Tales of Zestiria

**Tales of Zestiria** (テイルズ オブ ゼスティリア, *Teiruzu obu Zesutiria*?) is the thirteenth main mothership title in the *Tales of* series. The game was developed for the PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows via Steam. It is the fifteenth main entry overall in the *Tales of* series, developed by Namco Tales Studio and tri-Crescendo and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was announced during December 2013 and its profile had consequentially built up through gaming services and events. During the Tales of Festival 2014, the release date was announced and the official website had been launched. The game's characteristic genre is **RPG of Passion Lighting the World** (情熱が世界を照らすRPG, *Jōnetsu ga sekai o terasu ārupījī*?) with its story focusing on the passion of the characters. The cutscene animation of the game were produced by incorporate studio, Ufotable.

The opening theme song ｢White Light｣ is composed by Superfly.

It has received a pre-sequel set in the distant past called *Tales of Berseria*. The game also received an animation with an alternating storyline as part of the *Tales of 20th Anniversary*. The animation titled, *Tales of Zestiria the X*.

## Story and Plot

### Setting

Tales of Zestiria takes place on the continent of Glenwood, in the world of *Wasteland*. Glenwood is set in the middle of the world, sharing its setting with *Tales of Berseria*, the latter being set in the distant past of *Zestiria*'s world. Glenwood is a super-continent surrounded by water, in the past it used to be the remnants of large island and their joining towards the centre, leaving the outer exterior ocean-dominated. Glenwood is divided between two warring countries: the Hyland Kingdom, which is ruled by a constitutional monarchy, and the Rolance Empire. Existing independently are multiple Guilds, who readily profit from the conflict and encompass multiple professions from transportation to goods manufacture to assassination, such as the Sparrowfeathers.

Throughout the land, an impurity known as "malevolence" generated by the negative emotions of humanity periodically transforms the living, the dead and even inanimate objects into monsters called the Hellions, who pose a threat to the world. Along with humans and hellions, one of the main races of the world is the Seraphim, supernatural humanoid-beings and animals who can only interact with humans with sufficient resonance in them. Though once an abundant people in Glenwood, the Seraphim have become scarce, unlike their predecessor form, the Malakhim.

The people of the world call those who interact with the Seraphim "Shepherds", and they are both hailed as saviours and feared because of their power. The Shepherds have frequently appeared during times of crisis, and have entered into common folklore along with the Seraphim. Seraphim can also form contracts between themselves, with one dominant figure called a "Prime Lord" and a number of partners called "Sub Lords" who act as supports for them. The game tells the story of the Shepherds during the **Era of Chaos** (災厄の時代, *Saiyaku no Jidai*?, "The Age of Chaos"), when the Hellion are running rampant across Glenwood, attacking both the countryside and cities. Dragons play an important role in both the world lore and main story arc, but do not follow their traditional representation as beings of good and evil or symbolic creatures; rather, they are actually Seraphim who are corrupted by malevolence.

## Characters

### Main Characters

This is a list of the main characters featured in *Tales of Zestiria*.

