Fixing Alisha (A Tales of Zestiria Character/Adaptation Analysis)

or should i say, "fixing"
Today I'm going to analyse Alisha in Tales of Zestiria, Alisha's DLC, and the game's adaptations to see how well her story was handled in each. Enjoy!
My Let's Play of Tales of Zestiria: • Let's Play Tales of Ze...
My analysis videos: • Tales of Zestiria/Bers...
Subscribe for more zest!: / @elixirvitaegames
Equipment:
HopCentury HD Video Game Capture Box Card
WALKEN Fifine Condenser Microphone
Shotcut Video Editor
All music used was taken from the Tales of Zestiria OST. Listed below are the tracks in order of usage:
-Alisha's Theme
-The Story that is Passed Down
-Mysterious Existence that Heals the Mind
-Unforgettable Feelings
-Overcome the Hesitation
-Mystery Known by the Seraphim
-The Capital with a Beautiful Lake and the Holy Sword
-Aerial Labyrinth Wavering in the Hollowness

[@TwilightWolf032]

Man, I have SO MANY gripes with the handling of Alisha's character in this game. During one sidequest, Alisha finds two suspicious men doing shady business in a very suspicious and seclude location, on a route between two warring kingdoms, no less, and given she had been following the trail of a possible spy, she assumes they were the guilty parties. But *without providing any evidence for their claims whatsoever*, the two suspicious men reveal they are the good guys and start belittling Alisha for assuming their perfectly suspicious actions are suspicious! Then she's made to write a letter of apology for them, and later on it's revealed she got humiliated by the senate for her investigation! Note that Sorey and the party were all present during the investigation segment and decided to not do jack to help their supposed friend, and when they find her crying in her home, THEY DECIDE TO TURN THEIR BACKS ON HER AND LEAVE HER ALONE! Even worse, THEY KNOW WHO THE SPY IS AND REFUSE TO TELL HER!!! Oh yeah, and they spend a few skits telling the player how much bad at her job Alisha is and that she needs to make up for her screw up this time! And there's nothing the player can do to help her in any way, Alisha did this to herself so she needs to suffer the consequences alone! The entire game is like this towards her! Whatever bad things happen to her are not warranted, and no matter how much effort and thought she puts into the issues around her, she is always punished for it. But instead of the game addressing this as 'life sucks, but we must never waver', the narrative makes sure you understand Alisha is *always on the wrong* and needs to learnt o do better! What is better in her case? Well, the game never elaborates on it, because all we see are her failures, and whatever character development she gets is done off screen! Alisha is introduced as a royal so detached from the line of succession she doesn't give a damn about politics, instead focusing on her true passion as a knight putting herself in mortal danger in search for a means to end the age of calamity. Despite that, every politician in Highland believes Alisha is after the throne and conspires against her at every turn, forcing her to run in circles and belittling her for her knighthood. How does the game close her character arc? Well, she becomes a politician that favors a shady merchant because he teaches her how to be a shady politician, and her passion for knighthood is treated as a weakness she overcame! GODDAMMIT, THIS GAME LOVES TO SHIT ON ALISHA!

[@weridplusho]

Someone may already said this, but I think you overlooked something you mentioned in Sorey's video. The biggest issue with the storytelling is Sorey as the lens. If that wasn't the vehicle being required, the game could have easily been cut into parts where you play as Sorey and as Alisha. This would allow the player to get a better scope of behind the scenes of normal humans (since a lot of Sorey's interactions are based on Seraphim and human mixing). This also would help give them a chance to tweak her battle system to better fit her and give more weight to her leaving and overall character. I think it's because the game forgets her so often that makes it feel like Rose took her position or they cut her out (ignoring behind the scenes). Even though there's a defining moment involving Sorey, there is barely any for her. So maybe if she was given that and the game took time to break away from Sorey, her story arc would have been loved by fans. It's just handled very poorly.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

The dlc was Alisha's defining moment. It defines her from beginning to end. If anything there was already a lot of Alisha-ness in the anime and the game- far more than necessary. It was already amazing that a princess was able to travel with Sorey without bodyguards and without the Shepherd being accused of kidnapping, abduction, or corrupting a public official. Remember, Sorey is not so much a hero as a vagabond in the beginning, with powers no one understands. Seriously, would any kingdom let their princesses travel with a Shepherd who LOOKS alone since the seraphim are invisible? Talk about a major scandal here... I think a lot of the complaints really swept the story under the rug and focused too much on overusing Alisha as if she's the ONLY character worth having. That's... sad.

[@jf4132]

The anime i say still handled her better than the game ever could. Sure you could argue that in the anime she’s too perfect and powerful, but on the other hand in the game she loses everything and barely gets anything in return. This is where i have to side with the anime on this one. Sure the anime made her too powerful and perfect in many areas, but its better than what she goes through in the game where the writers felt like shitting on her 24/7. Basically what I’m saying is. You may feel the anime made her character worse, I, on the other hand, see nothing but improvement.

