14 DAY TRIAL // The latest issue of the Japanese video games magazine Famitsu delivered a bunch of information on the upcoming role-playing game Tales of Zestiria, headed for the PlayStation 3 from Bandai Namco.
According to Producer Hideo Baba, while previous installments in the Tales series offered a more on-rails experience, the upcoming entry will give players more freedom, benefiting from a more open world type of game design.
The information pertains to the fifth party member of the upcoming Tales of Zestiria, named Lailah, an instructor and a member of the Heaven Family. The character has been designed by Mustumi Inomata, and she is known to have strange fantasies at times and even gets into a marriage contract with Slay, the game's protagonist.
Lailah is a distant person, a fire element member of the Heaven Family who owns a holy sword meant for the legendary doshi and, as such, she is seeking someone with the necessary traits to become the doshi.
After meeting Slay at a festival and seeing only what she wants in him, the two enter a marriage contract. As a vessel of the Heaven Family, Slay uses her to calm down Hyoma, by using a special power.
The reveals also covered Tales of Zestiria's battle system, showing that combat revolves around two different types of arte attacks, much like in Tales of Graces F, and outlining the main differences between human and Heaven Family characters.
Human characters use mostly close range base artes, quick attacks that are good on the move and that are used to set up arcane artes that then deal heavier damage, especially when they find themselves surrounded by enemies.
Human characters are also good at drawing enemy attention away from the Heaven Family party members, allowing them to focus on casting their Heaven Echo artes.
Tenzoku, the Heaven Family characters, alternate between mid-range physical attacks and long-range magic-based abilities, having a much greater reach than their human counterparts.
Enemy threats can, as such, be reduced by restraining opponents with the initial mid-range attacks and then following up with lethal Heaven Echo Artes from the safety of distance.
Bandai Namco mentioned that the system will also be a "big surprise" to long-time fans of the series, as the game will return to its initial fantasy setting and will feature dragons.
Players will get to explore the fantasy continent of Greenwood exclusively on the PlayStation 3 home entertainment system from Sony, sometime later this year.
