Newly released screenshots of Tales of Zestiria focus on Lyla, the Divine of Fire, some new areas in the game and the game's battle system and character battle styles.
Lyla and Some Game Scenes
Lake Pillow Heights
A plateau that spreads around the base of the high mountain where the village of Izuchi where Slay lives is. Though its climate is quite chilly, the rapids and trees that flow down the mountain surface creates a lovely forest view. The strong rapids crossing down Lake Pillow reach toward a lake in the Capital of Lady Lake. Lake Pillow is the first place Slay and Mikulio will go on their journey in the lower world.
The Lady of the Lake Sanctuary
A place said to be protected by the Lady of the Lake, where a Holy Sword meant for a Priest is located but cannot be drawn by anyone. Lady Lake has been a place for worship for a religious group that worships the Priests and faith in the Divine. Here occurs an event called the Holy Sword Festival, where men who believe to have the valor of the Priest try to pull out the sword. Due to the chaos that has been going on in the world, the Holy Sword Festival has been put on hold, but thanks to Alicia's efforts, it'll be held once again this year. When Slay and Alicia get separated at Izuchi, Alicia recommends to Slay to participate in the Festival and to just visit the place.
Vivia Water Ruins
A ruin that spreads beneath Lady Lake, and has a different style and architecture as compared to the capital's current state. The place is like a complicated maze full of relics and ruins from the past, such as a mysterious device said to be hidden there. Some say the Highland Royal Family knows about it, but the truth is unknown.
Tales of Xillia 2 will be coming out in the United States on August 19, 2014. In addition, a Collector's Edition for the game has just been revealed for the US.
The US Collector's Edition (with a retail price of $129.99) will apparently contain the following:
The Tales of Xillia 2 game
Collector's Edition packaging
Ludger Kresnik figure
Rollo plush charm
Pocket watch replica (I assume this is also the compact mirror)
Tales of Xillia 2 music selection CD
Tales of Xillia 2 artbook
Tales of costumes DLC (Emil Castagnier, Yuri Lowell and Asbel Lhant for Ludger, Jude and Milla respectively)
In addition, there are also a bunch of new game play videos and screenshots (uploading in a bit):
Again, no news yet on where to pre-order the Collector's Edition, but you can already pre-order the regular version of the game at Amazon or GameStop.
With the official announcement just yesterday, Bandai Namco has released a new English trailer and some screenshots for Tales of Hearts R. Granted, it's English subtitled, but it's a trailer nonetheless.
There are a total of 10 new screenshots released showcasing the game in English. Funny thing to note is Shing Meteoryte's new name is now "Kor Meteor."
Tales of Hearts R is set for a Winter 2014 release in the West. Check out our previous post regarding the localization.
Tales of Xillia 2 will be coming out in Europe on August 22, 2014. In addition, a Collector's Edition for the game has just been revealed for Europe.
The EU Collector's Edition contains the following:
The Tales of Xillia 2 game
Collector's Edition packaging
Ludger Kresnik figure
Rollo metalcase
Pocket watch replica compact mirror
Special tracks selected by the dev team
The Art of Tales of Xillia 2 booklet
Aside from the CE, Europe also gets a Day One Edition which includes the game, a different steelcase and the music disc:
No news yet on the US release date or Collector's Edition, but it shouldn't be that different from Europe's. And also no news yet on where the EU CE can be pre-ordered, but I'd think it'll still be at TalesofGame.com. Those in the UK can already pre-order the CE at Amazon UK, though!
Note that Italy will be getting the game on August 28th due to the holiday in the country on the week of the 22nd.
Some of you may be wondering - but wasn't the game already confirmed in that video of Baba-san announcing the game? That video, actually, was leaked out ahead of schedule. The "official" announcement is, apparently, today. The announcement video is now open for public viewing at the Bandai Namco EU YouTube channel (as well as the Bamco US YouTube channel:
In addition, the announcement also has a few... interesting name changes. For instance, Shing is now, for some reason, Kor. Also, despite getting a localized name of Kohak as Amber in Tales of Graces f, for some reason they are now back to (or changed to) Kohaku.