[@Elly3981]

After seeing the anime first, I grew to like Alisha's character a lot so when I checked out the game and anime afterwards, I was kind of disappointed that her role in them were much smaller in comparison.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

H. Baba left by the time the second season of the anime was showing. Ufotable was supposed to earn from the anime sales as they financed Zestiria and B- Namco is supposed to only get free marketing for the game thru the anime. But I don't think the anime did the game a favor- since it tries to satisfy Alisha fans but at the expense of the game. If we watch live reactions to the final episode of the first season, even the male fans were upset that the squire pact was used to replace the scene at Glavend Basin where Sorey has his first taste of malevolence directly from Heldalf. It was supposed to show Sorey's "weakness" and usher his "character development" by making it necessary for Rose to "save" him. Sorey was shown as being "dependent" on the seraphim- a strong contrast to Sorey at the final end where Sorey actually pushes Rose away and stands his ground as the seraphim depart from Heldalf's body. That's character development that the anime fails to give game fans.

[@Elly3981]

@@turquoisemoon3654 Well, Ufotable had to squeeze a 100+ hour game into a 25 episode anime so it wouldn't have been possible for them to make it exactly like the game. Most of Ufotable's works are no longer than 25 episodes because they invest more time, work, and money into the visual effects. I wouldn't have minded a lesser quality of animation for a better story-line but that's me.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

@@Elly3981 True. And I had a comment in ao3 about Ufotable. It didn't "finance" the anime as I thought- because that was the impression I got from their interviews. Someone told me the Ufotable director was upset that Alisha fans didn't really support the anime despite the rewriting. I also heard Ufotable had to create "characters" just to make Alisha look good- like the lady-knights who seem to worship the ground Alisha walks on. Ufotable even let their own staff voice the characters themselves :( In a way, the anime is really like the Wheldon cut, and the game more like the Schneider cut- as another fan says. The game has tons of more material the anime could have chosen from... but they were really distracted by the Alisha fans trying to mow down anything that gets in Alisha's spotlight. What's worse Ufotable confused everyone into thinking the anime was the "original" story and the story of the game was rewritten to favor Rose. In other words, instead of pacifying fans it actually fueled the "fake" controversy- since even fans watching in the KZbin Tales Channel kept saying the anime "should" have been the story behind the game- and that it was actually the "original" story that Baba changed for Rose's character/VA. In any case, Tales of Crestoria has a short animation that was no longer handled by ufotable. And I'm not sure if Tales of Arise will have ufotable either- as there's no promotional anime for it, and the game itself might have no anime cut scenes at all, unlike in previous Tales. As an update, I also heard from a fan that Tales Japan is really turning toward Rose now. I've actually sensed it in r/tales reddit where fans defensively say they support Rose. As it turns out, Alisha fans were harassing Mikleo fans in Japan and pressuring other Tales fans to support their campaign. The Alisha-batallion is creepy. I myself feel their "hidden" presence. Whenever I promote Zestiria, some fans react by disliking any Zestiria video that has the highest views in youtube. Just this week, Ashalya's SorMik amv REALLY slowed down and was getting so many dislikes the moment I posted that she has the highest likes for a Tales-related video in youtube. I remember that toxic Vesperia fan who got mad at a game reviewer and said he will dislike the video because Vesperia was not in the top 10 best Tales poll of that video. Someone got mad at him and said, the description applies to early Tales games so Vesperia wasn't included. The fanatic fan still got mad and said the poll should have included later Tales games instead so that Vesperia is included. Sounds like cancer.

[@Darkaran1]

Great video. I disagree on one big point: "Alisha's handling in the game makes sense from a story perspective because she can not Armatize and that's too taxing on Sorey" Well, that's an arbitrary trait. You say that the anime makes an "excuse" by saying that by travelling with Sorey her resonance grew. I think this could have happened in the game. Sorey's and Rose resonance is how it it because they lived around seraphim. So if Alisha travelled with Seraphim she could get better at percieving them. The game could have been written without having to introduce Rose so the player could have an armatizing partner if Alisha's journey into discovering reality also involved travelling with Sorey, getting to know the world from the Seraphim perspective and eventually being able to be a fully fledged squire that can armatize. Not that I want to leave Rose out of it. She's fun. But my impression is that she is brought in without a sufficient story justification. The game writers make the rules of the game's story. They can change them so the game can be fully operational and interesting without having to give a character a secod class citizen treatment for no apparent reason at all.