### Supporting Non-playable Characters

**Maltran** (マルトラン, *Marutoran*?)

**Bartlow** (バルトロ, *Barutoro*?)

**Sergei Strelka** (セルゲイ・ストレルカー, *Serugei Sutorerukā*?)

**Lucas** (ルーカス, *Rūkasu*?)

**Lunarre** (ルナール, *Runāru*?)

**Symmone** (サイモン, *Saimon*?)

**Sparrowfeathers** (セキレイの羽, *Sekirei no Hane*?, also known as **Wagtail Feathers**)

**Mayvin** (メーヴィン, *Mēvin*?)

**Zenrai** (ゼンライ, *Zenrai*?, Zenrus, also known as **Gramps**)

**Heldalf** (ヘルダルフ, *Herudarufu*?)

## Gameplay

### Battle Mechanics

As with previous titles in the series, the game uses the trademark action-based Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS). The variant used in *Zestiria* is called the **Fusionic Chain LMBS** (フュージョニックチェイン-LMBS, *Fyūjyonikkuchein-LMBS*?). Unlike previous entries in the series, which featured a separate battle screen, battles in the open field and environments like towns and dungeons take place in the same space as exploration. These encounters are called "Real Map Battles". The player characters' fighting ability during this battle can be affected by the topography and features such as ponds and rocks. Preemptively attacking enemies also grants the player an advantage during the battle. Like previous entries in the series, the LMBS incorporates special skills called artes. There are two types of artes: human characters specialize in close-quarters melee-based artes, while Seraph characters employ mid-to-long range magical artes. These artes are further divided into multiple categories for each character. Artes can interrupt standard attacks. Alongside standard attacks and artes, characters can cast spells for actions such as healing or attacking enemies. The standard attacks, artes and spells are governed by a rock-paper-scissors system. Special attacks called Mystic Artes can be performed which deal high damage, with each character having a unique Mystic Arte.

While in battle, characters status is displayed in special windows on the battle screen: their window shows their current health, their Blast gauge (an energy bar linked to special abilities), and Spirit Chain (SC) gauge, which fuels the ability to link characters and perform special attacks. A high level of SC points grants conditional boons to characters, such as dealing higher damage and faster recovery of SC. Characters have the option to side-step (dodge forward, backward or to the side), and precisely timed dodges can allow characters to stagger enemies and fill the SC gauge. The Blast gauge allows characters to trigger a blast of energy which knocks enemies back and heals injuries. The SC gauge allows for a maximum of four linked attacks, and any remaining points in the gauge can be used for later linked attacks. The order of activation for linked attacks cannot be changed. At the end of battles, if certain requirements are fulfilled, characters can learn skills called Battle Acts, abilities that grant the characters advantages in battle, such as being able to run around the field freely.

The characters Sorey and Rose can also perform "Armatization", which fuses either of them with a chosen Seraph partner to produce a powerful hybrid form, which can perform magical attacks indicative of the element the Seraph represents. While in this form, the human character's stats are boosted, and they gain special abilities unique to the fusion: the character can wield a large sword and fire-based magic (Lailah), shoot water arrows using a bow (Mikleo), use stone fists and summon stone pillars (Edna), and gain blade-like wings and summon whirlwinds (Dezel or Zaveid). A character can swap out their Seraph partners while not in this form. Swapping out a Seraph character helps that Seraph recover, particularly if the swapped out Seraphim had fainted. Both characters capable of Armatization can be in this form at the same time. If the human character is defeated on the field, activating Armatization will resurrect them if their current Seraph partner is still active. There is a maximum of four party members allowed in battle, with one human being linked to one Seraph.

### General

*Tales of Zestiria* is an action role-playing game set in a fantasy world with three-dimensional characters rendered to scale with the areas around them. The game's main world employs an open world layout, in contrast to previous entries in the series. Skits, extra conversations between characters that can be either dramatic or comical, also return; their full-body representation of characters is carried over from *Tales of Graces*. As in *Graces* and *Tales of Xillia*, they are fully voiced. During exploration of the field area between locations and while a specific Seraph character is assigned, the player can execute special commands; they are slicing through minor obstacles (all characters), smashing large obstacles (Edna), temporarily shielding themselves from enemy view (Mikleo), igniting special lights in dungeons (Lailah), or teleporting across gaps (Dezel or Zaveid). A changeable second character accompanies the lead character, either Alisha or Rose, and story-relevant or trivial conversations can be started with them. Characters all have unique Support Talents, which range from locating treasure chests to monitoring a characters health, which can be leveled up along with the characters.

New special abilities for characters are gained by performing side-quests for creatures called Normins scattered through the land. Equipment assigned to characters can be given special skills, with one piece of equipment having four skill slots. Certain combinations add additional effects produced by equipment. Some equipment types can only be obtained by fusing two different accessories. A local four-player multiplayer option is also available. Items such as outfits, weapons and armor and items can be bought and sold at shops across the land. Using a certain shop enough levels it up, unlocking higher-end items. During exploration, players visit various regions under the control of Lords of the Land, which require the protection of the Seraphim. Ensuring this protection gives the player access via the Lords of the Land to abilities such as warping between save points for a fee. Other abilities including various abilities and bonuses unlocked by completing certain objectives in battle and establish further Normin. The player can increase these boons by leveling up the strength of the protection through battles in the area. Players can rest characters at inns, restoring their health and magic meters.

