Tales of Zestiria is an action role-playing game. It is the fifteenth main game in the Tales series, created by Bandai Namco Studios and released by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was first released in Japan on the PlayStation 3 in January 2015. Later that year, in October, it was also made available on PlayStation 4 and Windows through Steam. The PlayStation 4 version was released in Japan in July 2016. Like other games in the Tales series, Tales of Zestiria uses a version of the action-based Linear Motion Battle System. It also includes features such as an open world that players can explore and the ability for some characters to combine into one entity during battles to perform strong attacks.

The story follows Sorey, a young man who gains powers from the Seraphim, a mystical spirit race that helps keep the land balanced. Sorey travels to save Glenwood, a region threatened by Hellions, creatures that appear because of negative emotions. The game’s official title in Japanese is Jōnetsu ga sekai o terasu ārupījī (情熱が世界を照らすRPG, lit. "RPG of Passion Lighting the World"). The story highlights the emotions and determination of the characters.

Tales of Zestiria started development in 2012 as a celebration of the Tales series’ 20th anniversary. It returns to the themes first introduced in Tales of Phantasia and includes updated gameplay systems. Many staff members from earlier Tales games worked on this project, including producer Hideo Baba, battle programmer Tatsuro Udo, designers Kōsuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata, and composers Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. The game received positive reviews in Japanese gaming magazines and sold over 400,000 copies in its first week. In the West, it received mixed to positive reviews, with praise for its battle system and criticism for its story and presentation. Some Japanese fans also expressed concerns about how the characters were portrayed in the game.

Gameplay

Tales of Zestiria is an action role-playing game set in a fantasy world with three-dimensional characters that look realistic and fit the size of the world around them. The main world of the game is an open world that you can explore freely, unlike earlier games in the series. Skits, which are extra conversations between characters that can be dramatic or funny, return in this game. These skits show characters in full-body form, a feature carried over from Tales of Graces. Like in Graces and Tales of Xillia, all skits are fully voiced. While exploring areas between locations or when a specific Seraph character is assigned, players can use special commands. These commands include slicing through small obstacles (all characters), breaking large obstacles (Edna), temporarily hiding from enemies (Mikleo), lighting up special areas in dungeons (Lailah), or teleporting across gaps (Dezel). A second character can join the main character, and players can start conversations with them that are important to the story or unrelated. Each character has unique Support Talents, such as finding treasure chests or checking a character’s health, which can be improved as characters grow stronger.

New abilities for characters are earned by completing side-quests for creatures called Normins found throughout the world. Equipment given to characters can have special skills, with one piece of equipment having four skill slots. Some combinations of equipment create extra effects. Certain types of equipment can only be obtained by combining two different accessories. A local four-player multiplayer option is available. Players can buy and sell items like outfits, weapons, and armor at shops across the world. Repeatedly visiting a shop improves its level, unlocking better items. During exploration, players travel through regions controlled by Lords of the Land, who need protection from the Seraphim. Protecting these areas gives players access to abilities like warping between save points for a fee. Other abilities are unlocked by completing specific goals in battles or helping Normins. Players can improve these abilities by increasing the strength of the protection through battles in the area. Characters can rest at inns to restore their health and magic.

The game uses the series’ action-based Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS), called the Fusionic Chain LMBS in Zestiria. Unlike earlier games, battles now take place in the same space as exploration, such as in towns or dungeons. These battles are called "Real Map Battles." The terrain, like ponds or rocks, can affect how characters fight. Attacking enemies first gives players an advantage. Like previous games, the LMBS includes special skills called artes. Human characters use close-range melee attacks, while Seraph characters use mid-to-long range magical attacks. These artes are grouped into categories for each character. Artes can interrupt regular attacks. Alongside regular attacks and artes, characters can cast spells for healing or attacking. The standard attacks, artes, and spells follow a rock-paper-scissors system. Special attacks called Mystic Artes deal heavy damage, with each character having a unique Mystic Arte.