[@elixirvitaegames]

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I see your point here and do agree that a story like that might have worked better, but the story in the game justifies Sorey and Rose's resonance not only because they spent time with seraphim, but because they lived with at least one for pretty much their entire lives. For Sorey it's obvious - he grew up with them - but for Rose too, it's implied in the main game and stated outright in the anime that Dezel was travelling with the Windriders for a long time, at earliest when Rose was a young girl. Besides that, in Rose's case, Dezel's possessing her for years after the fall of the Windriders made her more resonant and susceptible to his seraphic influence, which is why she can armatize. Both humans spent years of their lives with the seraphim, which increased their resonance. On the other hand, you have Alisha, who spends only maybe a month with the seraphim in the game and not that much longer with them in the anime. Things like her being able to hear them without Sorey's influence or potentially even being able to see them after having travelled with Sorey, I could understand. However it's a stretch for her to fully develop the skill of armatization after only a short time, since you have to have resonance on par with the Shepherd's to achieve that. Still, you do make a good argument, and I agree that had they tweaked the game's rules a little, then the story could have gone on without Rose's involvement. The way the game works right now, though, it would be impossible for Alisha to achieve armatization without years of being in close contact with the seraphim.

[@wangonn6601]

is just A excuse remember Lailah she stay in ladylake for long time why not one have enough resonance to see her she is prime Lord to

[@elixirvitaegames]

@@wangonn6601 The fact that Lailah is in Ladylake doesn't necessarily mean everyone in Ladylake would gain resonance from her presence. She isn't the lord of the land for a start, so her domain doesn't stretch over the whole city, and her role as the prime lord only affects the Shepherd and any sub lords/squires involved in the pact. Even then, once Alisha is a squire, it takes a lot of work and sacrifice on Sorey's end to boost Alisha's resonance enough to see the seraphim. The difference between Sorey and Rose and Alisha is that the former two had seraphim around them constantly. Sorey grew up with only seraphim around him, and Dezel was at Rose's side 24/7 as well as commandeering her body relatively often. The only way Alisha's natural resonance could have been boosted would be if she had constantly been with a large and powerful seraphic presence - like if she lived in a seraph village run by an extremely powerful seraph, or if she was literally possessed by a seraph from time to time. I don't think the influence of the lords of the land is strong enough to boost the resonance of those within their domain if they are any ordinary seraph. I don't think it's an impossible feat, over a long period of time, but given that Alisha has never experienced a Ladylake kept under a seraphic domain in her life, it would be a miracle even for her to be able to see them without Sorey's Shepherd powers aiding her natural resonance. In that sense, even if the domain of the lords of the land were strong enough to grant an increase in resonance, there's no way it would be on par with that of the Shepherd, and hence there's no way anyone who didn't have exceptionally strong resonance would be able to armatize, which is the strongest power a Shepherd has and is exclusive to them and their Squires should they be strong enough to have that capability. TL;DR, Lailah's being in Ladylake doesn't affect Alisha's resonance at all, in my opinion. Sorry that went on for so long! I hope I didn't bore you with that huge paragraph there. Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and to leave a comment!

[@turquoisemoon3654]

I don't think Rose had insufficient story justification. On the other hand, it could've been Rose who brought Sorey out of Elysia instead of Alisha. We hardly know anything about Alisha in the game... we don't even see her family... except for Maltran... and the fact that the anime did A LOT OF REWRITING to make Alisha's character relevant is enough proof that there were a lot of "holes" that needed to be filled when it came to her character. Hideo Baba's explanation may not have been the best, but as he said, there was no intention to make Alisha a heroine alongside Sorey, for that would detract audiences from Sorey's character development and what the original writers intended to convey... which is that Sorey's success was largely due to his ability to resonate with the seraphim, an ability that is lacking among humans with the exception of Rose. Clearly the writers didn't want to write morality in black-and-white where characters with the best intentions always turn out to be the most ideal. Rose to me would be closer to Yuri's and Luke's characterizations in Vesperia and Abyss... where they might not start out as your regular knights in shining armor but even from outside the system, they have a sense of justice that is just as deep and caring (like Rose telling Sorey what it's like for orphans and street children to fall into the hands of syndicates and be corrupted). I have to strongly disagree with the idea that Alisha was given a "second class citizen treatment" or that she was disrespected. Neither do I agree with what haters say about Rose replacing Alisha. Just because Alisha's character design looked good didn't mean she should've been given a BIGGER role... As you've said game writers make the rules... and therefore, those rules must coincide with what they're trying to achieve... which considers the entire story and the development of the other characters, not just that ONE character that we love. Zaveid even said that there was little reason for Sorey and Mikleo to worry about her, as women are actually emotionally more resilient than we think they are, and he knows Alisha can handle the negativity. I think the writers wanted everyone to see Alisha and Sorey realizing their own strengths as individuals, which would be harder to show if Alisha were a part of Sorey's party from beginning to end. As a princess she cannot risk being "controversial" by being identified with a Shepherd who CANNOT BE LOYAL TO A SINGLE KINGDOM WITHOUT COMPROMISING HIS VALUES. She knows that she is putting Sorey at risk by staying with him, not to mention making everyone doubt Sorey's motives for letting a princess of Hyland accompany him outside Hyland's boundaries. Maybe Sorey losing his vision in one eye is more SYMBOLIC? The more Sorey stays with Alisha, the more he would be unable to see the bigger picture... that what he's working for is bigger than Hyland, bigger than the strife that Alisha wants to heal. What Sorey is working for is beyond human politics... it's uniting and healing a world divided SPIRITUALLY and culturally in many ways. I'm not saying you're wrong. But I think focusing too much on how Alisha could've been a BIGGER character on her own makes us lose sight of the importance of the other characters and what the writers wanted to convey which they kept repeating in the anime (like it's almost a mantra): that Sorey's goal is working for human-seraphim coexistence as a solution to healing a world broken by malevolence... and that alone is beyond Hyland-Rolance politics... way BEYOND that. This is just my honest opinion. I'm not angry with Alisha fans... just with the reviews they post everywhere that Zestiria was meant to be Alisha's story. I know that's not related to your comment, but it sort of reminds me of those reviews.

