Anime Tales of Arise - Shounen trying to be deep.

[Reinhardt]

False Rean praising it. Must be complete shit.

 

[deama]

Does this game have romance? Is it any good compared to classic bioware romance?

 

[Duraframe300]

Tales of Arise is a good enough game to cause me to look back on a series I had basically shunned my entire life post-Symphonia, and consider picking out a few of the "gems" in it and playing them in the near future. Vesperia and Berseria being top among them.

The Tales games worth something post-Symphonia are

- Tales of the Abyss
- Tales of Innocence (Best of the DS games imo. You can try Hearts R too. Avoid Tempest and burn every fucking copy you can find)
- Tales of Vesperia
- Tales of Graces f (Personal favourite. It's a very love/hate game though with people taking issues with Story/Charachters which just never bothered me (and I think are overblown at times massively so). Best gameplay systems in the series (imo) Best Skits too.)
- Tales of Berseria

The rest can be safely avoided. Thanks to people getting over absolute zero, fan translations are picking up again. In terms of them try

- Tales of Destiny Director's Cut
- Tales of Destiny 2
and
- Tales of Rebirth

When they're out. DC is nearly finished, 2 is picking up pace and Rebirth is getting started.

 

[Dedicated_Dark]

Does this game have romance? Is it any good compared to classic bioware romance?

There is a romantic subplot, don't expect any choices. As for how it plays out.. it's Japanese.. every subtle thing is extra in your face so you don't miss it x3 because you might be stupid. Still should be much better than the crap in Baldur's gate though tbh because I'm pretty sure I remember them being pretty obnoxious in bg.

 

[Duraframe300]

Finished it btw. Taking a break, before working on everything left. Overall, the game's squarely on the side of good Tales for me, though it doesn't quite break Top 5.

Bit disappointed by my first look at post-game though. Seemingly less content, low level cap (for a Tales game) and the removal of the grade shop (which could be quite fun in terms of considerations depending on game) for the dumbed down artifact system makes it seem kinda meh honestly. Doubt I'm going to reach 120+ hours on this one like I did with other Tales.

But if my biggest gripes about a 2010+ Tales game are the opening video and post-game I think that still falls squarely under nit-picking. Good Job Bandai-Namco.

 

[Reinhardt]

Wait, no grade shop?!

 

[Duraframe300]

Wait, no grade shop?!

No, instead you pick up *Artifacts* during the game automatically, by exploring and completing challenges. These have the same effects as your typical grade shop bonuses and you activate the ones you wish at the end. I think there's not even a limit on them, so you can just activate everything you picked up.

Makes NG+ a lot less appalling imo and its a shame if this is the future. Tales had probably one of the most unique NG+ features with the grade shop, sad to see it go. I can only imagine there was some focus group somewhere in development that went *The only thing people are interested in are the NG+ bonuses, not the grade shop itself*.

There's even bonuses that are hidden behind DLC.

 

[Reinhardt]

So what is the point of performing good in battle now?

 

[Duraframe300]

So what is the point of performing good in battle now?

Additional EXP, Skill Points and Item Drop Rate.

There are still plenty of incentives during the game itself, but yeah post-game just looks flat to me at the moment. Shame on that front.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

I think my biggest complaint so far is that I wish there was a setting between 'manual' and 'semi-auto'. I almost always run Manual in these games but the fact your character doesn't auto-face an enemy when you start attacking, even if you're basically within leg-humping distance is a bummer. I don't want to have to re-orient my character to face the target after every swing.

On the other hand, semi-auto will lock-on to whatever you're attacking, but it also makes you run an arbitrary distance that's near the enemy, even if you're doing something that isn't aimed at them like putting down a Guardian Field. Or for example if you try to use one of your specials to close the distance on an enemy across the battlefield, in semi-auto mode your character will instead jog up to the enemy and then do that special instead.

Really, I understand why it works the way that it does, but it'd be nice if you could still 'lock on' in manual mode, would fix all of my issues with it.

