While the Tales franchise had dipped its toes into anime adaptations before in a series of short OVAs for series like Symphonia or Abyss, Tales of Zestiria was their first full-length foray into anime.
However, while that might suggest that Zestiria was such a worthy game to earn it, in truth, the Tales of Zestiria The X anime was likely the studio’s attempt to “fix” that glaring, well-criticized flaw in the story, otherwise known as the “Alisha Gone Girl” controversy.
Is The Tales of Zestiria The X Anime Like The Tales of Zestria Game?
The short answer is, yes, the Tales of Zestiria The X anime is an adaptation of the Tales of Zestiria game story. However, the anime is not a 1:1 adaptation of the main story presented in the game.
The anime presents several meaningful changes to events and character relationships as well as many additional scenes added to the game story.
These story changes in the anime do not change the Tales of Zestiria story as a whole, but, as I mentioned before, were made to provide a more cohesive story experience.
The major flaw with the Tales of Zestiria game is that it introduces a character – called Alisha – establishes her to have a building relationship with Sorey, the protagonist, then… has her leave – for a long time. In fact, she spends most of the game not in your party, doing “politics and stuff” that is never shown or explained until she shows up for the ends of the story.
The “extra new story” added in Tales of the Zestiria the X anime puts the effort into showing you what Alisha is doing as well as expanding her relationship with the protagonist’s party. This means the anime differs from the game often because it is just showing how her character is involved in some events, but, of course, the Alisha additions were not the only changes – just the biggest ones.
Should You Watch The Tales of Zestiria The X Anime Before Playing The Game?
While not “the best” Tales game, Tales of Zestiria is still a pretty fun Tales game with an interesting combat mechanic and likable characters. The Tales of Zestiria the X anime is really better as an augmentation for the game story.
As someone who played the game first, then watched the anime. I was thrilled to see the changes that the anime made since it made the story flow better. Personally, I would recommend playing the Zestiria game and then watching the anime.
That said, if you already watched the anime, then Tales of Zestiria still has more to offer – story content-wise, in its skits that offer more comical interactions between characters as well as also sometimes comment on current events in the story.
So, if you did watch the anime first, there is still meaning to playing the game.
Can You Just Watch The Tales of Zestiria Anime To Get The Story for Tales of Berseria?
The Tales of Zestiria game is often most remembered for having its “sequel” game, Tales of Berseria, be a lot more well-received. However, Tales of Berseria isn’t a sequel at all, it’s a prequel!
Happening 1,000 years prior, Tales of Berseria takes place in the same world as Zestiria, but with a whole new, less-wholesome main character and her party of various criminals.
However, it is not recommended to watch the Tales of Zestiria the X anime as a way to get the Zestiria story before playing the Tales of Berseria game for one reason – it contains spoilers.
Episode 6 and 7 of the Zestiria anime are a very quick summary of the main story of Tales of Berseria. This means you would be spoiling the Tales of Berseria game by watching those episodes.
You could skip them, and should, if you intend to play Tales of Berseria afterwards. Outside of that, the Tales of Zestiria the X anime will sum up the Tales of Zestiria game story completely, allowing you to move into Berseria with some knowledge of future events.
You will not understand some of the more subtle nods to future Zestiria events present in Berseria from watching the Zestiria anime alone, but you will get most references.
