![]() ![]() The Tales series has always put just as much emphasis on its gameplay as it does on its story, and this is where most of the changes have been made in Tales of Arise. Based on my limited time trying out the Japanese dub, you should have a perfectly fine experience either way - though I’d imaging most people have already decided which they’ll pick without my input. It also suffers from the occasional lack of direction, with lines being delivered in an odd way every now and then. The dub is generally good, especially Alphen and Shionne, but has some weaker voice acting here and there. The journey there is at least enjoyable despite this, and weaker endings haven’t exactly stopped games like Tales of Vesperia from being loved by fans.Īs a side note, I played the entirety of Tales of Arise’s main story with English voiceovers. ![]() It’s not… bad per se, just a little underwhelming after the 40+ hours leading to its final moments. Rushed endings aren’t something new to the Tales series, and Arise is unfortunately another victim of this. The occasional pacing problems also extend to the last part of the game. The problem is that everything can feel like it ends up being resolved a bit too quickly, making the whole conflict seem a little less serious than it perhaps should be. Each area of Dahna is set up to have its own set of issues, either due to its Renan overlords or otherwise. This is great for keeping the plot going and introducing new challenges for the cast to face, but at times it almost feels too fast. It moves relatively quickly most of the time, even with the aforementioned skits breaking things up. On the whole, I’d say Tales of Arise’s messages on unification and trust come across clearly, though the story isn’t quite perfect. There are hundreds of skits, and they do a great job at fleshing the cast out, offering extra context for certain things, or even just lightening the mood every now and then. Unlike the 2D skits of earlier games, Tales of Arise has switched to using character models in comic book-style scenes instead - for those that have played Scarlet Nexus, it’s somewhat similar to that style of cutscenes. They’ve always been a highlight for the series, and that’s still the case here. These break up main story events with short events been characters. The skits that Tales games are known for do a lot to help with this. However, the story never goes in a completely dark direction despite the initial premise - there are grim moments, and death is a frequent occurrence, but Arise generally tries to keep things hopeful. Each of the game’s six party members has seen what hundreds of years of cruelty can do, and it leads to their quest feeling more personal as a result. Slavery and oppression is a big focus in Tales of Arise, as the party sees how different people are persecuted for things out of their control during their journeys. As they journey through Dahna on a quest to defeat the Lords enslaving the planet, more allies and enemies are encountered, eventually leading to the truth behind Alphen’s lost memories and the nature of these twin worlds. ![]() The duo ends up working together after Alphen manages to draw the powerful Blazing Sword from Shion’s body, immune to the searing pain that it would inflict on any other wielder. Like Alphen, she also has her own mysterious quirk - anyone that tries to touch her will be harmed by magic in the shape of thorns. Calaglia is but one region of Dahna, a planet currently enslaved by the people of Rena.Īlphen’s years of survival take a sudden turn when he runs into Shionne, a rifle wielding Renan on the run from her own kind. The combination of his unknown past and strange appearance - he’s stuck wearing an iron mask of unknown origin - makes him well known amongst his fellow slaves, who toil away in the blazing heat of Calaglia for their Renan masters. Tales of Arise opens with amnesiac protagonist Alphen, a young man missing not only his memories, but the ability to feel pain as well. ![]()
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