 

[HoboForEternity]

That's been the way it works in the series for quite long iirc

 

[Duraframe300]

I think my biggest complaint so far is that I wish there was a setting between 'manual' and 'semi-auto'. I almost always run Manual in these games but the fact your character doesn't auto-face an enemy when you start attacking, even if you're basically within leg-humping distance is a bummer. I don't want to have to re-orient my character to face the target after every swing.

On the other hand, semi-auto will lock-on to whatever you're attacking, but it also makes you run an arbitrary distance that's near the enemy, even if you're doing something that isn't aimed at them like putting down a Guardian Field. Or for example if you try to use one of your specials to close the distance on an enemy across the battlefield, in semi-auto mode your character will instead jog up to the enemy and then do that special instead.

Really, I understand why it works the way that it does, but it'd be nice if you could still 'lock on' in manual mode, would fix all of my issues with it.

Lock on is the LB button, unless you mean that it should have auto lock-on in manual mode.

 

[Anonona]

I almost always run Manual in these games but the fact your character doesn't auto-face an enemy when you start attacking

I think the character does face the enemy as long as you do not push the joystick in any direction when performing an attack. I had a similar problem while playing the ranged characters (the gunner and the mage) where they wouldn't aim their shoots/spells towards the enemy, but instead in a straight line to the direction of the joystick. Simply letting go of it before attacking seem to make them aim towards the enemy automatically, even if their backs are turned. Can't confirm 100%, I have to test it with the melee characters as I have the (bad) habit of holding the joystick towards the enemies anyway.

 

[Duraframe300]

Random musing about random:

I had an intense dislike of the opening video at the beginning, but it has grown a bit on me while playing the game. It still ranks among the worse Tales openings (imo), though. There's just nothing much to it (in comparison to other Tales openings) and it's not really hyping you for the game.

Why oh why was Zestiria's opening wasted on fucking Zestiria? FFS, Arise would have deserved it way more.

Thinking about good Tales openings kinda makes me want to replay Abyss though.

 

[HoboForEternity]

hootle best boi

 

[Jinn]

Holy shit, some of the boss fights in this on Hard are insane. Just beat Ganabelt after probably a good 8 tries. What a fight. I take back what I said about wanting a difficulty mode above the current one. I think it's just fine where it's at.

 

[Rean]

Writing could use a lot more work, at first glance. Going through the dialogs, it's obvious most of the characters are not really enmeshed in the world setting and serve as meta-instruments. The protagonist 'Iron Mask' throughout the first part asks a variety of questions that would make zero sense for someone living in that world. Same goes for the 'slaves' who, despite being born in servitude for multiple generations, act as individuals who have just now been enslaved. The psychosocial so-and-so is just not there and it takes away from immersion.

I could be wrong and we could have a Berseria-like super-meta twist, of course.

 

[Jinn]

Writing could use a lot more work, at first glance. Going through the dialogs, it's obvious most of the characters are not really enmeshed in the world setting and serve as meta-instruments. The protagonist 'Iron Mask' throughout the first part asks a variety of questions that would make zero sense for someone living in that world. Same goes for the 'slaves' who, despite being born in servitude for multiple generations, act as individuals who have just now been enslaved. The psychosocial so-and-so is just not there and it takes away from immersion.

I could be wrong and we could have a Berseria-like super-meta twist, of course.

I feel like a lot of this can simply be attributed to A) Renan controlling the flow information and the lives of the slaves to such a degree that they really don't know all that much about the world beyond their immediate surroundings B) The actual physical separation from the rest of the world with the Flame Wall C) Iron Mask only having a year of memory behind him. I haven't had much of a problem with the game's internal logic, but beyond that, it's not been the most exhilarating story so far. Characters and world is interesting enough to keep me engaged, and there have been a few touching moments too. This is at 15 hours in. Hopefully it improves a bit more as it goes on, especially since people have been sucking this game's story and cast's dick.

Gameplay is king here as far as I can tell, which I'm also fine with.

