Board 8 > Tales of Arise Review Zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

Man, and people called Berseria edgy.

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Happy to see a game in the series get such good reviews. I've liked every game I've played in the series, and that includes Zestiria.

I probably won't get it until later though. I preordered Lost Judgment, and I should be playing that game for a while.

*blinks*

Oh its 5:30 in the morning...

Uhhh...guess I gotta go to bed.

Man this is a good game.

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Maybe it's just wierd luck, but if you're just playing Alphen go into a fight and switch to other characters and do an aerial Arte every once in a while. Maybe the AI just doesn't like doing them, because Shionne just learned 3 attack in a row in under 10 seconds, and Rinwell learned two.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

*blinks*

Oh its 5:30 in the morning...

Uhhh...guess I gotta go to bed.

Man this is a good game.

I had this same experience last night. "Why do my eyes feel like they're drooping so much? *checks clock* Oh, that's why."

18+ hours over the first two days, been a while since I've done that with a game, release weekend or otherwise.

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18 hours is exactly where I'm at too!

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How are people feeling so far about the other playable characters, out of curiosity?

I've only got three characters right now - should be just about to get the fourth - and I feel like everyone besides Alphen is simply far too limited by only being able to place three artes per state. I imagine that opens up later, but even though I can recognize some potential, there just doesn't feel like there's room to do anything cool right now because of how limited your inputs are. Shionne gets this really bad where if you're playing as her you basically only get one grounded gun arte unless you want to completely ignore her spells or grenades.

Wondering if this is like Vesperia where only Yuri really feels "complete" until a certain point where everyone else gets fun. Not thrilled about that seeing as I usually like to bounce around the full cast - especially after Berseria where that was very doable from early on.

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I don't think it will be all that great playing as other character until you open up the second set of Artes. I have not done so yet myself, not sure when it happens.

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Just made it to the fourth realm now and I am really, really digging how the party dynamic is developing.

Oh, and as far as the cast goes combat-wise, I always stick exclusively to the main character my first time through a Tales game, so I can't comment.

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Oh, an anime cutscene, I wonder what could happen here that's significant enough to...

...



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Started this today. Only played for about an hour. Even for a Tales game, this is one of the quickest "introductions" to a JRPG I've ever played. I don't think it's very good storytelling, but I know this is pretty standard for Tales. Which is once again one reason why Berseria is so good, because it actually had an introduction that made you care about the main character and understand her motivations. None of the characters are bad so far, but the story has moved at such a breakneck pace that their willingness to journey around together feels a bit unnatural.

As for combat, I like it, but I did remap the controls. R1 for normal attack felt really wrong. Also, I miss defending but I suppose I will come to appreciate evade as I get better at it.

Definitely tried the first challenge monster... It's only 36 levels above me, surely I can take it. I could not take it.

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GOOD ASS GAME

LORD

That boss just now was waaaaay overturned, though. Dropped it down to normal and still harder than any boss so far was on moderate. Used my entire item cache, down to nothing.

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27 hours in, halfway through the fourth realm's main dungeon, think I need to call it a night so I'm not a complete zombie at work in the morning. Marisha Ray-looking witch chick will have to wait til tomorrow.

Heck of a game.

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You're gonna wanna be rested for that upcoming boss fight, that's for damn sure.

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Another heads up. The reminisce at camp isn't just for rewatching, it let's you want any skit you missed the prompt for, too. It's important to watch these because there are follow up skits that require you to have previous skits viewed. Just caught up on those and 2 new Law and Rinwell skits in a series activated to watch right after.

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I just started this last night. So far the combat feels like Ni No Kuni II more than Tales. The pacing has been like The Rise of Skywalker though, too much happening too fast not in the most engaging way.

I'm not sure what to think but I'm very very early in the game.

About 32 hours in, partway through Vholran's castle

So far it's done the classic Tales thing of having an incredible party dynamic in the midst of a rather mediocre story. For seemingly being the main antagonist, Vholran is dull as shit and has done very little with his limited screentime. There's still a whole lot of mystery involving Rena that I would imagine I'm maybe 2/3rds of the way through.

Quite impressed with Alphen and Shionne as the main duo. Also liking the dynamic they've got with Law and Rimwell's interactions. Kisara's Team Mom energy is funny and Dohalim is a riot.


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Shadow Dino posted...

About 32 hours in, partway through Vholran's castle

So far it's done the classic Tales thing of having an incredible party dynamic in the midst of a rather mediocre story. For seemingly being the main antagonist, Vholran is dull as shit and has done very little with his limited screentime. There's still a whole lot of mystery involving Rena that I would imagine I'm maybe 2/3rds of the way through.

I did not get the impression that he was the main antagonist at all. In fact I figure he's looking pretty clearly like the "fake" big bad, Xillia style. I'm here as well and am pretty sure this area is the end of part 1 of the game.

I'm still betting that the actual big bad is the red jacket woman literally nobody will acknowledge exists that has been shown standing besides every single Lord.


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Good point, Vholran does seem like a red herring

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"This situation just got prickly!"

