Tales of Zestiria

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 411 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 241 out of 411
  2. Mixed: 91 out of 411
  3. Negative: 79 out of 411
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  1. FantasyCritic71
    Feb 6, 2016
    7
    I've played numerous Tales Games now Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, Graces, Xillia & Xillia 2 and from my experiences with those games I can safely say that this one is a little disappointing but still pretty decent.

    ~ Story ~ The story stars our hero Sorey as he journeys beyond his tranquil village of Elysia to become the Shepard and save the world from the malevolence with his    I've played numerous Tales Games now Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia, Graces, Xillia & Xillia 2 and from my experiences with those games I can safely say that this one is a little disappointing but still pretty decent.

    ~ Story ~

    The story stars our hero Sorey as he journeys beyond his tranquil village of Elysia to become the Shepard and save the world from the malevolence with his Seraphim friends. The story starts off a little slow but eventually starts to get interesting once Sorey teams up with Edna - The Earth Seraph. An amazing cutscene done by Ufotable Animation Studios unfolds during this part in the game and my excitement for the game quickly went up but sadly the story does not bring me any satisfaction beyond that point. There are more interesting and entertaining scenes in the game of course but nothing that wowed me or got me too excited well besides the fact that a certain character I thought was cool died but that's spoiler territory we won't talk about that.

    ~ Characters ~

    Speaking of characters, lets talk about them.

    Sorey - Your typical JRPG Protagonist goody two shoes guy with alot of passion. There's nothing wrong with his clicheness though I found him to be a pretty cool protagonist way more tolerable then Asbel.

    Mikleo - Don't care about him at all but some of his sarcastic remarks are funny.

    Lailah - I love her puns.

    Edna - Who doesn't love our cold and feisty Edna?

    Rose - She's very honest and straightforward and has a few funny moments with Sorey.

    Alisha - President of the Sorey Fanclub and Honorable Knight.She's cool although not that interesting.

    Dezel - Kratos from Symphonia with a hat.I'm kidding Dezel is alot different from Kratos although he's serious most of the time and has his eyes set on vengeance. For the most part he's a badass and he's cool.

    Zaveid - Raven from Vesperia both drunk and high wearing a Sephiroth wig. I'm kidding Zaveid is my absolute favorite character in this game he is hilarious his theme song is amazing and he is the most entertaining character ever.

    Overall - This is no Xillia or Vesperia but the characters were still entertaining to watch and fun to play.

    ~ Gameplay ~

    I'm sure other reviewers have said this millions of times but I'll say it again the gameplay of this game is very similar to Graces F. Except now you have Fusion or as they call it with fancy terminology - Artimization. This ability allows you to fuse with a Seraphim and gain the power of their elements. Only Sorey and Rose can use this ability because their humans and although Alisha is a human she cannot use Artimization. Like always you have your Mystic Artes, your Standard Attack Artes and your Special Ability Artes each game calls them by a different name but their all pretty much the same thing.

    Other Gameplay - You can fuse items in this game at shops, you can make discoveries like in Graces F characters have bonus abilities such as Mikleo's baking skills to make Desserts Alisha's prepatorial skills to make gels, Dezels windrunner skills to make you run faster and so on. Titles can be upgraded like in Graces F and items can be upgraded as well. There's tons of bonus content to do in this game enough to keep you playing for hours.

    Bad Gameplay Ideas - Skits only play at savepoints and at Inns. You can't switch out Sorey from the party nor on the field. If you have only Sorey on your team or one human such as Rose you can only use 2 characters. The Water Temple is the most annoying dungeon ever but has good music. Katz Corner has the weirdest music I have ever heard oops that's not gameplay related, anyway....

    Overall - Gameplay is familiar and good.

    ~ Soundtrack ~

    Is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

    Go Shina should Compose more Tales Games.
    Motoi did good job too though I love the Cheer Yourself Up Battle Music the remix to the Xillia 2 Song(Forgot The Name) and the Lastonbell and Pendrago Rain & Malevolence Theme.

    Voice Acting - Good.

