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Tales of Zestiria |OT| - Sorey, Modders did what Bamcouldn't!

bobohoro

Member
~5 hours in now, in short:

+
  • I like the characters. They actually feel sorta relatable, not too dumb to figure stuff out and even the little quirks like TsunMikleo or Lailah avoiding subjects are endearing for now.
  • Soundtrack is a step up from the rather mediocre efforts in Xillia1&2 as well as Graces.

~
  • Battle system takes some getting used to but is kinda fun. Although way too slow and clunky for my liking.
  • Graphics are kinda good for recent Tales games but still look rather poor in the grand scale of things. Empty landscapes, ugly textures and same-y dungeons. At least the art direction is somewhat decent and makes up for some shortcomings.

-
  • Gameplay systems are fun to have, but Zestiria already feels like a mess in the beginning and I suspect it only gets worse as time goes on. The skill system isn't really complicated, it just has way too many layers and too little player freedom to really be something entertaining.
  • That camera. Even solo it's quite bad, wouldn't wanna do this in multiplayer.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Man .. fuck the water temple.

seriously what is it with water temples and being complete pieces of shit ..
 
Just got stuck in a random battle where one enemy seems to be immortal. No tutorial on the screen, nothing special about the fight, just one guy won't take damage. Anyone else ran into this?
 

Thoraxes

Member
Had a weird bug on PC.

Saved my game.
Exited game using the title screen.
Game reported a CTD error anyways even though I closed the game myself.
Loaded up the game to check my save.
Date of save was from 1969, save would not load up at all.

I resolved it by deleting that save, and then the correct save correctly populated the menu and I was on my merry way again.
 

Althane

Member
Had a weird bug on PC.

Saved my game.
Exited game using the title screen.
Game reported a CTD error anyways even though I closed the game myself.
Loaded up the game to check my save.
Date of save was from 1969, save would not load up at all.

I resolved it by deleting that save, and then the correct save correctly populated the menu and I was on my merry way again.

Had that issue as well. Lost the first ~5 minutes of gameplay from it, but meh.

Haven't had the issue since.

Opening cutscene is bitchin'. I'll post more thoughts later. Greatly enjoying it so far.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Just got stuck in a random battle where one enemy seems to be immortal. No tutorial on the screen, nothing special about the fight, just one guy won't take damage. Anyone else ran into this?

The only thing I can think of is this shiny purple enemy I encountered by a waterfall, but I was currently under-leveled for it, though notably he killed most of my squad in one or two hits too, so there was that. XD;
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Ok for anyone who is wondering about this

the PS3 DLC costumes are separate downloads. The VOUCHER is all the costumes together for the PS3 version.

I know it's confusing but that's how they did it. Voucher = costumes for PS4, PS3 = separate downloads for the costumes.

Thanks, so all I needed was the voucher, and once I install the game, and it installs the voucher, all the costumes get downloaded?

My CE is out for delivery today, yesss.
 

ys45

Member
Played this yesterday for about 3 hours .
Combat is definitely slower , I kinda miss the fast paced combat system .

All the new mechanics and things are a little overwhelming, Il have to check the manual tonight I did not get all that stuffs .

But I like the changes they made like the no screen transition combat, you can see your party members now walking with you .
 

PKrockin

Member
I just tested out whether Link Encounters are still in, and they are. Not only that, but it seems like every single encounter I win against two or three packs of enemies gets me one or two pieces of equipment, and they're better than the stuff I'm usually getting. So group those enemies together and take them all on at once like a man, everyone.

Just got stuck in a random battle where one enemy seems to be immortal. No tutorial on the screen, nothing special about the fight, just one guy won't take damage. Anyone else ran into this?

Was it... this?

MkcUZf3.jpg
 

kewlmyc

Member
Except we have no idea how much time and staff are spent on each episode, for example Xillia 2 barely had half the staff Xillia have, meaning Zestiria was probably already in full production back in 2012 (and it was already mentionned that they began working on the game in 2011).

