-Attack:
    • Gaius' unique counter mechanic from Xillia 2 becomes an arte here called Decisive Stance. If he is attacked during the stance, the counter attack arte Calamity Stance will trigger.
    • Other characters also receive artes with similar properties.
    • Hilda's Lightning Robe spell from Rebirth returns. While it has additional functionality like healing and being able to cast it on the party, its main function is still zapping an enemy who lands an attack on someone the spell is applied to.
  • Covers Always Lie: The original splash screen gave off the impression that all the main protagonists would join the party by the end of Arc 1. Yet by the time the final chapter was released, Caius, Ruca, and Kor were still NPCs. For the worldwide version, this trope ended up being played straight. The Japanese version eventually subverted this by making them main story recruits in Mirrage Prison.
  • Crisis Crossover: All the protagonists of the Tales series team up for a common goal.
  • Critical Hit Class: Characters can be built with this in mind.
  • Crystal Landscape: In Mirrage Prison, the mirrorshift has caused large crystals to protrude throughout the world.
  • Crutch Character:
    • Rainbow anima characters in terms of stats. They always gain a 50% bonus regardless of which quests you bring them, but they'll never truly surpass other characters who gain a 100% bonus with the correct anima sync.
      • Subverted with the 2019 spirit gear update that allows some of them to gain a second anima type.
    • Collaboration characters are much easier to strengthen but suffer the drawback of only having one Mirrage Arte while everyone else has at least two and thus have access to the secondary mirrage gauge.
      • Subverted with the introduction of "ending" Mirrage Artes and the automatic activation system.
  • Darker and Edgier: Downplayed with Mirrage Prison. While the aesthetics plus Kocis and Mileena's new designs and attitudes invoke a more serious atmosphere, the overall plot is still rather tame by Tales standards. And the party still finds plenty of time to relax and have fun with local festivities.
  • A Day in the Limelight: After Arc 1, story chapters tend to shift focus between different characters in the protagonist role.
  • Dead All Along: The Ix you see in the Odanse portion of the prologue.
  • Death Is Cheap: Downplayed. Depending on how you perceive exoflection, it can be used to bring people back to life. However, it can only be done twice before death becomes permanent.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Some characters join through this.
  • Defend Command: You simply need to stand still to defend. Move or attack and attacks will go unblocked. A successful block will refill your Chain Capacity.
  • Deflector Shields: Instead of whacking enemies with his book, Claus now surrounds himself with up to two layers of Instant Runes that protect him while he casts. Morrison also does the same.
  • Divergent Character Evolution:
    • After being a Moveset Clone of Ix during Mirrage Prison, Kocis gains his own unit in Fairy's Requiem.
    • Kratos & Zelos no longer share any artes. The former even has completely new ones exclusive to Rays highlighting how he now fights with his angel wings activated. To top it all off, both are given some new animations rather than being directly lifted from their home game like most of the cast.
    • Luke & Asch. Some of Asch's artes get an "arranged" version from his originals.
    • Dark Turtlez now has his own moves instead of being a Moveset Clone of Julius or Ludger. Amusingly enough, his victory animation is still copy pasted from Ludger's hammer victory animation, however.
    • Dezel & Zaveid, the latter adding aerial combat to his arsenal.
    • Milla & Fractured Milla. The latter receives an entirely new moveset focusing on kicks and aerial combat.
  • Disc-One Nuke: If you're lucky enough to pull a Mirrage Arte during the tutorial.
  • Doomed Hometown: Although it's not confirmed until chapter 9 Odanse was destroyed leaving Ix and Mileena as the only survivors from their village.
  • Double Agent: Alvin's back to his old tricks. Justified due to being suddenly cast into an unknown world and needing to survive. He's more than willing to drop all pretense of working with the bad guys after learning where his friends are.
  • Downer Ending: For Arc 1: Phantom is defeated, but his actions have caused the Voidstorm to be on the verge of destroying the world. To prevent this, Ix decides to seal himself, Gefion, and the Voidstorm in a mirrage prison by purposely losing control of his powers. The aftermath, known as the Mirrorshift, creates chaos as large crystals and shimmeras appear throughout the land. Meanwhile King Demitrius decides to place all public blame on Mileena, forcing her to go into hiding while he usurps the position as ruler of the world.
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap: Any Story Breaker Powers like Chromatus and Armatization are inaccessible due to exoflection's encoding. However, they can be restored for a limited time via special overray mirrages with an appropriate catalyst.
  • Dub Name Change: Frequently invoked this or Spell My Name With An S
    • Ickx Neve -> Ix Nieves
    • Mark Grump -> Marcus Grimm
    • Garows Outsorrow -> Gareth Outrigger
    • Karya -> Karia
    • Demetrius -> Demitrius
    • Kerykeion -> Heimdallr
  • Dub Induced Plothole:
    • "Mieu's Big Adventure" was the 1st event in the Japanese version. The localized version used the updated edition instead, pushing it back to be the 3rd event. The issue is that this event explains why stray nexuses appear in Tir Na Nog. This rearrangement of events leads to Ix & Mileena suddenly confused about stray nexuses despite having already met four of them at that point.