Law PLZ now is NOT the time.

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Yep

GOOD GAME

Gonna be real dad when this is over.

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Okay I'm about 4 hours in and this is shaping up to EASILY be the best Tales game I've played. Very excited to keep playing

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I've reached a very specific break point that anybody who has reached there will obviously know just from that, and will be playing more tonight.

The thing that's really striking me here is that the game doesn't dip. There's no stretch so far where I'm like "oh well this part sucks/is kind of slow", it's just always on. Dungeons between areas don't overstay their welcome. Everything in the plot is connected to the driving narrative, there aren't any detours.

And yeah, that's likely the result of the game being more linear and supposedly shorter than most Tales games, but if this is the result of that shift in direction then I'm all for it.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

You're gonna wanna be rested for that upcoming boss fight, that's for damn sure.

Just beat it, didn't actually have much trouble. I might be a little overleveled, dunno. Haven't done any dedicated grinding but I've certainly explored a lot and been diligent with sidequests.

Definitely shaping up as a top 3 Tales.

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More impressions from my slow playthrough - played for again only another hour tonight and made it through the first town and got to the first dungeon (?)

Impressed with the first town and the area environments so far. Much better than standard Tales fare, if not as promising as the initial trailers made these areas appear. You still can't go "everywhere" and the jump button seems... relatively useless so far, but I admire the effort.

These sure are some Tales-ass NPC names. Oof.

That town though... whose idea was it to have an unreachable NPC hammering on a wall, making the most annoying sound effect in recent memory? It took me a while to find him and when I realized it wasn't the game getting my attention - it was just trolling me.

Still dislike the skits! For that matter, the in-game cutscenes could use a touch of polish. They're somewhere between the bad awkward side-quest cutscenes of FF7 remake and the actual good cutscenes from FF7 remake. I can't help but think I'd connect with the characters more if there was some decent art instead of this same awkward Shionne model. Just have her stand like a real person and not a Barbie doll please, that's all I ask. Also emote just a little bit. Her character and attitude is good, but it's being let down by these renders.

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Just spent 3 minutes lining up a perfect gorgeous screenshot for a wallpaper and waiting for NPCs to pass, only to realize the damn map is still there because this game doesn't have photo mode :(

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Starting to enjoy the game since it's opened up a lot more.

I do wanna say the two main characters' name sound fucking stupid though. Couldn't they have thought of something better than Alphen and Shionne? It sounds like they got it from auto generate names when naming a silent protagonist.

I think we're just too used to takes leads having normal as people names and Alphen gives terror flashbacks to Sorey and Asbel.

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I don't mind the name Shionne. And though I wouldn't call Alphen my favorite protagonist name ever, I don't think it's objectionable enough to mention either.

Anyway, another six hours of playtime today gets me to what I would imagine is the majority of the way through the fifth lord's dungeon. Still loving it, obviously.

Although I gotta say, I'm gonna be more than a little miffed if they decide to shoehorn in some kind of bittersweet ending again. We've had more than enough of those in this series lately and this story very much does not call for that sort of thing. Give us a tidy, happy one for the first time in a while.

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I also need to point out that Dahna and Rena couldn't have been more generic sounding names for places/civilizations whatever. The two names literally rhyme with one other.

Those are the only bad things I can say about the game now and I'm only about 6 hours in.

Hey I finally have an issue of my own! None monster fighting sidequests have a recommend level until you actually get in the fight. Not an issue until you get into the second half of the game and tons of them unlock at once...some of them 15+ levels above you.

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SPEAKING OF WHICH

Just climbed 10 flights of spiral stairs and after entering the next area a fight immediately started that caused me to hit the PS button and hard close the game.

Noped RIGHT the hell out of that!

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I honestly completely forgot we were talking about a series with main characters named Cless/Cress lol, Sorey, Asbel (haha), Kor Meteor (WTF?), Senel (need I say anymore now)

I feel like one of these things that unlocked just now is testing the waters for the combat system in the next Tales game...and I hope they decide against it!

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My sole complaint with the game ~20 hours in is that they've done the Xillia 1 thing again and made bosses effectively play by completely different rules than normal encounters. Normally I can't stand when games do that, but in this game I'm pretty close to feeling that it works. Obviously it's a bummer that you can't flex all your awesome combos and have to completely change your playstyle, but the way the back-and-forth works with both human bosses and giant zeugles is pretty interesting - you're made to take advantage of the mechanics in entirely different ways, which I can definitely appreciate.

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I think what was giving me trouble in the boss fights for a while was not realizing just how important it is to use your blazing sword. You basically never have to use it in random encounters, but in bosses they're assuming you'll be using it quite a bit.

Which, I mean, is ACCURATE to the narrative, but I'm not used to the narrative actually impacting your playstyle, lol.

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No More Heroes III now there's a game that rewards you during boss fights for all the practice you put in for normal fights

even when the boss fight completely changes what genre the game is

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Past the 35+ hour mark and the big climatic fight there.

