Tales of Arise

1. Zaverok

   Feb 5, 2022

   10

   Quite possibly some of the most fun I've had in a game in awhile. Combat is pretty coll, lots of skills to choose from, good combatQuite possibly some of the most fun I've had in a game in awhile. Combat is pretty coll, lots of skills to choose from, good combat animations. I'd suggest playing on moderate difficulty or higher as everything else below is kinda to easy imo. The cutscene get to be a bit much, and the voice acting is not all that good tbf but I can overlook any. Alot of JRPGs have bad voice acting. The story itself is pretty cool, Alphen's dialog kinda gets annoying tho lol. Out of all the characters dialogue, Alphen's is hands down the worst. I'm still going to give the game a 10 put of 10 and recommend people play it. Good game.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
2. 1dur

   Sep 13, 2021

   10

   Played since last Friday been fantastic so far. Battle play is awesome. Story is going strong so far.

   • 1 of 3 users found this helpful
4. Sweeb

   Sep 12, 2021

   10

   This is easily best RPG out this year and game of the year. This is how RPGs should be made.

   • 7 of 10 users found this helpful
5. smlvcfncst

   Feb 18, 2023

   8

   Despite not being perfect, this is a very good game I completely recommend.
   
   Artistically it is very pleasing. The (main) characters andDespite not being perfect, this is a very good game I completely recommend.
   
   Artistically it is very pleasing. The (main) characters and environment design is made with care, resulting in a game very good looking. The OST is equally very well done and, even though it might not be as memorable as others, very successfully accompanies the situations presented.
   
   The gameplay is excellent. It is as challenging as one wants (you can change the difficulty whenever you want, even before reloading a check point of a boss fight after defeat), it is varied, fast, and remains extremely fun and satisfying even after 50 hours playing. Also here the graphical quality of the game shines.
   
   The plot is rich and evolves at a good pace. Its (reasonable) complexity is treated appropriately and from a more adult perspective than one might expect. It might not be surprising, but it's not dull and predictible.
   
   The are however some flaws. The world doesn't feel alive, but rather a decoration you walk through, with completely boring, uninspired NPCs and side-quests. The game is way to verbose and things are often overexplained, to the point I ended up wanting to skip dialogues. Finally, THE BIGGEST FLAW (imho) of the game is not being cinematographical enough: it is a pity that most of the plot is presented through dialogues, not exploiting any of the tools that audiovisual art allows for, and despite some exceptions, even the cutscenes are nothing else than the protagonists talking while standing like statues here and there. If this game was more theatrical and less textual (so carrying out the story also through the audiovisual setting and the characters interpretations, not only through dialog) I would easily have considered giving it a 10.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. judgementblade

   Oct 10, 2021

   7

   I got introduced to the Tales of... series with Symphonia and since then played most mainline games (and caught up on the games that wereI got introduced to the Tales of... series with Symphonia and since then played most mainline games (and caught up on the games that were released before then). So in part I'm a bit biased but also BECAUSE I love it so much more critical. Now for the actual review (in short):
   
   + good graphic (which is most likely responsible for the high score)
   + technically mostly clean even on a standard PS4 (just some character model delay pop-ups in cities and occasional collision issues getting me stuck on air near objects)
   # mostly interesting characters
   - feels like the midgame was cut/lost/left out
   - - insulting amount of pallet-swaps for enemies
   