    ~ Graphics ~

    Looks like an updated Xillia. Also has a few pop in issues and camera problems.It's even worse on Multiplayer.
    ~ Replay Value ~ Moderate ~ Overall ~ Zestiria is just another Tales Game exactly what you'd expect from the Tales Series unless you were expecting the greatness of the Big 3 - Symphonia, Abyss & Vesperia or the Xillia's. Now in my opinion I love Zestiria despite its flaw's and I think it's a little bit more fun to play then a few other Tales Games. The story is also not too bad it beats Graces F & Tempest in my opinion. Zestiria is still enjoyable and I recommend Tales fans to give this one a go.    … Expand
  2. Super_Cloud
    Jan 1, 2016
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I had high expectation and unfortunately they were not met, the battle are great but i had more fun in Xillia 2, the story is nothing special, you become the Shepherd and you go save the world from the bad guy... There is not alot of interaction between the character compared to other tales, unless you read every skits there is not enough to make them likable. Some cut-scene in the game are really awkward, one character dies and the game try really hard to make it sad but they come and go way too fast... I really loved the music, they are great. I finished the game and ex dungeon, i liked the game but the game was really lacking, i prefer Xillia 2 alot more.… Expand
  3. Irisen
    Dec 6, 2018
    6
    This game is average by all means. The graphics are meh, the plot is incredibly unoriginal and the characters are not complex in any way.
    However, it does have some novelty in its dungeons and in the way you can use the different Seraphims' powers. Despite the lack of originality in most of its aspects, Tales of Zestiria remains an entertaining game to play, if you have nothing better to    This game is average by all means. The graphics are meh, the plot is incredibly unoriginal and the characters are not complex in any way.
    However, it does have some novelty in its dungeons and in the way you can use the different Seraphims' powers. Despite the lack of originality in most of its aspects, Tales of Zestiria remains an entertaining game to play, if you have nothing better to do. I enjoyed it but, objectively, it's not that good.    … Expand
  4. ender424
    Oct 21, 2015
    6
    12 hours into the game so far so only first impression but I will say that I have enjoyed previous Tales games much more. It has been a disappointing experience so far; I all I can think of is moment where the game had me carry an invisible heavy crate and slowly walk it over to the weapons shop. HOW IS THIS FUN?!
    Combat is easily best part so far despite the convoluted skill system and    12 hours into the game so far so only first impression but I will say that I have enjoyed previous Tales games much more. It has been a disappointing experience so far; I all I can think of is moment where the game had me carry an invisible heavy crate and slowly walk it over to the weapons shop. HOW IS THIS FUN?!
    Combat is easily best part so far despite the convoluted skill system and annoying camera (if you corner enemies to edge camera jitters and at times your fight can even be completely removed from view. literally cannot see what is going on).
    Characters are likable but not interesting. Story is cheesy and cliche. I AM THE CHOSEN ONE AND MUST SAVE THE WORLD! Yawn.
    Dungeons and dungeon puzzles are uninspired and boring as hell. Overworld map designs, while visually pleasing (though hardly impressive) have archaic designs like unnecessary and inconsistent invisible walls. Oh no! Can't walk over this small creek, don't wanna get my boots wet!
    It's **** like this (and the weeaboos who defend it) that hold JRPGs back. To be honest I think this is the last Tales game for me; there are simply no signs of progression coming from this series. Luckily we have Xenoblade Chronicles X coming soon which looks much more promising.    … Expand
  5. fenrishero
    Oct 31, 2015
    7
    As someone who's a huge fan of the Tales series, this game was a very big 'swing and a miss' for me: It's not bad, but it's definitely not good. Everything that feels alright about the game is the tried and true tales formula, and everything that feels off is stuff thats new to this game. Summing up

    -Combat is artifically complicated: They attempted to fix the old 'attack with the    As someone who's a huge fan of the Tales series, this game was a very big 'swing and a miss' for me: It's not bad, but it's definitely not good. Everything that feels alright about the game is the tried and true tales formula, and everything that feels off is stuff thats new to this game. Summing up

    -Combat is artifically complicated: They attempted to fix the old 'attack with the right element till they fall down' style of the old games, but created a bizarre system where sometimes attacking with the wrong elements is good, and sometimes stopping your attack blitz is good, but the combat is too frentic to really get a feel for when you want to do what.

    -The no-load combat is a mixed blessing: Istead of loading to a battle field, you simply fight on a restricted part of the overworld map. This means minimal load times and creates an immersive field, but for the first time, camera angles in combat become an issue, especially around walls.

    -The equipment system is lunacy: Items have semi-randomized properties, and you want to align the right stats to get bonuses. There's also the old equipment improvement smithing stuff, but now it involves combining equipment using rules about what properties will carry over. Equipment shops now have limited inventory, so the game expects you to farm weapons from enemies for the properties you want. They do give you a mechanism to help with this, but this is raw grinding.

    -Areas are huge and empty: The area maps are enormous, but have little to nothing in them. You eventually get annoyed at running through them, They do have a save point teleport system, but that just underscored how most of the time you wanted to skip the area maps.

