Tales of Zestiria is one Japanese role-playing game trope after another

Publisher Bandai Namco has always been risk-averse with its long-running Tales series, and the latest entry, Tales of Zestiria, is definitely no exception.

The role-playing game, which is available now for PlayStation 4, PS3, and PC, can be best described as comfort food. It reliably delivers plenty of Japanese-RPG tropes that fans of the series long for; Bandai Namco wouldn’t continue to localize these games otherwise. Yes, Zestiria contains a story that’s anchored in friendship and revolves around a “farm boy” (named Sorey) who needs to save the world from evil. Yes, all of the characters are caricatures that are way too cheerful and corny for their own good. And yes, you’ll be raiding a ton of banal dungeons and leveling up your characters for hours on end in order to defeat a boss.