#sadly it's not my first (and friend group infamous) playthrough of that game

[skippygiraffee]

I got a used copy of Pokemon White recently (I'm gonna try and get some of my Gen III Pokemon into Home), and I checked the save file that was on the cartridge. Lo and behold a shiny Pignite was there, and so I evolved it into an Emboar!! I just think it's neat to see the little things people leave behind on saves, and I think it's one of the cooler things about buying used games

[parapara9974]

Playing Zestiria

*Warning: occasional comparisons to Symphonia (it was my first Tales game). Since this was written between February and May, my opinion on many things has changed (previous opinion is crossed with -). Also, spoilers*

I like the cover artwork. Isn’t it pretty? :)

To be honest, I had almost given up on getting this one. The PS4 version arrived to stores about a year and a half ago and it was expensive as hell (about 230-240 soles, which is roughly a quarter of the monthly minimum wage), but I hadn’t seen the PS3 version at any store... until January when I was looking for headphones at Hiraoka and saw it at S/. 59. I was going to wait and buy it as a reward for something, but then remembered that the last time I tried to do that, the thing I was going to buy sold out, so I finally bought it a couple of days before my birthday in February. Aaand, I couldn’t resist playing it on my birthday, since I had been pretty stressed the day before.

This pic was taken in March, around six hours into the game (AKA before I activated the opening. No, you don’t get it automatically when you insert the disc. It’s activated after a mandatory event in Ladylake.). BTW have I mentioned how much I love these two? Their relationship is so special.

I watched the Doushi no Yoake special, spoilered myself of the first hour or so of the game, and the epilogue and bad ending. Yes, I know Dezel somehow dies and Alisha leaves early. I’ve seen the infamous sauna skit on Youtube (and laughed like a hyena) and read Sorey’s poetic description of Mikleo (sophisticated violet eyes, I don’t think I’ll be able to forget that), among other things. The only thing I can say is that, after watching their early game interactions, Sorey&Mikleo (or Sormik/Soymilk, IDK which one sounds better) is dangerously close to becoming an OTP of mine. How close? To the levels of Victuuri or Makoharu. forget “close”, they are one of my OTPs now. I’m barely 16 hours into the game and IMHO there’s waaaaaay too much subtext to deny it.

The opening rocks. I love it so much. That electric guitar OMG, it’s like the perfect karaoke version of White Light. NANANANANANA NANANANA...

Ok, enough fangirling. Speaking technically, the graphics are waaay better than Symphonia (10-year difference anyone?) and the open areas are bigger. I like both the story and the characters, but if I had to choose I’d go for the latter. I love collecting the skits because the character interactions are gold (sadly, I’ve missed a few, I hope there’s a way to get them later). Sorey is a cinnamon roll too pure for this world and horribly optimistic (and naive) and his interactions with Mikleo are adorable (pls protect them both I sense tragic stuff coming). Lailah is like the big sister/mother hen of the group (and queen of puns) and Edna is the smallest and cutest troll you’ll find.

Speaking about Sorey, mine has a Lloyd plushie on his head (thnx Symphonia) and wears the shepherd outfit (I love the pattern on the cape, it reminds me of North American traditional art. I also want his earrings, where can I get them?). I gave my Alisha sunglasses (she’s so badass and totally deserves them) and my Edna the cowboy hat. I’m not sure about how to dress Mikleo and Lailah, though. Nothing l have suits them well.

Speaking about Mikleo, he’s one of my favorite characters so far. I love how snarky he is. It’s like he is the voice of reason that prevents Sorey from getting into trouble. I find that sooooo relatable :) The other character I like a lot is Alisha because I find her personality super relatable. She has dreams and stuff she’s really passionate about, but knows that she can’t survive on passion alone. She knows how to negotiate, and keep people she doesn’t like (or who are even dangerous) around for the sake of her city. She’s super diplomatic and polite and pushes herself really hard to do her best.

Oh, by the way, I’m playing it in English. I was really curious of the Japanese voices *cough*Kimuryo and Ohsaka*cough*, but my knowledge of the language is very limited and I would probably have spent 99% of the time looking at the bottom of the screen reading subtitles (maybe for a second playthrough, though). Besides, from what I’ve heard the voice actors did a good wonderful job. The VAs are perfect for the roles, especially Robbie Daymond as Sorey and Michael Johnston as Mikleo.

As much as I like Zestiria, I don’t like the controls and battle system that much. I was very comfortable with Symphonia’s system. Here every button has a function in battle and equipment raises some stats while decreasing others. It’s so confusing, and honestly every single time I think I’ve finally gotten a hold of it, a new battle option appears (lateral step, switching seraphs, barra de estallido *I don’t even know what its name in English is ugh*, estallido de destierro *the name of this ability is cool but weird at the same time*, etc.). The camera can be pretty annoying sometimes, but you can adjust it partially in the settings. Also, remember that pressing L1 while exploring will set it to its default position (facing Sorey’s back). 

Another thing I didn’t like is that, when you are playing with friends, only the first player has full control of the game. I played it with my best friend (first game we played together :) she was player 1 and had full control of Sorey (the same degree of control I have when I play on my solo file) while I was player 2, controlling Mikleo only in battle to a limited degree (I thought I would be able to control him in the map too to help my friend, since she wasn’t sure of where to go in the ruins and was beginning to learn about treasure chests and stuff, but Mikleo just followed Sorey. Also, I remember I couldn’t call the battle menu to use objects or configure the artes/tactics). I’m not sure if the game is supposed to be like this in multiplayer, if Symphonia was like this too, or if I failed to configure something properly before we started. We ended up switching controllers and then turning off the PS3 :(

Still, Zestiria is a fun game and I’m so excited to see where the story goes and how the other characters join the party.