4.5/5 ★ – JonFrost's review of Tales of Arise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BEGINNING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Coming from the perspective of a longtime Tales fan, I have a LOT to say about this game, and this review is NOT spoiler free. This game did take me a VERY long time to complete, and while a part of that is for reasons that I will go into later, the main thing was that I was often too busy to play this game for work, school, and personal reasons, but I finally got around to completing the final boss of the base game, so here's my overall thoughts on the game. To start off, let me say that I have seen quite a few people say that Arise "doesn't feel like a Tales game", which was emphasized by the fact that it was confirmed that this was apparently not planned to be a Tales game. This has always been a very weird opinion to me because the Tales series has historically had its combat system change game after game. Heck, for half of the series' lifespan, it has been run by two separate development teams. Heck, by the time free running became a regular thing, the Tales series dropped the whole fighting game feel and turned it into more like a common action game. Lest we forget the series literally went from 3D combat to 2D combat between Symphonia and Rebirth/Legendia, so I have no idea why Arise is the one to "not feel like a Tales game" just because of its combat system. If you were to ask me what defines a Tales game, I would say that a Tales game is an action RPG where the story has a lot of emphasis on duality, whether it's between the party members, its protagonist and antagonist, or even the world(s) that the game takes place in. Arise does this with the first and third thing, where the party members have clear pairings and the game is two different worlds, Dahna and Rena. The game's pairings are Alphen and Shionne, Rinwell and Law, and Kisara and Dohalim. This cast is what I believe to be the strongest aspect of the game. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHARACTERS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The relationship between Alphen and Shionne are clearly the heart of the game's story. We have a character who's unable to feel pain and a character whose touch deals nothing but. This alone makes for an interesting dichotomy, and the game does not waste its potential. Alphen is a slave from Dahna with unwavering will and perseverance who, despite not knowing who he is, will never stop helping those in need, thus becoming a revolutionary throughout the game. Shionne is a Renan, and while she is a tsundere type, sure, she's nuanced in how the thorns that stem from her body don't just prevent her from people from touching her, but they prevent people from treating her like a normal person, seeing this curse as a great ability. It isn't until she meets Alphen that she's finally able to have someone by her side despite her touch, which makes it all the more shocking when we get to that one scene where Alphen screams in pain for the first time, which was due to Shionne's thorns. This was a HUGE moment that played out in the exact way that it needed to. Moments like this and the multiple moments where Alphen starts to get his memories back, revealing key factors like the Sovereign and Maiden, where he came from, how he was created, etc. are meant to challenge Alphen's conviction, yet Alphen's optimism always finds a way to keep going while still taking these threats and revelations seriously. Likewise, Shionne doesn't warm up to Alphen immediately, especially since she only tags along because her power is the only way that Alphen can use a powerful weapon called the Blazing Sword, but she notices how Alphen is always there for her no matter what, even knowing the contentious relationship between Dahnans and Renans. Eventually, she develops feelings for him and learns to be there for Alphen, too, even helping Alphen out of his own personal binds on occasion. It's easily one of the best romantic couples that the Tales series has ever done, and even though I'm an aro-ace who doesn't care for romance in a majority of media, I can appreciate it when it's done this well. But if I were to say my favorite pair in the game, I'd have to go with Kisara and Dohalim. Ever since the character trailers, I was the most excited for Kisara's story. Alphen pointing out that Kisara was a Dahnan with a high ranking given to a Renan lord was incredibly interesting, especially since Renan lords are typically brutal to Dahnans, as established by Balseph and Ganabelt. When we meet Dohalim and Kisara in the story, the former is renowned by all of his land for his compassion towards Dahnans and how he treats them as equals; giving them nice clothing and living conditions as well as letting them walk among Renan citizens, and the latter demonstrates unabashed loyalty to him because of this, especially after she was employed as one of the highest ranks of Dohalim's army. But then he starts