   review (long):
   I would call this game alright but missing something to be as enjoyable as for more recent examples like Tales of Berseria and Dragon Quest XI. I would say I only have two major gripes with it but for that all the more. Generally I'd rate it alright and not doing too much wrong but what it does wrong, it screws up enormously. One thing that REALLY rubbed me wrong was the insulting amount of pallet swaps among enemies. It's like you only have 10 or 12 standard enemy types that get recycled every new region you visit with a pallet swap. The elite/boss monster are a bit more diverse but even then they get recycled 2 or 3 times.
   Another issue I had was that the game felt like it was missing the mid-game. You basically rush from your first assigned string of story missions to the endgame when you think, now is when the game really starts off. They advertise two planets linked and made me think they get treated almost equally much but they didn't. I have the suspicion that for one reason or another they gave up on doing part of the game and without spoiling much, many people playing it and who played some JRPGs before will notice that point. It's where you expect the second act twist to kick in. Instead of becoming the mid-game I thought, it turned out to be early post-game content. This also links to a minor gripe i have, the party having it's moments but ultimately feel like they not as close and well thought out as the game wants me to believe.
   It's a bit hard to put into words but I think two of the six playable characters (not consider spoilers since the opening movie literally shows them) got the short straw in that department and at least one of those would have likely had a major role in what seems to be the missing mid-game from what the game hints to in other places.
   Another minor gripe to me is the party AI. While you can customize some actions it feels like the AI still prioritizes aggression even when the team is dying. They seem to have difficulties to ascertain weaknesses in their attacks and you can't even tell them to specifically aim for them which causes unnecessary grieve in some battles. It is also insane how some enemies dish out when they should be around your characters level.
   Another problem was the money. I mean sure, wild monster shouldn't drop any money, at best some sparkly trinkets or gems that they just like but human enemies should drop some amount every time. Sure you get spoils to sell but compared to the costs for supplies and crafting and the value and amount of things you get to sell, it's imbalanced. Most RPGs have the issue that the later the game, the more useless money you have, here we have the opposite extreme you never get enough without hours of grinding and I did have a discount perk that came with the Collectors Edition.
   Since I did have some perks with the Collectors Edition I used for almost all the game that might otherwise be behind a paywall I can't really say for difficulty but even with them, I got into trouble a few times during the playing. There was a bit of a jump in enemy levels from 30-35 in one area to 40-45 afterwards and then 50-55 for the next area which is endgame (60 for final boss, on normal mind you) it further feeds my suspicion there was some mid-game cut and bad balancing to mask it.
   That about sums it up what I think of the game. While the last game I remember for outrageous palette-swaps on enemies was Tales of Vesperia (which is rather old comparingly), it's still good to remember for other things too but I suspect, I will remember Tales of Arise mostly for it's absurd amount of palette-swaps and not much else. Now to put in perspective for more recent Tales of... games, I really like Tales of Xillia 1+2. Tales of Zesteria was pretty bad as a Tales of..., I really did love Tales of Berseria so I guess Tales of Arise comes in closer to the Zestiria side of things and makes me hope that the next Tales of... will be just as baffling to me as Berseria was. But I still wouldn't say I regret paying 70 bucks for the physical copy of the game alone. It just wasn't as good as I hoped it will be.
   
   With that, see you and have a good time playing.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
7. morjito

   Apr 12, 2022

   6

   Better Tales game to date, while retaining elements that distinguish tales game from the rest of the JPRPG crop. How is it better? TheBetter Tales game to date, while retaining elements that distinguish tales game from the rest of the JPRPG crop. How is it better? The graphics, game play and story combined provide an immersive gaming experience. How about the characters? The playable characters are ok, each one based on typical RPG stereotypes, and the game provides just enough backstory and exposure to show the motivation of each character. The battle system is typical of Tales games, a bit of chaos with all characters shouting out their special moves, which is kinda fun until you get more battles, then you just mute down the volume, hahaha! By the way, kudos to the english voice actors, the voice-overs were well executed that its convincing to switch from original japanese voice-overs, especially since the text fonts are rather small and the walls of text are a pain to read.
   
   On the downside, the game has nothing new to offer, and after you finish the game, there is no replay value. The gaming experience is also not memorable, compared to Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Persona games that leave some lasting memory of the experience. Also, the paid DLC's suck and are obviously placed as an easy cash grab by Bandai Namco, such as DLCs for items to boost experience and gald drops (currency) that would lessen the grinding for xp and resources. Terrible, its like the game is tailored so the players are tempted to pay for the DLC due to the minuscule amount of experience, gald and item drops from defeated monsters. And that Sword Art online collaboration DLC, players have to pay for a training bout vs Kirito and Asuna, seriously, Bandai Namco want players to pay for a frickin' training bout???
   
   Anyway, enough of the DLC rants, finished the game and got the platinum after around 60 hours of game play. Overall, Tales of Arise is an improved Tales game that is slightly above average, its playable with a pinch of patience, interesting enough to play from start to finish, but totally no replay value. If you want to play the game, just rent it, buy at discount or buy a used game, and yeah ignore the absurd DLCs.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful
8. Phuz

   Dec 25, 2021

   0

   Another disappointment. A total **** show of a Tales game. Remember the destruction BotW did to Zelda, well this is the equivalent for Tales.Another disappointment. A total **** show of a Tales game. Remember the destruction BotW did to Zelda, well this is the equivalent for Tales.
   
   The forced encounters
   The uninspiring enemies
   The OST is bad, boring
   The story
   The characters
   The fetch quests
   The excessive loading screens
   
   Absolutely nothing likeable.
   
   I am getting towards halfway though Zestiria and I can't wait to go back to it. I have given Arise hours and hours now and not one of my hours with Arise has been as good as my worst hour with Zestiria. It has no charm, no mojo, it literally has nothing going for it.
   
   Really wishing I'd got Ys 9 instead now.
   
   Tales of Arise forces exploration as quests, then blocks your path with boring encounters. They really should have ditched the arena for battles and left the action to take place within the open world. It feels really dated, like Vesperia with a lick of paint but Vesperia was quite entertaining at times. Arise just feels bad. This game could have learnt a lot from Ys Origin on how to implement fun action.
   
   As I barely enjoyed any of this and it was an expensive game, as well as a present, I am pissed off. It has cost money, to waste my time. Hours of my time and now I need to drive to Cex to get rid. Not happy.
   
   Lowest possible score as this was the present I was most looking forward to. Gift ruined.… Expand

   • 0 of 4 users found this helpful

See all 45 User Reviews