    -Localization and/or the writing are bad: No way to sugar coat this. This is the worst VA'd tales game I have ever played. While the quality is average overall, and every VA does have their moments, a lot of the dialogue is flat. The vignettes are often stilted, and the after combat dialogue is not up to previous games.

    -The plot is incoherent: This may be one of those times when the central ideas are 'too japanese' to make sense to westerners, but the message of the game seems garbled. At several points, the characters glossed over things that needed to be explained, or made inexplicable leaps of logic.

    In conclusion, I can't really recommend this one. It's a decent game, but that is not what I expect from this series. Tales games are all about the execution and storytelling, and this one just falls flat on those fronts. I'm glad they tried some new stuff, but a lot of it needs to be further refined if they plan on using it again.

    TL;DR Below what you expect from a tales game, merely average. Lot of experimental stuff that just didn't work. Bad localization, confusing plot.    … Expand
  6. Kenmei
    Nov 4, 2015
    5
    Tales of Zestiria represents a disturbing trend with the Tales series: Their lack being able to adapt to the times. The Tales formula is in full effect here, meaning a game with a fairly simple story and characters that comes with a wonderful action RPG battle system. However, you can easily see how stale the formula gets, especially when they don't even try to make a compelling story. TheTales of Zestiria represents a disturbing trend with the Tales series: Their lack being able to adapt to the times. The Tales formula is in full effect here, meaning a game with a fairly simple story and characters that comes with a wonderful action RPG battle system. However, you can easily see how stale the formula gets, especially when they don't even try to make a compelling story. The whole story is pretty much the pure definition of a cookie-cutter fantasy JRPG. You play a young guy who has to save the world from what essentially is the devil. Past games have put a bit of a spin on that with either compelling characters or at least an interesting hook. Not this game. The story is extremely boring and, for the first time since I've played a Tales game in the past 15 years, I wanted to quit before I got the end. The characters range from extremely boring to moderately funny. However the best characters dont join the party till VERY late in the game and it may be hard to sit through till that point.
    Usually the saving grace for Tales games is the battle system and the tweaks they made to this version really drag the game. Uncharacteristic horrible camera angles and the replacing of the TP system with a 0-100 recharging mana pool makes button smashing a bit easier than past games. The battles can still be tough, especially at higher difficulties but it feels more streamlined than anything and the occasional bad camera angles really took me out of some fights.
    I do have to make special mention of the music in this game though as it's some of the best ever done in a Tales game. The music did a wonderful job at trying to set the stage, whether things were going well or not, it did a great job of drawing you into the action, even if that action was either a bland cutscene or a battle with horrible camera angles. The music is alot of the reason why I've given the game the score that I did. It's that good.
    I am a huge Tales series fan and it really pains me to have no liked this game at all. I'm hoping that Bandai Namco gives the series a bit of a jolt in the upcoming release, and it looks like they might have started that with a female main lead. But as for this game, it's probably the worst non-sequel game in the series and a major disappointment for the JRPG field on next-gen platforms. Even Tales series fans will have a tough time getting through this one, especially if they're looking for a little bit of substance to go with the series.    … Expand
  7. VKnux
    Nov 7, 2015
    7
    If you are a fan of previous Tales games like me, then you probably not consider this game the magnum opus of the series. From a purely mechanical standpoint the game has its fair share of flaws, but it does well enough in other places to still be an average game overall. What stood out the most to me, and what I will remember Zestiria for, is its amazing localization. I can only hope thatIf you are a fan of previous Tales games like me, then you probably not consider this game the magnum opus of the series. From a purely mechanical standpoint the game has its fair share of flaws, but it does well enough in other places to still be an average game overall. What stood out the most to me, and what I will remember Zestiria for, is its amazing localization. I can only hope that Bamco continues with that quality moving forward.
    The issue I had overall is the camera when the game transitions from being in the field to being in battle. It simply cannot be overlooked. IT IS HORRENDOUS. Seriously, did no one QA test that? If there is any sort of environmental object, say a box or a tree for instance, on the battlefield the camera will lose its mind like a possessed baby with an iPad. Hitting your enemies, much less seeing them, is nigh impossible. The other big complaint I have is a lack of character depth. Aside from Sorey (main) and Mikleo (his best friend) I was not compelled to REALLY care about the other characters, at least not in the way that Tales games usually make me care for their entire casts. Even with Sorey and Mikleo I only began to care after a spoiler event that happens near the end of the game. Instead of simply using tutorials, many skits were wasted explaining the convoluted battle system where they could have been used to expand the character narrative. Dialogue is still interesting and enjoyable (dat localization tho) and combat is still fun despite these flaws. The Armitization feature really saves the day for the combat system in Zestiria. At the cost of absorbing an ally, you gain extremely fun abilities and look like a demi-god. This ability to use more characters on the field or combine them using Armitization for one powerful character adds a nuance of strategy to almost every battle.
    One final complaint: the focal antagonist is a throw away character and his development is severely underwhelming, though his design is badass. Learning about him through ten-second, abstract cutscenes obtained through side quests and then receiving a boatload of exposition three hours before the game ends is not a compelling way to make me feel hatred, empathy or desire to defeat him.
    Overall, it's still an average game and it will be an enjoyable experience whether you are familiar with the series or not.
    Collector’s Edition Notes: The 149.99 USD Collector’s Edition is pretty nice. I was disappointed by the flimsy and thin cardboard that houses the goodies inside because I was expecting the premium boxing that was used for the Tales of Symphonia Collector’s Edition. The 8-bit keychains of Sorey, Mikleo and Alisha are incredibly cool and make up for the sub-par housing. The Chibi figures go great with the ones I already had from Symphonia, and the Steelbook case is sexy; housing both the game and the musical selection CD. I haven't watched the Blu-Ray OVA that came with it, but it appears to only be an animated version of the first seven or so hours of gameplay. The artbook is well done and feels premium, though a bit small. Keep the plastic overlay to protect the box and it should be fine.

