When NAMCO released Tales of Zestiria, they really thought they going to get a home run. Suffice to say, they franshised the heck out of this game, anime, light novel, and manga adaptations were already in the works. Yet this game was a spectacular failure. I've had highs and lows when it comes to enjoying different installments of the Tales series just like any fan, but when I pull up any of Zestiria's floorboards I find myself seeing its foundation infested with woodlice and termites.
Enduring Zestiria's cast of characters is more a testament of patience than a developing of affection. This mostly has to with the fact that the characters have no chemistry together. For example, Sorey likes archaeology, but because the story already has exposition delivered from Lailah, that trait stops mattering after they meet Lailah. Edna's only standout interactions are making Mikleo miserable and throwing in the occasional deadpan comment. Sorey and Alisha relationship is of obsessively trying to please the other with little existing outside that dynamic. In contrast, Sorey and Rose's relationship is almost a satire about moral compromise.
It's bad enough to watch these characters undermine through dialogue, but watching them act it through the context of a JRPG from 80's only worsened my headache. Prophetic nonsense, cyclical villains, and characters acting stupid just to move the plot forward. In one memorable point, Alisha barely escapes a coup conducted by some angry nobles. Later in the game, she returns to the nobles alone, with no protection whatsoever. Unsurprisingly, the nobles use Alisha to blackmail Sorey into doing whatever they want. This is just one of the stupid plots in this game.
The gameplay a tedious slog. This game is chock-full Fake Longevity. Need to fast travel? The game will charge you an amount proportional to your gold savings. Need to better stats and abilities to make fighting encounters and bosses less difficult? Well, their are three reddit pages full of notes to consult, explaining how character skills, enemy types, and item fusion correspond to make that perfect weapon that you discard two towns later because it doesn't scale as effectively as the new weapon available. Weapons need to be bought multiple times and certain abilities have to be grinded against weaker enemies unless you want the process to take even longer, meaning even more uses of fast travel, and none of this is even getting into shop investment.Eventually, I realized I was playing a virtual pyramid scheme and just used EXP and gold exploits to beat the remaining bosses. This isn't good game design.
I have always been a huge Tales game fan. I may have not liked Vesperia, but I do recognize that it had some good points. But I can't recommend Tales Of Zestiria to anyone. I remember feeling exhaustively weary after finishing the game and wondering to myself "Did I ever have fun playing this?" The answer was no, I did not.
One of NAMCO's biggest flops.
When NAMCO released Tales of Zestiria, they really thought they going to get a home run. Suffice to say, they franshised the heck out of this game, anime, light novel, and manga adaptations were already in the works. Yet this game was a spectacular failure. I've had highs and lows when it comes to enjoying different installments of the Tales series just like any fan, but when I pull up any of Zestiria's floorboards I find myself seeing its foundation infested with woodlice and termites.
Enduring Zestiria's cast of characters is more a testament of patience than a developing of affection. This mostly has to with the fact that the characters have no chemistry together. For example, Sorey likes archaeology, but because the story already has exposition delivered from Lailah, that trait stops mattering after they meet Lailah. Edna's only standout interactions are making Mikleo miserable and throwing in the occasional deadpan comment. Sorey and Alisha relationship is of obsessively trying to please the other with little existing outside that dynamic. In contrast, Sorey and Rose's relationship is almost a satire about moral compromise.
It's bad enough to watch these characters undermine through dialogue, but watching them act it through the context of a JRPG from 80's only worsened my headache. Prophetic nonsense, cyclical villains, and characters acting stupid just to move the plot forward. In one memorable point, Alisha barely escapes a coup conducted by some angry nobles. Later in the game, she returns to the nobles alone, with no protection whatsoever. Unsurprisingly, the nobles use Alisha to blackmail Sorey into doing whatever they want. This is just one of the stupid plots in this game.
The gameplay a tedious slog. This game is chock-full Fake Longevity. Need to fast travel? The game will charge you an amount proportional to your gold savings. Need to better stats and abilities to make fighting encounters and bosses less difficult? Well, their are three reddit pages full of notes to consult, explaining how character skills, enemy types, and item fusion correspond to make that perfect weapon that you discard two towns later because it doesn't scale as effectively as the new weapon available. Weapons need to be bought multiple times and certain abilities have to be grinded against weaker enemies unless you want the process to take even longer, meaning even more uses of fast travel, and none of this is even getting into shop investment.Eventually, I realized I was playing a virtual pyramid scheme and just used EXP and gold exploits to beat the remaining bosses. This isn't good game design.
I have always been a huge Tales game fan. I may have not liked Vesperia, but I do recognize that it had some good points. But I can't recommend Tales Of Zestiria to anyone. I remember feeling exhaustively weary after finishing the game and wondering to myself "Did I ever have fun playing this?" The answer was no, I did not.