    • Happens a little with "Kaleidoscope of Distortion," which was released after Chapter 9 part 1 in the Japanese version. In the localized version the event was released before Chapter 9, meaning Raine shows up a few times in cutscenes in the event despite not having been introduced yet.
    • The closure of the WW servers forced Chapter 14 to be released earlier than intended, causing Leia, Ludger, Elle, & Julius to appear before their proper introductions.
  • Duel Boss: Usually played straight. Cutscenes may depict characters fighting solo, but nothing stops you from turning it into the usual 4 vs. 1 and using whoever you want. However, some quests can restrict you to only one character.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: The splash image and opening movie when starting the game shows many, many Tales characters who were not in the original base game but instead slowly added through updates.
    • The final chapters of Arc 1 had small appearances by many characters who'd be featured in Arc 2, Mirrage Prison. Unfortunately this means the western fanbase got a taste of the upcoming content they'd eventually miss out on, since the game shut down with the end of Arc 1.
  • Eastern Zodiac: The New Year's event for 2018 was dog themed, with entirely new dog enemies and bosses, as well as a bit of a focus on the dog character Repede, since 2018 was the year of the dog. 2019's New Year's event is boar themed with new unique boar enemies and bosses. Rose's New Year's Mirrage also features her riding a boar.
  • Elite Four: The Four Shadow Generals: Chester, Dist, Mithos, and Richter. However, the group quickly becomes moot or an Artifact Title when Chester seems to defect immediately, Dist frequently acts out with his own agenda, and Mithos develops rightful suspicions about his employers and defects as well, leaving Richter as the only one taking his job seriously.
  • Elite Mooks: The higher floors in the Tower of Progenitors tend to have these.
  • The Empire: The Asgard Empire has conquered most of the world by Mirrage Prison. While it seems to be genuinely trying to establish order in the chaotic aftermath of the Mirrorshift, the ruling body is conducting shady experiments on captured nexuses and clearly has ulterior motives.
  • Elemental Powers: Spirit gear lets characters harness the powers of an elemental spirit like Aska for Ix and Shadow for Mileena.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Zig-zagged. Story and daily quests usually play this straight, but events tend to assign weaknesses based on whatever the featured characters specialize in. This leads to strange or outright illogical matchups like Summon Spirits being weak to their own elements.
  • The End of the World as We Know It: Initially what awaits Tir Na Nog if the Voidstorm isn't contained, but later it's revealed that an ancient prophecy predicted the end anyway and the awakening Summon Spirits are a sign of its approach.
  • Excuse Plot: Zigzagged. The main story averts this, but most events' storylines are essentially excuses for characters to dress up in costumes.
  • Enemy Mine: Any returning antagonist's usual reasoning if they side with the heroes.
  • Evolving Credits: The Japanese version's opening splash image was updated with Velvet once she was announced to be recruitable. The Worldwide release, however, uses the latter version right off the bat.
  • EX Special Attack: Master Artes. If you use a Five Star weapon (a Mirrage Gear) normally you get a Base Arte, but if you perform them after a chain of enough hits you get a Master Arte, which is a powered up version that eats up much more Chain Capacity (most likely draining it completely) but also has full invincibility.
  • Fake Memories:
    • People created from a world's exoflection have altered memories so they can settle into normal lives in Tir Na Nog without getting suspicious. Nexuses and specifically exoflected people are normally exempt from this effect.
    • Ix's memories were altered by Phil, resulting in a slightly exaggerated personality from the original but still retaining some core values.
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence: Presea's Gacha Mirrage Arte features blood... and no small amount either. The screen gets completely splattered, actually. This is the first time a 3D Tales title had visible blood in battle, and even counting the bloody artes from the 2D games this move definitely takes the cake. Of course, the move references Symphonia's own use of this trope regarding her, though that instance was in a cutscene and still nowhere near as graphic as this arte.
  • Fanservice: Swimsuits are available as alternate costumes for some characters (particularly those featured in the summer events, of course). Other fanservice types are also available depending on the holiday or season.
  • Fantastic Science: Mirristry.
  • Flash Sideways: In the 2024 collaboration event with Tales of Asteria, after Julius is freed from possession by a Negative Factor from Asteria, he mentions to Victor that he recalls memories of seeing Ludger fighting Jude and Milla to protect Julius, but that he also remembers Ludger fighting him himself, referring to the diverging routes in Tales of Xillia 2 which, as exoflections from earlier in the game, their Rays versions never experience.
  • Forced Tutorial: Par for the course with a gacha game like this.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Occasionally used to tease new characters.