to experience PTSD from his time during the Crown Contest on Lenegis where his only friends had to suffer along with him given that they failed the Contest (they're perfectly fine, but become estranged friends at some point). It's then revealed that the reason why he lets Dahnans walk among Renans in his city is not because of his kindness, but of cowardness and unwillingness for people to die. This is a world-shattering event for Kisara and even got me to tear up. Imagine looking up to a prominent figure only to realize that all of his best qualities were comprised of lies. Eventually, Dohalim recollects himself and chooses to fight for Dahnans, even going as far as to step down from his position as lord in an attempt to learn about the perspective of Dahnans and truly become compassionate. Kisara still tags along with him, but is a lot more hesitant this time, but does develop a natural friendship with Dohalim overtime (even if it's mostly because she has to treat him like a child at times, but she acts as the mom of the group anyway, so it's funny XD). I cannot stress enough how Kisara referring to him as "Do" in the endgame is such a beautifully thematic note (Do is the nickname that Dohalim's old friends from the Crown Contest days would call him). Not only does this mean that she acknowledges Dohalim's efforts to become a more genuine royal figure, but it also means that she's affirming him that they are on the same level in spite of their upbringing. While it didn't make me tear up, it got me to smile really widely because of what it means. I will admit that the friendship between Rinwell and Law wasn't as strong. I think that their relationship is realistic given that they both have known each other since they were kids and they know what it's like to lose their parents (especially since Law loses his father early on in the game after abandoning him long ago), I will admit that it doesn't play out as naturally as the other two pairings. It kinda goes from "hey, we've known each other since kids" to "lol Rinwell is so snarky to Law isn't she" too quickly for my liking, and their duality doesn't seem to get as much focus. Regardless, I still like both characters and think that they have stories that are compelling on their own. I will also admit that the fight against Almeidrea does give them a good moment together, where Rinwell is acting vengeful throughout the entire arc, and Law, who also lost his dad beforehand, is the one the stop Rinwell's assassination attempt and talks some sense into her. I wish that they had more moments like this, but again, both characters are still very likable and they have enough going on in their personal stories to make me feel invested in them. That's another great aspect of the game. Each character has plenty of quirks, but they all feel naturally woven into their personalities. Alphen may be ambitious and heavily tolerant to pain, but this makes him naive and addicted to spicy food to the point where cooking a roasted chicken is directly compared to nauseous gas. Shionne and Dohalim are both Renans with a lot of prestige, but the former's seclusion from society makes her so infatuated with food and the latter's upper-class experience may make him seem knowledgeable on history and artifacts, but it falls short when it comes to social skills and awareness. Law is an impulsive person so that naturally makes him the hot-headed person of the group. Rinwell living her life as a loner with just an owl also makes her come off as quiet yet snarky. It leads to several humorous interactions in the game's skits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~STORY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As for the story itself, as I alluded to earlier, the first act is fantastic. So many powerful emotional moments with brilliant cinematography and even some strong worldbuilding. While I'm not usually fond of the amnesiac trope, I will say that the way it's done here is clever, with Alphen's mask being symbolic of his lost memories and not knowing who he is until a part of it comes off. He doesn't immediately get the rest of it off, but that happens when he learns more and more about himself and his past. He starts learning his name with one eye unmasked, and then he learns about his past when the other eye is uncovered. The game generally uses semiotics very well, with Alphen's outfit going from ragged clothes to a resistance uniform after he joins the Crimson Crows to a bulky set of armor when he progresses through the game to the outfit of the Sovereign around endgame. Even Shionne gains a new outfit and hairstyle when she learns that she's a descendant of Naori, the original Maiden from Alphen's Sovereign and Maiden ceremony. Even Law gets a new outfit from a soldier's uniform when he sided with the Renans from Cyslodia to a wolf uniform reminiscent of his dad's once he leaves Cysloden. However, while the second act stays mostly consistent, it does fall flat in its villains. Balseph, Ganabelt, and