Seeing the credits of Zestiria, the lack of many key names usually credited and the amount of outsourced works, it's more than likely than Berseria began development way before the release of Zestiria (could be as far as early 2013).
"Taking their time" doesn't mean much, what matters is a tighter project management which oversees the whole development process and knows what to prioritize at which time.
My opinion is that it hasn't been done properly since Yoshito Higuchi left and the Bandai-Namco management are still unsure of how to do it ever since.

I do agree that Berseria announcement was way too early though, I can't see the game being released before late 2016 at best (and that's the deadline if they want this game to celebrate the supposed "20th anniversary" of the series).

I though Zestiria was the 20th Anniversary title.
 
The only thing I can think of is this shiny purple enemy I encountered by a waterfall, but I was currently under-leveled for it, though notably he killed most of my squad in one or two hits too, so there was that. XD;
Nah, even him I could do some damage to. This just seemed like a bug. Normal enemy, immortal. It was weak so it had no chance of injuring my party, I just couldn't kill it.

Ogre looking normal enemy in the ruins beneath
the castle of the first city
.
 

kewlmyc

Member
Nah, even him I could do some damage to. This just seemed like a bug. Normal enemy, immortal. It was weak so it had no chance of injuring my party, I just couldn't kill it.

Ogre looking normal enemy in the ruins beneath
the castle of the first city
.

Yeah, that was a glitch.
 

Yokai

Member
How's this game for people who haven't played a game in the series? Is this the one to get or are there better older ones? I can't play vesperia though since I don't have a xbox360.
 
So, question about titles: how do they level up? And can you screw this process up? It seems like the title you have levels up when you gain a real level, but should I be sticking with one title or switching them around?
 

Althane

Member
Thanks

So if I get this correctly the only way to increase your stats, besides new equipment is eating herbs which increase them by 2 or 3 ?

What do level ups do then? o_O

I'm a little confused about stat/skill/etc progression in this game so far. Methinks they made it a wee bit too complicated.
 

MSMrRound

Member
Just unlocked mystic artes. (Finally).

So supposedly I can use normal mystic artes...how about those arma'd mystic artes? Are they also unlocked already or later in the story?

I still have no idea what's going on with the equips and the tic-tac-toe skill thing. Any advice in terms of which equip I should go for?
 

Fisico

Member
I though Zestiria was the 20th Anniversary title.

It is, but they want Berseria to celebrate the 20th anniversary too so...
Phantasia was released in December 1995, so Zestiria was 11 months too early, if Berseria release in November 2016 it would be as much a 20th anniversary title as Zestiria ahah.
Xillia was the 15th anniversary title and 9 months late also.
 

Cornbread78

Member
I split this out of my post from last night, but could use some help here on a couple technical issues I ran into last night for my hour playing..:


I haven't seen this problem since WKCII, but there is a blur surrounding (his outline) Sorey as he moves around the map. What is causing that to occur. It's not damning, just slightly distracting. For reference, I have a 7000 series 1080/240hz Samsung tv, that is set in Game Mode for all games. Anyone else run into this?


Another thing I've noticed is the background textures when they show airial shots look absolutely horrible, like PS2 bad. They are completely flat and blurred with like a rubber basketball type texture to them. Is that just me, or are those distant shots just THAT bad? Playing the game with a PSN downloaded PS4 version.
 

Mendrox

Member
Just unlocked mystic artes. (Finally).

So supposedly I can use normal mystic artes...how about those arma'd mystic artes? Are they also unlocked already or later in the story?

I still have no idea what's going on with the equips and the tic-tac-toe skill thing. Any advice in terms of which equip I should go for?

Yes there will be Zelda dungeons for that. Don't worry... imo that is the most epic series of boss battles in this game :) Loved the music
 
I was about to complain about the free movement in battles which is locked to holding L2 button. Then I got this 'Free & Free' battle action, what a relive.
 