Here's a short summary of the story:
"The adventure starts with Kor, a young man living in a small village by the sea. While watching the house in his grandfather’s absence, Kor meets a young woman named Kohaku who has come searching for his grandfather. However, a mysterious witch soon appears and casts a spell on Kohaku’s Spiria, the embodiment of her heart and soul. Kor attempts to lift the spell, but while doing so he accidentally shatters her Spiria Core, the source of her emotions. Armed only with the Soma, an unusual weapon given to him by his grandfather, Kor must now set out on a journey to find a way to make Kohaku’s Spiria whole once more."
That said, this is still great, great news. Tales of Hearts R will indeed be coming to the West this Winter 2014. Look forward to it!
We can expect a new Tales of Zestiria trailer this weekend at the NicoNico Chokaigi 3 convention.
This April 26th to 27th is the upcoming NicoNico Chokaiji 3 - a grand scale Nico Nico Douga fan event and convention held each year. Bandai Namco Games Japan will be having an exhibit and a stage event for Tales of Zestiria at the said event.
Just today, they also revealed that there will be a new trailer for the game to be shown at the event, and that they're currently editing the said trailer. Here are a few screenshots released of it via the Tales Channel Twitter:
We're still unsure if they'll live stream the event, though. As you can see from the official website, the NicoNico Chokaigi composes of two main events: The Chokaigi proper which takes place during the day, and the Cho Party, which takes place at night. The Cho Party has a live stream (which you'll need to pay for to watch), but I've yet to see a live stream for the Chokaigi event.
If they won't live stream it, we can expect it to be up after the event, or during reports from other gaming websites like Famitsu.
Earlier today, a video was leaked online confirming Tales of Hearts R Localization by Hideo Baba himself (thanks to NoGamesPortable for uploading this video):
In the video, Baba stated that this was possible due to the amount of requests for Hearts R that he has heard. We are also given a release window: Winter 2014. Baba also stated that he'll be attending more events throughout the year. So it looks like all those rumors from earlier this month were true.
Rejoice, Western Tales fans!
Posted by PanbanRichard on Apr 18, 2014 - 11:19am PDT Post a Comment (9)
>> Tales of the World: Reve Unitia Site Open, New Screens and Artwork
Tales of the World: Reve Unitia's official website is now open, featuring new screenshots and artwork.
Again, to those who missed it, Tales of the World: Reve Unitia is basically a Nintendo 3DS enhanced port of the previously released mobile strategy Tales game Tales of the World: Tactics Union. The game, like the other Tales of the World games, features various Tales of characters brought together into an original world for some purpose. Reve Unitia will feature full voices for its main scenario, an animated opening and some animated cutscenes, new event illustrations, as well as new Mystic Arte cut-ins for the characters.
The website also has information on the game's story and setting. It hasn't really changed at all from how Tactics Union was, so you can just read our old post on that for more info. You might want to check that out first before reading this new post.
In addition to all those new things, characters Tern and Nacht, who were previously just animal-like characters of sort, now have human-like forms. This is because Tern and Nacht can now fight alongside the Tales characters. Outside of battle, they retain their mascot forms - but they take on their human-like forms in order to fight.
Lastly, Reve Unitia will feature two story views - one for Tern and one for Nacht. If you'll recall, Tactics Union actually had a "Player Side," which is actually Tern's side of the story, and an "Enemy Side," or Nacht's story. Originally, you're only able to play through Tern's side of the story, but for Reve Unitia, it seems you also have access to Nacht's side. Though Tern and Nacht's goals in the end are the same, their way of dealing with the matter are different, hence this new addition. Tales characters Natalia, Lloyd and Asbel are part of Tern's side of the story, while Jade, Yuri and Meredy are part of Nacht's.
