Tales of Luminaria, the latest title from Bandai Namco in the Tales of series, has hit smartphones around the world, and players are diving in to discover the latest story in this long-running franchise. With fast-paced combat and a story featuring a robust cast of 21 colorful characters, there's a lot to Tales of Luminaria for players to experience.
As the first mobile title in the series in many years, Tales of Luminaria offers long-time fans of the series several new mechanics to learn in order to fully enjoy everything the game has to offer. These are a few key things that new players should know before starting Tales of Luminaria.
10 Gacha Mechanics
Similar to the popular mobile/console title, Genshin Impact, Tales of Luminaria utilizes gacha mechanics as a means of making money. Players can use a premium currency called PB-Stones to purchase randomized items from what is essentially a prize machine, and these items have a direct effect on character power levels.
There's also an incentive to purchase multiple pulls at once, as the chances of getting rarer items are increased. While PB-Stones can be purchased in bundles for real money, they can also be earned in-game by completing specific missions during each episode.
9 Episodic Narrative With Shifting POV
The story of Tales of Luminaria is told in a shifting, episodic manner, with each episode focusing on a different major character in the game's overall narrative. It places each character at the center of their own corner of the story, giving players the chance to connect with each member of the game's large cast.
Several episodes are available now, and the developer has confirmed that new ones will be added each week. Each character is currently confirmed to have eight episodes total, which brings the eventual episode count to 168 total episodes once everything is released.
8 Combat Is Tied To One Button
Tales of Luminaria is structured to be played in portrait mode, so the entire game can be effectively played with one hand. In order to facilitate this, the entire combat suite for each character is tied to a single button in the bottom-middle of the screen.
While characters have different weapons and combat abilities, all movement, dodging, and basic attacks are controlled by this single button. This is a huge departure from the combat of previous games in the franchise, and the all-in-one nature of the button does cause incorrect inputs from time to time.
7 Multiple Paths Of Progression
Characters level up in a way similar to other RPGs by earning experience to raise their level and boost their power level. However, they also get power boosts from unlocking new equipment or leveling up existing pieces.
Armor and weapons can only be acquired by using the gacha pulls, which require a premium currency. While this system isn't necessary to play through the game's story content, each character also comes with a level cap that can only be raised by obtaining new equipment.
6 Experience Can Only Be Earned In Episodes
Every character in Tales of Luminaria levels up through combat, with each defeated enemy awarding a certain amount of experience depending on how difficult they were. The only battles that award experience, however, are the ones inside the episodes.
Challenge battles and multiplayer bosses don't earn any experience, and there's no open-world for players to explore and train their characters. The only way to train up a character is to replay their episode(s) until they've hit their level cap.
5 Equip Healing Items First
Tales of Luminaria is generous in that it automatically equips any new armor or weapons to applicable characters, but it doesn't do the same for healing items. And since equipment can only be changed while in the main menu, players will need to equip any healing items before starting an episode.
What's more, characters have dishes they like more than others, and these preferences influence the effectiveness of the dish. The game doesn't check for these preferences, or if the food can be used for healing at all, so players check on their equipment before starting any mission in the game.
4 Weapons And Armor Have Assigned Abilities
Gear players get automatically provide power bonuses for associated characters, but each weapon and set of clothing also have special abilities called Artes connected to them. These Artes range from passive benefits to powerful new attacks.
Equipping each piece of gear in different slots changes how these abilities are equipped. Armor always assigns the Mystic Arte, a powerful attack that needs to be charged up, while weapons provide the passive buffs and more basic Artes that can still pack a punch.
3 Character Factions Affect Power Level
Raising the power level of different characters also increases the strength of other characters in the same faction. Similar to games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Tales of Luminaria features warring factions locked in a conflict that has been raging across the continent for many years.
Leveling up characters in each faction provides a small boost to every other character in the faction. It's one additional way for players to maximize the potential power of their favorite character, even if it means spending a little extra time building up characters the player isn't interested in investing in.
2 Multiplayer Is Very Limited
Many mobile games feature robust multiplayer functionality, either cooperatively or competitively. Even exploration and narrative-heavy games like Genshin Impact provide a means for players to work together to complete missions and explore the world.
Tales of Luminaria, unfortunately, doesn't have such a robust system, relegating its current multiplayer offering to a time-limited boss battle that can be taken on with up to three other players. It's possible more multiplayer offerings could appear in the future, but for now, that's all the game has.
1 Coins Are Used For Food
Tales of Luminaria has two distinct currencies, PB-Stones and Gald, and while it's clear what PB-Stones are used for, it isn't as immediately clear where players can spend their Gald. Currently, Gald can only be spent on one thing: food.
In the "Dishes" tab of the main menu, players can find new recipes available for purchase, as well as ingredients necessary to cook any of the game's meals. Some ingredients can be found while exploring each episode, but players will need to spend their Gald on these ingredients if they want to make food in larger quantities.
Tales of Luminaria can be played on Android and iOS devices.