Preview of Tales of Arise, The Beauty Inside and Out!

Starting from a game adaptation of a prank novel by a programmer at Bandai Namco, who would have thought that Tales has developed into one of the biggest JRPG franchises today. With a long history exceeding 25 years, this franchise is finally ready to bring a major evolution in the next-gen console generation through Tales of Arise. The enthusiasm in waiting for this series is indeed very high, and a large part of the reason lies in the graphics quality which is far superior to the previous series which is still stuck in the PlayStation 3 era.

Now approaching the release of the game which is only three months away, we are again given the opportunity by Bandai to try the game live. Just like yesterday’s Scarlet Nexus preview session, they provided access to play via a cloud gaming server which luckily was quite responsive and we could access it without many problems. Because it still uses cloud access instead of rendering directly from the console or PC system that is used to play, of course the visual quality and performance offered are not maximized so that technical aspects like this may not be discussed too much for now.

In addition, this demo session is shorter and only emphasizes the introduction of the gameplay system on offer, so there is indeed some content that we cannot discuss because it is still NDA-bound. Ok, instead of lingering, just take a look at our preview summary below!

One of the Games with the Best 3D Anime Graphics So far

When we entered the game for the first time and got the opportunity to move the character, we were immediately taken aback by the beautiful quality of the graphics. We are not only talking about how the environment in the game is made more alive, colorful, and other graphic details that look realistic, but also from an artistic touch with a watercolor painting style that further strengthens its identity than just a “game with beautiful anime graphics”. This is further strengthened by how the playable characters to the monsters around you move in a series of animations that look more expressive and not stiff. Despite the fact that most anime-style 3D games are rarely associated with realistic graphics, Tales of Arise manages to be one of the best examples of the quality of anime games that can actually look fantastic if you pay attention to them.

The map design in Tales of Arise is actually not much different from the previous Tales game. You will be presented with a large area arranged in a branching route with several large areas here and there. There is a mini-map at the top right to see the location of the character to the enemies around you, making navigation easier. The visual quality which is much richer in this game makes the map that we explore feel really wide even though its scope is quite limited. This seems to give the illusion that you are playing an open-world game, something we have never felt in other Tales games because each area explored always feels linear and does not give a grand impression like in Tales of Arise.

You can now set up the Party Leader system in two scenarios, which is which character you prioritize to fight or which one you want to control while exploring. This feature provides more flexibility so you don’t have to always use the same character in the two scenarios, although in the end we ended up finishing the Tales game by focusing on controlling only one character.

Exploration in this game is still focused on the same sequence of activities, you can look at the mini-map to find the whereabouts of materials, enemies, and other interaction objects such as Chests containing items and equipment. You can even perform actions such as jumping to swimming which even though it sounds so trivial, this is still something new in the franchise. But when we enter the battle, it is at this moment that we feel a little awkward. Whether because of the difficulty level or other factors, the monsters we fought felt more passive and ended up as trash. This includes starting a battle where you have to really get close to their position before getting a response. There is also a pop-in texture problem or fog graphic effect that suddenly appears in several places, and we also noticed this in one of the promotional trailers. So hopefully this problem or other bugs can be fixed before the game is ready for market.

Gameplay with a more luxurious classic taste

Entering the main gameplay, it’s better if we give an introduction to the typical gameplay system of the series which is still a strong foundation in Tales of Arise. So every Tales game is always built with a scheme similar to most classic JRPG games, except with the implementation of Action RPG-based gameplay and the absence of Random Encounter. One of the main elements is named the Linear Motion Battle System (LMBS). Simply put, this is a gameplay system that is more like a Brawler game where every character’s movement and execution of fighting skills are arranged in special commands. For example, if you want to move your character’s steps freely, you can only do it by holding down a special button, because if you move analog only, your character can only move forward and backward.

