The seventeenth main entry in the Tales series, the game follows a man and a woman from the opposing worlds of Dahna and Rena and their journey to end the Renans' oppression of the Dahnan people.

[4][5] The game has a big focus on evading and countering, with Tales of Graces, a 2009 entry praised for its combat, cited as inspiration.

Three centuries ago, the Renans based on Rena's artificial moon Lenegis invaded and conquered Dahna, enslaving the population and dividing the land into five isolated realms.

The barren Calaglia, the dark and cold Cyslodia, the Elde Menancia plains, the Mahag Saar mountains, and the Ganath Haros rainforests.

While evading their pursuers, Iron Mask pulls a blazing sword from the Master Core in Shionne's possession and uses it to repel the Renan forces.

As only Iron Mask can wield the sword due to his inability to sense pain, he and Shionne form an alliance to take down the five Lords and gather the other Master Cores they possess.

After liberating Calaglia, Alphen, Shionne and the Crimson Crows' leader Zephyr depart to the realm of Cyslodia, guided by Rinwell, a mage and member of the Silver Swords.

Having a change of heart once his father is sentenced to a public execution, Law assists Alphen and the others in an attempt to rescue Zephyr who ends up being killed by Ganabelt himself.

With Cyslodia liberated, the party travels to Elde Menancia, a realm whose Lord, Dohalim il Qaras, abolished slavery and encourages Renans and Dahnans to coexist.

However, they learn from the dying Migal, leader of the Golden Dust Cats, about a plot from Dohalim's aide Kelzalik to drain the astral energy of the Dahnans in secret by poisoning them for his own gains.

At the realm of Mahag Saar, the party discovers that the Dark Wings overthrew the local Lord, Almeidrea Kaineris, who is in hiding.

Upon news that Almeidrea was captured, the party attends her public execution just to discover that she took advantage of the situation to lay a trap for the Dark Wings and kill them while extracting their astral energy before escaping.

During their fight, the rest of Alphen's mask is destroyed, restoring his memories and sense of pain before the enemy retreats, taking Shionne captive.

It was Naori who put the mask on Alphen to seal his memories before sending him back to Dahna in a spaceship, his body preserved in cold sleep before he awakened one year ago.

During the following month, Alphen and the others help the citizens of Ganath Haros to rebuild until a bio-mechanical structure sent by the Renans begins draining the astral energy of Dahna directly and sending it to Rena's moon Lenegis.

The party takes Nazamil in and while exploring an ancient Helganquil ruin, discover that she was experimented on by the Renans, obtaining special powers like Alphen and Shionne's.

[4] Tomizawa stated that while the team was aiming for a level of quality that can be enjoyed globally, the game would not neglect its Japanese fans.

The world design went in a darker direction compared to earlier entries, both to further the series evolution and appeal to the Western market.