[@sonicsenryaku6205]

@@turquoisemoon3654 I know this is an old comment and you probably won't revist this thread but i pretty much agree with everything you said. It's a shame more people can't exercise their critical thinking skills and try to better understand the strengths and flaws of a narrative rather than having a overly-emotional reaction about things that aren't even relevant to the bigger picture.

[@karechan]

Thank you for next wonderful video, Zestiria original (game) story really really was wonderful and you drag out those all highlights out. Not like it would probably convince haters and they will still keep going without trying to understand game better. My view on Alisha is similar to yours. I liked her very much in game and I understood why she left once Sorey wanted to see Rolance (beside her hurting Sorey). I liked that kind of realistic way they handled "the princess" matter. There was war. It was only natural for Alisha to not go into Rolance since many people were fighting and loosing their lived on both sides during war and overall conflict. Many stories and JRPGs ignore reality and they make no problem with princess going to enemy territory with rest of main characters. This was the one moment from many that made me like this story so much. Beside the fact Alisha fits really well in theme I found in Zestiria really amazing, meaning no one is mighty and without flaws. Mostly Sorey who is Shepherd and should be kind of messiah is many times powerless, unable to help the ones who he deeply cares about and even with Seraphs power he can't save everything and everyone. But that's another matter. Once again, thank you for your Zestiria vids.

[@elixirvitaegames]

Thanks! I'm glad I could highlight some of the positive things about the game's story. I know it's a long shot that I'd be able to convince someone who's really set on the opinion that the game's story is irredeemable, but I'm just glad that others feel similar to how I do on this matter. I totally agree! The fact that there are consequences to Alisha's actions - and that there would be more if she did go to Rolance - is something I really love about this game. They thought through the implications of things like that when writing her in, and I'm glad about that. I also love the idea you brought up about no one being mighty and without flaws. It's something that adds so much depth to all of the characters in the game, and the fact they dampened such an important aspect in the anime really takes away from that, in my opinion. Thanks again!

[@turquoisemoon3654]

I agree with this, especially what you said about Sorey. And also, I love your Drama CD translations. It's a treasure. ^_^

[@vestraksachaios]

Alisha's leaving the party for the country could've been handled better and it's rather simple, e.g. making her the only playable character when dealing with the issues in her country and join the party when it is the time, just like Dana in Ys VIII. The real controversy is, not considering the maketing problem and all the dramas about the interview, that other members discuss about "True Companion(真の仲間)" and belittle Alisha indirectly. Honestly I don't know how English localization group handled this word but it really pissed Japanese and some other Asian players A LOT, and I would rather believe the TOZX is the True TOZ.

[@_mako]

5 seconds in and I already like the video. Only thing I was disappointed about that concerned Alisha was her not being able to Armatize in the post game DLC. The reason why she couldn't do it in the main game was because she didn't have enough resonance and was too much of a burden on Sorey. But in the DLC, that shouldn't have been a problem, since Sorey was sealed off making his squires stronger, which is why Rose became a very capable Shepard herself. Considering how much resonance ans purity Rose already had, plus the fact that Alisha's own resonance should have been boosted when Sorey was sealed, there was no reason for her to not be able to Armatize after forming the Shepard's pact with Rose. That and the fact that you only had two seraphim for a good amount of time during the DLC made getting knocked out much more frequent and took away a key tactic from the main game. That said, I did eventually like the increased challenge, because after all, the game is all about zest lmao, but having the option to Armatize and see Alisha in all her well deserved glory would've been the perfect cherry on top.

[@elixirvitaegames]

Aaahh thank you! I can see why that would be frustrating for you. To be honest, I did wonder that myself - if I remember correctly, we don't hear anything about Rose being affected by her Squire's pact with Alisha, which means surely she must be strengthened as a Shepherd by Sorey's actions, so you'd think she'd be able to pass Alisha enough power to allow her to armatize too. Maybe it's something she'd develop more over time, as Sorey's purification started to take more effect? You're right though, it would have been amazing to see her armatizing at that point. Even if the challenge is fun, not having the option to utilise such a huge battle mechanic with one of the humans feels like a wasted opportunity, in my opinion. But again, I suppose there are story reasons for not doing that.

