Tales of Arise is a Dazzling Evolution for the JRPG Genre

The “Tales of” series is one of the most popular names of the JRPG genre. With titles like Tales of Abyss and Tales of Vesperia to its name, fans have justifiably high expectations for the newest entry, Tales of Arise. They’ll finally get a chance to try it for themselves when a demo for the game hits PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on August 18.

After spending a week on the upcoming demo, it seems like Arise may actually meet those fan expectations … and then some. Tales of Arise is a new venture for the JRPG franchise, as the team behind it is looking to refresh the series for both veterans and newcomers alike. Despite charting some brand new territory, Arise manages to still keep the heart of the games intact.

A classic JRPG affair

The story follows a formula that many fans of the JRPG genre will immediately be familiar with. A technologically advanced and powerful race of people called the Renan have invaded and enslaved a race of people called the Dahnan. These Renan “Bright Eyes” (a slur used on them by the Dahnan people) have split up the land once belonging to the Dahnan into five sections. Each of these sections is ruled by a different lord, giving us a task fit for JRPG traveling.

After being introduced to the backstory of this world, I gained control of a mysterious man with “no face,” Iron Mask. Not only is his face always covered by this odd helmet, but Iron Mask can’t physically feel pain. Nor can he remember his past beyond being saved by a Dahnan man. He soon meets Shionne, a Renan on the run with the same goals as Iron Mask and other Dahnan resistance members. Though they don’t immediately hit it off, these two characters with pasts shrouded in mystery put aside their differences and work to take down the Renan regime, lord by lord.

Though the characters and story pull straight from the JRPG world’s classic archetypes, I couldn’t help but really enjoy them. There’s real chemistry between the characters already and I can easily see “sparking” (you’ll see how that word is a pun sooner) into a romance. That really pulled me in and made me immediately invested in their travels and conversations.

Shionne is a girl that is electric to the touch. Anyone that touches her is hit with a bolt of pain. She is visibly bewildered when Iron Mask touches her to save her and is unfazed. The two make for the perfect duo — a likely future king and queen of this land. While Iron Mask can’t feel pain, making it easy for him to take tons of damage without noticing, Shionne is a healer — another piece of their chemistry that had me thinking that these two should just tie the knot already.

Very anime moments and connections like that really make the early hours of Tales of Arise so intriguing. I have to give a ton of credit to Iron Mask’s English voice actor as well. While the entire cast does a notable job in this snippet, something about his delivery really makes the character feel real. He has a certain dry grit that really brings the character to life.

Thankfully I got to hear his voice a lot as skits made a return to the series. Skits are dialogue sequences that will randomly pop up during exploration segments of the game. A prompt will show up and upon accepting it, you’ll be able to see the characters in your party have a short conversation about various topics. It seems like we’ll be getting to know these characters very well by the end of the journey, and that’s exciting.

Dazzling visuals

Another thing that immediately stands out in this demo is the visuals. While they aren’t what you might think of when you hear “next-gen,” the art style and visuals of Tales of Arise are absolutely beautiful. It really felt like they threw me inside of a painting at times.

During my travels, I’d find myself just looking at the character models or environments in awe. This style is new to the series and. so far, it seems that Bandai Namco has completely knocked it out of the park on its first try.

Evolving battles

Speaking of successes, the new battle system (titled the “Linear Motion Battle System”) is an immediate joy to dig into. It’s a real step forward from previous games in the Tales series. While all the action and potential combos are still there, here we find a system closer to what Final Fantasy VII Remake accomplished. That’s something I personally welcome with open arms, as FFVII Remake found the perfect modern take on classic JRPG combat by ditching turn-based battles for more active ones.

Battles happen in real time, using hack and slash gameplay. You have a basic attack string and special moves (called “Artes”) like launchers, projectiles, heals, revives, etc. Players can’t use healing and support Artes willy nilly though, as they’re limited by Cure Points. These points are shared across the party and can be replenished with items or resting at an inn or campsite.

Later on, I unlocked what are essentially super attacks. These freeze the screen for a second, allowing one character to unleash a somewhat long attack, giving players enough time to switch to another character and rack up longer combos.

It’s not all cut and dried though, as players will need to pay attention during combat to get the highest damage output possible. To do this, they’ll have to monitor their Artes gauge (AG) and the attacks they’ve already used.

Attack Artes are limited by the gauge, so players have to wait out a cooldown to continue using them in a combo. They’ll need to avoid diminishing returns in combos as well, as using the same Arte in a combo multiple times within four actions will decrease its penetration. This means enemies will recover from being in juggle state sooner and an Artes’ effectiveness will be halved.

The strategy created by those rules constantly had me on my toes while in battle. Plus, the fact that you can still switch characters at any time in combat had me testing out tons of team juggle abilities. Iron Mask can launch up and continue an air combo while Shionne uses her laser to bounce the enemy back up, allowing Iron Mask to continue a ground chain juggle. That’s just a small taste of how complex the battles can get.

All in all, Tales of Arise feels like a welcome evolution to the series and the JRPG genre in general. It really cements the fact that Final Fantasy VII Remake was a step forward for the genre and games like Arise are looking to push that momentum even further.

A free demo of Tales of Arise will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S starting on August 18.

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