    • Marcus' green motif hints at him being connected somehow to Ix's blue and Mileena's red, specifically being the mirrite of their childhood friend who also dressed in similar colors when he was younger.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation:
    • Certain parts of Arc 1 enforce one or two character restrictions, but you're mostly free to use whoever you want in the active party, even people who aren't supposed to be present.
    • Kocis' Overray Mirrage Arte is supposed to be a Dangerous Forbidden Technique that takes a tremendous toll on his body and knocks him unconscious, but players can freely use it as many times as they want in quests.
    • Victor uses all weapons types in cutscenes, but in gameplay he's restricted to the guns and the hammer.
  • The Ghost: A lot of characters are mentions to already has been exoflect into the world but the players didn't get to meet them until much later into the story.
  • Glass Cannon:
    • Dhaos. He has multiple quick and powerful attacks but has extremely low resistance to magic. Also unlike most boss characters, he lacks the ability to heal himself so getting locked into a magic combo is practically a death sentence for him.
  • Global Airship: The Heimdallr, apparently the fastest of its kind in the world.
  • Global Currency: Ludger lampshades how strange it is that gald is the same currency used in Tir Na Nog and all the exoflected worlds.
  • Going Through the Motions: There isn't much variety in movements during cutscenes. Although since a majority of the story is depicted through the series' skit format, one might not even notice.
  • Gone Horribly Right: The invention of the Kaleidoscope put an end to the mirrage wars. Unfortunately, the effects of its use plunged the world into a dying state.
  • Gradual Regeneration: Ix obtains this in his Overray form.
  • Grand Theft Me: Anyone who ends up a victim of the Living Doll Project.
  • Great Escape: Some characters are encountered after performing this off-screen. Played for Laughs with Leia who only succeeded because she bothered to remember Dist's preferred title.
  • Guest Fighter: Some are featured thanks to collaborations. However, they return to their own worlds shortly after meeting everyone. Somewhat alleviated by having shadows of themselves remain behind to assist the party, but so far all of their involvement with the plot is implied to occur off-screen.
  • Harder Than Hard: Chaos difficulty quests.
  • The Heartless: Shimmeras are revealed to be this.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Often overlapping with Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal, a number of characters defect from Asgard after realizing they've been tricked or having their loved ones endangered.
    • Many antagonists from the main series also pull this off, usually due to being in a different world and circumstances such as losing their motives, their loved ones coming back or they're exoflected from the time before they crossed the line. Some choose to stay neutral and continue to observe humanity (Though they will assist the heroes if they're around the area) while some choose to join up with the heroes after begin convinced by them. However, irredeemable antagonists exist and stay true to their villain role.
  • Heroic Sacrifice:
    • Ix and Gefion perform this at the end of Arc 1. The former eventually returns after swapping places with Sidney.
    • Fractured Milla does this to prevent the world's heart from collasing.
  • Hero of Another Story: Since all of the returning cast are actually just clones, this applies to any Tales character's original self, as well as their own villains.
  • History Repeats: The returning cast tend to be thrust into familiar situations ranging from Leon's betrayal to the more comedic White Turtlez's Start of Darkness. Thankfully the tragic ones end on a happier note.
  • Home Base:
    • The Heimdallr in Arc 1 which is big enough for some of the rooms to be converted into makeshift farms.
    • Mirrage Prison relocates to a Pocket Dimension modeled after a bar and lounge. The Heimdallr remains a secondary base shared with the Salvation Front.
    • Fairy's Requiem keeps the previous base, but now it's been materialized into reality on a Floating Continent modeled after Odanse.
  • Hostile Terraforming: Lazaris attempts to turn the world into Jildia.
  • Humanity on Trial: Elraine grants this to Kyle and his friends. Since Tir Na Nog is the type of godless world they wished for, she wishes to see whether or not humanity here can truly overcome hardships and achieve happiness. Should they fail, she'll continue her original intention of summoning Fortuna.
  • I Choose to Stay: Even before it's revealed that nexuses can't return to their original worlds, some of them adopt this attitude towards Tir Na Nog, satisfied knowing their original selves are still continuing their journeys.
  • Identical Stranger: Yuri remarks how Guy resembles Flynn. Oddly enough, neither of them comment on this when they finally encounter him later. Granted, the situation they found themselves in didn't warrant friendly small talk.
  • Identity Amnesia: Guy is suffering this upon his introduction. He accompanies Colette who ended up naming him the same way she names dogs.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Mileena uses mirrors. Also any returning characters like Edna and her umbrella or Elize when using Teepo artes.
  • Immune to Flinching:
    • Bosses and some enemies have "Iron Stance", super armor which you must whittle down with your assault before you can begin a combo. Certain artes can be upgraded to break this faster.
    • "Boss type" characters can also obtain this upon enhancing certain artes. However, it's a much weaker form that only absorbs one to three hits.
