Tales of Zestiria

[Orpheon]

So... another Tales of as it seems. This is already confirmed to be coming worldwide and is the 20th Anniversary title on the PS3. I guess it was time for a new game in Japan with the most recent being Tales of Xillia 2 that dropped, what, 2 years ago almost? There's no release date yet, at least none that I could fine, but if this comes late 2014, then NA will be seeing 3--technically 4--Tales titles next year, with the addition of Tales of Xillia 2 and Tales of Symphonia Chronicles.

Tales of Zestiria is coming worldwide on PlayStation 3!!! In this brand new adventure, players will delve into a grand storyline and discover the “zest” of adventure with brand new characters, magical lands and action-packed gameplay that the ‘Tales of’ franchise is known for from fans around the world. Tales of Zestiria™ returns to the series roots of a fantasy setting with character designs being handled by all four series designers; Mutsumi Inomata, Kosuke Fujishima, Daigo Okumura, and Minoru Iwamoto. ufotable Inc. will also return to create the game’s animated cut scenes and opening movie.

[shadowofchaos]

"Worldwide"

Well at least they're getting better on reassuring their fans in outside Japan.

[Orpheon]

"Worldwide"

Well at least they're getting better on reassuring their fans in outside Japan.

Ever since that Community ARG a few years ago when they announced Tales of Graces f was coming to NA, they've gotten better with communication. It helps that they've become involved with the community through Facebook and such. Probably to remedy the drama that was ToGWii and ToVPS3 (which I'm sure some people are still bitter over).

[shadowofchaos]

Probably to remedy the drama that was ToGWii and ToVPS3 (which I'm sure some people are still bitter over).

If anyone knows how to hold a grudge over the years... it's tales fans.

[The JOJ]

Yes I just made this.

Edited December 20, 2013 by The JOJ

[Silver Lightning]

OMG YAY!!!!! Didn't know about this yet! I'm so excited! :D :D :D

Good on them for jumping on what I assume will hopefully become the standard "worldwide release" bandwagon. I really hope this means that they won't be passing up game localizations anymore. And thank goodness they haven't switched to PS4 yet for the platform; Tales games are usually platform purchases for me, so my wallet would really hurt if it was on PS4, if indeed I could even afford it.

And I'm curious: I haven't played Xillia 2 yet (and I technically haven't finished Xillia yet >_<), but had the series really left its fantasy roots recently? I thought the previous Tales games were pretty good at maintaining a fantasy theme with some sci-fi thrown into the mix occasionally.

[eclipse]

SQUEEEEEEEEE~! Ahem. . .

I'm glad this one's coming to everyone. I've got a huge soft spot for Tales games~!

[Vestige]

I'm going to binge on Tales this coming year.

Still need to play Xillia. Then ToS HD is coming out soon. And then Xillia 2. AND THEN NEW TALES GAME RELEASED WORLDWIDE LET'S GO!

[Orpheon]

SQUEEEEEEEEE~! Ahem. . .

I'm glad this one's coming to everyone. I've got a huge soft spot for Tales games~!

This is pretty much my reaction normally. Truth be told, I was a latecomer to the series, having started with the monstrosity that was Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Knight of Ratatosk/ToS2), but I did go back and play other games such as Symphonia 1 and Tales of the Abyss; Tales of Legendia still eludes me. However, ever since then, I've gotten so hyped over releases of new games. The announcement of ToGf pretty much made my year, and I was still so psyched to play Xillia, even though I heard it was a lacking title in terms of series staples like Nam Cobanda Island, a Hot Spring Scene or even costumes (which Scamco is leaning more towards paying $5 dollars for a single costume rather than having a majority of them in game), but Xillia made up for it with what I thought was one of the more compelling narratives in the series.

That being said, I'm a university student now who goes to school 3000 miles away from home (literally across the country, from coast to coast), and I don't have my PS3 out at University with me. I'll only be home about 4 out the 12 months, so it's hard for me to play games. I really want to re-experience Tales of Symphonia since I sent the two of them as a gift to me ex about a year ago, and I would love to experience Tales of Xillia 2. But as it stands, my money is limited and the time I have to play them is limited.