    Pros:
    -A++++++ localization
    -Impressive character designs
    -Loads to do in new game+

    Cons:
    -Convoluted battle system
    -Uninteresting antagonist
    -Wasted skits    … Expand
  8. Honn
    Nov 3, 2015
    6
    I had high hopes for this game as I am a fan of the series, but unfortunately it has been a letdown. It's not really a bad game, but I wouldn't call it a good game either.

    The system: The system starts of good with Armatization, the fusing of two characters into a new character with new abilities. This is both a fun and tactical addition to the game, and fits well into the story. Bonus    I had high hopes for this game as I am a fan of the series, but unfortunately it has been a letdown. It's not really a bad game, but I wouldn't call it a good game either.

    The system:
    The system starts of good with Armatization, the fusing of two characters into a new character with new abilities. This is both a fun and tactical addition to the game, and fits well into the story. Bonus points for this! Unfortunately the other additions do not follow this example. The title system is neither informative or engaging in any way. The item system introduces random attributes that you want to line up on a grid to get extra bonuses, which sounded interesting but works badly in practise and becomes a chore to deal with. The element and arts system also sees some needless complications that do nothing to help the game along. On top of it all the controls are a bit clunkier than in previous games as well. Nothing that can't be handled, but it detracts a bit from the experience.

    All in all, combat is still Tales and still pretty fun. The bad stuff can be ignored most of the time, but it is a shame that the interesting new additions are outweighed by the new flaws.

    The Story:
    The biggest problem with the game is that the story is just... bland. It feels like they just checked of a list of things that should go into a Tales game and called it a day. Granted, all Tales games follow the same basic formula but the difference this time is that it feels like they put very little effort into it. The story is a bare minimium, and since the story is the main reason I play games like this it simply doesn't cut it.

    The game also lacks proper world-building. Oftentimes the characters clearly understand something that is never explained to me as the player, and this leads to frustration. Several aspects of the worlds history are also kind of confusing, but concepts that appear almost contradictory never being explained.

    The story also way, WAY, overuses the whole "I know the answer but you need to discover the truth for yourself" trope. It can work on occation, but in Zestiria this is the norm for pretty much the entire game! It gets old quickly.

    The characters:
    Again, bland. Characters are very one dimensional and there is not much character development to speak of. They are likable yes, but nothing beyond that.

    So all in all, not terrible but not good. The system is ok but nothing more, the story is bland and while it has it's moments there is a lot of just going through the motions, and the characters are forgettable. If you really like Tales games then you will probably find it at least acceptable, but you might want to sit this one out.    … Expand
  9. Thrumgar
    Oct 21, 2015
    6
    Pros:
    -Good voice acting
    -decent combat
    -beautiful art style and graphics

    Cons:
    -The camera
    -the button mashing
    -the generic story

    It's decent but I'd stick to other games for your RPG fixes
  10. Zenketsu
    Oct 25, 2015
    5
    + Many improvements compared to the previous games
    + nice soundtrack
    + good controls

    - bad and boring story
    - very little details
    - bad controls
  11. miaomlao
    Nov 2, 2015
    7
    Review after playing few days.

