My first Tales game dates all the way back in I think 1999? I was at the school cafeteria with a friend discussing PS1 games and he recommended I play Tales of Destiny, the second main game in the series, though the first to get localized.
The series has been close to my heart ever since. Almost each main entry, I played on launch. My perception of Tales as a whole had its ups and downs, though. I recall a phase around a decade ago where I thought to myself, “Tales is dead to me,” but that eventually changed when I tempered my expectations. Or myself in general, I suppose. (Deep.)
Basically, coming from 1999, my phases have progressed like so:
1999-2005: “Let’s fucking goooo!”
2006-2011: “Tales is dead to me.”
2012-2021: “Yeah, alright, maybe I’ll check it out.”
So you see, where I am now is a nice balance of the first two and it’s been working out nicely ever since. Including Arise, there’ve been five mainline (this series has a ton of spinoffs) Tales games released over the last decade and I’ve only skipped out on one.
Admittedly, though, I’ve gotten a bit more hyped when Berseria and Arise were initially shown, I’m not gonna lie. But the kind of hype that swiftly dies down, unlike my hype towards Persona 5 or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. That shit persisted even as I was playing those games.
Anyway. We’re here now with Tales of Arise. Let’s break it down, shall we?
Story
The setting dabbles broadly in class conflict – rich and poor, masters and slaves. And in this game, Renans and Dahnans, respectively. Sporting a full-face, irremovable medieval helmet, you play the role of a mystery Dahnan slave who somehow can never feel pain. And you have amnesia because of course you do.
Unexpectedly enough, the game uses the amnesia card as a tool to dump exposition and world-building. It’s also used as a plot anchor to maintain some semblance of intrigue as you push forward with the narrative. You build pieces and pieces along the way, punctuated and enriched by everyone else’s subplots.
You don’t really play Tales games for the story, though. You play it for the combat and the charm of the characters. Or to a lesser extent, the world. That isn’t to say every character or location is endearing – you just sort of take what you can get here and there.
The same is true for Arise. While it starts off fairly templated and predictable, the occasional surprise peeks out. Once I’ve gotten comfortable in accidentally and effortlessly predicting what would come next, the game throws a pleasant curveball.
All in all, while not the greatest thing since sliced bread, the story is serviceable, especially if you’re having enough fun with the combat, anyway. The writing sometimes feels cheesy but it’s offset with some doses of genuinely hype moments here and there.
Story (Skits)
One could argue you could divide a Tales game’s overall writing quality in two – the main story, and the skits. As the name suggests, these are tiny little character interactions that enrich the world’s lore and highlight the charm and nuances of each character. A beloved Tales series staple.
I say divide because while I did describe the main story as cheesy, some of the more genuine, solid moments can be found in skits. And it helps that the presentation is nice.
Building on to this staple is the addition of some sort of relationship mechanic with the other playable characters. As you spend the night camping out in the field map, you have the option to spend some quality time with a character of your choice, leading to more unique skits and adding a general sense of coziness since you ARE taking a breather from all the fighting that happens in between.
NPC interactions + sidequests
One of the least interesting aspects of this game for me is talking to NPCs. They aren’t bad, just pretty same-y. And their designs and dialogue are bland. There are instances of brilliance but you sorta have to ‘farm’ for it. Eventually, I ended up glossing over NPC text just to get to the actual quest. I don’t care about your backstory – just point me to the task.
As for the side quests themselves, the types that you get are fairly bog standard: get x number of items, kill y amount of enemies, etc, which isn’t all too bad because the combat is fun. Plus, it’s not like it stays that way – more mini-games and the like are later introduced.
Gameplay (exploration)
One of the more striking aspects of Arise when its first trailer came out is the field and dungeon environments. Presentation-wise, it’s the best it’s ever been with its wide, open spaces. Where previous entries would devolve to linear, hallway-driven dungeons, Arise ups the ante with inspired and memorable layouts that possess a nice sprinkling of verticality as well. One good litmus test for this is if you can easily find your way through an area without having to look at the map, the level design would have done its job. (Unless of course the area is intentionally labyrinthine.)
The transition from combat to field exploration has also been super streamlined. You go in and out of battles fast; dashing and running from one point of interest to another have a nice flow to them – whether it be an enemy, a treasure, some environmental loot, or what have you. It feels good to move around and interact with the environment.
