To start, JRPGs is not a common genre for me. The "Tales of" series is one of the few series of JRPG games that I play -- having played Tales of Symphonia (for the Gamecube), Tales of Berseria, and Tales of Arise. I enjoyed these games, as they allowed me to play them somewhat like a hack and slash game, while allowing me to slowly learn all the JRPG features. This gave me the satisfaction of playing the game from the start, allowed me to get into all the features of the game, and finally, enjoy the game as it was intended (as a JRPG). When I saw this game (Tales of Zestiria) during the 2024 Fanatical Summer sale, I felt it was an easy purchase -- both to get more into the JRPG elements of the series and to enjoy the "hack and slash" playstyle too. Also, Tales of Berseria is my favorite of the series, so was very interested to see how this game's story was related. So, with this game, what do I think? And how does it compare to Tales of Berseria?

The story. Basically, I am not a fan of the "Chosen One" narrative trope (and their related MacGuffins). It can somewhat work (such as with Tales of Symphonia), but it is very susceptible to lazy writing (meaning the story can easily rely on it with little justification/rationalization). Heck, even in the case of Symphonia, I felt that some of the story were forced due to the setup. Unfortunately, this game does seems to depend a bit much on the trope (removing the need to explain motivation) -- and there are even discussions regarding figuring out the path, instead of following previous ones. Also, as with other "Tales of" games, it is a very slow burn (in the beginning), and the characters do take some time to become somewhat likeable. Tales of Berseria, which is a prequel to (that released after) Tales of Zestiria, is only mildly related. While interesting, there isn't really much tying these two games together, and hence, they can be played independently of each other ... but to be clear ... Tales of Berseria has a much better story, has better character development, and does not depend on being a "chosen one".

The Tales of Berseria characters are still my favorite -- which is impressive, because they are mostly "bad guys" (reluctant anti-heroes), with one being intentionally annoying. With Tales of Zestiria, you are on the side of the "Abbey" (Berseria terminology). It may have taken a thousand years, but the antagonist (group) of Berseria is now the protagonist of Zestiria. And the Lord of Calamity is actually an evil entity (Zestiria), instead of just a propaganda title given to the enemy of the Abbey (Berseria). I really liked this setup, as it was a great opportunity to play as the other side (and as the heroes). Unfortunately, the characters are not nearly as likeable, and I am not completely sure why. I think it may be due to the setup. In this game (Zestiria), the primary goal of the characters are very clear. There may be some conflict, but it is secondary to the goal. With Tales of Berseria, the goals of the team members are different, and the conflict makes the team dynamics feel delicate. The game (Berseria) was constantly explaining, justifying, and even negotiating the dynamics of the team -- keeping you constantly engaged. In other words, the character/team development of Zestiria is not as frequent, or as good as Berseria.

The Tales of Zestiria combat system is a bit similar, and yet, very different from Berseria. I find it interesting that Bandai/Namco changes it with every game -- even with two games in the same universe. In my opinion, this does makes the games enjoyable, but also makes it difficult to play different Tales games in parallel. You can get/upgrade weapons, obtain armor/equipment, obtain titles, etc., however, these are also a bit different. It is probably best to simply unlearn from playing the previous "tales of" games, and learn this game from scratch. The button assignments/purpose, combo system, and even how the more powerful artes are activated are different. I don't know if comparing the combat system is fair due to the differences, however, overall, for me, I felt that (initially) Tales of Berseria had a more satisfying combat system. The Tales of Zestiria combat system does eventually feel a bit more satisfying (especially once you get used to the many options) -- with a few options being overly complex, and best to be avoided.

There is a difference with the overworld that I feel should be mentioned. Tales of Zestiria is the only "Tales of" game (that I played so far), that shows all visible characters in the overworld. With other Tales of games, you only see one character, and can only see the other characters when a battle is initiated. I am so used to this setup, that I lost count of the times I thought I was about to be attacked by an enemy, when it was just one of my team members catching up to me. Also, you can talk to your team on the overworld, which seems to be a great way to get clues, and even directions. This is a really good change, and greatly helps with immersion. And unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have been adopted in any of the later games (such as Tales of Arise).

One major difference seems to be the team setup. With other "Tales of" games, you are generally the somewhat overpowered, close quarters fighter, by default. On your team, you have a healer, a long range magic user, and a few characters with mixed abilities, giving you the ability to build a team the way you like. With this game, you are required to use your only two human characters, and the Seraph characters' abilities seems to be similar, with the differences being the element types. In other words, it feels like you are building a team for a Pokémon game, versus a traditional "Tales of" game. Additionally, the high complexity of the weapon/battle system makes it a large (and repetitive) effort for only differences of element types.

Overall, I did eventually like this game -- but not enough to complete it. I do *not* recommend this game as the first game(s) into the "Tales Of" series. Tales of Arise/Berseria were definitely better than this game due to the story/characters. Arguably, Tales of Symphonia was also better, but that game probably did not age very well (I also hear stories of how the PC port is not as good as when it was on the Gamecube). On the other hand, if you are already a "tales of" fan, and am looking for another game to scratch the itch, then feel free to try out Tales of Zestiria. In the future, if my game backlog gets smaller, I may even give this game another try. For me, I don't regret buying it, especially since I had purchased this game on sale.

A very underrated tales game. There are parts that are a bit wonky, mainly the battle camera. The characters are fantastic and make the game a lot of fun. A more left field approach, but I like that it's a bit different from other tales games.