    • Natalia's Cavalry arte applies this to herself for a short time, while her gacha Mirrage Arte Storm Fortress applies this property to the whole party (alongside a heal).
    • Uzuki can temporarily grant this to anyone when healing.
    • God Eater characters and those with a related Mirrage Arte can obtain a downplayed version upon entering Burst Mode.
  • Inconsistent Dub: The English translation was prone to forgetting its own Dub Name Changes or outright misspelling long established names, terms, and conventions. Titles and/or quotes for mirrages in particular tended to have different translations between online announcements and in-game text.
  • Interface Spoiler: Edna has a strategy option to focus on healing despite having no recovery spells when she was released. She eventually received Healing Circle in an update...over a year and a half later.
  • Invisible to Normals:
    • Subverted with seraphs and hellions. Because Sorey grew up with high resonance and perceived that as normal, Glenwood's exoflection copied that aspect and extended it to all.
    • Subverted with the Swordians. At first only their wielders could hear them, but soon everyone else can. It's implied that the exoflection was influenced by Leon's memories of growing up with Chaltier.
  • In Medias Res: The game opens with Ix and Mileena facing Marcus while other characters provide support holding off the surrounding mooks. Most of Arc 1 serves as How We Got Here.
  • Irony: Downplayed, but Luke briefly notes the irony of his station being a duplicate of a duplicate before he quickly moves away from it.
  • Item Farming: The game’s various dungeons allow players to farm for chiral crystals and anima orbs.
  • "Just Frame" Bonus: Keeping true to the Linear Motion Battle System's Fighting Game Roots, Tales Of The Rays has these. If you input the next Arte in your chain at the right moment, which is just as the previous arte ends, the game displays the word "Just!" at the bottom of the screen. If said Arte is an attack and it connects with an enemy cleanly (i.e. they do not block and their Iron Stance is broken) it will also show how much bonus meter you get, which lets you use your Mirrage Artes faster. The bonus given depends on how high your chain went, how many Just Inputs you got in a row, and how many enemies your attack hit. However, if you do not have enough Chain Capacity to cover the full cost of your next arte, you will not be able to get this bonus
  • Kid Hero: Karia and Kocis. Obviously any returning ones as well, the most prominent one being Karol who leads Brave Vesperia as one of the groups in charge of intelligence gathering.
  • Knockback: Foes can send you flying, but you can also send them flying, whether into the air, across the field or even knocked down depending on the move you use.
  • Knockback Evasion: When flying into the air you can right yourself, land quickly and return to attacking or running around, though you have to be careful about running into another attack. Sometimes it's better to just let the knockback run its course.
  • La Résistance:
    • The Salvation Front.
    • The entire party after Arc 1.
    • Smaller pockets begin emerging in Arc 3.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler:
    • Anything regarding the series is fair game as characters frequently reference plot points and name-drop acquaintances from their home titles. But overall, Symphonia and Abyss are the biggest offenders.
      • Kratos being Lloyd's father tends to come up whenever he appears.
      • Mithos, appears in his real form and doesn't hide his true nature.
      • Emil and Marta make no effort to hide The Reveal that the former is a Summon Spirit and only one of two personalities.
      • Luke appears post-character development, with short hair.
      • Sync being a replica of the Fon Master.
    • The Innocence cast losing access to their Devic Artes in the ending along with Kongwai and QQ leaving without saying goodbye
    • Some of the characters' in-game biographies don't even bother to hide certain details such as:
      • Rutee being Leon's long-lost sister
      • Milla originally being created as a fake Maxwell
      • Laphicet being the reincarnation of Artorius' unborn child.
    • Zigzagged with many Mirrages obtained from gacha. Each is accompanied by an exclusive piece of artwork and quote usually depicting a scene from other Tales titles at various points throughout the story. Some are blatant spoilers while others require knowing the proper context beforehand.
      • Played straight with the Decisive Mirrage Arte series for the main protagonists which usually depicts their respective Final Boss.
    • The only aversion at first was Tales of Arise due to having only been released about 1 month prior before debuting in the game itself. However, the embargo seems to have been lifted after the 1-year anniversary as characters receive art depicting late-game moments.
  • Launcher Move: Many characters have them. Juggling enemies is an integral way to extend combos.
  • Lazy Artist:
    • The general rule of thumb is to assume that characters will use recycled art if they appeared in a previous Tales crossover.
    • For skit portraits, those who originated from the games that use full-body skit portraits use their original ones, while those who don't either use theirs from Reve Unitia, Tales of Asteria, Tales of Fandom, or brand new portraits created for this game.
      • Unfortunately applies to the Tales of Arise cast whose rapid addition the game seems to have resulted in their portraits lacking any variety in poses, a quality usually only reserved for minor characters.