Of course, this system has undergone many changes in each of its new series, including for Tales of Arise which we think is closer to a pure action game because of the flexibility of character control and the sequence of combo skills that are responsive and very exciting when played. Overall, Tales of Arise doesn’t make much difference. You will continue to enter into battle with four active party members, launching simple attacks, building combos combined with the special Arte skills of each character, while maneuvering to avoid enemy attacks.

Even without looking at the tutorial we think this game can be learned easily, but still there are some mechanics that must be understood to make it easier for you to adapt. The main mechanisms that Tales of Arise highlight are Boost Attack and Boost Strike. For the Boost Attack itself, this is a special attack that can be executed by party member characters by pressing the arrow keys in the analog section. You can activate it at any time as long as there is no cooldown status. While Boost Strike is a special combo attack that can be executed by two characters simultaneously to produce more damage.

This attack can be triggered once the enemy’s defense bar is fully charged and puts them in the “Break” state. This system reminds us of the Dual Arte in the Tales of Xillia series. The difference is that you can only do tag-team actions in one ultimate attack, while in Tales of Xillia this system allows two characters to always be connected and allows for more frequent execution of the ultimate attack.

The point is that the action RPG gameplay in Tales of Arise or most other games in this series does emphasize the element of strategy, rather than just executing attack commands freely in the hope that the enemy can die quickly like in a casual hack and slash game. All actions you take must always be effective, including executing Arte skills and using them at the right moment when the enemy is in the weakest position. You can even freely adjust Arte’s command skills to create different combo sequences according to your taste. We mentioned that we often finish Tales games just by controlling one character, and this claim is true because the rest of the party characters who accompany you in battle always do their job well. They can always adapt to battle situations and provide support assistance such as healing even when the position of the character being controlled is not so critical. This is still true in Tales of Arise, so there’s no need to worry about unreliable party members, because they might actually be better than you.

To make each character feel more special and have their own glorious role, this game has given each character a special kind of “Perk”. For example, like the protagonist Alphen, he can sacrifice a little Health Point (HP) to launch a brutal combo with the Flaming Edge sword. Interestingly, this Perk is directly related to the condition of the characters in the story and is not just a special gimmick. Like how Alphen lost HP because the Flaming Edge sword can burn the user’s hand, but Alphen can overcome this deficiency because he is a human who can’t feel pain. This special perk has succeeded in giving each character a more prominent role, so there is special consideration in building which party is considered the most suitable for the style of play.

Another change that we observed also lies in the presence of the Cure Points (CP) system. This system replaces the role of Mana to activate Arte skills such as restoring HP and resurrecting fallen characters. CP in this game is already united in one bar and is not divided into every character, but the amount given is at least still enough to be used in a group. You can recover CP by using Orange Gel items, but if you run out of CP as well as recovery items, you can still use other healing items such as Apple Gel. So make sure to always stock up on consumable items before you are ready to face a long battle, especially when dealing with the main boss in each area.

Conclusion

Many people say that the gameplay in every Tales game is always identical and doesn’t change much. But in fact Bandai Namco has succeeded in bringing gradual improvements that make the concept of LMBS gameplay still acceptable to many gamers in the modern era like now. Tales of Arise is just a new series that brings further changes, but with a budget boost that makes it now the most inviting game, especially for newcomers who are still unfamiliar with the franchise. We also want to give more appreciation to the fact that this game retains the strong taste and elements of the classic Tales game, despite the various major changes that might make some longtime fans worry.

More than just a game that looks so charming on the outside, we can at least give a little guarantee that what’s inside is also very special. Of course, this impression is only based on a small portion of the playing experience that the main game will offer, and we certainly can’t wait to see what Tales of Arise really looks like and how the game can meet the expectations of skeptical fans.

Tales of Arise will release on September 10 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC. While the Japanese version will be released one day earlier targeted for the console platform.

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Tales of Arise

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Developer: Bandai Namco

Release Date: 2021-09-10

Console, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series

Tales of Arise is the newest installment in Bandai Namco’s iconic JRPG franchise. With graphics quality and gameplay that is superior to the previous series, this game was developed specifically to attract more new players, especially those in the western region.