During battles, characters’ status is shown in special windows on the screen. These windows display health, a Blast gauge (linked to special abilities), and a Spirit Chain (SC) gauge (used for linking characters and performing attacks). High SC points give characters benefits like more damage or faster recovery. Characters can dodge forward, backward, or to the side, and timed dodges can stagger enemies and fill the SC gauge. The Blast gauge lets characters release energy blasts that push enemies back and heal injuries. The SC gauge allows up to four linked attacks, with leftover points used for later attacks. The order of linked attacks cannot be changed. At the end of battles, if certain conditions are met, characters can learn skills called Battle Acts, which give them advantages in future battles, such as moving freely on the field.

Characters Sorey and Rose can perform "Armatization," fusing with a chosen Seraph partner to create a powerful hybrid form. This form lets them use magical attacks related to the Seraph’s element. In this form, the human character’s stats improve, and they gain unique abilities, such as wielding a large sword and using fire magic (Lailah), shooting water arrows with a bow (Mikleo), using stone fists and summoning pillars (Edna), or gaining blade-like wings and summoning whirlwinds (Dezel/Zaveid). Characters can switch Seraph partners outside of this form. Both Sorey and Rose can use Armatization at the same time. If a human character is defeated on the field, activating Armatization will revive them if their Seraph partner is still active. Battles allow up to four party members, with one human linked to one Seraph.

Plot

Tales of Zestiria is set on a fictional continent called Glenwood, which is part of a world covered mostly by oceans. Glenwood shares its world with another game, Tales of Berseria, which takes place in the distant past of Zestiria’s world. Glenwood is divided into two countries at war: the Hyland Kingdom, ruled by a type of government where a king or queen shares power with a group of people, and the Rolance Empire. Many groups called Guilds exist independently and profit from the war, working in jobs like transportation, manufacturing, and even assassination. A harmful force called "malevolence," created by human emotions, turns living beings, the dead, and objects into monsters called Hellions, which threaten the world. Another main race in Glenwood is the Seraphim, supernatural beings that can only communicate with humans who have a special connection called "resonance." Once common, Seraphim are now rare. People who can interact with Seraphim are called "Shepherds," and they are both respected and feared for their power. Shepherds often appear in times of danger and are part of stories about Seraphim. Seraphim can form partnerships, with one leader called a "Prime Lord" and others called "Sub Lords" who help them. The game follows Shepherds during the "Era of Chaos," when Hellions attack Glenwood’s villages and cities. Dragons are important in the story but are not seen as purely good or evil; they are actually Seraphim corrupted by malevolence.

The story begins with a young human named Sorey and his friend Mikleo, a Seraph of water, who rescue a girl named Alisha from ruins and return her to her village, Elysia. After Alisha leaves, Sorey and Mikleo fight a Hellion named Lunarre and decide to search for Alisha. During their search, Sorey meets Lailah, a Seraph of fire who becomes his Prime Lord, giving him the power to purify Hellions and making him a Shepherd. When Sorey reunites with Alisha, who is revealed to be a princess of the Hyland Kingdom, she becomes his "Squire," fighting Hellions with him. The group travels across Glenwood to purify Hellions and find the source of malevolence, a figure called the "Lord of Calamity." Along the way, they meet Zaveid, a rogue Seraph of wind who hunts Hellions, and Edna, an earth Seraph who joins them. However, Alisha’s weak resonance weakens Sorey, forcing her to leave the group.

When war breaks out between Hyland and Rolance, Alisha is used by Hyland’s military to pressure Sorey and his friends into fighting. During a battle, the Lord of Calamity, Heldalf, appears and nearly kills Sorey, who is saved by an assassin named Rose. After recovering, Sorey learns about four shrines that Shepherds must complete to grow stronger and decides to clear them before facing Heldalf again. During his journey, Rose is revealed to have strong resonance and becomes Sorey’s Squire, joining the group with Dezel, a wind Seraph guarding her for a secret reason. After completing the shrines, the group is trapped by Symonne, a fallen Seraph working for Heldalf. It is discovered that Dezel seeks revenge on Symonne for killing his friend and disgracing Rose’s guild. Rose is badly hurt, and Dezel sacrifices himself to protect her, after which Zaveid joins the group.

