Tales of Zestiria has it's fair share of problems and the game is slow to pick up the pace in the story, but is overall a good game.

While the game is visually appealing, especially for those who like anime art styles, the environments can feel bland and closed off. Especially so for the indoor dungeons. If you've played past tales games such as Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Xillia, and/or Tales of Graces, you'll find the game is more similar to the latter two in terms of combat and design choices.

The audio in the game is also pretty good. The English voice cast did a great job, and you might hear some familiar VAs as some of the main characters (such as Caitlin Glass [Winry Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist and Cammy White in Street Fighter 4 and 5] and Carrie Keranen [Satsuki Kiryuin in Kill la Kill]).

Matoi Sakuraba's soundtrack is as you'd expect for a Tales game (he composed most of the prior games in the series). Go Shiina also composed for Tales of Zestiria (he previously composed Tales of Legendia's OST), and there is a start contrast in the music. You'll know when it's a track by Shiina. And that's a very good thing in my opinion.

The battles are fun overall, though I prefer the mechanics in other games in the series more (Tales of Symphonia, Vesperia, Xillia, etc.). One thing that knocks the battle system is the camera. There's no good way to control where it is outside of sidestepping around your target. In indoor areas the camera can be a real issue as it will make contact with the wall and zoom in extremely close to the character you control.

And there are some difficulty spikes later in the game. Be prepared to grind some levels or lower the difficulty if you find yourself struggling to kill regular monsters. Learning the battle system is key in this game. You can't mash out regular attacks into an arte in this game, the properties of each skill greatly affect the flow of battle (certain types of artes will make enemies cast magic faster instead of interrupting the cast, elemental resistances heavily hinder your damage output, etc.) and avoiding as much damage as possible will help a great deal (i.e. learn to time your side steps/back steps).

The story is alright by Tales game standards, even if the pacing is not great and one section of the game makes you explore to find certain items if you haven't already (forces some side quests). However, it's nothing to really write home about when comparing it to other games in the series (which is saying something considering the series isn't known for amazing stories and writing). The characters can be likeable as well, but they each fill a stereotypical role in a very "anime" fashion (innocent main character who grows into a hero, happy go lucky person, very mature for her age/appearance "kid", the "cold, quiet, harsh, yet has a soft side" person, etc.).

The puns make up for it though. Puns are the highest form of humor and the game loves to throw out puns. The localization team did a great job on that.

The crafting/fusion system is really tedious, though most players probably won't delve really deep into it. Weapons of the same name can be fused together to combine/create new skills attached to them. If you stack a certan amount of skills you gain more better effects, but if you stack too many of the same you get no effect at all. For those less inclined to figuring it out, equipping the highest stat items might be the best way to go.

Ultimately it's a pretty good game. Tales of Zestiria certainly isn't the best game in the series (subjective of course), but the good in the game outweigh the bad overall. Story is okay, certain characters can be difficult to like, some design choices are questionable, but it is indeed a Tales game through and through.

Also the use of puns is great. Recommended.

Tales of Zestiria has it's fair share of problems and the game is slow to pick up the pace in the story, but is overall a good game. While the game is visually appealing, especially for those who like anime art styles, the environments can feel bland and closed off. Especially so for the indoor dungeons. If you've played past tales games such as Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Xillia, and/or Tales of Graces, you'll find the game is more similar to the latter two in terms of combat and design choices. The audio in the game is also pretty good. The English voice cast did a great job, and you might hear some familiar VAs as some of the main characters (such as Caitlin Glass [Winry Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist and Cammy White in Street Fighter 4 and 5] and Carrie Keranen [Satsuki Kiryuin in Kill la Kill]). Matoi Sakuraba's soundtrack is as you'd expect for a Tales game (he composed most of the prior games in the series). Go Shiina also composed for Tales of Zestiria (he previously composed Tales of Legendia's OST), and there is a start contrast in the music. You'll know when it's a track by Shiina. And that's a very good thing in my opinion. The battles are fun overall, though I prefer the mechanics in other games in the series more (Tales of Symphonia, Vesperia, Xillia, etc.). One thing that knocks the battle system is the camera. There's no good way to control where it is outside of sidestepping around your target. In indoor areas the camera can be a real issue as it will make contact with the wall and zoom in extremely close to the character you control. And there are some difficulty spikes later in the game. Be prepared to grind some levels or lower the difficulty if you find yourself struggling to kill regular monsters. Learning the battle system is key in this game. You can't mash out regular attacks into an arte in this game, the properties of each skill greatly affect the flow of battle (certain types of artes will make enemies cast magic faster instead of interrupting the cast, elemental resistances heavily hinder your damage output, etc.) and avoiding as much damage as possible will help a great deal (i.e. learn to time your side steps/back steps). The story is alright by Tales game standards, even if the pacing is not great and one section of the game makes you explore to find certain items if you haven't already (forces some side quests). However, it's nothing to really write home about when comparing it to other games in the series (which is saying something considering the series isn't known for amazing stories and writing). The characters can be likeable as well, but they each fill a stereotypical role in a very "anime" fashion (innocent main character who grows into a hero, happy go lucky person, very mature for her age/appearance "kid", the "cold, quiet, harsh, yet has a soft side" person, etc.). The puns make up for it though. Puns are the highest form of humor and the game loves to throw out puns. The localization team did a great job on that. The crafting/fusion system is really tedious, though most players probably won't delve really deep into it. Weapons of the same name can be fused together to combine/create new skills attached to them. If you stack a certan amount of skills you gain more better effects, but if you stack too many of the same you get no effect at all. For those less inclined to figuring it out, equipping the highest stat items might be the best way to go. Ultimately it's a pretty good game. Tales of Zestiria certainly isn't the best game in the series (subjective of course), but the good in the game outweigh the bad overall. Story is okay, certain characters can be difficult to like, some design choices are questionable, but it is indeed a Tales game through and through. Also the use of puns is great. Recommended.