## Development

*Tales of Zestiria* began production at Bandai Namco Studios in 2011, roughly three years prior to its release. Japanese developer tri-Crescendo helped with the game's programming. The game was conceived as a *20th anniversary* title for the series, incorporating classic elements with new gameplay ideas. Although, since the game's underachieving performance, *Tales of Berseria* became known as the "true" anniversary title. The story focuses on the theme of the casts' passion in pursuing their beliefs, in contrast to other entries in the series where the theme was justice or faith: the title "*Zestiria*" refers to the "zest" of the main characters. It also focused on the series theme of coexistence between different peoples and races. The game also returned to a medieval European-type fantasy setting with Japanese-Asian figure and references from folklore, involving dragons, as opposed to the previous recent entries such as *Tales of Xillia* and its sequel. Producer Hideo Baba wanted to return to the theme roots of the *Tales of* series first explored in *Tales of Phantasia* to celebrate the series' anniversary. When beginning development, the team built off the basics established in the *Graces* and *Xillia* games. The game's main director was Yuuta Hase, who had previously helped develop the gameplay systems for the *Xillia* games. In helping develop the gameplay systems, he was initially in a deadlock with the rest of team about developing the new functions while maintaining traditional elements. Roughly two hundred staff worked on the game, double the number of the previous mainline *Tales* game *Xillia 2*.

The main scenario writer was Naoki Yamamoto, who had previously written the scripts for *Tales of Hearts* and the *Xillia* games. He wrote the script keeping the concept of a long and fun journey in mind, and developed Sorey as a mature character representing the game's central theme. Yamamoto worked closely with the team to ensure the story and gameplay relations between human and Seraphim characters were consistent. The concept of the Seraphim being a race invisible to humans was established early in development. This created difficulties in fitting a normal quest structure around this. The story was constructed around Alisha's departure from the party, with the development team adjusting the outfits sold for her as downloadable content (DLC) could also be worn by Rose. While Alisha's DLC scenario hinted at a continuation of the story, *Zestiria* and its story DLC were a self-contained experience, with no subsequent DLC scenarios planned. The DLC was originally disc-game content but was removed and later released as DLC due to scheduling. The final script covered six script books, including one for battle dialogue. In hindsight, there were concerns from staff that the scenario had not gone very deeply into the characters' psychologies, lessening its potential appeal, with Baba saying that they would attempt to take a more involved approach in future titles.

The characters were designed by Kosuke Fujishima, Mutsumi Inomata, Daigo Okumura, and Minoru Iwamoto, all of whom worked on previous *Tales* titles. Iwamoto also acted as the game's art director. As part of the character designs, the artists reversed the physical stereotypes associated with the classical elements used by the main Seraphim characters: as stated examples, the fire Seraph Laliah was made petite and gentle in appearance, while the earth Seraph Edna was both shorter than the other characters and wielded great power over a potent element. Extensive work was needed to make environments distinctive so players would not get lost during exploration.Anime studio, Ufotable, created the game's opening and anime cutscenes. Iwamoto worked with Ufotable to make sure the opening successfully conveyed the personalities of the main characters.

Tatsuro Udo, battle programmer for *Eternia*, *Rebirth* and *Graces*, helped design the battle system. During the beginning of development, the team had to recreate the basic gameplay from the *Xillia* games to work off, which proved a difficult task for the team. The battle system was intended to combine familiar elements from previous installments with new ideas intended to refresh the series. Creating the seamless transition between exploration and combat, as well as implementing Armitization, proved to be difficult for the team. The idea of encountering and fighting enemies in the same space as exploration was designed to help evoke a fresh sense of adventure for players, as the team felt the previous method of transferring to a separate battle arena was limiting the series' development. Until the battle system's completion, development of other systems related to it was slow. As part of this development, a completely new engine had to be developed for the game, rather than just modified their old engine as they did in the past. Because of a staff shortage, developing the game was harder than previous titles and took a longer time.The PlayStation 3 was chosen as the original platform of release as the next generation of gaming hardware had yet to take off in Japan in terms of sales, and Bandai Namco was unwilling to take the risk of releasing on platforms with low install bases.

