Tales of Arise review
Our Verdict
Tales of Arise doesn't exactly forge new ground in the JRPG genre, but a fast-paced boxing arrangement and a well-told story make it easy to pick up, and difficult to put down.
For
- Fun, fast-paced combat
- Heartfelt story
- Charming cast of characters
- Catchy soundtrack
Against
- Tales formula feels a little rote
- Staid grapheme blueprint
Tom's Guide Verdict
Tales of Ascend doesn't exactly forge new footing in the JRPG genre, simply a fast-paced battle organisation and a well-told story make it easy to pick up, and hard to put downwards.
Pros
- +
Fun, fast-paced gainsay
- +
Heartfelt story
- +
Mannerly cast of characters
- +
Catchy soundtrack
Cons
- -
Tales formula feels a piffling rote
- -
Staid character design
Tales of Arise review: Specs
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5 (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Toll: $60
Release Date: September 10, 2021
Genre: Japanese RPG
Tales of Arise is the latest entry in Bandai Namco's long-running Tales serial of Japanese RPGs. If that means anything to yous, then you lot probably already know whether or not you desire the game. The Tales serial is easily the most consequent JRPG franchise from a major publisher, from the inventive Tales of Phantasia back in 1995, upwards to the refined Tales of Berseria in 2017. But like its predecessors, Tales of Arise employs a familiar formula to evangelize pure JRPG comfort food. And, just like its predecessors, Tales of Arise is splendid.
If y'all've played a Tales game before, then you tin practically sing along at this point: Tales of Arise presents a demanding real-time combat system, a charming cast of characters with a abrupt script, and a story that starts off elementary, only winds its way into some tricky moral territory. Throw in some bonny anime graphics and a killer soundtrack, and Tales of Ascend is arguably the commencement great JRPG of the new panel generation. Series fans should experience right at home, just even newcomers should consider picking information technology upwards, if just to see what they've been missing all this time.
Read on for our full Tales of Arise review — and once you've completed the game, check out our suggestions for 10 games to play subsequently Tales of Arise.
Tales of Arise review: Gameplay
Tales of Arise casts you as Alphen: an amnesiac swordsman who sets out on a globetrotting quest along with five other attractive young misfits. If you've always played a JRPG before, you tin probably already judge the structure of the game. You'll get together a political party, journey from boondocks to town, fight a ton of low-stakes battles forth the mode, level up your skills, upgrade your equipment, discover a agglomeration of side quests and sit through a barrage of story cutscenes.
What sets Tales of Arise autonomously from most other JRPGs is its existent-time combat system. When y'all see a group of enemies, yous and three political party members enter a dedicated battle screen. But rather than taking turns to dish out damage, you lot'll run effectually the battlefield, chaining together regular and special attacks, too equally dodging enemy strikes. The big difference this fourth dimension around is that your restorative healing Artes are tied to a resource called Cure Points, which don't automatically recharge between battles. This provides both a carrot and stick for exploration. Yous don't desire to run out of CP in the heart of a dungeon, but yous don't want to hoard them, either — particularly since you tin utilize them to unlock optional areas. Information technology'due south a smart residue, and gives Tales of Arise both tactical and strategic depth.
While real-fourth dimension gainsay systems are a Tales series staple, Tales of Arise offers a few innovations. First and foremost, the game is very hard, even on default settings. Most attacks bargain paltry damage, meaning your only hope of defeating enemies is to stagger enemies and concatenation together as many techniques equally possible. Tales of Ascend gives y'all ample opportunities to exercise this, between regular attacks, specialized Artes, unique character abilities and devastating dual-graphic symbol strikes. Once you become the hang of combat, ordinary encounters aren't too troublesome, only the game's enormous bosses are always a challenge.
I'm of two minds almost Arise'southward combat system. Dissimilar in previous Tales games, button-mashing won't get you lot through even the most basic battles, which can brand combat feel exhausting afterward a while. But it also means that gainsay never feels trivial — even if the rewards do. As you level up and fight the same enemy types over and over, the amount of experience you earn from them will decrease. This means that level-grinding before tough bosses is basically impossible, and your only option is to play the game more efficiently. While Tales of Arise is hardly an low-key experience, it does feel rewarding to run into both your party members and your own skills grow over time.
