4/28/2023 0 Comments Tales of zestiria gramps![]() One thing that I felt somewhat lacking from Zestiria's cast that Berseria's cast have, though, is that due to gameplay mechanics, the seraph characters don't get to shine as much story-wise, with only human characters (and by that I mean mostly Sorey) receiving significant character arcs and development. ![]() The very well-directed cutscenes and voice performances also actually made the dramatic scenes memorable.Īs for characters, admittedly I think they do a good job on making them unique and likable if a bit cliche-ish, and the dynamic between party members (especially in skits) are decent enough and I can buy them as true companions, if not quite as good as Berseria's. Only Alisha's reaction to Maltran's betrayal, Edna's breakdown over having to kill Eizen, and Sorey and Mikleo mercy-killing Zenrus in the final battle invoke any deep emotion out of the main characters, and by then it's the end of the game already.Compare this with Berseria, where basically every life taken affects a lot on party members through their journey, with some even have lasting consequences through almost the entire game. It kinda makes it hard to sympathize with a character's plight when the characters themselves don't seem to make such a big deal out of it afterwards. I also personally don't like how characters seem to get over traumatic events pretty quickly and kind of just brush it off without them really affecting the main story much, with one particular moment where Mikleo basically watched his birth mother die in front of him with barely any emotion afterward is the top offender, as well as basically Rose's entire character who seems to be unflappable no matter what she goes through. This is not even mentioning how some cutscenes that should've been emotional is kinda ruined by awkward voice acting and animations: Sorey and Mikleo's 'argument' in the sewers early in the game, a tragic sidequest involving a kid dying set to cheerful BGM for some reason, and Dezel and Mayvin's death scenes came to mind. It keeps the story focused, well-paced, and engaging. Berseria kept things simple by focusing the story entirely on Velvet's vengeance, with everything else happening revolves around her actions, not the other way around, and everybody gets equal chance to shine in the story with nobody getting left out awkwardly. Characters who seem to be important in the first act (Alisha, Bartlow, Lunarre) ended up being nothing more than side characters in the grand scheme of things, and characters who are supposed to be major players (Rose, the seraphs, hell, even the big bad Heldalf) aren't really defined enough in-story. Instead, they tried to do all of them at once, which resulted in plotlines that didn't go anywhere or resolved so abruptly, you wonder why characters made such a big deal about them in the first place (granted, even the well-beloved Tales of Vesperia did this at times, too). You have two kingdoms rife with ruthless political maneuverings, one wide-eyed princess who's in for a rude awakening when everything she've ever known and fought for get torn apart to their cores, a 'noble' assassin guild who have good intentions but can only achieve them by dirtying their hands, people who have powers thrust upon them and getting overwhelmed to the point that they went crazy from all the burden, unknown forces that manipulated the world that only a handful of beings know about and even less so possess the power to do something about it, etc.Īny one of those plotlines would have been enough to revolve the entire game around and presented a well thought-out theme deconstruction and reconstruction that the Tales series is famous for. ![]() You have a story that's a big shout-out to the Arthurian Mythology, complete with a hero who pulled out a magic sword and became a messiah-like figure tasked with saving the world from chaos. Tales of Zestiria, to put simply, is an ambitious title that's too ambitious for its own good. My own personal experience with the game which might or might not apply to other players, so doesn't think too much about it. This is simply my own opinion about it, though. Coming from someone who played Berseria first before Zestiria, I can see now why Zestiria is such a divisive title and often pales in comparison to its admittedly more fleshed out and optimized prequel.
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