    • On the subject of Mirrage Arte cut-ins:
      • Most characters that have appeared in either Radiant Mythology 3 or Reve Unitia get their cut-ins from those two games.
      • Luke uses his Versus cut-in. This is because both of his cut-ins from Radiant Mythology 3 or Reve Unitia have him with long hair, while Rays has Luke with short hair.
      • Everyone from Phantasia use their cut-ins from X version of their original game and its sequel.
      • Repede, Karol, Rita and Flynn use their second Mystic Artes' cut-in from Vesperia's PS3 release. This is odd for Rita and Flynn's case, given that they have appeared in either Radiant Mythology 3 or Reve Unitia.
      • Ruca, Illia and Spada use their cut-ins from the R version of Innocence.
      • Characters introduced from Xillia onward simply use their original cut-in.
    • Played with in Summer events in regards to Dist. Even though he was shown at the end of Chapter 9, he chooses to talk from behind the camera without his portraits, simply because he doesn't have an in-game model yet and the scenes he appears in mostly uses the game's engine.
    • Exaggerated in Chapter 14 and beyond where certain characters are just using their status image or random art as their skit portrait, but subverted as they become retroactively updated when they become playable with a complete set of portraits.
    • Pasca Kanonno and Kanonno Grassvalley don't even have proper unawakened status portraits! They simply reuse their neutral dialogue/skit portrait. Its especially blatant since Kanonno Earhart does have new art for her default portrait. Thankfully, like with every character, they have new awakened artwork.
  • Legion of Doom: The Asgard Empire is fond of recruiting previous Tales antagonists to their side. Fortunately, not all of them see eye to eye and eventually defect to the heroes or at least remain neutral to the conflict.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Dark Turtlez. His new moveset is goofy and his basic attack string involves two whacks with his bazooka then performing seiza to drink tea. However, if one learns to avoid using the latter move, he's a fairly capable fighter whose only main drawback is the lack of multiple Mirrage Artes.
  • Limit Break: Mirrage Artes, powerful moves that use up the Mirrage Gauge, similar to Mystic Artes or Burst Artes in the rest of the series.
  • Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards: Non-elemental attacks lack any methods to increase damage. Therefore mages tend to deal higher numbers due to elemental weaknesses and resistances.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Ix tends to be the victim of this. Some of the more intelligent party members like Raine and Jade figure things out before everyone else starts getting suspicious, but they choose not to say anything. This is a literal case for the transgressors in Crestoria as they are no longer being pursued by enforcers and the general public from their world.
  • Long-Lost Relative:
    • Judas uses this as his cover story for why he resembles Leon. The man himself immediately sees through the ruse but privately agrees to uphold it.
    • Asch pretends to be Luke's older twin brother. Luke seizes the opportunity to call him aniki.
  • Luck-Based Mission: The 2nd Halloween Event introduced a mechanic where bosses are randomized. Particularly troublesome because raid battles give you a time bonus which you may end up sacrificing because the game spawned a more difficult set or a larger group.
    • April Fool's 2019 added Tales of WHISteria, which is a fun card game but it's also surprisingly common to have matches where you don't get a turn at all and lose through no fault of your own.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: Pascal's free Mirrage Arte has her fire a barrage of homing missiles from her shotstaff, somehow.
  • Mage Killer: Ludger, Julius, & Victor due to their Overray mirrage artes nullifying spells for about half a minute.
  • Merged Reality: Essentially how Gefion intends to restore Tir Na Nog. The exoflected worlds manifest as continents which replace the ones lost to the Voidstorm.
  • Metal Slime: Main quests have a small chance of spawning silver and gold versions of tadpole and dinosaur monsters which drop more EXP, gald, and rare chiral crystals.
  • Money Grinding: The most obvious example was the Golden Chamber, which players could use to grind for gald. Some events also force players to grind for currency in order to get valuable items from the events’ trade shops.
  • Monster Arena: The Tower of Progenitors, a monthly gauntlet pitting players' awakened rosters against monsters of increasing difficulty. Each iteration features at least 50 floors with a boss at every 10. Defeating theses bosses grants characters a random skill set with greater chances of better skills the higher they go.
  • Mundane Utility: Ix and Mileena use their mirrist abilities to create outfits and tools at the party's request.
  • My Greatest Second Chance: With the revelation that nexuses can never return to their home worlds and the process apparently nullifying any life-threatening traits they had, some characters see their lives as this, especially those who are burdened by their past mistakes or were living on borrowed time.
  • My Future Self and Me:
    • Leon and Judas who are much more amicable together than previous crossovers.
    • Velvet encounters a past version of herself that crossed her Despair Event Horizon.
    • Mileena and Gefion, the three Ixes, and the three Phillips
    • Ludger & Victor who don't have a reason to oppose each other anymore.