Across that, Tales of Arise offers the standard suite of JRPG activities. You'll become stronger as you gain feel and level upwards, and you tin further customize your abilities via unlockable skill trees. Y'all'll craft new weapons and buy new armor; you'll melt meals to temporarily boost your stats; you'll hunt down optional bosses to improve your healing abilities; you lot'll solve elementary puzzles to make your way through the game's big, explorable maps. Everything basically works, although if you were hoping for a significant evolution of the Tales formula, you won't find one here.
Tales of Arise review: Story
In Tales of Arise, the spacefaring Renans have enslaved the earthbound Dahnans for 300 years. You play every bit Alphen: a Dahnan slave who's lost his memories, but is however ready to take up arms against his Renan oppressors. He teams up with a rogue Renan named Shionne, who has her own reasons to overthrow the five tyrannical Lords who command Dahna. As they travel from realm to realm, they selection upwardly a political party of like-minded conspirators, and learn that the human relationship betwixt Dahnans and Renans is not as black-and-white every bit they initially believed.
Like most Tales game, Tales of Arise starts with a typical fantasy setup ("travel the world, defeat the evil Lords"), merely isn't content to stay there. Defeating the Lords gives Alphen and Shionne a skillful excuse to explore Arise'southward varied globe, from the burn-flecked wastelands of Calaglia, to the verdant grasslands of Menancia. Merely it's not long earlier the two realize that not even defeating the Lords tin can undo three centuries' worth of cultural damage. Alphen and Shionne's backstories complicate matters further, resulting in a 3-dimensional story with some rewarding twists and turns.
The building blocks of the plot are all pretty familiar — characters doubt themselves, triumph over adversity, fall in dearest, betray each other, hide their motivations, barrack to build upwards esprit, and so forth. Just the core party members are delightful enough to make these familiar tropes feel fresh. The upstanding Alphen and the conflicted Shionne have a natural chemistry, and they interact naturally with the brilliant-eyed mage Rinwell, the overeager martial creative person Law, the motherly knight Kisara and the aloof healer Dohalim.
Tales of Ascend review: Visuals and sound
Graphically speaking, Tales of Arise demonstrates that we may have reached a indicate of diminishing returns with anime-inspired games. Information technology's non that Tales of Arise looks bad — it actually looks quite good — merely it doesn't expect radically different from Tales of Berseria, or other JRPGs from the last console generation.
The animations are smooth and the level design is varied, merely the central cast looks unusually staid, for a Tales party. Their costumes lean heavily on blues, whites and grays, with pretty conventional faces and hairstyles.
The soundtrack, on the other mitt, is a matter of beauty. Composer Motoi Sakuraba (Dark Souls, Mario Golf: Super Blitz) has created what is probably the catchiest battle theme in Tales history, and the remainder of the tracks audio similarly inspired. The vocalism-interim is also excellent, peculiarly Alphen and Shionne — although, oddly, Bandai Namco has non nonetheless revealed their English voice actors.
Tales of Arise review: Verdict
Tales of Arise doesn't rewrite any genre conventions, but it doesn't really need to. It's a substantial take a chance with a demanding battle system and a riveting story, just like previous entries in the series. If you have ever played a Tales game before, you know exactly what you're signing up for.
And yet, even if you haven't played a Tales game before, there's a lot to like most Arise. Fifty-fifty if the cutscenes drag on for a bit sometimes, the combat will go along you on your toes, and the characters volition stay with you long later you lot turn off your console. If y'all've been wondering how the PS5 and Xbox Series Ten could facilitate a whole new style of JRPG, yous'll accept to go along wondering. But if you want a reminder of why we go along coming dorsum to this familiar formula later 25 years, Tales of Ascend is just what you lot're looking for.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/tales-of-arise
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