This is of course after you’ve gotten over the fact that the framerate is kinda shit. At least in the exploration outside of battles. It’s not bad BAD. It’s just you’d expect it’d be consistent, especially with current gen tech. I’ve tested this in both the PS4 and 5 versions and in performance mode, to boot. A bit disappointing, but at least in-combat the framerate is super consistent, and that’s more I can deign to ask.
Another aspect of the exploration that I kinda like but also kinda dislike is that later on a chain mechanic is introduced. After finishing a battle, a bonus gauge with a timer counts down. Engaging another enemy before the timer runs out replenishes the timer and increases the bonus level. The more you build this meter up, the better rewards you get, obviously. Once it caps, you get max yield and the meter resets.
I like it on its own. What I dislike is how incentivizes you to rush through a level, thereby sacrificing your first, ideally immersive run-through of it. If you opt to take it slow, you sacrifice filling up the bonus gauge – and so you have to choose. Of course, you can always run another lap through the dungeon, but having to resort to something like that just to get the best of both worlds seems a bit of a misstep, design-wise.
Some sort of the third mechanic that allows to reconcile the two by adding some sort of interim action would have been welcome. Then again, maybe you’re meant to maximize filling up the bonus gauge on succeeding laps when you’ve already decided it’s farming time.
Since the game’s setting jumps from one extreme location to another – fire world to ice world to forest world, etc. – there’s no shortage when it comes to variety. It doesn’t overstay, too. Before you even get tired at looking at all this lava, on with the snow you go.
And by this same grace, you do unlock more trinkets and doodads to continually make exploration more interesting; keep it from being stagnant. Let’s save some to the imagination.
Gameplay (Combat)
Ask anyone familiar with the series and chances are they’d agree that combat is the primary reason most people even stick around. Everything else is secondary. Every time a new Tales game is teased or announced, questions along the lines of, “How are they doing the combat this time around?” are a hundred percent in people’s minds.
Since the series is more than 25 years old, I won’t delve too deep into how the combat has evolved over the years. But to the uninitiated, suffice it to say it’s not a linear progression at all. Each entry tries to do something different while still keeping that Tales flavor ever intact. For good or for ill, of course, because each fan has their own idea of which direction the combat should head towards. Much like fighting games, I suppose.
But unlike fighting games, Tales combat is more casual and accessible. And it’s only gotten more and more streamlined in recent years. Not to its detriment, mind you. For Arise in particular, there’s a focus on making the combat feel smooth, sleek, fast, snappy, flowy. And it’s AMAZING.
That feeling of smoothness is emphasized when jumping from one regular encounter to another; boss fights tend to get messy because this is a fast action game with four party members, of which you control only one. That’s right, folks, it’s AI-powered companion woes. On higher difficulties, you could be doing so well not getting hit for minutes, and a single mistake from one of your AI companions could potentially wipe everyone out. That said, as another series staple, you can customize their behavior, but only really to a fault. And in typical JRPG fashion, you can counteract some of the AI’s missteps just by equipping better gear, of course.
To the game’s merit, the offensive options at your disposal can severely offset untoward outcomes for your party, provided you use them well. Your party members possess a unique support attack that carries a lot of situational utility, all of which are triggered on command. From being able to interrupt magic casts, to immediately being able to knockdown specific types of enemies, or stop a charged attack on its tracks. These attacks are meter based, so there’s merit to using them during the right moment. And while one of the commands is inherently defensive, the others can be used offensively or defensively depending on the situation.
One criticism I have about the combat is unlike its immediate predecessor Tales of Berseria, Arise feels less flexible when you start to play as the other party members. In Berseria, playing as the other members feels just as responsive and accessible as playing the main character. In Arise, using another character feels immediately clunkier, though not at all unplayable. Berseria honestly is more an exception to the rule, though. This criticism applies to most Tales games. It’s fine in general, I guess? It only becomes an issue when you place it relative to Berseria. Like, Berseria already ‘fixed’ the ‘issue’ but here in Arise we see it again.
Overall
Overall, I’d recommend Tales of Arise to newcomers or veterans alike. If I was recommending a more recent Tales game to someone who hasn’t played one, I’d endorse this just as much as I’d endorse Berseria. The question “Which Tales game should I start with?” is a little loaded and an entire beast of its own, though, so let’s leave this tangent at that.
If you’re familiar with the series and on the fence about Arise, I’d say waiting for a sale is fair enough, but only really mostly because full-priced PS5 games are a little tricky to justify. Good thing this is also on Steam.
8.3Overall9Gameplay8Presentation8Audio8Value