Sorey and his friends confront Heldalf again but notice he does not want to fight them immediately. After failing to convince Sorey to join him, Heldalf retreats, and the group investigates his true motives. They learn that the Era of Chaos began when a previous Shepherd, who was a Rolance general, was cursed into an immortal being named Heldalf by a fallen Seraph named Maotelus. This curse filled him with hatred, making him the Lord of Calamity. It is also revealed that Sorey and Mikleo were saved as children and raised by Seraphim. After learning the truth, Sorey and his friends defeat Heldalf, restoring him to his human form and ending his life, giving him peace. Sorey merges with Maotelus to remove malevolence from the world, allowing Seraphim and humans to live together peacefully. In a post-credits scene, a future Mikleo is shown exploring ruins and saved by a reawakened Sorey.

• Sorey (Surei) is a human raised by Seraphim, who has strong resonance, allowing him to communicate with them. After forming a pact with Lailah, he becomes a Shepherd and gains the power to purify Hellions. He fights with a sword and can use Armatization. Sorey was designed by Kōsuke Fujishima.
• Mikleo (Mikurio) is a Seraph of water and Sorey’s childhood friend. He is calm and kind, sharing a strong bond with Sorey. He fights with a long staff and uses water-based attacks. He was designed by Mutsumi Inomata.
• Alisha Diphda (Arīsha Difuda) is a princess of the Hyland Kingdom. Treated unfairly due to her mother’s low status, she becomes a knight. Initially unable to see Seraphim, she becomes a Squire to Sorey, gaining limited magic and the ability to see them. She leaves the group early due to conflicts and negative effects on Sorey. She fights with a spear and was designed by Okumura.
• Rose (Roze) is a human who joins Sorey’s quest as part of the "Sparrowfeathers" guild. She has strong resonance but lost the ability to see Seraphim until becoming Sorey’s Squire. She fights with twin daggers and can use Armatization. She is a playable character, not an NPC like Claire Bennett in Tales of Rebirth. She was designed by Fujishima.
• Lailah (Raira) is a Seraph of fire who teaches Sorey and becomes his Prime Lord. She also becomes a Prime Lord to Mikleo. Edna is a Sub Lord who joins the group.

Development

Tales of Zestiria began being made by Bandai Namco Studios in 2011, about three years before it was released. A Japanese company called tri-Crescendo helped with the game's programming. The game was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series, combining old ideas with new gameplay features. The story focuses on the characters' passion for their beliefs, which is different from other games in the series that usually focus on justice or faith. The title "Zestiria" comes from the word "zest," which describes the main characters' energy. The game also highlights the theme of different groups and races living together. It returned to a medieval European fantasy setting with dragons, unlike recent games like Tales of Xillia and its sequel. Producer Hideo Baba wanted to go back to the original themes of the Tales series, first explored in Tales of Phantasia, to mark the anniversary. When development started, the team used ideas from the Xillia games as a base. The main director was Yuuta Hase, who had previously worked on the gameplay systems for the Xillia games. He faced challenges in balancing new features with traditional elements. Around 200 people worked on the game, twice as many as the previous mainline Tales game, Xillia 2.

The main story writer was Naoki Yamamoto, who had previously written scripts for Tales of Hearts and the Xillia games. He created the story with the idea of a long and enjoyable journey in mind, and he developed the character Sorey to represent the game's central theme. Yamamoto worked closely with the team to ensure the story and gameplay showed consistent relationships between human and Seraphim characters. The idea that Seraphim are invisible to humans was decided early in development, which made it harder to design a normal quest structure. The story was built around Alisha leaving the group, and the team adjusted downloadable content (DLC) outfits for her so that Rose could wear them too. While Alisha's DLC hinted at a story continuation, Zestiria and its story DLC were complete on their own, with no future DLC planned. The final script included six books, one for battle dialogue. Later, some staff felt the story did not explore characters' emotions deeply enough, and Baba said they would try to improve this in future games.