    +is tales of in english!
    +duo voice(english voice improved compare with previous tales I play so far..)
    +music
    +control

    -complicated items skills...
    -huge map with slow running speed =p
    -outdated graphic on ps4
    -camera (sometimes the camera kissing the floor when fighting at tight spot)

    Be right back for a full review when I finish the game!
  12. SaintJames012
    Jul 19, 2018
    5
    Zestiria is a boring, tedious, and uninteresting tale of a naive blank-slate of a main character who goes on an epic quest to defeat the literal being of Chaos. Honestly, Zestiria is not that bad of a game, but from a studio that brought about such colorful cast of characters like one sees in Tales of Vesperia, it is easy to see why Zestiria is such a bland title. The combat and gameplayZestiria is a boring, tedious, and uninteresting tale of a naive blank-slate of a main character who goes on an epic quest to defeat the literal being of Chaos. Honestly, Zestiria is not that bad of a game, but from a studio that brought about such colorful cast of characters like one sees in Tales of Vesperia, it is easy to see why Zestiria is such a bland title. The combat and gameplay is what you would expect from a tales game, a smaller rendition of the dungeon you walk through in a 4vAll button masher that is oh so satisfying once you learn the combination of moves to win fights. The story itself is not bad either, offering the story of a young boy who is deems the savior of the world despite being obviously too young and naive to actually fulfill the role adequately. The majority of the story is his tale of growing both physically and mentally to rise up to achieve his duty. The major problem with the game is the lack of a powerful cast of characters. Let's be frank here, the main roster is weak when compared to others like Vesperia. In a game that ranges at anywhere from 45-120 hours, the strength of the cast is a major factor in whether or not a game can work, and to be honest it does not work here well at all. Unlike other rosters that featured characters of different backgrounds, ages, experiences, and whatnot, the roster this time around share a lot of similarities, not only in character creation, but also how their characters react. Almost every single one has an air of angst about them that has little difference between the characters. While Mikleo and Edna are inherently different characters, their portrayal and interactions are not that different from each other. In addition, the difference between Sorey and Alisha are pretty minute as well when it comes to interaction and chemistry. The game is simply not that interesting both in characters and world compared to other titles. While the game is not bad, it is not that good either. It sits at the crossroads of competence and monotony, overshadowed both in the past with Vesperia, and the future with Berseria.… Expand
  13. Nel
    Aug 7, 2017
    5
    TAles of zestiria is an jrpg games which means that they are usually grindy, but this game is not very grindy, but instead you have to take long hikes for no reason between destinations that they only tell you one thing, and then you have to walk all the way back, which gets very frustrating. Also the description on items is not to be trusted.
  14. Voretechz
    Dec 6, 2016
    7
    I honestly don't know how to feel about Tales of Zesteria. I don't dislike it, but I don't love it. It just falls somewhere in the middle. The game is decent and worth playing if you like the Tales Of games, but this game falls kind of flat compared to Xillia. The story is meh, the characters are meh but the dialogue is pretty funny in some places. The combat is pretty good but theI honestly don't know how to feel about Tales of Zesteria. I don't dislike it, but I don't love it. It just falls somewhere in the middle. The game is decent and worth playing if you like the Tales Of games, but this game falls kind of flat compared to Xillia. The story is meh, the characters are meh but the dialogue is pretty funny in some places. The combat is pretty good but the transformations are cool but are just OP as hell and make everything a joke and it is one of the main mechanics. I wanted to love this game, but I just left thinking MEH.... I doubt I will ever play it again. But it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth. There is still some fun to be had here.… Expand
  15. gq_foine
    Sep 3, 2017
    7
    UPDATE: After 45hrs+. While, I disagree with the most of critics and users alike on this game. I believe this is a solid 7+ or higher rating. Not the best Tales game, but I think this should have received a much better score.. I own most of all of the tales series.. I loved Xillia as well as Symphonia. I think the story is absolutely great playing over 45hrs into it! The graphicsUPDATE: After 45hrs+. While, I disagree with the most of critics and users alike on this game. I believe this is a solid 7+ or higher rating. Not the best Tales game, but I think this should have received a much better score.. I own most of all of the tales series.. I loved Xillia as well as Symphonia. I think the story is absolutely great playing over 45hrs into it! The graphics are updgraded PS3 style. And could have been better but absolutely love the Anime Cut scenes! The couple of problems in the game is the Battle game mechanics. Its really hard to get into since you keep smashing "O" button and it quickly takes you to the page that you exit out of so you don't know what you received. They should have done a better job of the battle clearing stages. Also the camera angle can be challenging and not too sure why I have problems soo many times trying to get the camera angle to adjust properly. But those are my gripes about the game. Otherwise disregard ratings that give this less than 7.. This game I think is great.. And IGN and other critic reviewers are wrong to give it anything less than 7 on this game!! It's a great game not the best.… Expand
