Tales of Zestiria

This article is about the video game. For the anime series, see Tales of Zestiria the X.

Tales of Zestiria
Box art of the Japanese release, also used for worldwide release
Developer(s)
  • Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher(s)Bandai Namco Entertainment
Director(s)
  • Yuuta Hase
  • Mari Miyata
Producer(s)Hideo Baba[4]
Designer(s)
  • Hikaru Kondo
  • Tatsuro Udo[5]
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
  • Naoki Yamamoto
  • Takashi Hasegawa
Composer(s)
SeriesTales
Platform(s)
Release
January 22, 2015
  • PlayStation 3
    PlayStation 4
    Windows
    • EU: 16 October 2015
    • NA: 20 October 2015[1]
Genre(s)Action role-playing game
Mode(s)

Tales of Zestiria (Japanese: テイルズ オブ ゼスティリア, Hepburn: Teiruzu Obu Zesutiria) is an action role-playing game. It is the fifteenth main entry in the Tales series, developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released in January 2015 in Japan on the PlayStation 3. For Western release in October of the same year, it was also ported to PlayStation 4 and Windows via Steam. The PS4 version was released in Japan in July 2016. As with previous entries in the Tales series, the game uses a variation of the action-based Linear Motion Battle System, with additional elements including a navigable open world, and the ability for certain characters to fuse into a single entity in battle to deliver powerful attacks.

The story follows Sorey, a young man blessed with powers by a mystical spirit race known as the Seraphim who act as a stabilizing force in the land, as he travels to free the land of Glenwood from the threat of the Hellion, creatures spawned by negative emotions. The game's characteristic genre name is Jōnetsu ga sekai o terasu ārupījī (情熱が世界を照らすRPG, lit. "RPG of Passion Lighting the World"), with its story focusing on the passion of the characters.

The game began development in 2012 as the 20th anniversary title for the Tales series, returning to the series' thematic roots as established in Tales of Phantasia and featuring revamped gameplay systems. Multiple staff members from previous Tales games returned, including producer Hideo Baba, battle programmer Tatsuro Udo, designers Kōsuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata, and composers Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina. It has received positive reviews in Japanese gaming magazines, and shipped over 400,000 units in its first week. It has similarly garnered mixed to positive reviews in the west, with the majority of praise going to the battle system while its story and presentation received a mixed response. Despite the praise, it has received criticism from fans in Japan for its handling of the game's characters.

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