#i think abyss was the first tales game to have explained its calendar system & orbital period too

[alteredphoenix]

One thing I will say that I don’t like about Tales of is that for all the talk about how they’re set in unique worlds and how they’re fleshed out by copious amounts of worldbuilding they’re known for, some of the games don’t give you the luxury of exploring the actual world in its entirety.

Zestiria has the excuse that Desolation was largely broken into smaller landmasses and islands post-Berseria but it still takes place on a continent with two interconnecting countries so it kind of puts a damper on the the whole “the Lord of Calamity is about to plunge the world into darkness if he’s killed early/isn’t purified” scenario when it’s set on a smaller scale.

Legendia has a whole mainland that you hear about but don’t even get to explore.

Luminaria is a weird example where it clearly shows there are two/three continents that might be connected a’la Pangaea/Kenorland but we only get an in-depth look at the Jerle Federation and the Gildllan Empire (and an idea of what it was like when it was formerly the Wildlands). OTOH, the northern and southern continents might not even have civilization so they might be excused as being the north and south poles so that leaves the lands outside the Empire and the Federation in an awkward spot from a worldbuilding standpoint (because unless it’s all wilderness out there, and it’d be stupid for the Empire not to capitalize on that, then that means there are settlements beyond the borders, and they have to know there’s a war going on right next door). Then again, they probably wouldn’t play any role in the Anathema War whatsoever in the immediate picture, so that makes Yelsey’s comment about “being in Aedis means you get to see the whole world” rather silly because how can you if the narrative consigns the war to just one big part of the continent and ignores the nations west of the Empire and south of Jerle? Unfortunately at the time of this post we don’t have the good fortune of knowing if future episodes would’ve taken place outside Imperial and Federalist territory so Luminaria is forcibly condemned by capitalism BamCo to have its world take place in just the two countries. Then again, the countries seem relatively large and while we don’t get much of an idea about their maritime history (which there should be because we see boats, and Shayor and Huazar are right near the ocean) we do know technology is advanced enough, at least on the Imperial side, to have train locomotives and a functional railway system (but somehow still no cars?? Even after the technological revolution the Reactors brought on regardless of how Jerle is trying to keep up with their advancements?? In a wartime setting?? Que???) so if we completely ignore everything outside the Empire and the Federation that’s at least half the world right there.