  • Nerf: Citing it as a bug, an update removed the ability for backsteps to be comboed into ranged normal attacks. It was a useful tactic for mages to reduce their casting times, especially Claus and Meredy who can attack anywhere on the field.
  • Not Himself: Luke becomes wary of Jade because he's treating everyone respectfully without a shred of snarkiness. Sure enough, it's a shimmera impersonating him and he's waiting for a chance to strike.
  • Old Save Bonus: Before its Japanese shutdown, players of Tales of Link were allowed to select 5 units on a pre-determined list (assuming they owned said units). These players were eventually rewarded with free copies of the associated characters' mirrage gear and the ability to change the artwork to the chosen Link illustrations.
    • Possibly unintentional, but this allowed certain players to unlock Flynn before his official release.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: At the end of the Sweetopia Ruins: Edna's Afterparty event, Ix brings Edna a book on dragons before discussing this trope. The two are from different worlds after all, and Zestiria's world has very specific rules on what makes a dragon.
  • Painting the Medium: The game's UI was revamped upon the release of Mirrage Prison to reflect its aesthetic.
  • Past-Life Memories: Exoflected people can experience this in their dreams.
  • Patchwork Map: The majority of Tir Na Nog eventually consists of exoflected worlds whose climates don't really adhere to their geography.
  • Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Mileena and Ix.
  • Plot-Triggering Death: Bifrost killing the original Ix backfired horribly for them and the rest of the world.
  • P.O.V. Boy, Poster Girl: Ix and Mileena. The latter has more Mirrage Artes, is featured in more advertisements, and even has her own VR experience. Becomes even more blatant in Mirrage Prison with Ix Demoted to Extra.
  • Power Creep: Mostly averted as new content is usually designed around the same difficulty standard and old characters receive updates in batches.
  • Power Glows: Spirit gear makes characters' hair glow and applies an elemental aura to their weapons and gauntlet.
  • Power Nullifier: The party's scientists develop an experimental bracelet that inhibits omega nexuses' negative abilities.
  • Promoted to Playable:
    • Kocis upon becoming a protagonist in Mirrage Prison
    • Guest Star Party Members like Asch and Alisha are no longer hindered from joining the party full-time.
    • Even antagonists like Mithos and Sync are pulling Heel Face Turns or Enemy Mines.
    • Marcus, after being a Recurring Boss in Arc 1 and a supporting character in Mirrage Prison, finally becomes playable in Fairy's Requiem.
    • This game marks the first time Ion is fully playable.
    • With the final addition of every main party member up to and including Tales of Berseria joining the roster by the 4th anniversary, any new playable usually ends up being this trope.
    • Miktran, one of the earliest main villains of the series, is finally given a spotlight as a playable character after being absent in lots of crossovers.
  • Punched Across the Room: Yuri's default Mirrage Arte, Azure Wolf Strike, results in this on the enemy.
  • Puzzle Boss: Absolute Killer has a massive defense stat such that players can only inflict Scratch Damage and its only attack is a Total Party Wipe. However, it only has 200 HP and needs time to cast his spell. The game also instantly fills everyone's mirrage gauge before the battle begins. The solution is to inflict Death of a Thousand Cuts while using Mirrage Artes to cancel its spell right before it's unleashed. Alternatively, players can take advantage of artes with full invincibility or ones that lower defense.
  • Rare Random Drop: Early events featured these, but those were soon abandoned for more gacha-exclusive costumes and accessories.
  • Recycled Soundtrack: This game brings back tons of battle themes from the franchise. In the case of Phantasia, Destiny, and Innocence, the music is lifted from their remakes.
  • Reflecting Laser: Hubert's Halloween seasonal Mirrage Arte has him fire these at reflective walls until they break.
  • Redemption Demotion: Downplayed. Antagonists who eventually join the party like Mithos and Barbatos still retain some of their "boss fight" characteristics albeit in a weaker form.
    • Their health stats are much higher than those of regular characters.
    • Some of their Artes have Iron Stance upgrades.
    • Reducing them to low health instantly fills a portion of their mirrage gauge.
    • The trade-off is that they're not affected by recovery artes and must rely on Life Drain for healing.
  • Redemption Quest: Mithos upon joining the party. Lloyd convinces him that his life in Tir Na Nog is a chance to start over and atone for his actions.
  • Relationship Values: The game offers rewards for each level with a character. Reaching the maximum value opens a special quest that will unlock a skill that grows stronger the more characters that have it.
  • Remember the New Guy?:
    • Allen, Zephyr, and Lippy's Tir Na Nog counterparts aren't really given proper introductions. From the originals' perspectives, they're just told that Wiseman will create and send over their shadow counterparts. The audience never sees Ix and Mileena being informed of this.
    • Freya ends up being a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere with no explanation for why she joins the party afterward.