[@_mako]

Elixir Vitae Games The game does an excellent job in justifying its gameplay restrictions with story reasons, which is the main reason why I love it so much (and why most people hate it lol how ironic), but this one case was where I just wasn't convinced at all. There was every reason to allow Alisha's armatization, both gameplay and story wise. I guess I was just kinda let down cuz they don't even mention if Alisha had or didn't have a negative impact on Rose, especially since that was one of the main reasons why she had to leave Sorey in the first place. I was wondering about that the whole game, but they never address it in the DLC. But oh well what can we do lol. I actually recently decided to look into the cheating scene in this game's PC version, which is what I play. You can actually replace any character with Alisha, and though the thought is amazing, when I did that it was just, really unsatisfying because like you said in the video, she couldn't armatize. That challenge is fun in the DLC but when it comes to the main game it becomes really cumbersome and annoying really fast. So having Rose as the main companion is indeed the best option, for most of the game at least. Now if there was a way to get Alisha to armatize the way Rose does, that would be a different story hahah Anyways, you raise a good point, maybe she'll be able to do it once Sorey's purification spreads further. That's a reason I can be satisfied with. Once again, thanks for changing my perspective on that 😂

[@wangonn6601]

@@_mako is the created want to hate Alisha and love Rose more and said we do the right things to remove her

[@Fureiji88]

while I didn't know about the issues with alisha being the controversy of course I think anyone who makes something like the biggest controversy is an complete idiot in the first place and aren't worth addressing in videos likes this cause well they're pretty much stupid for making a game come off worse than it is for just that one element. that being said I do personally think the anime had a better handling in terms of how to fix the... well I'm not gonna call it controversy cause it's really not and as I've said it's stupid to call it that. I will say it would've fixed what is an overall small issue. not necessarily minor but by itself Alisha doesn't affect whether the game and it's story was good or bad. there are good are good arguments in how she could've been handled better and whether this is confirmed or not there has been word about the staff having issues in writing this story out but i haven't found anything concrete on that. this goes into what I always felt was a problem with Zestria. yeah it was big and it certainly had some big ass moments to enjoy which i'd be lying if I said i didn't enjoy those moments but regardless if you think zestria was well written or not it doesn't change the fact something about Zestria was severely lacking in the story. in my opinion I did like it more in the anime adaption despite some pacing issues. anyway I think a large problem may just be due to the fact Zestria came out before Berseria where i think it's fine to have a prequel after the original but the issue is how Zestria tells its story like we're automatically supposed to know what references is it even talking about and to be honest not everyone or everything seemed all that thought out or fleshed to really assume what they did in Berseria was the original idea of how they planned to link the 2 on account I've also heard the writing staff was changed for Berseria which on one hand was a good thing and did a better job at story telling in my opinion but on the other hand that's also a problem assuming the change in writers is true to which even if it's not it does feel like a few points in the game weren't all the way thought out at least in Zestria since despite Berseria's accomplishments it did feel like it was trying it's best to be it's own story but also had to cover down on zestria's problems and figuring out where to leave subtle hints on the connections which the anime also had to do as well. so overall this was a very ambitious project where they wanted to surpass Xillia after it's 2 successes but between the marketing, the handling of gameplay between the 2, and the characters it's no surprise Zestria had a lot of problems surrounding it only for Berseria to save it.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

The controversy became one because of a guy who aired his vews in a podcast just a few days AFTER the official release of the game admitting that he hasn't played the game but the Japanese fans were mad at this and that point. Since this game was first released in Japan, what the Japanese fans claim about the game became immediately "credible" to those who haven't even tried playing it... and though the haters were a minority at that time, many were already affected by the complaint regarding Rose replacing Alisha and Alisha being "dumped" by Sorey, plus the possibility that he did because he was "gay." The marketing "error" which was explained was drowned in the complaints about the game as the Japanese fanbase already started talking about the producers private lives etc... to spice things up even when they know that these issues are irrelevant (even Ryohei Kimura's name was dragged into it, naming him as a "witness" to these controversies about so-and-so). It doesn't help to say that Vesperians were heading the trolling, but I've been in those game sites a lot and they had a BIG HAND in hating the defenders and making sure they don't say anything in those review/comment sites. It doesn't help to say that they sold Vesperia in many sites where they also repeat the same hate mantra against Zestiria but it also happened... and Alisha was like the door that let them see Zestiria in the worst light.

[@becca1chan8773]

Great video! Even if I bet there will be some people that will come across this video and really disagree thinking that having Alisha more in the game would've improved it where in reality it's fine. How it was handled in the game was fine and I feel having more of her would end up being a real problem as the story would be unable to progress because of the anime and the DLC where it felt like a lot nothing went on. In the DLC having Alisha around felt grating and going through a long dungeon with her felt like a lot of nothing where as in the anime ... forgive me for saying this but she's a mary sue as everything seems to unnecessarily center around her to the point of annoyance. Ultimately Alisha, her controversy, and how that controversy ended up being ultimately handled made me hate Alisha and wish that Bamco handled the marketing differently for her as well as the damage control when, let's face it they were making the biggest fuss about it, fanboys got upset with how Alisha was handled.