I really wish I would be able to get as hyped about Tales of games as I used to be able to. I guess the first step is convincing my parents to allow me to take my PS3 out to New York with me when I go back in February.

[Elli]

I am so hyped for this game and Tales of Xillia 2, Bring on the tales games!!! Oh and also ToS on the ps3 I will finally be able to play it yay! now to just get Vesperia,,,

[Silver Lightning]

I wish I knew what they were saying.... >_<

First impression on the character designs:

- I love the dude's outfit (it looks like a cross between Colette's clothes design and the Oracle Knight Uniform); don't laugh, but the first thing I thought of when I saw his face is that he kinda-sorta looks like Rey's MU. Maybe it's just me.... XD

- Can't see as much of the girl's design, but what I do see is making me think of some of the Atelier Iris alchemist girls for some reason.

This game looks gorgeous already!

[eclipse]

THEMES THAT WE'LL PROBABLY SEE:

- Light and darkness

- Religion

- Saving the world

The thing on the girl's back reminded me of Falchion. The boy reminds me of a unholy cross between Asbel and Jude.

[shroudening]

Now I have a 5th reason to get a PS3. I'm quite glad that it isn't a PS4 game.

The two main characters look pretty cool. I can't wait to see what it turns out to be!

[Orpheon]

There's a trailer? That I was unaware of. There were pictures on the "Tales of" Facebook page, but the forum wasn't accepting the image extensions for whatever reason.

So far, I'm digging the character designs, even if they're a bit remnant of past characters.

The male reminds me a Jude and Cress mix, maybe with a bit of Stahn in there.

The girl just screams MIlla at me.

Shall we play the "Who shall receive which cameo costume" game?

[Sylphid]

I would have posted here earlier, but the hype overload broke my brain.

Definitely getting this, since I won't have to buy PS4 for it.

Anyways, The story seems to be something like "light defeated darkness ages ago and the world was at peace. But the peaceful times will soon end."

So typical to Tales, it seems like a typical story, but will have at least one twist.

The guy is using sword, but also has a book with him... So he either has a magical journal that has writing from future, the game's equivalent of the Bible, or he's like Milla and can break the game by being able to do everything?

The girl just screams MIlla at me.

Shall we play the "Who shall receive which cameo costume" game?

Don't you mean Milla with a personality from the start?

The guy will have Yuri, Kratos, Asbel or Jude

The girl will have Cheria or Milla. Or in a weird twist, Judith

There will be a loli with Presea/Elize outfit. Or a little boy with... Emil? I don't know.

[Orpheon]

From Siliconera:

Tales producer Hideo Baba spoke with Famitsu about Tales of Zestiria. One of the tidbits from the interview is Baba said the Tales of games were something like moving along a highway, until now because Zestiria won’t be like that.

Tales of Zestiria will dig into the depth of the heart and "zest" is a keyword for the game. Baba said Slay, the male protagonist, may not appear to be a passionate type of person at first, but deep down he has passion hidden inside of him. Baba reiterated that while other Tales of games were rooted with themes of justice or faith, this core of Zestiria’s story is passion.

Edited December 29, 2013 by DualSilverGunner

[Orpheon]

Double post! More info on the heroine:

In a recent interview with Famitsu magazine, producer Hideo Baba talked about Tales of Zestiria and how it will be different from past games in the series. In the same interview, he also shares a little more information on Alicia, the upcoming game’s heroine.

Alicia occupies the lowest seat in the royal family, meaning she is the farthest one in line from being the next heir of the kingdom. So even though she is considered royalty, her position isn’t very high. However, this doesn’t matter to her, as she chose the life of a knight, and loves doing what she does.

According to Baba, she’s the type of person who’d put herself in danger in order to be of help, while protecting her country and its citizens.

She ends up traveling with Slay, but her reason for going on a journey is different from his, as she always acts while thinking about what she can do. In terms of personality, she’s a little bit more on the serious side, and properly responds to Slay’s optimistic personality. As the story goes on, however, you’ll be seeing different sides of her during conversations and other sub-events.

