Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Combat-focused role-playing game average in gameplay, story.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Tales of Zestiria
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
TALES OF ZESTIRIA is a single-player adventure where you play as Sorey, a young warrior who sets out with his best friend Mikleo to bring peace to the war-torn land of Glenwood. As he explores huge and diverse environments, interacts with dozens of characters, and battles enemies, Sorey has a goal to uproot a mysterious, malevolent lord and reunite humans and Seraphim, a race of peace-loving beings who raised him from birth in an idyllic village. Can Sorey become the fabled savior and uniter, known as the Shepherd?
Is It Any Good?
This RPG manages to keep battles fun and engaging, but the rest of the story is so plain that this is simply an average, yet lengthy, adventure. RPG lovers will enjoy the real-time battle flourishes, along with the strategic decisions players have to make to be successful in combat. You can't rely on button mashing to defeat the well-balanced enemies -- especially bosses. You have to time your attacks and plan which strikes will cause the most damage in the middle of battle. Well-timed elemental conjuring and the option to fuse two characters together from critical strikes also add new layers to gameplay; character fusion should help you achieve victory.
It's also very nice that there aren't any load times or transition sequences, which helps keep the action moving. But the largest problem is that everything else about the game isn't worth writing home about: The story line and locations are trite and uninteresting. The graphics and music look and sound incredibly outdated, especially on a newer system. And the game has lots of finicky controls and camera angles that seem designed to frustrate players rather than entertain them. Tales of Zestiria isn't awful, but it's not awfully great either.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in games such as Tales of Zestiria. Are parents OK with this game's violence because it's clearly fantasy-based? Or is it a problem because violence is violence and it doesn't matter whether it's realistic or not?
Discuss the portrayal of women in the game. Are women portrayed as strong characters in the game or merely eye candy? Why do you think the designers portray female characters that way?
Game Details
- Platforms : PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , Windows
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Bandai Namco
- Release date : October 20, 2015
- Genre : Role-Playing
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Friendship
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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