Hello! This is Grace, also known as Ecargmura, here with another review for today! This time, it's chapter 2!
The review contains spoilers for Crestoria.
“They live in fear of being condemned themselves, which is what makes them so eager to lash out at others.”
Chapter 2 is quick from start to finish. There are only six stages compared to Chapter 1’s sixteen. It is basically an icebreaker chapter where we, the players, get used to the main characters’ dynamics now that they’re a group and how Kanata and Misella are going to survive now that they have left their village as transgressors.
It’s very obvious Kanata and Misella have never learned survival tactics as Misella is just chomping on grass and raw soybeans while Kanata makes horrid soup. Vicious suggests getting his information merchant friend to help out…but then realizes that he’s lost. How did Vicious survive until now?
After wandering to go to a nearby village, they stumble across a girl fending off against monsters. This girl is Farah from Tales of Eternia. As thanks, she tells the direction of her village, Nocheet, and explains that her childhood friend has a good recipe for seasoning.
Nocheet is a village that is on the brink of hunger due to the scarcity of crops, which is why they’re very sensitive and prone to anger. One villager isn’t such—a man named Reid who seems to be aware that Kanata and Misella are transgressors but doesn’t care.
Apparently, the villagers are scared of a swordsman killing monsters in a frenzy in a nearby forest, so they decide to check it out with Reid. They meet the rumored swordsman, a man with a long sword and silver hair. He is Sephiroth Veigue who is looking for an azure bloodstone to cure his childhood friend (most likely Claire). All he can find are red bloodstones. Reid then shows Veigue where to find the monster with the azure bloodstone. They defeat it and Veigue runs off.
When they come back to Nocheet, one of the village children gets injured and pins the blame on Veigue. When the thought about condemning Veigue via Vision Orbs is conjured up, Misella uses Vicious as a distraction. Eventually the conflict is stopped and the group leaves Nocheet with Reid handing Kanata his spice recipe.
Vicious then realizes where a safe place for them is: the Nation of Sin.
I honestly find the group’s dynamic to be hilarious. Kanata is the straight man to Misella’s wild and mildly psychotic nature and Vicious’s carefree attitude. Misella is what I call two-faced (I don’t mean this in a bad way, please don’t misunderstand). She’s judgmental and savage when around Vicious due to her animosity towards him but is very sweet when around Kanata. It seems that her disdain towards Vicious is one-sided because Vicious doesn’t really mind her treatment towards him; I think he strangely enjoys it. Then again, everything about Vicious is strange. Right now, I see the trio’s dynamic as crazy dad Vicious and the two kids he accidentally adopted with one wanting to plot his death and the other actually liking him as a person.
If I were to give my thoughts on the characters individually, they’re still okay to me? Kanata is still the do-gooder that he is like helping people in need, trying to alleviate Misella from her bottled up sorrow and cheering her up with soup. The soup part is funny. Though, I’m neutral regarding Kanata. I hope he gets character development soon. Give me some conflict with Misella! Do something bad! If he doesn’t do anything bad later on, I will riot.
Misella seems to have some character, which I find okay. The part where she was forcing herself to eat grass was sad to see when thinking deeply about it. She’s fourteen years old and had to witness so much darkness at her age. She was almost sold as a sex slave, witnessed Kanata kill his father, committed arson to save him, and then realized her actions caused Nisha’s death. It’s understandable if she believes she doesn’t deserve happiness. I’m sure some people her age would think such as well. Why I find her character “okay” in this chapter is because most of what she’s doing still revolves around Kanata and now meat. I hope she gets some individual growth soon. Based on character episodes, she’s very possessive of Kanata and very judgmental when it comes to Vicious. I wonder how she will react when Kanata gets character development. She gives me weird vibes, strangely. I also hope she isn’t the resident Tales series traitor.
Vicious is just weird. He’s obsessed with liquor and has a very childish side, especially when it comes to scaring Reid. That part was hilarious, honestly. New information we learn about Vicious is that he came to Kanata’s home region due to an information merchant. He seems to be looking for something; by the end of the chapter, it seems to be the Nation of Sin. I bet it’s going to be shown next chapter. He’s still the most entertaining of the three so far.
The crossover characters are quite interesting with the roles they play. I never played Eternia or Rebirth, but I've seen Let's Plays of them, so I have a good grasp of what the story and the characters are like. Farah and Reid are still villagers in the story, but Farah doesn't play as important of a role as she did in her home game. I find that unfortunate because I wanted to see Farah a bit more. She's cute and spunky. I like her. Reid is a good person, though less reluctant; in Eternia, he wasn't fond of being thrown into adventure by Farah. Bless him for being the only likable villager in Nocheet. Veigue is still his stoic self like in his home game. In Rebirth, he's rather infamous for his character being revolved around Claire, which lead to the 'KUREAAAAA' meme that happens to be a Tales series staple. Here, his character revolves his childhood friend. I hope he gets a side story dedicated to him later on.
Oh boy, I hate these Nocheet villagers as much as the Dalchia ones. Are all villagers in this game like this? Man, I can’t wait to hate on all townspeople the more I progress with the story. Though, I think that the way they wanted to pin the blame on Veigue by using Vision Orbs shows how much the world relies on them to the point of being abusive. They then pin the blame on Vicious when Misella uses him as a distraction. Geez, imagine the casualties that would happened due to their fears. Goodness, will Crestoria be the third edition Poor Communication Kills: The Tales Game?
For gameplay, I do like how the cooking feature unlocks when Kanata cooks for Misella. His soup making skills may not be great, but he’s not the resident Tales series disaster chef because his sandwich making skills are surprisingly high. I can only make sandwiches, hamburgers and grilled fish right now. I wonder how to unlock other cooking recipes.
The Phantom Tower gets unlocked too. It’s a tower where you beat tougher bosses to get rare prizes. I am currently struggling on Floor 8. I hope I can progress soon. I want the SR Hubert and SSR Kratos. I have to level up ASAP. I wonder what sort of rare prizes will be given out later on. Please give me an SSR of a Legendia character, Colette or Eleanor.
Chapter 2's boss fight wasn't that tough, honestly. I think this chapter is just a breeze to go through.
One thing I find interesting is Vicious’s notoriety as the Great Transgressor. Some people are aware of who he is yet others don’t. The only ones who truly recognize his face are the knights. I wonder why he’s recognized by some but not everyone. Could this be another clue to knowing who Vicious really is?
With Kanata having a curiosity of how the world works, I think we have the story’s goal at the moment. Right now, the group is headed towards the Nation of Sin.
Overall, what are your thoughts on the second chapter?
Tales of Crestoria is an upcoming mobile title dedicated for smartphones that is an entirely new story and doesn’t focus on previous Tales of titles. The game features Kanata Hjuger, a young man branded as a Transgressor because of the crimeof “protecting someone important” to him. The game will be released for iOS and Android on 2020.
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