  • The Reveal: Ix and Mileena are actually exoflections. Gefion, now known to be the original Mileena, created them in a last-ditch effort to save Tir Na Nog because the original Ix died in the mirrage wars. Finally, the Ix you thought you've been controlling since the prologue? He presumably drowned sometime after jumping into the sea with Mileena. The current one was exoflected at a point where he could still be saved.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something:
    • Initially averted and justified due to King Demitrius' poor health. Later subverted by Fairy's Requiem where he's become an active participant in battles now that he's regained a younger body.
    • Princess Mercuria and her brother aren't afraid to get their hands dirty.
    • Obviously any returning character who were royalty or nobility in their home worlds.
  • Sacrificial Revival Spell: Kratos transferred his mana into Martel to save her. It's worked but at the cost of himself, prompting Mithos to beg the party to save him as well. Everything worked out at the end. Not only does everyone make it out alive, but Mithos also completely does his Heel–Face Turn after this.
  • Santa Claus: He's real and tasks Ludger & Elle with Christmas preparations.
  • Say My Name: Mileena towards Ix during his Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Schmuck Bait: The June 29 2018 update added in-battle item use, finally bringing items as a mechanic into the game. The same update would heavily feature the Barbatos event quests to unlock him. A difficult boss like this is a perfect opportunity to try out this helpful new feature, right? Even the announcement illustrates the new mechanic with screenshots of characters healing while fighting him. But if there's anything to know anything about Barbatos Goetia it's perhaps his most famous line: NO ITEMS EVER!
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A few characters' response to Asgard's recruitment attempts or after some time working with them.
  • Scunthorpe Problem: A known and notorious issue with the game. A large number of words were banned and even "hello" could not be entered, due to containing the word "hell." This extended to the Japanese version, with other words, as well.
  • Secret-Keeper:
    • Aside from the Destiny 2 cast who already knew, a few characters learn Judas' true identity but promise not to reveal it.
    • Only a few people learn Luke's relationship with Asch. Besides them and the other Abyss cast, everyone else only knows them as twin brothers.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: It's already heavily implied that Kongwai has intimate knowledge of the Triverse worlds, but dialogue indicates he knows far more than that. Occasionally when the story focuses on one game's characters, he's seen hanging around as the odd man out.
  • Seen It All: All of the Nexuses take the fact that they are copies of their original selves and were summoned in to a different world than their own with incredible ease. This is justified since, as people who had greatly effected the flow of events in their original worlds, they had all been through so much, that their current situation doesn't really faze them anymore.
  • Servant Race: Mirrites are born to serve their masters and stay by their side. In most cases, if the master dies, then so does the mirrite.
  • Sharing a Body: Essentially how the Summon Spirits behave. The personalities of their incarnations from the exoflected worlds can manifest themselves in the Tir Na Nog version if they desire.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Some characters have this as alternate costumes.
  • Ship Tease: Ix and Mileena, the latter of whom is not very subtle when voicing her affections. Returning characters also get plenty of this, especially during Valentine's and White Day events.
  • Shipper on Deck: The girls like to encourage each other to pursue their love interests.
  • Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: Averted. Raine takes it upon herself to make sure all the underage party members with no professions are keeping up with their studies, much to some of their chagrin.
  • Snark-to-Snark Combat: A skit has Edna and Jade indulge in this.
  • Spell My Name With An S: The naming scheme for the Bifrost Empire is heavily based on Norse mythology which is already rife with this trope. And with no official romanizations, expect fan translations to have different spellings for all of them.
  • Significant Name Shift: In Tales of Xillia 2, Elle repeatedly calls Julius "megane no oji" ("middle-aged guy wearing glasses", localized as "Glasses Guy"), even though he's only 28 years old. In their home game, she continues addressing him this way, but in Rays, the two interact more and are able to get to know each other better, and she eventually agrees to call him by his first name after he points out that it makes him feel old.
  • Spiritual Successor: To Radiant Mythology in terms of gameplay and story, especially now that all three Kanonnos are featured. The oldest dungeon maps particularly recycled a majority of its assets from the third entry.
  • Split-Personality Merge: Somewhere between this and Split-Personality Team for Emil & Ratatosk after meeting Aster in Fairy's Requiem. Both are now fully aware of what the other does. They share equal control of their body and can even switch places in the middle of a conversation.
  • Spoiler Opening:
    • The game opens up with a fight between Ix and Marcus. The former mentions the latter travelling with them, while the latter claims the two were enemies from the beginning. This is quite a departure from when the characters are properly introduced in the proper start of the story.
    • The animated opening itself spoils Ix activating Overray and Karia's male counterpart and Ix's own Mirrite Kocis.
  • Stat Sticks: If you don't have enough character specific equipment to fill a moveset, you'll either use generic equipment or equipment for other characters just for the sake of their stats, even if they're unuseable.
  • Stealth-Based Mission: The Labyrinth of WHIS & Toys event has a quest designed around sneaking past a randomly appearing Optional Boss to take out surrounding mooks and building up your mirrage ratio before fighting it.
