This week’s issue of Shonen Jump introduces us to Martran (マルトラン), a new character on Tales of Zestiria’s roster.
Martran is a knight nicknamed the Blue Valkyrie. She is Alicia‘s teacher, so it can be assumed that she is very skilled on the battlefield, but there’s still no mention of whether she will be a party member or not.
The issue also confirms the new “real map battle” feature, where players will immediately begin fighting the monster they come in contact with on the map. Players should pay attention to the terrain during battle, since parts of it could prove advantageous.
The game will also feature “map actions,” which will allow players to perform certain actions on the world map. Two announced so far are “Cloak of Ghost Fog,” which will allow you to become invisible to enemies, and “Chief’s Wrist,” which will let you break boulders throughout the world map.
The main battle system for Tales of Zestiria is called Fusionic Chain-LMBS (Linear Motion Battle System), which might resolve battles a bit faster with the addition of a gauge to the battle hub. Based on the gauge amount, players can use powers like healing and blowing enemies away. The game will also introduce a fusion technique called Kamui to allow players to fuse a human and a heavenly being together, changing the human’s appearance and imbuing him or her with the attributes of the heavenly being.
Tales of Zestiria is being developed by Bandai Namco Games for the PlayStation 3 and will be released worldwide.