Lol were they not subtle about Vholran possibly being alive. Don't get much obvious than "his body disappeared" even after he ate a flaming sword to the chest. Maybe when he inevitably pops up again he'll be marginally more interesting.

Also surprise second opening. Was expecting it to be the Blue Moon song they had a trailer for but it was another song entirely. Guessing that makes Blue Moon the ending song.

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Man, do NOT go to the Tales of Arise board. There is a subset of this fandom that is just impossible to understand.

You've got a whole bunch of people agreeing with eachother about how this a fake dog shit Tales game...just like BERSERIA was.


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If it's not phantasia is not good

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Gave this notion a bit of thought, and came to the conclusion that, despite its reputation as a lighthearted JRPG series, Tales is actually best when it's being serious and/or edgy.

The skits are fun and all, but a lot of times the humor falls flat, and they have a tendency to flanderize the cast. Comedy in Tales tends to be very 'anime', and frankly speaking it misses more than it hits. You get some memorable lines, sure, but is it really worth the cringe-inducing moments and painful mascot characters? It's amazing that Magilou didn't turn out to be an awful character. She's amazing, but based on the series' track record, she shouldn't have been.

But the serious parts of the story? That's where the games shine. Symphonia's best parts are the revelations of how shitty the world is; for example, the truth of the Exspheres and Derris-Kharlan. Abyss' best parts are widely considered to be Luke's characterization and Akzeriuth. Vesperia's best parts are easily when Yuri does Yuri things. Berseria's core is Velvet's dark journey, and the storyline is all the better for it.

Now look at the games that aren't very well-regarded. Graces, Xillia, Zestiria. Those games make much less of an attempt at tackling darker subject matter, and as a result, they feel kinda milquetoast. That's not to say they're completely devoid of serious elements, but yeah. Their tone feels very different from the fan favorite games in the series. It's not impossible to construct a great JRPG story with a more lighthearted leaning, but I don't think Tales is actually very good at it.

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I can definitely get what you mean. Vesperia had some good comedy that was worth it mixed in I think, but typically it falls flat other than a few good moments here and there for just about ever other game. . Berseria of course has a ton of it, and it's not just Magilou. The huge success at both serious development and fun character moments is a major factor in Berseria still being the #1 game in the series on most days for me.

You mentioning Xillia stands out because that game made a pathetic attempt at getting super dark at the beginning of the last chapter and it was just flat out embarrassing, and did not work in the slightest. Maybe one of the lowest moments in all of Tales history.

The comedy is pretty damn weak in Arise, even if they rarely even attempt it. The game is still on track to be one of the best in the series at the moment, so I'm taking note of any issue I do have for later when I'm trying to judge.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

You mentioning Xillia stands out because that game made a pathetic attempt at getting super dark at the beginning of the last chapter and it was just flat out embarrassing, and did not work in the slightest. Maybe one of the lowest moments in all of Tales history.

That part sucks because I actually think it had a lot of potential to be one of the most memorable parts in the series. Then they rushed every scene related to it and backtracked *super* hard almost immediately. The way it was handled felt exceptionally bizarre and disjointed.

Graces falls prey to this in a different-but-similar way. The first 1/3 of the game is actually quite serious, with a building sense of Asbel's life collapsing around him as he's cut off from everyone he ever knew, and it's easily the best part of the game. The game could have been special if it fully committed to that story arc and forced Asbel find meaning in life outside of a lost past he'll never get back, but it didn't have the guts, and became a generic mess that squandered its potential very quickly.

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When I replayed Graces at the beginning of the year I was pretty shocked by how good the narrative of the first 1/3 was, I did not remember that being the case at all. More importantly, I couldn't believe how strong the childhood section was in and of itself, something that basically everyone hated at release. However, once the actual plot gets going, Graces may be even worse than my memory at the time led me to believe. It's basically from the point Hubert actually joins up and onwards that the game no longer has any real value outside of the combat.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

It's basically from the point Hubert actually joins up and onwards that the game no longer has any real value outside of the combat.

Yeah the break happens so quickly it actually made my head spin a bit when I first played. I just went "oh...that's it then, I guess."

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Only usurped in the crown for most sudden Tales collapse by Mayvin awkwardly falling over instead of an end of battle screen in Zesteria.

But that game wasn't super great before that either so it's not AS jarring. Definitely more sudden, though!

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Seriously, 34:49

*major Zesteria spoilers not that anyone should care*

https://youtu.be/xVOnkTy0F4E

This is never NOT funny to see.

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So working on the third lord right now and this is a pretty rough series of events.

Like I wasn't buying the whole "more mature" Tales of thing up until then but that scene with Migal committing suicide to prove a point and Dohalim admitting none of the good he was doing was actually for the people and Kisara snapping was pretty intense.

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Yeah it's all pretty damn rough! You always think it's hit a peak of fucked up, but it just keeps piling.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Yeah it's all pretty damn rough! You always think it's hit a peak of fucked up, but it just keeps piling.

I would say the whole killing Zephyr with poison instead of by execution was dumb. Especially after the speech he gave.

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