Game – Tales of Arise

Games Oct 10, 2021

Completion Time:

main game - 64:31:10

post-game content - 70:47:10

Main Game:

Starts out as a usual JRPG that drops the player directly into the world without much background. Background is something that a player slowly gets a grasp of and is what’s pieces together based on side quests, main quests and side dialog that npcs give throughout playthrough. This world is one ruled over by a different breed of people that have a competition to become king based on the amount of energy they collect. Energy they collect is derived by the people they enslave and whatever of the kingdoms achieve the highest amount by the end are the winner, getting to be ascended above the rest.

The same basic elements of every other tales game are in here as well, fire, water, earth, wind dark and light. The kingdoms/regions are Calaglia, Cyslodia, Elde Menacia, Mahag Saar, Ganath Haros. Then we have Rena and Dahna. Rena being the origin of these people hosting the contest and Dahna the location it is being held with the main regions and cities that our main crew visit on their journey.

From the very start of the game the premise is set that we are going to take each of the lords down without fail then put and end to their seemingly endless reign they have over Dahnans. Something that is a bit different compared to other tales game is when and how much of an info dump we get into. The info dump takes place around the 2/3s mark and is quite heavy for a few hours and pretty much until the end of the game. It isn’t the best of decisions, but I prefer it over having it more towards the beginning of the game. It gives time for people to be invested and interested in whats going on, while being able to draw their own conclusions that are either right or wrong. It was a bit much though and haulted story progress due to how delayed and non spread out all this info was. If it was more focused towards beginning of the game I feel it would have lost peoples interest, there is a give and take to how it was done. Still not the best of executions but it was alright and worked given the person is enjoying their experience, since for me it made the game more enjoyable, cant say the same for everybody though.

As for the graphics… oh they are so nice. They keep the anime vibe but damn the details and fluidity of everything along with the rest is something else entirely. Probably my favorite style jrpg to date, only a couple others rank up close to it. Character mouths and facial can be improved but overall is a small component. Maybe their stances depending on outfits but at that point its just nitpicking. Would hardly change much about it and would just continue to refine this engine.

Gameplay:

There is crafting for weapons and accessories, not armor. Armor is found is chests and purchased through shops. Each shop has for the most part the same stuff. New shops will have better equip and possibly a stronger healing item or fishing lure as would be expected. Weapon crafting unlocks the items at a slow pace matched with the story progress. Sometimes youll be able to immediately craft while other times might take a location or 2 before being able to. Accessories are craftable after being found. Once found you can craft and use certain ores obtained that are scattered throughout the world. There is an rng aspect with each of the ores. Each ore drops with special substats that will be applied to a select accessory. Higher ranked ore means more substats and higher chance of a better tier of each select substat or even a possibility of a special ability substat. Luckily there is transfer ability that gets unlocked that allows the rng aspect of each drop to be nonexistant for the most part. As long as you find an ore piece with the stat you want, carry it over to the accessory and craft together the best one of your choice.

For cooking there are several different types of recipes found and obtained from quests throughout the story. Cooking is optional, it will provide various stat boosts and buffs. As for ingredients, they are found the same as ore around the world. There is also a farm that animals can be raised at for specific ingredients such as milk, chicken ect. Fishing ties into cooking where you catch a fish and cook it for a recipe. With fishing there are several different lures offering special bonuses per select fish listed or areas. Alongside that there are rods to further change the fishing experience. Fishing is all throughout the games world with each location potentially offering different kinds of fish, some being boss fish. A boss fish will be needed to be caught to unlock a characters sp tree title. Fishing can be quite the pain tbh and its either you like it or wont bother with it type thing.

Training grounds is the usual tourney style fights with your characters either by team or solo. Each rank is simple and has a completion bonus alongside a timed completion bonus that is obtainable only once. There are specific challenges one can do several times after a specified amount of time ahs passed since last beat. Not necessary at all but is a fun and challenging way to test yourself when you want.

Your characters level like normal from a scale of 1-100. Each level is set stats boosted, stats don’t play as much of a role as they do in other tales games. Stats are not weighted as hard. I do not like this approach but nonetheless is still quite enjoyable and fun. SP tree and sp is gained at the end of each fight with a multiplier applied dependent on how well a person does in the battle. Regular mobs compared to bosses or special monsters offer different base sp. Farming sp isn’t necessary but is required at some point if maxing all sp tree titles since hitting max level will come prior more than likely.

Inside battles… oh this is where I think is one o the best tales has to offer so far. It was on par with abyss for the fluidity once mastered. Special abilities left and right tagged with very high combos with the damage number to match. There are downsides to it with room for improvement though. It’s a solid mix of traditional ring jrpg combat, action and beseria. Luckily its not weighted as heavily on beseria since there is no god mode used to troll every enemy from start to finish of the game. Will be nice to see where they are taking the combat from here since they were able to keep the core tales combat while making it feel very different than whats come before.