## Music

The music for *Zestiria* was composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. Due to the title's status as an anniversary title and the popularity of both composers with the *Tales* series fanbase, it was decided that they should co-compose the soundtrack. During his work on the project, Sakuraba was involved in the composition of over one hundred tracks. The standard and boss battle themes were intended to evoke the atmosphere of the series as a whole. Shiina, who worked on thirty of the game's tracks, encountered difficulties expressing his musical style in the soundtrack. His role included focusing on thematic themes for Alisha, Zaveid and the Dragons. He included choral work in some of the tracks related to the Seraphim. The game's official soundtrack was released on February 18, 2015. Selected tracks from the game were included on a disc in the European and North American Collector's Editions.

The game's theme song, "White Light", was composed and performed for the game by J-pop group Superfly. Superfly developed the song alongside the game, with the band being allowed to view the material for inspiration. The title was inspired by the idea of people starting out with a "white canvas" and coloring it through their lives. The single was released digitally on iTunes the day before *Zestiria*'s release and was also the lead single of Superfly's fifth album *White*, released on May 27, 2015. The western releases use an instrumental version of the song in the opening.

## Release and Promotion

The *Tales of Zestiria* trademark was registered in Japan, Europe, and North America between August and September 2013. Bandai launched a website in November as a teaser campaign which counted down for December 12, 2013; A live stream date for Niconico went live after the countdown. The game was revealed through the live stream. Localizations for North America, South America, and Europe were announced afterwards. Shortly after the game's announcement, it was revealed that character designs and story writing were complete, while the battle system and graphics were still being finalized. In April, the game's characteristic genre name was unveiled as **Jonetsu ga sekai o terasu RPG** (情熱が世界を照らすRPG?, lit. "RPG of Passion Lighting the World"). The game was released in Japan on January 22, 2015, and it was released in Europe, Australia, and North America in October 2015.

Starting in October 2014, Bandai Namco began a promotional campaign for the game, starting with offering *Zestiria* with a 30% price cut on PlayStation Network. PlayStation Plus members got a further 20% discount. A *Zestiria*-themed PS3 controller was released in Japan as part of a collaboration with video game accessory company Hori. It included a cleaning cloth featuring chibli renditions of the eight main characters. Lolita fashion brand Putumayo, who had previous collaborated on promotional clothing for *Tales of Symphonia*, designed clothing and jewellery based on the eight main characters. Figurines of Sorey and Alisha were also produced. After release, the game received two guides: a *Complete Guide*, published by Bandai Namco Entertainment in February 2015, and a *Perfect Guide* containing a full breakdown of the game and behind-the-scenes content, published by Enterbrain in April of the same year.

The game's planned year of release in Japan was revealed at a Tales Of Festival in June 2014, while its exact release date and period of release in the west at that year's Tokyo Game Show. As part of the localization process for the game, Bandai Namco announced it was working to release the game across all major regions within the same year, with the localization starting after the game had released in Japan. The motivation behind this was fan reaction to the delayed release of the *Xillia* games. For the English release, the team actively considered including the Japanese vocal track as in *Tales of Symphonia Chronicles*. Dual audio was confirmed with the announcement of the game's western release window. Despite the high popularity of the PlayStation 4 (PS4) in the west, no initial plans were made for a port to that console due to a shortage of manpower. Later, due to the high adoption rate of the PS4 in western territories, and the popularity of PC games, ports of *Zestiria* to those platforms were created exclusively for western markets. Collector's Editions were created for Europe and North America: the collections feature DLC codes, chibi figures of four of the game's characters, an art book, and special cases for the game disc. In North America, the collection was exclusive to the PS4. In the European Steam version, a code for the Steam port of *Tales of Symphonia* was included. The PS4 version was later released in Japan on July 7, 2016 as a "Welcome Price!!" budget edition.

