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

SephLuis

Member
So I'm thinking of getting this but have had a pretty rocky relationship with the Tales games. Could someone give me an idea if this is worth getting?

The Tales games I have my played and my general opinions of them are as follows:

Tales of Destiny - Don't remember much but I remember quite enjoying it

Tales of Destiny 2 - Quite enjoyed it as well. I liked how the main girl punched people in the face while wearing a dress.

Tales of that Douchey Main Character with White Hair who wanted to fuck his Sister also there was a Swordsman Girl with a Blue Hat? - Would have liked it if I didn't find the main character completely unbearable. Dropped it because of him

Tales of Hearts R - Fuck this game to the very depths of anime hell

No major assholes in the party this time, so it should be fine.
 

koutoru

Member
oh shit, this is next tuesday already? damn....well I guess at least I got a best buy gift card coming the mail...already got guitar hero pre-ordered. Time to get a Next Gen Tales game!
That doesn't exist yet. Even Tales of Berseria is cross gen.
 

Kasumin

Member
Ludger shouldn't have been a silent protagonist, since he has his own story. A very small spoiler not related to the story, but once you finish the game, they add Ludger voices to the game for NG+. It's odd that they choose to do this, especially in this game that I really liked the story.

My main issue with it was pacing.

But Ludger still doesn't talk normally. He just says the lines of whatever choice you choose in the decision points. So for the most part he's still silent.
 

SephLuis

Member
But Ludger still doesn't talk normally. He just says the lines of whatever choice you choose in the decision points. So for the most part he's still silent.

Yes, but I just would like to point that it's an odd happening he's mute when he has his own character.
 

rickyson1

Member
kinda torn on this was sorta excited for it but the 30 fps thing has prevented me from buying it as of now

what are the odds Symphonia isn't 30?
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I preordered this on Steam. I've got quite a few Tales games before, but I don't have a favorite. I saw good things about the Japanese release too and my Steam controller is coming soon.

I wonder if it's even going to work with this.

I still have that weird idea about each game being a gum drop. I can't think of anything besides gum drops when I think about the series.

I would like to go with the English dubbing, but they always sound perky for reasons unknown.
 

Stuart444

Member
Can't wait for this next Tuesday. Haven't even finished Disgaea 5 yet but I'll try to juggle that and this.

I have Disgaea 5 coming together with this XD. (literally, same delivery)

Amazon putting them together makes me happy. :) though juggling them (and my Symphonia HD playthroughs which I'm currently working on) will be hard.
 
Tales of Phantasia is one of my favorite games of all time. Hated Tales of the Abyss on the PS2, but quite liked Legendia. I'm really excited to play Zestiria to scratch the "big RPG" itch left after I finished PoEternity.

Legendia is the only Tales I've played and I quite liked too, couldn't stand the first hours of Abyss so I abandoned it and have not played any other entry. I want a JRPG on PS4 so I thought that this could be the one but I don't know how's the track with the last Tales, are they doing a good job? is this game any good?
 

PKrockin

Member
Legendia is the only Tales I've played and I quite liked too, couldn't stand the first hours of Abyss so I abandoned it and have not played any other entry. I want a JRPG on PS4 so I thought that this could be the one but I don't know how's the track with the last Tales, are they doing a good job? is this game any good?
Most people seem to think Legendia is one of the worse Tales games, soundtrack aside, and Abyss is one of the more divisive games. The Tales series lately has generally had a moderately positive reception I think. Common complaints are being too long and having boring fields, common praises are character interaction and fun battle systems. If you don't mind anime cliches they're pretty fun.
 

Bladenic

Member
Legendia is the only Tales I've played and I quite liked too, couldn't stand the first hours of Abyss so I abandoned it and have not played any other entry. I want a JRPG on PS4 so I thought that this could be the one but I don't know how's the track with the last Tales, are they doing a good job? is this game any good?

Can't speak for this game just yet, but the Tales series, for me, always has extremely fun and easy to pick up battle systems, lots of characters with different personalities (even if often they're expies of other series characters) and fighting styles, generally nice worlds and graphics are adequate enough (Vesperia being a highlight), and some good to great tracks in every game. Objectively, they're not top tier RPGs as they are more B level budgets and whatnot, but in terms of pure fun battle systems, they are probably my favorite series.
 

Kensuke

Member
I've played it for a couple of hours and my initial impressions are mostly positive.

+ Clean look and mostly nice character designs.
+ Environments are a bit better than the boring boxy stuff in the Xillia games.
+ Fusing with seraphs is a cool mechanic.
+ The battle system seems more balanced than usual. Not as much mashing. You exploit elemental weaknesses, dodge to keep your SC high, switch out characters Marvel vs. Capcom style. It feels like you're constantly doing stuff. You need to do it too if you're playing on Hard.
+ I actually like the way they streamlined battle skills. Getting a ton of skills and leveling them up got old in the recent Tales games.
+ I like the way gear works too. Fusing it to get specific skills, filling up the skill board to activate bonuses. I might end up getting tired of all the management, but so far it's cool.
+ The game as a whole feels more polished than Xillia. Nice transitions into battles and cut-scenes. The camera is also more dynamic during those cut-scenes, it feels like it has a bit more flair to it.
+ The game rewards you more than ever for playing on Hard. You get better gear and some unique skills.