The latest issue of Famitsu Magazine talks a little bit more about the newly revealed character Lyla as well as how battles will go in Tales of Zestiria.
As we reported before, Lyla is a Tenzoku/Divine of the Fire element. She is a Divine that dwells within the legendary "Holy Sword" meant for Doushis/Priests. For a long time now and due to an event in the past, she has been waiting for someone who can become the Priest. Upon meeting Slay, her hope is rekindled. Forming a contract with Slay, she now watches over him in order to make him into a full-fledged Priest.
The magazine also mentions that, ideally, a Priest should make a contract with 4 Divine of 4 different elements. However, no one has ever managed to do that so far.
So, 4 elements. With Mikulio for water, Edna for Earth and Lyla for Fire, all we're waiting for is the Divine for wind.
Now, on to battles: In Tales of Zestiria, the humans and the Tenzoku have their own fighting styles. Based on the info, it seems to be a bit similar to Tales of Graces F's battle system. From what we've seen so far, humans (technically, Slay and Alicia) are more in-tune with melee strike combat while the Tenzoku (Mikulio, Edna and Lyla) are more of mage-type characters.
This is further confirmed in the magazine: human characters use fast, close-range base artes with the use of the Circle button, while the X button lets them use more powerful arcane artes. For the Tenzoku, the Circle button lets them use mid-range base artes while the X button lets them use powerful, far-reaching Magic Artes. So far, there is no info regarding a regular attack button - just these artes, which makes it appear to be an adaptation of Tales of Graces' battle system of sorts.
The magazine also tells more about Mikulio and Edna's fighting styles. Mikulio uses a long staff, and is hence able to use mid-range artes at his disposal. Initially, he is able to accumulate spiritual energy and unleash them for stronger attacks later on. Some of his basic, strike artes are called 斬水 (Kiri Mizu, literally "slicing water") and 達水 (Tachi Mizu, literally "reaching water"). As a Divine of the water element, Mikulio has water artes at his disposal, such as the classic Splash, and other magic artes called Twin Flow and Violet High. He's also able to heal, specifically more on individual party members. Edna, who uses an umbrella, has more close-range attacks. Some of her basic artes include Powder Snow and Sky, while her magic artes include Embrace End, Rock Lance and Air Pressure.
In addition, the magazine mentions that the dragons are so-called "Apostles of Destruction."
Also visit Famitsu for actual screenshots from their article. And thanks to @Kurushii for the magazine pages.
UPDATE (04/14/2014): Gamestop had the game listed on their website earlier today, but it was taken down within an hour. This is what the entry looked like (thanks to cutepresea for the screenshot):
This doesn't verify anything other than the fact that Gamestop had it listed not once, but twice in their directories. It is still a RUMOR until we get word from Gamestop or Namco Bandai about the situation.
Some GameStop employees have informed us that as of yesterday, a game called "Tales of Heart" has been added to their games database. You can even pre-order it on GameStop branches.
The game is apparently listed in GameStop's printed pre-order list for $39.99. It was also apparently added to their computer database and is actually already available for pre-order if you go to a GameStop branch. So far, people are assuming that it's Tales of Hearts R for the PlayStation Vita.
With no news so far from Bandai Namco, this is filed as a RUMOR for now, so please take it with a grain of salt.
Tales of Hearts was originally for the Nintendo DS which is the first game to have a version with CG cutscenes aside from the usual animated ones. Later, it got a remake, or rather, a re-imagination for the PlayStation Vita in the form of Tales of Hearts R, featuring new 3D graphics, new content and turning one previously non-playable character to be playable.
Thanks to Jamie Nelson and @ArcanaLegacy for the heads-up.
First off, Famitsu confirms that this game is indeed a port of the previous Tales of the World: Tactics Union. Specifically, they're calling it an enhanced port - with voice acting, new cut-ins and that new art/forms for Tern and Nacht.
The rest of the scans talk mainly about the game's story, which we already delved into in our previous Tactics Union story post here.
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