Stuart444

Member
Thanks, so all I needed was the voucher, and once I install the game, and it installs the voucher, all the costumes get downloaded?

My CE is out for delivery today, yesss.

Yeah. I was confused as well since once I redeemed my pre-order code, I got the same things. Figured it out quickly enough since I was using the web store download list and saw that only 2 of them were listed as PS4 (the MA and the voucher ones).

So I only downloaded them (the PS4 DLC) and when I went into game, the costumes were in the DLC items tab
 

vareon

Member
Hmmmm. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong in battles. I want to play my battles rather slowly for now and practice dodge/block, but sometimes it takes a long time for Sorey to take action after my input. I had to resort to mashing attack button sometimes just to make sure the game registers it.

Is this because of Semi Auto Battle? Controller problem? Or I'm just playing it wrong?
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Yeah. I was confused as well since once I redeemed my pre-order code, I got the same things. Figured it out quickly enough since I was using the web store download list and saw that only 2 of them were listed as PS4 (the MA and the voucher ones).

So I only downloaded them (the PS4 DLC) and when I went into game, the costumes were in the DLC items tab

Thanks. What about the free skit pack, how does NA get those?
 

Crevox

Member
Can I get any tips here? I'm not sure what to do. I'm having a really bad time with the AI in this game. I'm playing on hard mode.

The AI just dies over and over. I can solo any of the bosses (and mostly do) that I've come to at this point, but they just can't handle themselves.

I've given them the best equipment I can, I've given them a priority of defense on their equipment (and some AI even having that first column filled out for +to all stats), it doesn't matter. Once you get far enough, they just can't stay alive. Even when I command them to prioritize defense or adjust the strategy, they still die.

I don't think I have ever seen the AI block, and they rarely quickstep out of the way of an enemy attack; they just take it to the face or slowly try to free run away. The only way the AI lives is if you control the fight well enough so that the enemy stays staggered so they can't get hit, but you can't always do that. The first time I've truly had trouble with this was the
drake boss in Marlind
and the
ruins plant boss
. I can finish the fight just fine, but my grade is going to suffer because the AI can't live, no matter how well I play the skill system or their tactics. I don't even use items; I don't die, the AI just keeps coming back to life because of the standby mode, and then they just die again. Same thing with the
purple wolf boss
near the beginning of the game. It was just me fighting it with the AI falling over.

Normal mode is probably much easier, but it just sucks that the AI can't even play the game. I've never had it this bad in a tales game. I remember the AI having trouble with Graces on Chaos, but I'm only on hard right now in this game. Compared to other people's videos I'm only level 17 for the
plant boss
while other people are like level 22+, but as far as people say, level doesn't really matter for stats. My equipment is good, and while I'm missing some artes (cough
mystic artes
too) it shouldn't be this bad. Like I said, winning the fight is easy, but the AI living is a whole different story.

Is there something I'm missing? Why doesn't the AI block?
 

Tsosie

Member
So after a personally disappointing 2.5 hours of Dragon Quest Heroes, I am ready to jump on board. Any tips that I need to know before getting deep into this game?
 

Mendrox

Member
Can I get any tips here? I'm not sure what to do. I'm having a really bad time with the AI in this game. I'm playing on hard mode.

The AI just dies over and over. I can solo any of the bosses (and mostly do) that I've come to at this point, but they just can't handle themselves.

I've given them the best equipment I can, I've given them a priority of defense on their equipment (and some AI even having that first column filled out for +to all stats), it doesn't matter. Once you get far enough, they just can't stay alive. Even when I command them to prioritize defense or adjust the strategy, they still die.

