Game Title: Tales of Arise
Platform: PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series S/X/PC
Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Demo Released: 17th August 2021
Date of Full Game Release: 10th September 2021
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+
Since Bandai Namco's Tales of Series franchise debut on the PlayStation 4 it remained somewhat stagnant as it relied too much on the ageing hardware of the PlayStation 3, it's not to say that they were poor looking games but when Tales of Berseria was released back in 2016 you could tell that the series was in need of a graphics upgrade. With the newest game in the long running franchise that originally promised to celebrate the 25th Year Anniversary of the series it has gotten the upgrade it rightfully deserved. Tales of Arise is not only a single massive graphical improvement but also makes step-forward changes that makes this new entry a true next generation Tales of Series game. While they held on giving us news on the upcoming game for a while, we finally started news and more hype the recent couple of months. Bandai Namco Entertainment recently released a playable demo for the public and it was the very demo that they have presented to us in showcase preview videos so we can get a taste of what Tales of Arise is going to be like.
The Demo Version of the game allows you to play a 20-minute section of the area Land of Green Elde Menancia and it gives you a chance to experience the battle system, exploration, new skit system and camping. Sadly, you don't get to experience features that's going to be in the full game such as fishing or farming in the demo. Downloading the demo and playing it awards the Hootle Vacation Attachment to use in the full game. Hootle is a small owl creature that hangs around with Rinwell and it is the mascot character of this game. They even did a Special Hootle Edition of the game that it comes with a Hootle plush and it does look adorable.
The first thing that comes to mind when playing this is the graphics which look absolutely gorgeous. For the first time in the series, it is running on the Unreal Engine 4 and the quality and detail and a massive step up from the previous Tales of games. It has incredible lighting and reflective detail, the design of the monsters looks incredible, amount of Artes and special effects just simply look beautiful, the animations look smooth and excellent, there is a nice wet effect from the characters when they go for a swim which is a first for the series by the way. Environments are highly detailed and feel way bigger than in previous games and the character models are fantastic to look at with a mix of anime and realistic to them and it looks impressive. As far is performances go so far it is also incredibly smooth especially in combat when everything is going off at once even and it is flashy and chaotic on the basic old PlayStation 4 console although the frame rate is much lower due to the ageing hardware. The artstyle for the game is fantastic and the cutscenes look really amazing.
It has the gameplay I would aspect from a Tales of Game from exploration, fighting enemies and looking for treasure but exploring around as the ability to swim around and you get to see the characters swimming around which will put the summer outfits to full use. Exploring around each of the areas holds plenty of loot to find from materials, recovery items and also treasure. The game brings back the character model showing in the equipment screen similar to Tales of Berseria and it's really cool. The demo doesn't have the field menu showing a portrait of all of the characters and I'm sure that it's in the full game.
An interesting addition is Camping where the party can rest up and recover their HP & CP which is used for support and healing artes in battle. Most important aspect in camping is that you can cook meals if you have the recipes that give temporally stat boosts and other benefits.
By the most interesting thing they have done is the skit system, instead of static 2D anime shots which were boxed or in some cases full body portrait that would display different emotions they are going for a more 3D looks with Tales of Arise. During a skit a panel appears on the screen that shows one character and the emotion displayed in more 3D but then it will switch to another panel and also move to a new screen of panels to play out the skit out. It gives the skits a more manga like feel as you are watching panels from a manga book come more to life but in 3D and in colour and I think it's fantastic and allows more expressions and animations to be shown off more with the characters. Some people will miss the simple 2D anime look that the skits where like in the old games but what they did with the skits in this game do look fantastic and it is an interesting direction where they are going to go with the skits.
Now we get to the combat, the battle system goes back to the J-RPG traditional transition from field to combat screen which is a good way of keeping the gameplay screens separate and keeps everything smooth and seamless. The Tales of Series has been well known for its flashy and yet challenging battle systems that tasks you in mastering the battle system to get the most of the game and that's especially the case with Tales of Arise. In combat up to four party members participate with this time two other party members are in reserve and can be swapped in and out in the menu at any time. You now have a main attack button returning and instead of four Arte buttons assigned to the face buttons you have three which are assigned to Triangle, Circle and X buttons (on the PlayStation versions) with circle being the Jump button and R1 is (of all things) the attack button. Thankfully if you don't like the controls assigned you can always change them in the options menu.