[@elixirvitaegames]

Thanks! Luckily that hasn't happened yet, but I don't doubt it probably will sometime in the near future. I agree with your thoughts on the DLC and the anime too, they really make her character a lot less interesting. Alisha needed better marketing, especially after the initial controversy happened. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@MCguy52]

Very disappointed in the way she was handled. I suppose it makes story sense but I don't like it.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

What are the TOP 3 ALISHA MYTHS which her fanboys are crazy about... and why we should STOP believing them: 1. Alisha is a better character than Rose and Rose replacing her makes the story boring. Let's see, will the fans say the same if Alisha were a man- a burly, rough, and gruff guy with warts and moles than a pretty princess? Instead of using "looks" and "external appeal" as a standard, can we say the same of anyone fulfilling the exact same role *minus the looks*? The story decides the character's staying power, NOT her external appeal, and the story can't be twisted to give that character more importance than the narrative demands just for that (harem and ecchi anime and games are an exception- but we all know why.) In most Tales games, "royalty" are traditionally treated as "foil" characters anyway. They're important... even in Hamlet (Shakespeare's play), the foil character slays the MC... but he appears rarely and is used to show a strong contrast with a major character- mainly to expose flaws or shortcomings in that character, nothing more. Flynn was a "foil" for Yuri, but he wasn't even playable in the original version of Vesperia. No one "hated" it back then. Think about it: If Alisha were in Berseria, would the same fans say that giving her a limited role next to Velvet makes Berseria boring? I think not! And yet, she's make an excellent "foil" for Velvet! References to Alisha are completely absent in Berseria... and if a prequel is supposed to give us some hints about the main story, it should throw hints about the characters in the sequel, right? But Alisha has *zero references in Berseria*. Why? I think the writers intend to point out that *major* and *minor* characters are like *commoners* and *elites* in real life. We all have a part in making history, and it doesn't matter how HUGE the role is given us. We all have our *individual* parts to play. Alisha's part is simple: She needs to draw Sorey out of Elysia- which Rose cannot do as Rose is, in fact, a skeptic at first and hated spirits, which she treated like ghosts- even upsetting Lailah. There's no other character to do it than Alisha as she's read the Celestial Record and has that to share with Sorey. As for Rose: Even male gamers have THIS to say in their gameplays: Alisha is an interesting female character, but there's no reason to unfairly compare her with Rose who has her own personality, skills, and charm. Rose is an assassin who has no faith in politics... the same institution Alisha firmly upholds. For Alisha peace is achievable thru "peace negotiations," and she even showed willingness to bribe politicians for that (no kidding!). For Rose, politics is a scam... and it's the source of corruption to begin with. If you look at their POVs, you'll realize Rose and Alisha NEED each other to counterbalance each other. And Rose, having a darker backstory than Alisha, makes her an ideal *transition point* for Sorey since Sorey can't handle "killing" hellions in the beginning. It's not just killing hellions- but the idea of killing in order to save that's more compatible with Rose's mindset. Do you think Alisha can handle cold-blooded murder? No, but Rose can. If you bought the game for Alisha alone, then you were probably NOT interested in the story to begin with. That's not the game's fault... that's your taste for games that no one can do anything about. 2. Alisha leaving Sorey's party is a "cheap, narrative excuse" by B-Namco. The "switchable accessories" is proof that Rose *replaced* Alisha. First, Alisha is a *princess* who's *not so popular* even in her own home base, Hyland, for being a *minor princess* and an astute *reformer* criticizing traditional politics. This is the reason Bartlow sees her as nothing but a means to laying a *trap* for Sorey. He insinuates *rumors that Sorey and Alisha have a relationship*, which even Alisha feels uncomfortable about since it would strain relations with Rolance who ALSO wants a piece of the Shepherd. So as you can see, this is the scenario: you have two kingdoms who have been jealous of each other and in bitter conflict for years. Alisha couldn't have BYPASSED that just so she could go country-hopping with Sorey to get rid of hellions. The MORE important reason is that Alisha needs to be Sorey's *weakness* so he'll realize that he can't handle squires at his current level, and he needs to do *more than just purify hellions* all over the place. Because of that weakness, Sorey realizes and comes to terms to his real mission- facing the lord of calamity. Were Sorey so strong as to raise squires like Alisha, he wouldn't have seen the bigger picture. As for the *switchable accessories*, you can read the interview given by Berseria's producer himself. He admitted playing Zestiria *during development* and being aware *from the very beginning* of the plan to make Rose and Alisha *switchable*. It was supposed to be a *surprise twist* that makes the game less monotonous as you get characters with contrasting personalities- and whose costumes are *recyclable* since you can make the others wear them should you want to experiment. Haters use the term *replace* but it's NOT the same as *switching*. Rose *never replaced Alisha* as Alisha is part of the story until Lastonbell when Sorey departs for the main battle. I think the only reason fans hated Rose was Rose's lines in that part right after Sorey's last talk with Alisha: "Alisha asked Sorey on a date and he turned her down without wasting his breath. No wonder women don't dig Shepherds." Rose is saying Sorey is NOT Alisha's type and neither is Sorey attracted to women. We know Sorey's type, right, but (cough cough) let's move on... 3. Zestiria was meant to be Alisha's story. This is the biggest load of cr*p of them all. I mean, whoever said this (and even posted that online article) is simply riling up fans (as it threw accusations that Zestiria also stole Berseria's budget). Why I'm discussing this as the final issue? Because THIS tells us that the MYTHS about Alisha are just FAKE CONTROVERSIES. The writers have already declared again and again that Sorey was the real hero, Actually, in *literature* *heroes* and *protagonists* don't always mean the same thing. William Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" is known as *a novel without a hero*, but it certainly has protagonists. A *heroine*, then, can be any female who exhibits *heroic* qualities- she doesn't have to be the the MC. Besides, why would the same fan throw such baseless speculations with no single argument or proof? Are we supposed to accept such accusations and let controversies like these just drag a game into the dirt? Controversies *don't defend* the truth, they *destroy* them. When credibility is attacked, you can't get it back in one piece. Whether you have proof or none, malicious gossips are easily remembered... and they make anything doubtful from the get-go. That's why "slander" is punishable whether the rumor is factual or not. Why? It damages people and things needlessly and without justification. It's not enough that you prove the rumors to be true- you have to prove that they caused REAL damage, and if you have to dig up a person's privacy for that, you have to justify breach of privacy by showing that it's justified because the moral, physical, and mental well-being of all is at stake. I don't think Alisha fanboyism and frustration counts. No frustration can justify any controversy the only intention of which is to make SOME disgruntled fans happy by giving them the content they want. Even HATE HAS TO BE JUSTIFIED. If not, it's just *immaturity* and *degeneracy*, not even constructive criticism. Let's give it a rest. Fake controversies take out the fun in games and in communities. We play to have fun, not to have stress.