  • Storming the Castle: The final chapter of Arc 1.
  • Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Mirristry operates on a triangle. Creation beats fusion, fusion beats imagination, and imagination beats creation.
  • Take Our Word for It: Gefion supposedly looks like Mileena which should be true given who they are, but the game never bothers to show this in skit portraits or cutscenes.
  • Take Your Time: Due to events being plot-relevant for introducing characters and occasionally tying into current holidays, the story ends up portraying everyone frequently goofing off for long periods of time such as when Arc 1's Big Bad is ready to kick-start their Evil Plan yet they wait through Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's before doing so.
  • Taking the Bullet: Martel does this for Mithos. Fortunately she survives unlike her original counterpart.
  • Team Pet: Karia and Kocis, as far as Original Generation is concerned. Quickie, Noishe, the Oresoren, Mieu, Repede, Teepo, and the Normins also have made appearances.
  • Teleport Spam: Some characters like Suzu, Freya and Mithos do this a lot during their attacks.
  • Temporary Online Content: A majority of characters and equipment are event exclusive. If you miss them, you have to either wait for the event to be rotated back in, pick them up from the gacha, or use tickets that unlock old events for a short period.
  • Time Travel: Of a sort. Exoflection can copy pasts and futures which leads to some characters being summoned from different points in time. Most of them agree to minimize discussing their worlds' histories unless necessary.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Ix and Mileena turn out to be exoflections.
  • Took a Level in Badass:
    • In his home game, Ion was only an Assist Character for Luke, and couldn't actually do any real fighting due to his health. Now, with Tir Na Nog giving him a boost in strength, he's capable of fighting monsters with the party. However, his health still is a concern. He has the lowest health and if he uses up his CC he'll temporarily immobile, thus making this somewhat Downplayed.
  • Took a Level in Kindness:
    • Due to a change in leadership, the Salvation Front go from being the main enemies in arc 1 to becoming allies who aid and protect Mileena and the other nexuses in arc 2.
    • Thanks to his Character Development, Asch no longer antagonizes Luke and is the one to suggest pretending to be his older twin brother if anyone starts asking questions.
    • Mithos after he joins the party. It helps that his sister is around to keep him in check.
    • Barbatos of all people, granted this is Barbatos pre-Destiny 2 plot kick-in. While he is still a Blood Knight, he is at least pretty chill outside of the battlefield. It's helped that he is considered a Hero here (at least by his peers) something that he always want to be.
  • Trapped in Another World: From the nexuses' perspective.
  • True Companions: The entire party as the story develops.
  • Turns Red: Any boss with a Mirrage Arte does this at 50% HP and again if you leave them alive for too long afterward. They also add more artes to their arsenal.
  • Units Not to Scale: Some characters models's height can be a bit off when comparing with the other characters. For example, Elize is show to be a little shorter than Edna despite both actually having the same height.
  • Villains Out Shopping:
    • Dist walks into the heroes' home base for the sole purpose of handing Jade an invitation to his Christmas party. The colonel promptly tears it up.
    • A literal version occurs when he's seen buying food with Leia.
  • Villain World: Tir Na Nog becomes this by Mirrage Prison with Mileena, her associates, and any remaining stray nexuses being wanted fugitives.
  • Wake-Up Call Boss: Marcus, whose wide ranged attacks can quickly remind you that you're not the only one who can pull off devastating Mirrage Artes
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Raine is the first character to call out Ix and Mileena for taking Gefion's words at face value and proceeding to exoflect other worlds without truly confirming whether or not they're being affected. This leads Ix to reconsider his actions and stop helping Gefion until he fully understands the extent of the Aegis plan.
  • Weirdness Magnet: The nexuses naturally attract shimmera.
  • Wolverine Publicity:
    • The very first character you recruit is, of course, Yuri Lowell.
    • Any Ensemble Dark Horse characters will usually be featured in seasonal related-events including the limited gacha Mirrage Artes and other gears.
    • Cress and Lloyd show up in the intro movie, despite the fact that neither was available in the game at launch. Lloyd only got added during chapter 9 on the main plot, and Cress in chapter 11, about five months after the launch of the game.
    • Similarly, Velvet's addition to the JP version was hyped to high heaven. This is in spite of the fact that you need to beat the tenth story chapter to get her, which is quite a lot of gameplay.
  • You Can't Go Home Again:
    • Odanse was destroyed in the prologue so Ix and Mileena no longer have a home to go back to.
    • Exoflection merely copies people with all their memories and skills intact. Sending the nexuses back could be risky due to knowledge they may have obtained, especially for those who came from different points in time. Also, the mechanics of Tir Na Nog prevents them from returning even if they wanted to.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Non-lethal example when Phantom enacts his endgame.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Occurs a few times throughout the main story.

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