+- Towns seem pretty good so far, haven't seen anything really special yet though.
+- Protagonist is a too much of a goody two-shoes, but not as dull as Jude. Probably better than Lloyd too. Not as interesting or as charismatic as Yuri and Luke.
+- The other cast members are not great so far. Lacking a bit in terms of personality. Funny skits are therefore kind of infrequent. Thank god for Edna though, just got her and she seems great.

- Dungeons so far have consisted of sewer-like environments that are just basically corridors that connect to each other. Not creative at all.
- The camera can be terrible in relatively closed environments against big enemies. It can't zoom out properly. Sometimes you can't even see your character anymore. This is the result of doing away with arenas.
- The story is a straight-up good vs. evil save the world tale. There is a lot of talk about 'malevolence in people's hearts'. That kind of stuff. Might be too simplistic.
 
I've played it for a couple of hours and my initial impressions are mostly positive.

+ Clean look and mostly nice character designs.
+ Environments are a bit better than the boring boxy stuff in the Xillia games.
+ Fusing with seraphs is a cool mechanic.
+ The battle system seems more balanced than usual. Not as much mashing. You exploit elemental weaknesses, dodge to keep your SC high, switch out characters Marvel vs. Capcom style. It feels like you're constantly doing things.
+ I actually like the way they streamlined battle skills. Getting a ton of skills and leveling them up got old in the recent Tales games.
+ I like the way gear works too. Fusing it to get specific skills, filling up the skill board to activate bonuses. I might end up getting tired of all the management, but so far it's cool.
+ The game as a whole feels more polished than Xillia. Nice transitions into battles and cut-scenes. The camera is also more dynamic during those cut-scenes, it feels like it has a bit more flair to it.
+ The game rewards you more than ever for playing on Hard. You get better gear and some unique skills.

+- Towns seem pretty good so far, haven't seen anything really special yet though.
+- Protagonist is a too much of a goody two-shoes, but not as dull as Jude. Probably better than Lloyd too. Not as interesting or as charismatic as Yuri and Luke.
+- The other cast members are not great so far. Lacking a bit in terms of personality. Funny skits are therefore kind of infrequent. Thank god for Edna though, just got her and she seems great.

- Dungeons so far have consisted of sewer-like environments that are just basically corridors that connect to each other. Not creative at all.
- The camera can be terrible in relatively closed environments against big enemies. It can't zoom out properly. Sometimes you can't even see your character anymore. This is the result of doing away with arenas.
- The story is a straight-up good vs. evil save the world tale. There is a lot of talk about 'malevolence in people's hearts'. That kind of stuff. Might be too simplistic.

Sounds good to me. Thanks for the writeup.
Can't wait for the 20th!
 
Pretty clever OP, it took me a while to get the thread title.

4 days before the game release and I'm still debating the necessity to preorder. It's not like I don't already have a backlog for the next month (MGS nearly done and witcher 3 50%) but that classic costume pack is tempting me.
 
BTW, question for the people who played the Japanese version of Zestiria.
How soon do you get Zaveid in your party? When I found out that Zaveid is a permanent party member, I was extremely stoked. I thought for sure that he would be one of those guest party members
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
I got my game. Now to wait 4-5 more hours.
 

TheFatMan

Member
I've never wanted to be European so bad in my life.

To anyone playing already. Do we know if the "Free skit pack" add skits to the main game as you play, or is it something you should watch after you've beaten the game?

Don't want to ruin anything for myself.
 
I've never wanted to be European so bad in my life.

To anyone playing already. Do we know if the "Free skit pack" add skits to the main game as you play, or is it something you should watch after you've beaten the game?

Don't want to ruin anything for myself.

I think I read somewhere that those extra skits have spoilers and shouldn't be watched until after beating the game
 

Taruranto

Member
Played a bit the beginning. Definitely need to get hang of the battle system.

I can already see I don't like playing as Sorey though, switched to Mikleo pretty much asap.
 
The only Tales game I have played is Symphonia on the GameCube. I absolutely loved that game. I especially loved the cast, Colette aside; she was remarkably annoying. I'm sure this question has been asked many times already, but how does this compare? I have not followed the Tales series and thus, outside of Symphonia, I have no experience with or knowledge of the franchise. How does this compare to Symphonia?
 

Mendrox

Member
BTW, question for the people who played the Japanese version of Zestiria.
How soon do you get Zaveid in your party? When I found out that Zaveid is a permanent party member, I was extremely stoked. I thought for sure that he would be one of those guest party members

About 65-70% into the game afair
 
How are the trophies? The no-item ones could be a little rough, but overall it looks like a fairly easy and non-grindy platinum.