  16. nubsauce
    Jan 24, 2017
    6
    The worst story out of any Tales game I've played to date (from Xillia, Vesperia, and Symphonia). Characters are dull, and combat isn't fun. :/ I could never get into a rhythm like I did other Tales games, due to the combat system wanting you to stop and recharge all the time. The story was engaging at first but quickly became dull and tiresome after the 15 hour mark. Some people said itThe worst story out of any Tales game I've played to date (from Xillia, Vesperia, and Symphonia). Characters are dull, and combat isn't fun. :/ I could never get into a rhythm like I did other Tales games, due to the combat system wanting you to stop and recharge all the time. The story was engaging at first but quickly became dull and tiresome after the 15 hour mark. Some people said it gets better after the 15 hour mark, but no, they actually did a good job on the setup and making you intrigued on where it goes. It goes nowhere with this setup and instead goes in the most cliche, boring way possible.… Expand
  17. Editman3
    Apr 8, 2017
    6
    Game is good but my issues are
    -Story is way too straightforward and Lacks in-depth
    -Characters are forgettable at times
    -Worst Camera I've seen in battle of an ARPG
    -Gameplay that could use some improvements
    -Dungeons Looks the SAME
    not bad but the camera, and Weak story lands this game at a 6/10
  18. Pariable
    Mar 23, 2017
    7
    Just got around to finishing this game, and I'll need to post script a "finally" to that. Sadly I was disappointed for the first time playing a Tales game. So for my RPGs I often look to my holy trinity of perfection: challenging, rewarding, and emotionally impacting. It nails 2/3, the story had emotional value and great voice acting, yet the rewarding feeling for progress seems to notJust got around to finishing this game, and I'll need to post script a "finally" to that. Sadly I was disappointed for the first time playing a Tales game. So for my RPGs I often look to my holy trinity of perfection: challenging, rewarding, and emotionally impacting. It nails 2/3, the story had emotional value and great voice acting, yet the rewarding feeling for progress seems to not exist. Beating the story, and making progress in Zestiria feels like a chore list. While many RPGs use a list like side quest log, not all feel so drag. However, I can say the difficulty options in combat almost always give Tales games a great trade off for higher risk, higher reward and this game is no different (with slight differences to previous installments). Boss fights are enjoyable and the combat was fantastic, up until you learn how to spec to spam calamity flare or maelstrom (cleans up mobs nicely). The progression of mystic artes is also enjoyable. If you want to look at one of the most hashed out combat systems in a Tales game, bottom line, is look no further. With that said the time given to make the few side missions in the game worth doing was well noted. They do feel like mini episodic adventures. The area that falls flat, is that the time spent traveling or attempting to fast travel to complete these quests tends to ruin both the pacing of the game, and the cohesiveness of these stories. That, along with the character design brought this down to a 7/10 for me. Every Tales game has had a very unique and somewhat resonating personalities. Sorey is the exception to this. All the other characters in the game work so well in the group, yet the main character seemed like a pariah in his own fellowship. Without spoiling anything, I can say they probably wrote him in such a manner in order to have the story conclude the way it does. I just can't help but not care about Sorey for the majority of this game. I only stuck through his blandness to see the antics of the other characters and their adventures. But aside from those quams, I can say I did enjoy much of this game.… Expand
  19. Grownia
    Apr 23, 2018
    7
    Overall a good JRPG.
    Graphics : 6/10. Mostly pixelized and old tech but art is good. Cities are well drawn. Characters are well drawn too. Monsters look alike to each other.
    Sound : 9/10. Voice act is really good, both in English and Japanese. Effects are well done. Soundtrack is sometimes awesome but mostly ordinary. Gameplay : 7/10. Combat is button mashing in start and most of the    Overall a good JRPG.
    Graphics : 6/10. Mostly pixelized and old tech but art is good. Cities are well drawn. Characters are well drawn too. Monsters look alike to each other.
    Sound : 9/10. Voice act is really good, both in English and Japanese. Effects are well done. Soundtrack is sometimes awesome but mostly ordinary.
    Gameplay : 7/10. Combat is button mashing in start and most of the game. There are lots of mechanics including block,dodge,commands, spells etc. and you have to use all of them properly in higher difficulties. But in normal difficulty you just smash and smash. To say in my first playtrough in normal difficulty i mostly set all of my characters to auto combat and watch it , especially near the endgame. It is a long game with repetitive places which bores the player after some gameplay time. It would have been perfect to finish the story in 30 hours or so. It is just so long and becomes dull near endgame.
    Story : 7/10. Story is fine. Some bold moments and talks. Most original thing is this is the first game with gay main protagonist. Characters interactions are very good, mostly funny, sometimes sad. Other than these this has the same old save the world while being super good theme.