As far as the battle system goes, Baba doesn’t reveal much, but he says that it will focus on the “sword and magic fantasy” and will be quite different from what you’re used to. It will be an evolved form of the current linear-motion battle system, but he says there will also be a “big surprise” he hopes fans will look forward to.

The focus of “dragons” will be a first time for the Tales of series. According to Baba, dragons are often depicted as good, evil, and are some sort of symbolic existence to various worlds. While he doesn’t reveal whether they’ll be good or bad in Tales of Zestiria, he says they will be a big part of the game’s story.

Baba also says that Tales of Zestiria’s scenario and character designs are pretty much complete, and at the moment the development staff are working on various systems and graphics pertaining to the game. Their next step is to work on in-game and animated scenes, which they expect to be a tough process that will require plenty of work, but Baba is confident that the staff’s motivation will get them through.

Edited January 5, 2014 by DualSilverGunner

[Orpheon]

Tr-tr-tr-triple post! *bump* The game's second trailer has released!

"The trailer starts out with a narrator stating that humans are too powerless, and when times are at a loss, people will pray for the appearance of a Monk (or Doshi). Tales of Zestiria will be telling the “story of the Monks” that takes place in the “era of disasters”.

During the trailer, the protagonist Slay also mentions that he dreams of finding a way that allows humans and those of the Heavenly Tribe to happily live together, similar to the days of the “legendary era”.

We also get to see Slay, who is about to pull out the holy sword, state that he is ready to become a Monk. Before doing so, Laila warns him that it would mean he shall become her vessel and will have to carry the fate on his back.

Slay confidently responds by saying that he believes the dream he’s chasing might be a way to save mankind and the Heavenly Tribe, and if that’s the case, he’ll become a Monk."

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Wow, ToZ looks EPIC! I cannot wait for to play it! If this will be great as Abyss or Vesperia (I began with), that would be awesome!

I hope, it will be released even 2014 in the EU as well (maybe before christmas).

[Orpheon]

Sad to say, but 2014 is pretty unrealistic at this point. With Tales of Xillia 2 coming out in August and Tales of Hearts R releasing in North America in the winter, we probably won't see localized versions of Zestiria until Summer 2015

[Lord Glenn]

After seeing the new trailer and Siliconera's post describing a couple of the locales (and how exploration's a key focus for the game), I think Zesteria might be the first Tales game that I've seriously been interested in in a long while. (Honestly, it's probably the first - I only experienced Symphonia and Abyss secondhand originally, so I didn't care about them before they released, I wanted to be interested in Vesperia, but I wasn't buying a 360 for it, and all of the others in between didn't do much for me in some way, shape, or form.)

I know it's a staple of the series*, but my only complaint so far is having yet another sword-using main character. (I'm sure as localized information comes out, something else will end up grating on my nerves.) *The only game with a non-sword main character I can think of is Legendia, and, IIRC, it wasn't even originally supposed to be a Tales game...

...On a random side note, is anyone else (outside of the number of characters) reminded a bit of Radiata Stories by Zesteria? (Not that that's a bad thing.)

I guess I'm just glad that this isn't "next-gen", since I'll actually have the opportunity to play it...

Edited April 27, 2014 by Lord Glenn

[Orpheon]

After seeing the new trailer and Siliconera's post describing a couple of the locales (and how exploration's a key focus for the game), I think Zesteria might be the first Tales game that I've seriously been interested in in a long while. (Honestly, it's probably the first - I only experienced Symphonia and Abyss secondhand originally, so I didn't care about them before they released, I wanted to be interested in Vesperia, but I wasn't buying a 360 for it, and all of the others in between didn't do much for me in some way, shape, or form.)

I know it's a staple of the series*, but my only complaint so far is having yet another sword-using main character. (I'm sure as localized information comes out, something else will end up grating on my nerves.) *The only game with a non-sword main character I can think of is Legendia, and, IIRC, it wasn't even originally supposed to be a Tales game...