Am I the only one who gets irrationally annoyed when games use the same icon for all the trophies?
 

PKrockin

Member
The only Tales game I have played is Symphonia on the GameCube. I absolutely loved that game. I especially loved the cast, Colette aside; she was remarkably annoying. I'm sure this question has been asked many times already, but how does this compare? I have not followed the Tales series and thus, outside of Symphonia, I have no experience with or knowledge of the franchise. How does this compare to Symphonia?
I've only read a few impressions of this game to avoid spoilers and such, but for the record if you loved Symphonia, you really need to play at least Vesperia if you have access to a 360.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
yay awake again and straight into Zestiria, also I downloaded all the free stuff from the PSN like the free skits pack.

should I play Alisha's Story before or after finishing the game?
 

nemisis0

Member
yay awake again and straight into Zestiria, also I downloaded all the free stuff from the PSN like the free skits pack.

should I play Alisha's Story before or after finishing the game?

After as i have been told it contains major spoilers
 
Looking forward to it.

Oh nice, didn't know they started revealing some of the dub cast. Alexis Tipton and Caitlin Glass are great so they should do a good job with those two.

After as i have been told it contains major spoilers

Yeah, if I remember correctly in the old thread it was described that it takes place after the main story is over.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
character models look really nice on the ps4. also they are growing on me ^_^
main char is a naive dude, but I have rather that than a grumpy "leave me alone the world is so bad" kind of guy.
looking at you squall
 
SteamSpy is showing 38k sales for Zestiria already...
Probably the amount of prepurchased.

Is that number any good compared to other tales of games or is it way too early to decide?
 

Mendrox

Member
SteamSpy is showing 38k sales for Zestiria already...
Probably the amount of prepurchased.

Is that number any good compared to other tales of games or is it way too early to decide?

Pretty good for the first major Tales of for the PC, but we will see. PS4 sales will also be interesting to see, because there aren't that many JRPGs for current gen so far :)

You can get it on 360 or import the japanese PS3 version if you are fluent in Japanese. PS3 version has extra content but performs/looks much worse.

Englisch Tales of Vesperia PS3 patch came out this year too! You only need a PS3 with CFW which is quiet easy to get :)

Aww, it's that far off? Oh well, I'll use Milkeo in the meantime.

Not much will change when you get him so please contain your hype :)
 
I'm surprised how much simply being 1080p improves the visuals in this game. So used to playing Tales games at 720p and below that Zestiria seems like a huge step up due to resolution alone.

Played a couple of hours last night and it was textbook Tales. Liking the Graces influence in the combat system so looking forward to that opening up. Now to make it through the working day so I can get my arse back home and binge all weekend.
 

mrlion

Member
It's hard to say, but it isn't based on the 60fps GC version and they aren't shouting 60fps from the rooftops, so expect 30 and if it's 60, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Both versions (GC and PS2) are 60 fps. If it runs at 30 fps then there's something wrong with Bamco.
 
SteamSpy is showing 38k sales for Zestiria already...
Probably the amount of prepurchased.

Is that number any good compared to other tales of games or is it way too early to decide?

According to this board:
Tales of Xillia got 100K at 25 days.
Tales of Xillia 2 got 43K at 12 days.
Tales of Graces got 64K at 19 days.
I think it's a safe bet that Zestiria Steam will hit 50k owners at release, and it's a good number for this series.
 
SteamSpy is showing 38k sales for Zestiria already...
Probably the amount of prepurchased.

Is that number any good compared to other tales of games or is it way too early to decide?
Considering it's the first Tales game on PC, and Zestria didn't get the greatest reception during the Japanese release, I'd say those are at the very least good pre-order numbers. Hopefully we end up with healthy enough sales to warrant more Tales ports and new releases on PC.

To compare it to other North American numbers:
Tales of Destiny - 68k
Tales of Destiny 2 (Eternia) - 58k
Tales of Symphonia - 470k
Tales of Legendia - 83k
Tales of Phantasia - 88k
Tales of the Abyss - 72k
Tales of the World - 39k
Tales of Vesperia - 144k
Tales of Symphonia 2 - 136k
Tales of the Abyss 3DS - 45k
Tales of Graces F - 63k
Tales of Xillia - 230k (estimation of both US+Europe)​
(Source: Randos on Gamefaqs that I found on Google, and Gamespot. Feel free to correct.)

Looking at this, 38k on day 1 seems like a decent portion to add to the pile.
 

Impulsor

Member
SO I've been reading a lot of negative feedback on this game for a lot of time, since japanese release.

What's up with it? does it really have problems? How is it compared to other tales games? And how long is it?
 
SO I've been reading a lot of negative feedback on this game for a lot of time, since japanese release.

What's up with it? does it really have problems? How is it compared to other tales games? And how long is it?

As I understand it, the main problem is the Alisha debacle. And the camera issue, perhaps.
 

aravuus

Member
Goody two-shoes protagonist and simplistic story are a bummer, but I'm still excited about a new Tales game to play. Is it Tuesday yet???
 
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