    Buy it if you love JRPG. This is a solid and good one at all. If you can play it on higher difficulties with lots of free time devoted to this game.    … Expand
  20. LiteralLlama
    May 18, 2018
    7
    Tales of Zestiria, I was weary of this game because of the reviews but after playing it, I feel compelled to write one. It feels that people either hated it or loved it and it's hard to tell who to believe. But I'll do my best to break down what to expect from this game.

    Gameplay It's not too good, it becomes extremely repetitive once you get an idea of how to play. Zestiria combat    Tales of Zestiria, I was weary of this game because of the reviews but after playing it, I feel compelled to write one. It feels that people either hated it or loved it and it's hard to tell who to believe. But I'll do my best to break down what to expect from this game.

    Gameplay
    It's not too good, it becomes extremely repetitive once you get an idea of how to play. Zestiria combat system is extremely complex with several different elements that's impossible to grasp in the beginning. It's similar to Tales of Graces but with a lot of emphasis on using the right move and weakness. But this emphasis is what hurts the gameplay the most.
    One of the mechanics in the game is the rock, paper, scissors game or martial, hidden, seraph art system. One overpowers the other and is weak to the other. There is armatization in this game which gives you the ability to use hidden and seraph arts. Despite this one over the other system, these two arts are the strongest types giving you the best range and stagger on enemies. If one doesn't work, you switch to the other. If you spam this system, you can end fights pretty easily. The advantage you have over enemies is so overbearing, you essentially perma-stun them until you recharge and it's is pretty easy to stay charged. Exploiting this weakness essentially nulls the extraordinarily complex combat system.
    It's fun for a while but it loses its charm pretty fast.

    Exploration
    Dungeon crawling and world wandering is okay. Most puzzles don't take a whole lot of thinking. They tend to be tedious, no proud "Ah ha!" moment. There's a system where you can discover unique locations while you traverse giving you a skit but they're few in numbers. The game does a good job adding sidequest moments that are decent detours. I will say that the OST or music is pretty good, one thing I really did like.

    Plot - Characters

    The characters were not bad, they're likable but half of the cast remained static until very specific moments. There wasn't any build up to really know the characters. There's no progression and it feels like certain characters were meant for a single moment. You don't get to really know these characters in the end. The attachment wasn't there. Without that attachment, the big moments didn't hit very hard.
    The main character was weak. They were trying to create the naive, innocent, but just guy. He came off too heavily as the just guy and now you have your cliche superhero. Wasn't awful but he never really felt like a believable character. There wasn't a wholesome bit that made him feel true. Cliches killed this kind of character making him stale.
    There is also this huge bit that weakened the plot a lot. I don't know if there was conflict between writers or if they just thought it was a good idea. But there are two heroines, one that sort of just disappears from being a major plot point to a side character, and then the main one. This weird switch creates this dynamic which weakened the main heroine and completely trashed the second one. They tried to juggle both but it didn't work. It feels forced and unnecessary.

    Plot - Story
    The foundation had so much potential but ended up being weak. This was because of this spiritual matter point did not deliver well. If you worship a spirit, it will bless you. If you don't, you are stuck with poverty and disease. This was shaky from the start. To save humanity is to save people from themselves and get them to believe in spirits. For this to be successful, both of these point have to be good. There was a bunch of saving people which worked but the next step of involving spirits was bad. "i lost hope in people, but I promise I won't again since you kicked my ass," the spirits you meet are the least interesting things you'll encounter. This step didn't work making the entire human and spirit relationship feel a little pointless. It hurt the story as a whole.
    There were a lot of technical story telling that damaged the plot. You will get explanations on the foundations of the story that feels forced and unnaturally convenient. Things that do need a bit of explanation are not there. The Zestria world is complex and lack crucial details for it to make sense. How are Shepard's create and why was the (blank, for the sake of spoilers) made it impossible to have any other?
    There were moments that were pretty good. But there weren't many, not enough to be able to overlook the major flaws in the story.

