Tales of Zestiria takes place on a fictional continent named Glenwood. Glenwood is set in the middle of an ocean-dominated world, sharing its setting with Tales of Berseria, the latter being set in the distant past of Zestiria's world. Glenwood is divided between two warring countries: the Hyland Kingdom, which is ruled by a constitutional monarchy, and the Rolance Empire. Existing independently are multiple Guilds, who readily profit from the conflict and encompass multiple professions from transportation to goods manufacture to assassination. Throughout the land, an impurity known as "malevolence" generated by the negative emotions of humanity periodically transforms the living, the dead and even inanimate objects into monsters called the Hellion, who pose a threat to the world.
The game's main world employs an open world layout, in contrast to previous entries in the series. During exploration of the field area between locations and while a specific Seraph character is assigned, the player can execute special commands; they are slicing through minor obstacles (all characters), smashing large obstacles (Edna), temporarily shielding themselves from enemy view (Mikleo), igniting special lights in dungeons (Lailah), or teleporting across gaps (Dezel). A changeable second character accompanies the lead character, and story-relevant or trivial conversations can be started with them. Characters all have unique Support Talents, which range from locating treasure chests to monitoring a characters health, which can be leveled up along with the characters.
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