[@Phoen1xChan]

I just like Alisha more than Rose, which is why I'm disappointed she wasn't a party member. Hell, I'd take Rose and Alisha on a team, being able to swap between 3 humans and 4 Seraphim would be nice, might be a big party, but I can see it working. I'm not gonna get into wether or not it makes sense for Alisha to stay or leave the party, because they will always be sound arguments for both, and the way they did in the game, makes 100% sense, but I can't see why the Resonance cant be enhanced, maybe it's just a rule of the game, just seems like a cop out to me. Zestiria is a decent game, definitely not great, but decent, but I just can't go back to it. Only because when I got the game I thought Alisha was gonna be a main party member, or at least come back by the end of the game, whilst I was playing it, that's on me, and I know that. I just wished that, somehow, someway, Alisha never had to leave, I can only imagine all the skits, and banter all the characters would have, teasing the naive princess, while watching her grow into a full-fledged and confident princess. Also, she's just a sweetheart.

[@RSTLegacy]

My opinion, is that Alisha could have been handled better, if the game allowed us to see her perspective of the story after she leaves, like, letting us to play as her in some parts of the game to know what's going on. I think armatization was a must need for her, while story wise it makes sense that she can't for the story they want to tell, in a gameplay perspective, she needed this, since the alisha's dlc was a hell to pass with a character that can't armatize. I also believe the anime's "excuse" for letting alisha stay in the party makes sense, since Alisha already has some level of resonance, and for what we know, Sorey was able to achieve his level by living with seraphims, also Rose may have not natural resonance at all, but acquired it when Dezel started using her. Rose may be better as a partner to Sorey, since Alisha thinks pretty much the same as Sorey, and parts where killing was neccessary couldn't happen if Alisha was still Sorey's main partner, but i still believe that Alisha deseved better.

[@SantosOverlord]

i never disliked her, i just dont understand why so many people wanted her more into the game and didnt like Rose, when Rose was the perfect counter-face to Sorey

[@ZeldaFan2004]

I personally think it would have been interesting for Alisha to be able to Armatize while she is with Sorey and I think it could have been possible without changing the fact that it hurts Sorey for her to be his Squire. Have a cutscene where Alisha is learning how to Armatize, and she does it, everyone is happy! But then a battle happens and both of them Armatize and Sorey feels like he is being split apart, is in extreme pain, and he stops Armatizing. This shows the party that only one of them can safely Armatize at a time, otherwise Sorey starts taking continuous damage (like Velvet does when she uses her Break Soul in Berseria). This way, they both CAN do it, but if they both DO then Sorey has to pay the price. As the game progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that only one of them being about to safely Armatize at a time is not going to work long term, so Alisha chooses to leave the party so Sorey can find a more suitable Squire.