Combat tactics are something that I have seen a lot of complaints about. Just like every other tales game the player can customize these to their leisure. It can be quite complicated to do and most will likely avoid doing so. Can customize when and how a character will act in a given situation. Say no items are to be used except at a certain hp or heal only when this happens ect. There are several setups but stock works decently well for the ai to handle. Never had a problem with it. Targeting was the eh part but really not that bad either. When using controller if the enemy swaps just tap the bumper to adjust back but realistically if the enemy you have been fighting is the closest then it wont change until they are dead or you want to target another. Shifting targets mid attack or ability might screw up the targeting by snapping back to the previous one which makes sense but is annoying. Pretty much stock tactics is how I got through the game and don’t really need to be changed or adjusted unless you really want to delve deep into the mechanics which is not necessary. Dodging becomes easier with unlocked abilities from titles and also isn’t necessary, once masted can make a fight significantly easier and more fluid.

Fast traveling is a pleasant surprise and is unlocked immediately from the start of the game. Unlike other tales games where you need to unlock vehicles to fly around to previous places. Sadly this came at the cost of a more linear feeling game rather than the open world we are used to seeing. Having a open world I do prefer and was a missed point they should have done.

Also got owls in each region that are to be found. They are directly linked to a quest alongside them giving out special outfits for each character. None of these owls are missable, even the ship one, if its missed at the time, can just grab it later in a specific location on shore. I believe the only true missables on a playthrough are a couple treasure chests.

Throughout the game there will be several little skits that pop up and are voiced. The style has changed for the better and I believe is improved but can still use some improving with how they appear on screen. Not a lot of improvement to make it near perfect though. The interactions of the characters is fun and enjoyable. If you grow fond of each character then they will be all the better, got several laughs and was wholesome at times. Ya they do repeat things at times, honestly though that made them feel more real though. Just think back to the adventures with the bois… or grills, every main thing that happens your group will not just say it one and done, it gets brought up a few times after and maybe in different ways as its discussed. Did not see a problem making them do the same as people do in real life. Now as for character development, that was more lacking than usual from a tales game. Its here but not as strong as prior releases.

Side Quests:

Side quests are decently varied from fighting a select group of enemies, gathering ingredients, going to location ect. None felt boring and the dialog to go with was enjoyable. Rewards were ample and plentiful. The rewards are helpful to the point of the story each quest is handed out to. Probably will be the main source of gold for most.

Couple side quests are not listed on the main map but are triggered on arrival to a select vicinity. Nearly all are listed on the map though. None are timed exclusive and are completable at any time. They give a nice boost to money and sp so the sooner they are completed the better as they will be very helpful at times. They can mean the difference between spending a while farming for that new ability or title unlock or not.

Sounds and OST’s:

Soundtracks are are point with any other tales game. They get you in the mood and keep the suspense when needed ect. What makes this game better than others is that they include the other games battle osts as options. Can enable the best ones and set them as a playlist or solely a specific one you really like.

Regular out of battle osts are also on par with the rest of the tales series. They are enjoyable and do what they are meant to do, keep the player immersed and ready to chug along without being annoyed of them by the end of the game.

Voice actors are good enough and hold up well to other games, still better than nearly any dub anime sadly. As for sound effects, they are done well just like the rest of the sounds in the game. They are what one expects, matching with what one would want to hear. Really isn’t any downside or out of place ones that were noticeable.

Overall and Final Thoughts:

Very highly recommend Tales of Arise just like any other tales game. It’s a solid 50-80 hour experience depending how a player goes about the game. Sadly it isn’t a full jrpg in the aspect of time. Usually a jrpg timeline is longer and averages 100 hours. Even the final boss in here youll fight at around 60 rather than 70 showing there was probably some cut content.

Cut content is something that does feel was here sadly. There was a certain point where there are lights and the only one we fight just happens to be on our path rather than seeked out. It feels like they were supposed to be part of the second half of the game but were cut to side quests. With them included this would have pushed the final location and bosses levels on par with average jrpgs at ~70-75 rather than 60.

Also the final boss itself was a disappointment to me. Not from a story aspect but a `is that it` point. Without the stairway to heaven that takes a solid minute to walk up being there… it was clear something was wrong though. You just teleport to the end and it isn’t right. The last form of the final boss [final boss forms not a spoiler for those who played even a couple jrpgs lol] is one that you can lose against. I found this to be the biggest disappointment and lack of challenge. Felt they shoehorned it in to pad it out a bit and could have been done way better.

The hotspring scene is in here and is :mrclean: lol

Other than a few yucks, it’s a very solid game. Not sure its worth several playthroughs though. Its no tales of symphonia that keeps you coming back several times.

Characters (main) – 4/5
Characters (sub) – 4/5
Enjoyment – 5/5
Gameplay – 4/5
Visuals – 5/5
Music – 5/5
Story – 4/5