The characters were designed by Kosuke Fujishima, Mutsumi Inomata, Daigo Okumura, and Minoru Iwamoto, who had all worked on previous Tales games. Iwamoto also served as the game's art director. The artists changed the physical traits of the Seraphim characters, such as making the fire Seraph Laliah small and gentle, and the earth Seraph Edna short but powerful. A lot of effort was needed to make the environments unique so players would not get lost. Anime studio Ufotable created the game's opening and anime scenes. Iwamoto worked with Ufotable to ensure the opening showed the main characters' personalities clearly.

Tatsuro Udo, a battle programmer from previous games like Eternia, Rebirth, and Graces, helped design the battle system. At the start of development, the team had to rebuild the gameplay from the Xillia games, which was a difficult task. The battle system aimed to mix familiar elements with new ideas to refresh the series. Creating a smooth transition between exploration and combat, as well as adding Armitization, was challenging. The team wanted players to fight enemies in the same space as exploration to create a new sense of adventure, as they felt moving to a separate battle area limited the series' growth. Until the battle system was finished, other related systems developed slowly. A new engine had to be created for the game instead of modifying the old one as done before. A shortage of staff made development harder and longer than previous games. The PlayStation 3 was chosen as the original platform because the next generation of hardware had not sold well in Japan, and Bandai Namco did not want to take risks with platforms that had few users.

The music for Zestiria was composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. Because the game celebrated the series' anniversary and both composers were popular with fans, they were chosen to work together. Sakuraba composed over 100 tracks during the project. The standard and boss battle themes were meant to reflect the overall atmosphere of the series. Shiina, who worked on 30 tracks, had trouble expressing his musical style in the soundtrack. He focused on themes for Alisha, Zaveid, and the dragons, and included choral music in some Seraphim-related tracks. The game's official soundtrack was released on February 18, 2015. Some tracks were included in the European and North American Collector's Editions.

The game's theme song, "White Light," was composed and performed by the J-pop group Superfly. Superfly worked on the song alongside the game and had access to the game's material for inspiration. The title was inspired by the idea of people starting with a "white canvas" and shaping their lives through choices. The single was released digitally on iTunes the day before the game's launch and was the lead track of Superfly's fifth album, White, released on May 27, 2015. Western versions of the game use an instrumental version of the song in the opening due to licensing issues.

Release and promotion

The trademark for The Tales of Zestiria was registered in Japan, Europe, and North America between August and September 2013. Bandai created a website in November as part of a teaser campaign that counted down to December 12, 2013. A live stream on Niconico occurred after the countdown ended, and the game was shown during this event. Later, translations for North America, South America, and Europe were announced. Soon after the game was revealed, it was reported that character designs and story writing were complete, but the battle system and graphics were still being worked on. In April 2014, the game’s genre name was announced as Jonetsu ga sekai o terasu RPG ("RPG of Passion Lighting the World"). The game was released in Japan on January 22, 2015, and in Europe, Australia, and North America in October 2015.

Starting in October 2014, Bandai Namco promoted the game by offering a 30% discount on PlayStation Network. PlayStation Plus members received an additional 20% discount. A special PS3 controller themed around Zestiria was released in Japan, made in partnership with Hori. It included a cleaning cloth with cartoon versions of the eight main characters. A fashion brand called Putumayo, which had previously worked on promotional clothing for Tales of Symphonia, designed outfits and jewelry based on the main characters. Figurines of two characters, Sorey and Alisha, were also produced. After the game’s release, two guides were published: a Complete Guide in February 2015 and a Perfect Guide with detailed game information and behind-the-scenes content in April 2015.

The planned release year for the game in Japan was shared at a Tales Of Festival in June 2014, and its exact release date for Western regions was announced at the Tokyo Game Show that year. Bandai Namco stated it aimed to release the game in all major regions within the same year, beginning localization efforts after the Japanese release. This decision was influenced by fan reactions to delays in the Xillia series. For the English version, the team considered including Japanese vocal tracks, similar to Tales of Symphonia Chronicles. Dual audio (both English and Japanese) was confirmed with the announcement of the Western release. Initially, no plans were made for a PlayStation 4 version due to limited staff, but later ports were created for the PS4 and PC in Western markets. Collector’s Editions for Europe and North America included DLC codes, cartoon character figures, an art book, and special packaging. In North America, the Collector’s Edition was exclusive to the PS4. The European Steam version included a code for a Steam version of Tales of Symphonia. The PS4 version was later released in Japan on July 7, 2016, as a budget edition.