    Verdict.
    Seven seemed generous when I reread what I typed. I enjoyed the Tales series, it has a special place in my heart. That made it hard to give it a six which is close to unplayable in my brain. There's so much to talk about but not enough time. I'll say this much, if you like past Tales game a lot, you'll be able to overlook most of these flaws and have an enjoyable experience. It still has the same Tale charm that drew me in at first. If this is your first one, it is highly unlikely that you'll enjoy this game.    … Expand
  21. Abrill
    Sep 10, 2016
    7
    Tales of Zestria is true to the "Tales of formula,".......... Perhaps a bit too true. With a game this large there needs to be a maintenance of innovation evenly distributed along with interesting plot to motivate people through to the end. I lost interest. There were multiple spots later in the game that forced me into revisiting areas for one conversation just to send me back to the lastTales of Zestria is true to the "Tales of formula,".......... Perhaps a bit too true. With a game this large there needs to be a maintenance of innovation evenly distributed along with interesting plot to motivate people through to the end. I lost interest. There were multiple spots later in the game that forced me into revisiting areas for one conversation just to send me back to the last area where I did...... what?........ The same thing.… Expand
  22. Nathan1423
    Jun 12, 2020
    6
    6 is giving it the benefit of the doubt. Easily the most boring opening hour and a half of any game I've played. Combat feels clunky. Seems auto-mode focused. Seems a little too easy. Maybe this game would be good for very young people like around 10-13. Voice acting is decent. Script is generally poor although conceptually decent. I tried so hard to play this game for more than an hour6 is giving it the benefit of the doubt. Easily the most boring opening hour and a half of any game I've played. Combat feels clunky. Seems auto-mode focused. Seems a little too easy. Maybe this game would be good for very young people like around 10-13. Voice acting is decent. Script is generally poor although conceptually decent. I tried so hard to play this game for more than an hour and a half but I literally could not. Might be good as a first video game for a young person.… Expand
  23. Toastclaimer
    Feb 20, 2018
    6
    The plot is a standard fantasy afair; nothing really unexpected is going to happen. The combat is unique but somehow manages to be both overly simplistic and overly complex at the same time leading to countless frustrations; there's so many figures to pay attention to and attack mashing is the best way to win. The best thing Zestiria has going is the characters which are unique from eachThe plot is a standard fantasy afair; nothing really unexpected is going to happen. The combat is unique but somehow manages to be both overly simplistic and overly complex at the same time leading to countless frustrations; there's so many figures to pay attention to and attack mashing is the best way to win. The best thing Zestiria has going is the characters which are unique from each other and at least try to be interesting and well developed and avoids overly used tropes. Overall Zestiria is a flawed game; but not a bad one. Avoid it if your not made about JRPGS though as it comes packing all the standard affairs warts and all… Expand
  24. TheRedHood1
    Feb 4, 2019
    6
    This games if not very good to me. I don't like the combat and how they changed the Tp system I think it is stupid that you have to stand there while you wait to do more combos and it runs out so quick but to say I had no fun with it would be a lie. I do not like the main character for many reasons and his partner Mikleo but the other like Edith are shining examples of good party membersThis games if not very good to me. I don't like the combat and how they changed the Tp system I think it is stupid that you have to stand there while you wait to do more combos and it runs out so quick but to say I had no fun with it would be a lie. I do not like the main character for many reasons and his partner Mikleo but the other like Edith are shining examples of good party members but most of the others just felt like stereotypes that did not go anywhere. The story was good up until one point where it just started to annoy the ever living crap out of me. And that stupid water dungeon is one is the worst things ever and is one of the worst dungeons I have ever played and ruined the games for me.… Expand
  25. senblade
    Oct 20, 2019
    5
    Вымученная и жалкая игра с огромным потенциалом, - погрязшая в штампах, кривом балансе и многих других проблемах бюджетных жрпг игр.
  26. Lwkasmax
    Aug 14, 2021
    7
    Great story and characters despite some cliche and the devaluation of the character alisha. combat with camera issues and overly complex character progression system
  27. aaronnmp96
    Jan 31, 2023
    7
    It could be better, he has charisma and is very well run, the story is a bit slow and the Maps are too big to go on foot.

Awards & Rankings

44
#44 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
5
#5 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 59 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 59
  3. Negative: 1 out of 59
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 3, 2016
    63
    Tales of Zestiria is just bad and lazy entry for a 20 year old series. [Jan 2016]
  2. GameCritics
    Feb 5, 2016
    75
    Tales of Zestiria had a good chance to surpass Vesperia as my favorite Tales title, but the weak plot left me wanting more. On the other hand, the combat system is currently tops, so that's a plus. Overall I still enjoyed my time with it, and would recommend it to Tales newcomers. Just come to it for the combat (and not the story) and everything will be roses.
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  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Dec 16, 2015
    70
    Beyond its puddle-deep characters, Zestiria is a decent addition to the series. [Christmas 2015, p.86]
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