Given that I’ve always considered myself an unflinching fan of the JRPG genre, for many years now it’s been a source of deep shame that I’d never played a Tales game. As it transpires, however, I’m not alone. Despite the series achieving success in Japan, falling just behind Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest in terms of popularity in its country of origin, for some reason the franchise has never managed to replicate this hit status on these shores. Whether something was lost in translation is difficult to tell but, with Tales of Zestiria, it feels like Bandai Namco is finally making a concentrated push to broaden the series’ appeal.
Originally conceived to mark the 20th anniversary of the Tales series, Zestiria is also pitched as an entry including classic features from the franchise, while also trying out new gameplay ideas. Some of these didn’t seem like huge innovations to me, but rather they serve to bring Zestiria in line with its competition. For example, this instalment marks the first time the franchise makes use of an open-world you can traverse, something we’ve become accustomed to in most other big-name JRPGs some time ago.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...
Originally conceived to mark the 20th anniversary of the Tales series, Zestiria is also pitched as an entry including classic features from the franchise, while also trying out new gameplay ideas. Some of these didn’t seem like huge innovations to me, but rather they serve to bring Zestiria in line with its competition. For example, this instalment marks the first time the franchise makes use of an open-world you can traverse, something we’ve become accustomed to in most other big-name JRPGs some time ago.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...