 

[Rean]

Writing could use a lot more work, at first glance. Going through the dialogs, it's obvious most of the characters are not really enmeshed in the world setting and serve as meta-instruments. The protagonist 'Iron Mask' throughout the first part asks a variety of questions that would make zero sense for someone living in that world. Same goes for the 'slaves' who, despite being born in servitude for multiple generations, act as individuals who have just now been enslaved. The psychosocial so-and-so is just not there and it takes away from immersion.

I could be wrong and we could have a Berseria-like super-meta twist, of course.

I feel like a lot of this can simply be attributed to A) Renan controlling the flow information and the lives of the slaves to such a degree that they really don't know all that much about the world beyond their immediate surroundings B) The actual physical separation from the rest of the world with the Flame Wall C) Iron Mask only having a year of memory behind him. I haven't had much of a problem with the game's internal logic, but beyond that, it's not been the most exhilarating story so far. Characters and world is interesting enough to keep me hooked, and there have been a few touching moments. This is at 15 hours in. Hopefully it improves a bit more as it goes on, especially since people have been sucking this game's story and cast's dick.

I don't know, the logic still doesn't make sense, despite the arguments you presented. For example, why would Iron Mask find the usage of healing artes and bombs at the same time to be odd (he made a generalized statement in this case, as if he had some previous experience from a world standpoint, when in fact that should not be present in the first place)? This is done repeatedly throughout the small special scenes. I don't want to see him act like an ignorant player asking a bunch of leading questions using divination, I want to see him act like an ignorant Dahnan slave, which is what he's supposed to be.

 

[Jinn]

For example, why would Iron Mask find the usage of healing artes and bombs at the same time to be odd

I agree this was a weird and awkward skit that was mainly put in as a way of explaining a character's combat mechanics, which happens a few more times. I guess I didn't think twice about it because my brain just went "oh, videogame shit" and also, "eh, it's just a skit", but you make a good point with this one.

 

[Duraframe300]

 

[Alphard]

As a combat fag looking for something more relaxed than my usual souls like, i'm really enjoying the pace of the game, and the combat while not excellent is fun. Playing on hard and the ooze was bullshit though. Made it at like 10th try with good rng and using 2 reviving potions.
Those magic casting adds were a liiiittle unbalanced and companion ai is a bit shitty because Shionne keeps dieing

 

[Duraframe300]

As a combat fag looking for something more relaxed than my usual souls like, i'm really enjoying the pace of the game, and the combat while not excellent is fun. Playing on hard and the ooze was bullshit though. Made it at like 10th try with good rng and using 2 reviving potions.
Those magic casting adds were a liiiittle unbalanced and companion ai is a bit shitty because Shionne keeps dieing

Tales games are a loveable mess when it comes to difficulty and supply a wide range of it with its difficulty modes, its gameplay and its tactics set-up. You can influence the ai quite a bit more than what you might think.

To the point where its even possible to beat every single (and I can confirm that because I've done one playthrough of each this way(Except Arise,... yet)) Tales of game by just setting the ai to auto. (Even on higher difficulties). Surprisingly helpful to try, because you get a better feeling for item management, party composition and ai management this way. Which makes a world of difference when taking over yourself again.

 

[e-mailio estevez]

This game gets really repetitive in the second stretch. Struggling to finish it. It starts to rely on nothing but palette-swapped enemies and has MGS-levels of cutscene exposition. And the 'hit the weak spot until boss falls down for 5 seconds' gameplay I think pales in comparison to older Tales games where you could actually stagger a boss and land 200+ hit combos.

It starts off strong but it falls off a cliff and becomes extremely, extremely repetitive. Everything from the same 10-12 monsters you're fighting for literally the entire game to the characters repeating the same conversations ad nauseum- it's not uncommon for a cutscene to happen stating one premise, followed by a skit repeating the same premise, followed by another cutscene 10 steps later. Only Tales game I've played where I've turned down the difficulty and started running from most encounters. Might motivate me to play through Eternia or Abyss or something once I finish.

 

[Ontopoly]

I've always been excited about a new tales game and try to play them day one but unfortunately not this time. Anyone play this on PS4? How does it run?