[@Kiefster]

I have to say that's a pretty good analysis of Alisha. As someone who was introduced to the anime first, I liked Alisha a lot and always believed she had potential. When I got to the game, I knew what to expect already since I had people told me what happens. Rose wasn't really a bad replacement and it just makes the whole thing meaningful. I'm curious to see your take on Lailah and her whole situation. Perhaps an analysis on Persona 5? Great video btw!

[@elixirvitaegames]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this video. I'm definitely planning on doing a video about Lailah at some point in the future, since she really intrigues me. As for Persona 5, I've not actually played it yet, but I do plan on playing it at some point in the future, so perhaps I'll make some analysis videos for it once I have.

[@Kiefster]

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Feel free to pm me if you have any off-hand questions. I pretty much know quite a lot about P3,P4,and P5.

[@Kiefster]

@@elixirvitaegames Also Lailah is pretty much my waifu.

[@HiraethVagabond]

Youre talking about game mechanics when the problem is the writing. All that stuff could be changed, the devs pulled a bait and switch by showing her off on all the promotional material but kicking her out of the story in such an abrupt way

[@christianalbertjahns2577]

Anime only here. To me, Alisha is the best thing Zestiria X has to offer (other than Berseria promotional episodes, that is). Not saying the story is bad but it's pretty generic and if not for Alisha, I would drop the series pretty early. Still have to give the game more playtime. I've played about 3 hours and the story didn't do anything particularly special so far. The thing about Zestiria the game is to know the story of Zestiria, I have to play Zestiria, which is very awkward game, to say the least, especially after playing Berseria

[@princefishyfingers7498]

Got to give her credit for putting up with soreys poetry in the very start of the game man I can’t stand his ass

[@turquoisemoon3654]

Don't worry, Sorey feels the same. Rose even says: "Alisha asked him out on a date, but Sorey turns her down without wasting his breath." Sorey gets turned on more by a date who can make "soft-serve ice cream" than one sporting an "invisible armor." ^_^

[@Rhetzelle]

She's the only reason why I bought the game ... so disappointed that she's not in your party i the beginning :( truly disappointing ... so I sell the game asap and did not play it ... it's boring without her

[@MakoTenseii]

I feel like a lot of people could've been angry at the fact that alisha has costume dlc that you dont see for a majority of the game too.

[@sakunochan6761]

Were you in my head when you wrote this, you said everything I feel about Alisha and her role in the story. It feels nice to know that there is at least one person other than me who liked her story the way it was told in the game. I actually was indifferent to her character when she was in the party and really started liking her when she left. It was different from the normal princess forgetting her duties and running around fighting monsters and I loved it. It is also the reason why the anime made me really angry. I liked the beginning very much and was happy they added more to her story but as the series progressed it became too much. It was like if Alisha is not doing something on screen then we must have a conversation about her and that was really annoying, especially with how little time they gave other characters. I mean, in many episodes and scenes it felt like the seraphim were more props than real characters in the anime.

[@turquoisemoon3654]

I also liked the way she was written in the game. No reboot please... Alisha is more like a version of Estelle in Vesperia, much like Rose is more like a version of Yuri/Luke in Vesperia and Abyss... not "clones" of other Tales characters, but they sort of fill out roles that are essential to the narrative and in fact, completes it, without competing with the significance of any other character or the MC.

[@pn33milan11]

That's pretty much what I thought when I read about the Alisha controversy. Her little presence in the game is mostly due to her personal story. Granted, having her more playable could have made her more iconic, but probably her character could have also lost some of that characterization. Tbh, i'm not that big of a fan of zestiria. Its clunky and slow fighting mechanics made all of the melee fighters pretty much unplayable to me, not to mention the below average partner AI. So, I don't think I would have appreciated Alisha (along with Rose and Sorey) as much as I had wanted anyway. She still remains the only interesting human character in the game, imo, but that's probably because she is not there all of the time. Also, i'm well aware the anime has some differences compared to the game, but i would still suggest watching that rather than playing the game, if you are new to the series. Zestiria is just a game that I personally can't suggest to absolutely everyone

[@turquoisemoon3654]

Sorry I came so late. BUT I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID. ^_^

[@wangonn6601]

So all princess character need to be removed for the part now for all game now

[@elixirvitaegames]

Not really! I think it just works for Alisha as a character. Other Tales games actually work really well with princess characters as permanent party members (eg. Abyss and Vesperia). I just think with the mechanics of the game and the way Alisha's story in particular is written, she doesn't need to be in the party for her story to work.

[@simonlow0210]

I think the game could've handled Alisha better. Maybe they could add some parts of the story to be seen from Alisha's view rather than just Sorey's. Although I do want Alisha to be in the party, the anime handled Alisha the worst because everything doesn't make sense.