Multiple pre-order bonuses were offered, including downloadable content (DLC) such as new abilities for characters and limited rubber straps with character designs. Additional pre-order rewards from 7-Eleven stores included special costumes for characters and a powerful healing ability for Sorey. Crossover costumes based on Rebuild of Evangelion and characters from The Idolmaster One For All were also created. Original Academy Costumes for the eight main characters were designed, with battle music changing to match their appearances. Collaborations included costumes inspired by Blue Exorcist and attachments based on Sengoku Basara 4. Other DLC included swimsuit outfits and outfits from previous Tales games.

Japanese players who saved data from earlier Tales games, such as Xillia, Vesperia, and Graces, unlocked attachments themed after those games’ protagonists. After release, additional DLC included costumes, accessories, and free skits. These DLC items were available until March 2015. A downloadable scenario titled Alisha’s Story: The Strength of a Knight, featuring Alisha and Rose in a post-game story, was released in Japan on February 12, 2015, and in Western regions alongside the main game. This scenario could be played without finishing the main game, with character stats carried over. To celebrate the game’s release, the scenario was made free until February 26. Alisha’s Story and much of the original pre-order DLC were included in the European and North American Collector’s Editions and offered for a limited time to Steam buyers.

Reception

The game received positive reviews overall. Metacritic, a website that collects reviews, gave the PS4 version a score of 72 out of 100 and the PC version a score of 77 out of 100. Before its release, the Japanese version of the game won the "Future Division" award at the 2014 Japan Game Awards, which took place after the Tokyo Game Show. The game also received the Platinum award from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu when it was released.

Famitsu and another gaming magazine, Dengeki PlayStation, praised the story and characters. Famitsu called the story "epic," and Dengeki PlayStation described the characters as "charming." Dengeki PlayStation also said the game was the best work in the Tales series. Erren Van Duine, who wrote for PlayStation Lifestyle, said the characters were "likable" and enjoyed the first half of the story, but felt the second half was not as strong. Jowi Meli, who also reviewed the game for PlayStation Lifestyle, said the experience was enjoyable despite a slow start and some awkward English voice acting.

Western reviewers had mixed opinions about the characters. Some, like Danielle Lucas of PC Gamer and Adriaan den Ouden of RPGamer, enjoyed the characters, while others, such as Jordan Helm of Hardcore Gamer and Miguel Concepcion of GameSpot, were less impressed. Concepcion compared the characters to those in other games and said they seemed unoriginal. Reviews of the story were also mixed, with some praising it and others pointing out a lack of originality. Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer said the story was less innovative than earlier games in the series, even though it had a more mature tone and less clichéd dialogue.

Famitsu noted that the game had a noticeable improvement in how battles and exploration connected, and called the battles exciting. They also said the Armitization feature, which allows players to use special abilities, worked well. However, the way players could interact with the environment became tiring once they became familiar with all the skills. Erren Van Duine said the way battles transitioned between areas gave players a better sense of the environment, while Dengeki PlayStation praised the smooth gameplay and the ability to retry battles after failing. Kimberley Wallace liked the battle system and praised Armitization, even though the game had a slow pace. Remi, another reviewer, said the gameplay was more complex than in earlier games and agreed with Wallace about the battle system. Many other reviewers also praised Armitization, but some mentioned issues with outdated gameplay mechanics and managing items and equipment. A common problem was the camera, which was described as hard to follow or distracting in both battles and exploration.

