2/5 ★ – torterra's review of Tales of Arise.

ugh. arise is well-made, visually gorgeous, rich with combat, has a decent protagonist with a compelling romance, and none of that could save it past the thirty hour mark. its ridiculous main plot, lack of interesting side content, and lackluster party create a jrpg equivalent of a sweet-sour candy that only gets more unbearable as time goes on. gameplay: ymmv, since a lot of people love the combat system here, and i can certainly see why, but it lost its appeal real quick. the limited AG/stamina gauge for attacks was insufferable at first, especially given how spongy all the bosses are, but got better around the 2nd-3rd areas. after that, however, it just plateaus into lackluster button mashing. im sure its better if you're a combo-lover and enjoy, say, finding all the optimal strats for fighting games, but as someone who isn't, it gets old fast. the hp behemoths that are every boss in this game, the flying enemies that you can hardly hit unless shionne's boost is charged, and the always-quickly-depleting AG gauge made combat a chore. don't expect interesting dungeon design, either, since there's no puzzles of any kind. you think there would be, since each character has a "unique" overworld ability, but they all do the same function of "making an optional path available." except shionne's, where you can get a handful of already abundant crafting materials sometimes. side content: hope you like 'kill the monster' and 'go through this dungeon and kill monsters' side quests, because that's 95% of them in arise. almost every non-combat quest in this game comprises of walking up to the obviously marked npc, reading a useless dialogue cutscene, and done. i literally cant remember a single sidequest from this game off the top of my head, save for the owl forest (the actual fun one) and that weird fashion dude in calaglia. not because its good, but because the man somehow takes 30 hours to pick out a hat and scarf. thrilling game design. story: okay, shionne/her thorns backstory spoilers here, since i literally cant talk about my grievances otherwise. narratively speaking, the first area is the best paced and structured, probably because it's just set up and doesnt have to pay off anything yet, and good god does it nosedive from there. the overarching dahnan slavery narrative feels contrived at best, disingenuous and ignorant at worst. i don't think a game should try to tackle a subject as charged as the horrors of colonialism and ACTUAL SLAVERY if its best thematic takeaway is "both sides have good AND bad people! oppression is wrong!" it comes off as a "Baby's First Moral Dilemma" in all respects. and tough luck, because this is all arise really has for you the first thirty hours. after that, it gets worse. the only other plot it can offer is the most dramatic, out-there fantasy tropes it can think of, with almost no foreshadowing, to the point where every emotional moment loses all weight from the sheer ridiculousness the game expects you to swallow. oh, you're sad because your curse will literally destroy the ENTIRE UNIVERSE? how on earth is any human supposed to find that relatable/compelling enough to empathize? the game basically gives you a barebones story and expects the theatrics of voice acting and visual presentation to tell you that you should be emotional right now. its so melodramatic i have no idea how im supposed to feel anything for the entirety of this game's duration. characters: dohalim is objectively the best written one here, being the most well-rounded, but doesn't have any wow factor you'd want in a great character. im probably in the minority where i like empathetic-but-serious, "i fight for my friends" jrpg protags like alphen, so hes the highlight of the cast for me. laws simple but not egregious, and gets points for having the most down to earth character arc of the bunch. rinwell's schtick is a tired, tropey character arc with nothing new to say, inoffensive and kinda bland. shionne's decent in a vacuum just interacting with the cast, but again, good god that melodramatic backstory. kisara's character traits include being sexy, being dohalim's servant, having a brother, and being sexy. overall, DNF before the final dungeon. just a general, long-drawn 'ugh' of a game.