I don't think I have ever seen the AI block, and they rarely quickstep out of the way of an enemy attack; they just take it to the face or slowly try to free run away. The only way the AI lives is if you control the fight well enough so that the enemy stays staggered so they can't get hit, but you can't always do that. The first time I've truly had trouble with this was the
drake boss in Marlind
and the
ruins plant boss
. I can finish the fight just fine, but my grade is going to suffer because the AI can't live, no matter how well I play the skill system or their tactics. I don't even use items; I don't die, the AI just keeps coming back to life because of the standby mode, and then they just die again. Same thing with the
purple wolf boss
near the beginning of the game. It was just me fighting it with the AI falling over.

Normal mode is probably much easier, but it just sucks that the AI can't even play the game. I've never had it this bad in a tales game. I remember the AI having trouble with Graces on Chaos, but I'm only on hard right now in this game. Compared to other people's videos I'm only level 17 for the
plant boss
while other people are like level 22+, but as far as people say, level doesn't really matter for stats. My equipment is good, and while I'm missing some artes (cough
mystic artes
too) it shouldn't be this bad. Like I said, winning the fight is easy, but the AI living is a whole different story.

Is there something I'm missing? Why doesn't the AI block?

The AI is horrible in this game and you just have to outlevel bosses on hard/chaos to let them live through anything at all.
 

Ketkat

Member
Can I get any tips here? I'm not sure what to do. I'm having a really bad time with the AI in this game. I'm playing on hard mode.

The AI just dies over and over. I can solo any of the bosses (and mostly do) that I've come to at this point, but they just can't handle themselves.

I've given them the best equipment I can, I've given them a priority of defense on their equipment (and some AI even having that first column filled out for +to all stats), it doesn't matter. Once you get far enough, they just can't stay alive. Even when I command them to prioritize defense or adjust the strategy, they still die.

I don't think I have ever seen the AI block, and they rarely quickstep out of the way of an enemy attack; they just take it to the face or slowly try to free run away. The only way the AI lives is if you control the fight well enough so that the enemy stays staggered so they can't get hit, but you can't always do that. The first time I've truly had trouble with this was the
drake boss in Marlind
and the
ruins plant boss
. I can finish the fight just fine, but my grade is going to suffer because the AI can't live, no matter how well I play the skill system or their tactics. I don't even use items; I don't die, the AI just keeps coming back to life because of the standby mode, and then they just die again. Same thing with the
purple wolf boss
near the beginning of the game. It was just me fighting it with the AI falling over.

Normal mode is probably much easier, but it just sucks that the AI can't even play the game. I've never had it this bad in a tales game. I remember the AI having trouble with Graces on Chaos, but I'm only on hard right now in this game. Compared to other people's videos I'm only level 17 for the
plant boss
while other people are like level 22+, but as far as people say, level doesn't really matter for stats. My equipment is good, and while I'm missing some artes (cough
mystic artes
too) it shouldn't be this bad. Like I said, winning the fight is easy, but the AI living is a whole different story.

Is there something I'm missing? Why doesn't the AI block?

Keep in mind that you can swap out seraphim party members on the fly if they're taking a beating. They regen while in reserve, and if one gets KO'd, they'll auto revive (in reserve) after a little bit.
 

Mendrox

Member
Keep in mind that you can swap out seraphim party members on the fly if they're taking a beating. They regen while in reserve, and if one gets KO'd, they'll auto revive (in reserve) after a little bit.

Oh yes this! You don't even need life bottles in this game :)
 

Irvana

Member
I'd like see the first new gen Tales of. Sadly, next entry Tales of Berseria will continue to be technically outdated...
 

tauke

Member
Downsample from 5120x2880 to 1920x1080 and it uses on average 40-50% of my GTX 780.

Still have that minor pixel crawling on alpha textures like tree leaves sprites so I have to try the SGSSAA method.

Also I think I overlook it but how do one access the DLC costumes? I didn't see it in the menu although I just reached the village and yet to see the intro video?

Although I feel really sad for the environment art. A huge step down compared to Vesperia (which is the last Tales games that I played).
 
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