Other issues were also noted. Famitsu said the tutorials were unclear. Van Duine praised the game’s art style but said the game had problems with frame rate, meaning the game ran slowly on some hardware. Both Boone and Wallace said there were not enough hints for players, which made it hard to know where to go. Wallace also said the game had old-fashioned elements and criticized the artificial intelligence of other characters in battles. The game’s graphics were also criticized, with Remi comparing them to games from the PlayStation 2. Some reviewers said the open world had rough areas, and others said it was harder to navigate when the teleport system was disabled at certain points in the story.

According to Media Create, Zestiria was the top-selling game in Japan when it was released, selling 340,891 units. It beat other games like The Legend of Legacy for the Nintendo 3DS and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse for the Wii U. A week after its release, Bandai Namco said the game had sold over 400,000 units. It was the fifth best-selling game between its release and August 2015. In the United Kingdom, Zestiria reached number 8 on the top 20 game list during its first week, making it the highest-ranking new release. As of 2021, Zestiria was the fourth best-selling Tales game worldwide, with sales of over one million units. It sold 600,000 units in North America and 481,000 units in Europe, where it was the best-selling Tales game in the region.

After the game was released, some players were unhappy about how playable characters were handled. Many players were upset that Alisha, a character who appeared in early promotional material, was not playable for most of the game. This issue was made worse when Alisha After Episode, a spin-off game, was announced, with some players saying the absence of Alisha in the main game was a way to sell more products with her. At the Taipei Game Show, Baba, a developer, said the characters in promotional material were shown in the order they appeared in the game, not based on their importance. He also said the story did not have a specific heroine, allowing players to choose their favorite. Later, Baba told Famitsu that the promotional material did not label Alisha as the heroine, even though the mobile game Tales of Asteria included information that described her as the heroine, which Baba regretted. He said Alisha’s role in the story was important, even though she left early, and that allowing Rose to wear Alisha’s DLC costumes was kept secret to avoid spoiling the story. Bandai Namco considered whether to release Alisha After Episode with the main game or as a separate product in Western markets.

Media adaptations

A made-for-television anime movie titled Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of the Shepherd was created to promote the game. The movie was animated by Ufotable and distributed by Bandai Namco Games. It shows the beginning of the game, where the main character, Sorey, learns to become a Shepherd and meets Alisha and Lunarre for the first time. The movie was directed by Haruo Sotozaki, produced by Baba, and had music composed by Sakuraba and Shiina. Including the anime on a special Blu-ray disc was expensive, so the company was not in favor of making it at first. They had planned to create an anime for Tales of Berseria instead. However, Baba wanted to make the anime as part of the game’s 20th anniversary celebration. The movie first aired on December 30, 2014, on Tokyo MX and Kyoto Broadcasting System (KBS), and on December 31 on BS11. It was later shown on Kochi TV, Okayama Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi Television, and Bandai Channel throughout January. The anime was repeated on January 20 to celebrate the game’s release. In Japan, the anime is included on the game’s disc. For the Western release, the anime was added to the European and North American Collector’s Editions.

An animated television series called Tales of Zestiria the X, also made by Ufotable, was announced at the Tales of Festival 2015. The original plan for this anime was to promote Tales of Berseria before its release, which is why the game appears in the series. The series is directed by Haruo Sotozaki and written by Ufotable staff. Akira Matsushima redesigned the characters for the anime, and Minji Kim is the art director. The music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. The opening theme, “Kaze no Uta,” is performed by Flow, and the ending theme, “Calling,” is performed by Fhána. Most of the main voice actors from the game will return for the series, except for Lailah’s voice actress, Miyu Matsuki, who passed away in 2015. She was replaced by Noriko Shitaya. The series was planned to air in July 2016. Funimation and Madman Entertainment have licensed the anime for streaming. The first part of the series aired from July 3 to September 25, 2016. The second part aired from January 8, 2017, to April 29, 2017. The anime includes some scenes and story elements from the game, though it also has differences in the plot.

A manga adaptation titled Tales of Zestiria: The Time of Guidance, written and illustrated by Shiramine, began being published in Japan on January 28, 2015, in Monthly Comic Zero Sum. An official novelization of the game’s opening story, written by Sawako Hirabayashi, was released on April 30, 2015. Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the manga for release in North America.