This week's Famitsu has more information about Tales of Crestoria's theme, main hero, and setting.
In yesterday's initial announcement, we saw a video teaser and some taglines about the game's first three characters. The theme of the game was about crime and judgment, with each of the characters saying something they did, and then that "the world called that a crime." Now we have a better understanding of what that means and what role it plays in the story.
In the setting of Crestoria (unnamed as of yet), people are required to wear magical devices called Vision Orbs. The Orb records everything the wearer sees and can transmit it to Vision Central, a structure placed in public locations like squares and churches. When someone is to be judged, the Vision Central shows "footage" from the Orbs related to the crime, and the citizens watching use their Vision Orbs to send "prayers," or votes, for innocence or guilt. Once enough guilty verdicts are sent, the accused is branded with a "crest," and an Executioner is dispatched to hunt down the criminal and pass the sentence.
The main character, Kanata Hjuger (designed by Kosuke Fujishima and voiced by Kouhei Amasaki), is the son of a monk in charge of one such village. He's fiercely protective of the weak, but often too blunt for his own good, and fascinated with the workings of Vision Orbs. In the course of events, he finds himself pronounced guilty and shunned by society. His confession is "I protected someone important to me."
We also have some comments on the development of the game from producer Tomomi Tagawa:
Our main idea with this title was to create a new Tales series you can get into from your phone. Our previous games for smartphones have been primarily companion games where you can revisit older Tales heroes. Anyone can pick up Crestoria and enjoy a story about all-new characters and their friends and allies. As we worked with Mr. Fujishima, the protagonist Kanata developed a distinct and fascinating personality of a modern boy very concerned with his image. Our goal is to deliver a new Tales series. Please look forward to further information in the next weekly Famitsu on September 20th and live at Tokyo Game Show 2018.
In short, Crestoria will not be a game about collecting Tales characters like Link or Rays. It seems to be closer to a regular Tales RPG on a mobile platform. However, there does seem to be a rolling system - meeting total pre-registration goals will entitle players to up to ten free "summons" when the game launches. We'll have more details as the gameplay is revealed.
The other two characters will be introduced in the next issue of Famitsu.
Update 9/13: Updated the English spelling of the main character's name.
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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