Tales of Zestiria has been available in Japan since Janaury 22nd of this year, and some fans have been unhappy with how one of the characters has been handled in game. Tales series producer Hideo Baba spoke with Famitsu regarding the controversy surrounding this character, and the game’s post-launch downloadable content.

This is a warning – the following contains SPOILERS regarding to the game’s plot, so read on with caution if you want nothing spoiled.

Famitsu: In the case of the “heroine” for this time, we received word that Alicia would be the heroine, but midway she withdraws from the party, so we are making her separate story a DLC. Special costumes are also available. There are many reasons for this setup. We heard impressions from the players. Some felt a bit of disappointment. So to spice up the story, we decided to make her tale available as an add-on DLC. They won’t be able to dismiss her story without a gasp of surprise.

Baba: As you say, that’s how we look at it. Before we sold it, the information presented to the public indicated in the follow-up report when the game arrived, Alicia was not mentioned as a heroine in Famitsu’s materials. When the story was being organized, Alicia would split from the party. The dev. team making her costumes repeatedly considered whether to make her DLC costumes also wearable by rose. To avoid confusion caused by leaks of photos with Rose wearing Alicia’s clothing, we are presenting this information to the public.

Famitsu: We recognize that amongst the materials sent to us by your honorable company, Alicia was not declared a heroine. On the other hand, in the official profiles for the Tales series history, Alicia is declared to be a heroine. And in one part of the media documents, she was introduced as a heroine. We have unfortunately released confusing news. This information has been amended.

It’s worth mentioning that never have we here at Niche Gamer referred to Alicia as the “heroine” of the game, as she was never made to be so in any of the materials we’ve covered.

So how do you feel about the handling of her, leading up to the launch of the game, and afterwards?

Editor’s Note: Translations provided by Claude Smith