This was my first Tales game, and I was excited. The graphics looked good, and I was expecting an engaging story or at least a decent one, but most of all, I wanted to experience the great characterization the series is known for. Suffice to say, I didn’t find anything noteworthy.

The game attempts to deliver a grand overarching narrative only to trip by the rails and fall off the Empire State Building. The game’s premise, revolving around themes of slavery and racism, initially promises depth and complexity. However, this potential is squandered as these heavy themes are treated in a disappointingly superficial manner. Instead of delving into the harsh realities and moral complexities of these issues, the game reduces them to simple mistrust between groups and occasional, tame conflicts. This approach results in a narrative that, despite suggesting the possibility of more profound storytelling, remains primarily focused on being palatable and easily digestible, devoid of any real depth or rough edges.

The narrative structure follows a familiar pattern, where the first half of the game involves the protagonist embarking on a journey to free the world, only to evolve into a grander, but equally predictable plot. The story's beats and themes are presented in a very in-your-face manner, lacking subtlety or nuance. The treatment of the "racism bad" theme feels overused and shallow without taking any serious implications on the matter, akin to simplistic moral lessons found in low-quality webnovels. Initially, there are hints of more interesting and emotional elements, such as the characters' lives as slaves and their rebellion against oppressive rulers. However, as the story progresses, these elements are overshadowed by a focus on more generic and less engaging themes, such as uniting everyone through the power of love and friendship.

Where do I even begin with the characters, something I was hoping could carry the narrative quality and enjoyment of this game. Throughout the extensive runtime, it is challenging to form any emotional connection or care about the party members. The character development is minimal, and the interactions between them lack chemistry and depth. The skits, which are a staple of the Tales series and typically used to flesh out character relationships and personalities, are mostly expository. They focus on delivering background information and exposition about the game's geopolitical context rather than developing the characters' interpersonal dynamics. This problem is further exacerbated within the main narrative. Because the characters are bland and unengaging, the narrative itself suffers. The player's lack of investment in the characters makes it difficult to care about the events unfolding in the story. The protagonists and supporting cast are particularly forgettable, with personalities that are either one-note or poorly developed. The villains, too, are weakly portrayed, lacking presence and compelling motivations.

I wanted to like the game or at least give it a decent rating. The first half of the game was quite poor, but the second half made it even worse narratively. Combined with my expectation of high-quality character development and interactions, I would say if you are a fan of narrative, especially ones that are not too anime tropey, then stay away.