Almeidrea do work as antagonists with personal connections to some of the party members, in terms of personality and motivations, they are some of the most generic antagonists that the series has ever had. Their boss fights were mostly good fun, but once they leave, they're basically gone. They don't act as persistent forces after their defeat. However, there is a moment in the second act where the party gets to explore Lenegis and give us some background information on how they became the Five Lords. This was such an exciting moment because they all came to power thanks to the support of the people. However, the reasonings are the most milquetoast possible options, that being how powerful they were, or in Almeidrea's case, because she was a woman. Even Dohalim becoming a lord didn't have much of a compelling reason, which by the way, Almeidrea barely even comments on Dohalim stepping down from his position aside from "Oh, you're not a lord anymore" and moving on unphased. Is that seriously it? All of these problems are at their worst with the most prevalent antagonist: Vholran Igniseri. He's built up as a person similar to Alphen, and it's revealed even further as you learn about the Crown Contest and how Vholran was a failed experiment from that time, and thus he needed to become one of the Five Lords. This is such a cool idea and they do nothing with it. This is all we know about Vholran, including the sidequests. We don't know why he's so vicious to other people, we don't know why he outright KILLS ONE OF HIS FELLOW LORDS, and we don't know what he wants to do as the Sovereign. This makes him such an uncompelling antagonist and has no reason to be taken seriously until he directly interferes with Alphen. Still, the rest of the second act is mostly solid, specifically the background of the Sovereign and Maiden ceremony and the details of the Crown Contest. But it's the third act where it starts to get weird. While the worldbuilding was handled well beforehand, it takes a nosedive once the party gets to the final area of the game. This is where the game decided to randomly drop a MASSIVE lore dump on us with no preparation. Basically, Renans were never real as they were originally this humanoid race called Helganquil, which is the true Renan race, and the Renans that people know today were Dahnans who were re-engineered into a new race, with the mastermind behind literally everything being this thing called the Great Astral Spirit, who was created from astral energy on Rena, which was originally supposed to be one planet with Dahna, and- yes, the game speedruns the info in this way, and now the party is tasked to kill this Great Astral Spirit who wants to ABSORB ALL OF EXISTENCE. Okay then? While it's a genuinely shocking revelation that does make sense in the game's story, the party kinda gets over it a little too fast. It makes sense why it takes priority, but the problem is that it's the exact moment before the final boss. The final dungeon is a lengthy one, don't get me wrong, but the game never decides to use it as a means of elaborating more on the lore, the Helganquil, the Great Astral Spirit, etc. It's evident that the endgame was rushed, and there probably should've been at least one more dungeon to elaborate on this lore more naturally, like most of the other areas in the game. Even when you reach the Great Astral Spirit, while the fight itself is actually pretty cool, after you defeat it, the game's former antagonist, Vholran, appears right out of nowhere. Sorry, what? We saw him die in a previous area just before the third act, right? An entire building collapsed in on him as he fell into a deep pit. The game explains how he survived, with the Helganquil storing him for a time, but still, this came way out of nowhere and it's so weird. To be fair, the final showdown with Vholran is actually really cool since it's a 1v1 between him and Alphen, and for my case at least, I basically got unlimited boost strikes, which felt really satisfying given the second half, and when I saw the final mystic arte get a unique animation, I popped off because it was so cool to see like this again since Tales of Berseria didn't have one nearly this cool. Plus, the visuals are immaculate with the red sky and Shionne's thorns surrounding them both as she absorbs the Great Astral Spirit (long story), but then the ending cutscene plays and, I'm sorry, but it is so corny with the constant talk of forgiveness and kindness. The series NEVER got this corny, at least not without proper buildup of the villain's motivations *cough cough*, and while it wasn't full-on cringeworthy to me, it got me to raise an eyebrow, especially with how long it dragged on. Then again, the game's pacing is probably my biggest issue with the game. The game loves throwing a bunch of skits your way, whether they're optional skits that can be up to three skits back to back to back or even the multiple moments where the game will stop and show another skit as a required cutscene. I do like how it feels more deserved here since the skits are more like a manga panel that still shows the 3D models in the area, which feels more natural, but I don't like it when the Tales series uses skits this way because it screeches the pacing to a halt. Yes, the other skits are optional, but they also help sell you on the world and dedicate time to let the characters take a break and discuss the events up to this point. I love skits that do this, but I draw the line when it gives me up to three in a row. Just stick it to one optional skit at time or two if it feels necessary. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GAMEPLAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's all the stuff I have to say about the story, so now I can finally talk about combat. It's interesting. I like how they brought back being able to learn new artes by using certain ones enough times in battles, and it still offers the option to learn more skills, artes, and upgrades through skill trees. The combo system put aerial combat back on the map with a dedicated jump button, aerial artes, and even artes that launch you into the air mid-combo. Plus every character gets a passive ability and a boost strike with unique properties, and you can use the boost strikes whenever you want to so long as their meter is built up, resetting after you use it. Each one has different ways of building up, thereby encouraging the player to change their strategy mid-combat. The game also has linked artes, like in Tales of Xillia, which got me excited, but I was kinda disappointed that they were relegated to finishers. That said, I'd be lying if it wasn't satisfying to end a battle with a linked arte and watch a smooth slow-mo shot of the enemy being finished off. It actually kinda works as a sufficient replacement for the victory animations from older Tales games. While fighting mooks can be a fun time, fighting bosses is another story. The biggest problem is that no matter what difficulty you're on, bosses will NEVER go into hit stun at all. With all due respect, this is a very bizarre design choice, especially for a combo-based video game franchise. I'm okay with bosses being able to break out of your combos, especially if you spam the same artes over and over (like what Xillia did, for example), but the fact that bosses can't be comboed at all is so odd. This made boss fights feel brutally difficult to a point where this was the first Tales game where I had to lower the difficulty setting to something more manageable for me. I really don't get why it plays out like this. With that said, however, while there aren't nearly enough of these, I absolutely ADORED how enemy mystic artes were handled. They still remain powerful attacks meant to finish you off, but the player has the ability to avoid them or even stop them entirely. It's very hard, but it is doable. Shoutouts to the Ganabelt boss fight with the reveal of his aura setting up the Indignation spell being one of the most "holy shit" moments I've had playing a game. Again, there isn't nearly enough of these bosses which is a shame, but I still had fun with the ones who were there. The content of the game is really good, too. The sidequests aren't as story-driven as Berseria's were, for example, but they still get the job done, and there's way more of them this time. Plus, we still get some good stories and even some unique cutscenes here and there, with it containing some of the toughest bosses of the game that sure are a pain to fight at times, but feel exceptionally rewarding to defeat. Also, Hootle helps you find special owls. That's epic. One last thing to note is that I actually played this game on both PS4 and PS5, and I gotta say that the difference between them is almost night and day. Don't get me wrong, the PS4 version is still playable with minimal bugs, but it's still in 30 FPS as opposed to the PS5 version's 60 FPS, and even when there's a bunch of magic and shit on screen as I'm attacking, it never lagged for me, whereas the PS4 version was susceptible to frame drops whenever this happened (but again, it was nothing gamebreaking). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CONCLUSION~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tales of Arise is a great game, but its endgame leaves a LOT to be desired, and that's disappointing because I was expecting this game to be in my top 3- or at least my top 5 favorite Tales games, but sadly, it just couldn't do it. It has an incredibly strong start with a robust party, but the villains are weak, the bosses have plenty of issues, and the endgame was extremely rushed. And while I still like the combat system, I don't think I can recommend this as a first Tales game. Gameplay-wise, it just doesn't do what the series does best in my eyes, and unlike with Berseria or Abyss, the story is just not strong enough to compensate. Nevertheless, this is still a worthy edition to the Tales series and I look forward to checking out Beyond the Dawn.