Tales of Zestiria the X

[shinta|hikari]

Synopsis:
Sorey is a human youth who grew up among the seraphim, spiritual beings not visible to humans. Sorey believes in the folklore that says "long ago, every human was able to see the seraphim" and dreams of unraveling the ancient mystery to make the world a place where people and seraphim can live together in peace.

One day, Sorey visits the human capital for the very first time. He becomes embroiled in an incident during which he pulls out a holy sword embedded in a rock and ends up becoming a Shepherd, one who casts away calamity from the world. He begins to realize the gravity of his mission, and his dream of coexistence between mankind and the seraphim becomes more intense—

And thus, the Shepherd embarks on an amazing journey with his companions.

(Source: Official site)




Episode 01:






Amazing animation. Ufotable does it again. Not much to say about the story yet because the main character hasn't even shown up, but my expectations have been raised by the first episode.

Sample:



The style and overall quality reminds me of Fate Zero.

[Kraco]

I'd have liked to try the game, but half of the comments called the game a grind fest and the combat system broken. However, an Ufotable anime ought to fix those issues, so I chose to watch this instead. Like you said, it's pretty funny the main character is nowhere to be seen. I've previously seen a lengthy video from Zestiria, perhaps it was the game OP or something, and thus this anime beginning was actually nice in my opinion as it was totally different. Looked very promising too. Jolly good combat and action.

[MFauli]

I´ve started the game months ago but far from finished. Will not watch this anime, because then I have zero motivation to keep playing ;>

[Shadow Skill]

After this first episode I am tempted to buy the game. Hopefully it is on PS4.

[shinta|hikari]

But they say the gameplay sucks.

[KrayZ33]

I could swear that there was a "Zestiria" already? OVA or something? I couldn't stand the 2(?) MCs back then (+ the lack of story/background overall) and didn't watch the whole episode because of that.

well. it's ufotable once more, so I'll give it a try anyway.
Are they connected (prequel/sequel) or is this basically a fresh start.

[Shadow Skill]

But they say the gameplay sucks.

Does not matter to I. I've played a lot of shitty grind games over time. Most recently Sword Art Lost Song. 900 levels of grind and I'm still at level 700 or 750 something like that. I gave up on maxing out to 1000 lol. Story wise and battle system wise SAO Lost song was not bad. Just the grind was boring.

Don't matter to me about the battle system. Most Tales games Battle System is debateable on what is good.

[NeoCybercoin]

So I am guessing Tales of Zestiria and Berseria are connected. I mean the MC from Berseria is seen fighting the the MC from Zestiria.

[Buffalobiian]

The trailer had CGI that I wasn't terribly fond of so I planned to skip this. If shinta praises the animation then I'll add it to the list.

[shinta|hikari]

Fuck the list. Watch the first episode now!

[MasterOfMoogles]

Just watched this first episode.
Interesting setup and I enjoyed the princess.
Fight scenes were outstanding, lots of cool effects too.

Directing-wise, this episode could have used some work. Lots of weird cuts in the first half and a bit too much flat exposition.

Then there's the OP at the end, where I realize we're probably getting not one but two generic RPG game leads. That killed my excitement. Can't it just be about the princess?

Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[shinta|hikari]

You should've been focusing on the loli's waki, not some dumb story or non-existent protags.

[Kraco]

Episode 2 - HS



-- - --


And so Shinta already dropped this show when the loli disappeared from the screen.

I think this series will keep me nicely entertained. The world is interesting, the characters aren't bad, the action isn't bad. Hard to say about the story yet, but I do like a setting with heavy history.

The female MC is a real princess, after all. She became quite timid when she's not at all in control and is left alone. It's quite a strange contrast between her impressive fighting skills, but not unrealistic, I'd say. She wasn't raised as a self-reliant adventurer, after all.

[shinta|hikari]

Dropped.

[Shadow Skill]

I ordered the Collectors edition for PS4.

[Munsu]

So, it looks like Horriblesubs renumbered all releases by the looks of it. What was episode 1, I think it's now episode 00v2, what was considered episode 2, is now episode 01v2.

I guess this release which seems is from 2 days ago, and numbered episode 2 (is actually the 3rd episode, and still not discussed here?)

Well, here's episode 2 (or episode 3):
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=download&tid=831239


Anyways, just began watching the series. No opinion on it yet, merely halfway through episode 00v2. Feels a bit disjointed so far, which seems too common for me lately.

[shinta|hikari]

3rd episode was good. Everything moved. So I guess Sorey and princess is the main pairing in this story.

[Kraco]

Sorey and the princess would make a nice couple: Both are good fighters, both are fans of the Shepherd legend, but Sorey knows nothing of the world while the princess is burdened by everything she knows. It's a nice balance of similarity and contrast.

[Munsu]

And now I've caught up, yeah I think I'm really going to enjoy this one. Hasn't really enthused me yet, but it seems to have the necessary elements to do so as it goes along.

I also much prefer this animation attempt from ufotable than what they offered with God Eater (which sadly turned a lot of viewers away because of it).

Also, how are all the "Tales of..." series related? Do they share some sort of mythology? I honestly haven't cared to watch any of them. I only recall watching Tales of the Abyss, which I don't think I ever finished (and if I remember it turned to shit halfway through). That said, kinda want to finish it now for completeness sake. Maybe it improved after I stopped.

With that in mind, if you guys have watched any of those "Tales of..." series, any in particular you may recommend?

[shinta|hikari]

Tales is something to play, not watch.

Except maybe Symphonia and this one, because Ufotable.