### Downloadable content

Multiple pre-order bonuses in the form of DLC were created to promote the game. The standard bonuses were four new Mystic Artes for Lailah, Mikleo, and Alisha, plus limited rubber straps portraying the playable characters. A further offer for those who pre-ordered the game through 7-Eleven stores included special character costumes and a powerful healing ability for Sorey. Along with the pre-order DLC, Bandai Namco also created crossover character costumes based on the *Rebuild of Evangelion* film series for selected characters, and four playable characters from the raising simulation video game *The Idolmaster One For All*. They also created original Academy Costumes for the eight main characters. For the *Idolmaster* DLC costumes, the battle music changed to match the characters' appearances. There were further collaborative efforts with costumes based on characters from the manga *Blue Exorcist*, and attachments inspired by characters from Capcom's *Sengoku Basara 4*. In addition to these, there are also swimsuit costumes and outfits based on protagonists from previous *Tales* titles.

Japanese players who kept save data from the *Xillia* games, and the PlayStation 3 ports of *Vesperia* and *Graces*, unlocked attachments themed after the main protagonists of those games. After release, further DLC in the form of further costumes, cosmetic accessories, and free skits. Delivery of these and other DLC ended in March 2015. A downloadable scenario titled the "After Story", **Alisha's Story: The Strength of a Knight** (アリーシャ　アフターエピソード　－瞳にうつるもの－, *Arīsha Afutā Episōdo -Hitomi ni Utsuru Mono-*?, lit. Alisha After Episode: What is Reflected in the Eyes) featuring Alisha, Edna, Lailah and Rose in a post-endgame scenario, was released on February 12, 2015 in Japan and alongside the game in the West. The scenario can be played without needing to complete the main game, with the playable characters' stats carried over from the main game. To celebrate the series anniversary and the game's initial sales, the company made the scenario free until February 26. *Alisha's Story* and much of the original pre-order DLC was included in the European and North American Collector's Editions. It was also offered free for a limited time to players who purchased the game on Steam.

## Adaptions

### Animation

A made-for-television anime film titled *Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of the Shepherd* was produced to promote the game. It was animated by Ufotable, and distributed by Bandai Namco Games. The anime depicts the opening part of the game, where Sorey trains to become a Shepherd and first encounters Alisha and Lunarre. The anime was directed by Haruo Tonosaki, produced by Baba, and scored by Sakuraba and Shiina. Given the costs associated with including the anime with the game on a Blu-ray hybrid disc, the company was originally opposed to its creation and planned for a *Tales of Berseria* adaption. Despite this, Baba wanted to create the anime as part of the 20th anniversary series celebrations related to the game. It was first broadcast on December 30, 2014 on Tokyo MX and Kyoto Broadcasting System (KBS), and on December 31 on BS11. It was subsequently broadcast through January on Kochi TV,Okayama Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi Television and Bandai Channel. It was repeated again on January 20 to commemorate the release of the game. In Japan, the anime is included on the game's disc. For its western release, the anime was included in the European and North American Collector's Editions.

An anime television series adaptation, titled *Tales of Zestiria the X*, also animated by Ufotable, was announced at the Tales of Festival 2015. The original plans for the anime was about *Tales of Berseria* and its promotion before its release, hence the reason why the game makes an adapted appearance. The series is directed by Haruo Sotozaki and written by Ufotable staff. Akira Matsushima is adapting the original character designs for the anime, while the art director is Minji Kim. The music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. The anime's opening theme song, "Kaze no Uta", is composed by Flow, while the ending theme, "Calling", is composed byFhána. The main voice actors from the game will reprise their roles in the series except for Lailah's voice actress Miyu Matsuki, who died in 2015 and was replaced by Noriko Shitaya. The series was originally announced for broadcast sometime in July 2016. Exact broadcasting dates and networks were revealed in May of that year: the anime debuted for Tokyo MX on July 3, then later debuted on July 5 for Sun TV, KBS, TV Aichi, and BS11. The anime will run for 13 episodes with a second cour. The anime has been licensed by Funimation and by Madman Entertainment for streaming.