...On a random side note, is anyone else (outside of the number of characters) reminded a bit of Radiata Stories by Zesteria? (Not that that's a bad thing.)

I guess I'm just glad that this isn't "next-gen", since I'll actually have the opportunity to play it...

The two Tales of Xillia games also break away from the sword-using trope of a main character. Jude, who is one of the two character stories you can follow in Xilla (Milla, the other being a magic swordswoman), uses his fists like Senel in Tales of Legendia. And the Luger in Tales of Xillia uses blades 33% of the time, since he can switch between dual blades, dual guns, or a hammer. Although I get what you mean about almost every main character of the series is a swordsman.

[Silver Lightning]

Oh wow, this looks awesome already! Can't wait to play it! Kinda miffed that they didn't show more of Alicia, I like her the most so far.

After seeing the new trailer and Siliconera's post describing a couple of the locales (and how exploration's a key focus for the game), I think Zesteria might be the first Tales game that I've seriously been interested in in a long while. (Honestly, it's probably the first - I only experienced Symphonia and Abyss secondhand originally, so I didn't care about them before they released, I wanted to be interested in Vesperia, but I wasn't buying a 360 for it, and all of the others in between didn't do much for me in some way, shape, or form.)

I know it's a staple of the series*, but my only complaint so far is having yet another sword-using main character. (I'm sure as localized information comes out, something else will end up grating on my nerves.) *The only game with a non-sword main character I can think of is Legendia, and, IIRC, it wasn't even originally supposed to be a Tales game...

...On a random side note, is anyone else (outside of the number of characters) reminded a bit of Radiata Stories by Zesteria? (Not that that's a bad thing.)

I guess I'm just glad that this isn't "next-gen", since I'll actually have the opportunity to play it...

I kind of got that vibe a little. What made you think so, though?

[Lord Glenn]

The two Tales of Xillia games also break away from the sword-using trope of a main character. Jude, who is one of the two character stories you can follow in Xilla (Milla, the other being a magic swordswoman), uses his fists like Senel in Tales of Legendia. And the Luger in Tales of Xillia uses blades 33% of the time, since he can switch between dual blades, dual guns, or a hammer. Although I get what you mean about almost every main character of the series is a swordsman.

My point was just that there was at least a main character that used swords, so Milla and Luger basically qualify. (Though, of the two, I would say that Luger is more able to be counted as an exception.)

Oh wow, this looks awesome already! Can't wait to play it! Kinda miffed that they didn't show more of Alicia, I like her the most so far.

I kind of got that vibe a little. What made you think so, though?

Initially, I think it was just Alicia that made me think of it, but more things have crept in to go along with it. (Alicia being royalty, yet choosing to be a knight instead, making me think back to Ridley.)

Now that I've thought about it though, Slay's outfit reminds me of Jack's Radiata Knight Trainee Uniform, there's the whole exploration aspect (while you're not forced to explore in Radiata Stories, once stuff opens up, you're free to run around and end up in areas really early), other fantasy elements... heck, even the town reminds me a little of Radiata proper in the shots from the first area.

[Silver Lightning]

My point was just that there was at least a main character that used swords, so Milla and Luger basically qualify. (Though, of the two, I would say that Luger is more able to be counted as an exception.)

Initially, I think it was just Alicia that made me think of it, but more things have crept in to go along with it. (Alicia being royalty, yet choosing to be a knight instead, making me think back to Ridley.)

Now that I've thought about it though, Slay's outfit reminds me of Jack's Radiata Knight Trainee Uniform, there's the whole exploration aspect (while you're not forced to explore in Radiata Stories, once stuff opens up, you're free to run around and end up in areas really early), other fantasy elements... heck, even the town reminds me a little of Radiata proper in the shots from the first area.

Oh, yeah, you're right! And considering that this game seems to have dragon theme as well (like the Guardian dragons of Tottaus), I can see the similarities. Not that I mind at all; we'll probably never get another Radiata game, so having a spiritually similar game is good enough for me. If it is indeed similar...