I’ve been well aware of the Tales series for a long time, though the first entry that I really dove into was Tales of Zestiria the X, the anime adaptation of the game Tales of Zestiria. Earlier this year I finally played a Tales game, which was Tales of Arise, the latest entry. How does it stack up? Read on to find out.
Story
Long ago the twin planets Dahna and Rena lived alongside each other in peace. Then one day three centuries ago the technologically superior Renans based on their artificial moon Lenegis launched a successful attack on Dahna, resulting in the separation of the planet into 5 separate realms each ruled by a Renan Lord (the blazing hot Orbus Calaglia, the freezing cold Cyslodia, the lush tropical Elde Menancia, the mountainous Mahag Saar and the rainforest packed Ganath Haros), with the Dahnans enslaved in each of them. Periodically a Crown Contest is held to decide the new Dahnan Sovereign amongst the lords, with the winner decided on who can harvest the most astral energy from the enslaved Dahnans into each lords respective Master Core.
In present day Calaglia (a hot and scorching land) a Dahnan man called Iron Mask (named after his mask due to having no past memories) finds himself involved with the Calaglian resistance group called the Crimson Crows after rescuing an imprisoned Renan girl called Shionne Vymer Imeriss Daymore (only Renans have last names), who has a curse (known as thorns) that hurt anyone who touches her. While fleeing from Renan pursuers Iron Mask is able to pull a weapon called the Blazing Sword from the Fire Master Core in Shionne’s possession & with it fends off the Renans. Due to Iron Mask being unable to feel pain (and thus being the only one capable of wielding the Blazing Sword) the duo form an alliance to take down the 5 lords and recover all 5 Master Cores.
During the battle with lord Balseph, part of Iron Masks mask breaks off, and after the battle reveals that he finally remembers his name: Alphen. After a few days of rest the duo along with Zephyr (the Crimson Crows’ leader) head out to Cyslodia, the path to which was opened during the fight with Balseph, but are stopped when a girl comes stumbling out before collapsing. After taking her back to camp the girl called Rinwell says she came from Cyslodia to ask for help in taking down its lord Ganabelt Valkyris. Although shocked to learn a Renan is helping to take down the lords, she reluctantly agrees to work with her, Alphen and Zephyr to free Cyslodia from the Renans.
Gameplay
Tales of Arise is a single-player RPG typical of the Tales series. While in the field you’ll encounter various monsters, NPCs and items to interact with. There are no random encounters so you can avoid most enemies by outrunning them. Depending on the level difference enemies will either chase you upon spotting you (they’ll stop once you’re out of range or leave the area) or ignore you outright.
When combat is started you’re taken to a separate arena to fight in real time, though you can always attempt to flee. Combat is done in real-time, with you and up to 3 AI controlled party members facing off against enemies, though party members can be swapped out at any time. Enemies defeated disappear from the area, though they often respawn if you leave and come back. Most enemies have a weakness you can exploit outside of elemental ones (i.e. weak to wind but resistant to earth), such as interrupting their astral arte, shooting them out of the sky or attacking a glowing weak point. Doing so will down the enemy for a time, allowing for free hits.
Different characters have different fighting styles. Alphen is a close range sword fighter with many sword artes that come out fast while Shionne is a mid range fighter with various gun and bomb artes to use along with some support astral artes like healing and reviving allies, with more powerful ones having a longer charge time and higher AG (artes gauge) and/or CP (cure point) cost. When fighting you can use any of your registered artes: 3 ground and 3 aerials. This doubles to 6 each later on in the game. The more you use artes the more powerful they’ll eventually become. New artes can be acquired through using certain ones enough times or by unlocking them in the skill panel.
Outside of combat there’s cooking. By gathering various ingredients from shops, the wild, the ranch (once unlocked) and enemies you can cook food that gives you bonuses, such as increase drop rates or lowered chance of enemies spotting you. The character who cooks the meal can also effect it, such as decreasing its duration but increasing its effect or vice versa. You can cook while at an inn or a campfire, with new recipes acquired through exploring, skits and side quests.
Finally in the overworld there are some areas that can only be unlocked with a character specific map action. For example, Alphen can absorb walls of fire, while Shionne can heal injured people. Note that these cost CP, so make sure that you have enough to spare before using them.
Misc. stuff
I do have some minor gripes, such as the scripted loss fights not always being obvious or clear, some side quests being annoying, the text not always matching the voices and there being no dedicated “Quit” button as far as I can tell, but overall I find the game fun and enjoyable. The gameplay is fun, the English voice acting and character writing is solid, and I like how you can save at any time in addition to the 2 auto-save slots it gives you (how it works is slot 1 saves first, then slot 2 saves next, then slot 1 gets overwritten for save 3). I also like the various costumes and accessories you can get for each character and that outside of a few instances are actually visible in cutscenes, though it’s a shame that some are locked behind paid DLC.
Finally I should mention that there is a demo with its own self-contained story featuring all playable characters & the ability to view many of the games skits. It’s fine for what it is but it’s not the best, especially for those new to the Tales series.
Conclusion
As my first Tales game I enjoyed playing Tales of Arise. How it compares to other Tales games I can’t say, but on its own I found it to be a very solid and engaging experience.
Tales of Arise is available on PC, PS4/5 and Xbox One/X/S.
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