There is a new system where instead of being able to block to reduce damage taken there is now a bigger focus on evading and countering attacks. If an enemy charges in at you and attacks a well-timed press of the Evade button will dodge the enemy attack entirely but also perform a counter attack where it leaves the enemy open for a massive assault. Everybody has their weapon fighting style and their own Arte ability set and Artes are in this game categorized between Ground-Artes where certain attacks operate on the ground and Aerial-Artes that operate in the air. The combat also allows certain Ground-Artes that puts you into the air to follow up with an Aerial-Arte indicated by an arrow at the end of a Ground-Arte that is highlighted in the Arte Menu. The Overlimit makes a return where after you taken enough damage and/or if you managed to do enough evades it then activates automatically. During Overlimit you don't stagger to damage and can endlessly perform as many Artes endlessly as well as triggering a powerful Mystic Arte but it lasts under a timer before the Overlimit wears off. Big enemies and also bosses now have weak-points indicated by an orange glowing spirit cores on their bodies, if you can manage to deal enough damage to break them, they will temporally fall down leaving themselves wide open for massive damage. Another new system added is the Boost-Strikes where a meter fills up as you deal damage to an enemy and when it is full pressing a button on the D-Pad when STRIKE appears on the screen unleashes a destructive tag-team based attack to finish a weak enemy off completely but does big damage to bosses. Every character also has their own Boost Attack which is triggered on the D-Pad and also the in combination with the switch button for the characters in reserve. Alphen has his sword attacks but can use his fire sword to inflict destructive damage at the cost of his HP offering a system of risk VS reward, Shionne uses her rifle at long range and has Healing Magic Artes, Rinwell uses offensive Magic Artes and her Boost Attack can swipe an enemy's Magic Arte for herself to use, Law lets his fists do the talking and can reduce enemies' defense, Kisara makes use of her shield to guard against charge attacks if you summon her at the right time and Dohalim makes use of his staff attacks. Tales of Arise does a stamina system like in previous games where using a number of attacks drains the stamina bar and you have to stop to let the meter recharge to continue the assault. The game also introduces a separate CP which is your meter that you use for Healing Artes and Support Magic Arts and you either have to use items or rest at camping spots to recharge the meter. This makes it that you have to be careful in the times you use Healing and Support abilities in combat similar the old TP system in the old Tales of games and I do like that it is something that you have to keep your eye on.
I also like in combat the characters give comments about the enemies they are fighting as well as advice to be careful against certain enemies. You also get to hear them complement each other for doing certain actions in battle which fleshes out the characters gratefully. Sure, it lacks the victory screen animations after winning a battle but at least the victory quotes are still there including group victory quotes which always provide good laughs. This was done to help make the transitions between field and combat a lot faster and it does seem to keep that balance between new, fresh and yet familiar. I do find that the new battle system is a lot more skill based this time and takes some time to getting used including the default controls but it is a vastly impressive battle system. You can select from one of six characters that you select as leader but can swap around as you see fit so that you get used to how each of the characters function. Finishing the demo with the character you selected will you to see an ending which that character is paired up with. You are given one main boss fight against a Mantis which defeating it ends the demo, you also have an optional boss fight a Relentless Charger that you can take on and also defeating the Mantis under various conditions unlocks a secret boss battle which will test every bit of skill you have learned especially on Hard Difficulty. During my play sessions I only played as Alphen and have yet to try the other characters out but I believe each of the characters are pretty good and you can learn how to use each of them after a good amount of play time.
The music is absolutely superb and has to be some of Motoi Sakuraba's finest and it has a mix of Star Ocean and Baten Kaitos feel to it and it really fits with the game really well. I do like the battle tracks in the game especially the battle track that plays when you engage against the giant monsters.
So far, the only issue I encountered in the demo aside from the frame rate with the game running on the old PS4 console are the voices where one or two voice lines got skipped and didn't finish properly with the subtitles.
After spending a good amount of time with the demo of Tales of Arise makes a fantastic first impression, the battle system looks to be more challenging than in previous games, the presentation is fantastic, the music is outstanding and I like what they are doing with the Skit Sequences. While it's a shame the demo doesn't show the fishing and farming aspects everything else that the demo showed off is truly impressive and it truly feels like a next generation Tales of Game. It looks to not only be the best Tales of game but also the best J-RPG and best game of 2021. The game comes out next on September 10th and so far I can't contain my excitement for it. As a Tales of fan I have been looking forward to Tales of Arise and so far, I'm liking the direction that this is going and can look forward to the release of the full game soon. I'm hoping that I can get my hands on the game when it comes out.
Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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