I'm gonna advertise for this game and I'm telling you, it is WELL worth the play through. The story is standard but amazing, the character development is great, the pacing is great, and the battle system is just amazing. I typically only stick to a few characters as I fight in any tales game, but this was the first one where I actually put effort into switching between characters and learning to fight with all of them. So whenever one of my characters died that I was controlling, it was nothing to switch to another and keep going with no drawbacks because I was already familiar with how they fought. Great game, don't pass it up.
I'm a Tales veteran and has played almost all of them within the series. It is interesting that you think the game has a slow start. To me, the story pacing of Arise felt a tiny bit rushed especially near the beginning (Fire and Snow area). Many other Tales games in the series had much slower start, but once you get to the plot twist or plot progression, it becomes very interesting. This is especially true of Symphonia, where story starts very generic, but everything changed when you thought the journey is ending. Due to the skit feature, Tales series has always excelled in its characterization. Story could be a hit or miss depending on the game, but the characterization are always top-notch. Actually at 27:30, you can see the monster level on top-left corner. You can run away from combat if the enemy is too strong.
Tales of Arise was of the first games, I got for my PS5. I thought it was just going to be a game, I would play but stop half-way through. Instead, I played though the whole game, experienced the excellent story, did all the side quests, beat the hardest boss, got the best weapons an armor, and unlock the platinum trophy. While Tales of Arise isn't a masterpiece in my eyes, it comes so damn close that I personally consider it a game everyone should play. If I had to score the game it's an easy 9.8 eight for me, and my personal favorite Tales game.
Great review! I played Tales of Arise and got the platinum right when it released and I loved it. You just reminded me of how great a game it is. I may have to replay it soon. Thanks!
@@kevinstreetgaming I got the base game today too. Are any of the DLCs worth it? I mean, like adding content to the game rather than making grinding easier or giving cosmetic changes through costumes? I know that there are some "skills" locked behind some costumes and the SAO dlc has a boss fight but it's pretty short. Do you recommend any of them as a substantial content that might be worth it?
Yes! This is one of the best stories ive ever played. I picked it up and put it down for the first few game hours. But then suddenly i was booked and became obsessed. I had to see the characters succeed. 10/10. Play it. Even if it takes a couple of hours to attach to it x
My first Tales game, and a great experience so far. Got it on sale on Steam, as a potential replacement for when Honkai Impact 3rd finally shuts down. Was attracted to the combat gameplay. Story and exploration brings me back to playing FF7 on the original PS decades ago (yes, I'm old). It's a great break from the usual grindy MMO or gacha type games. The cutscenes fulfill the anime craving so far (haven't gotten to the point that they're irritating). And if you get it cheap, it's hours of fun and build experimentation for your characters. 5/5 best game I've spent on in years.
Great vid! I really enjoyed Arise, and Is A game I would easily recommend to almost anyone. My main criticism with the game without saying any spoilers Is the back half of the game got pretty messy pacing/story wise IMO. Also I highly recommend Tales Of Berseria If you haven't tried It yet. It might have the best story out of any game I've ever played.
I randomly picked this up on Steam recently. I'm not sure how I even came across it. I've only played a few hours of Tales of Zestiria many years ago, but was underwhelmed. The visuals of this game immediately drew me to it, and the combat reminds me of FF7R (but maybe better). The game overall reminds me very much of Xenoblade 2/3, which I put many hours into. From game mechanics to storytelling, Arise takes the best pieces of other games and puts it into a package that I'm really enjoying. I'm just 7 hours in, but it's not often a game hooks me like this, and now I'm more interested in trying previous Tales games.
I keep seeing this game at Gamestop for a really cheap price. I might still get it, it's just the only thing holding me back is my history with the franchise since Gameplay will always be the #1 factor if I finish a game or not. Tales of Symphonia was my first tales game and I loved the gameplay, it was easy to pick up. But then I tried Tales of Xilia and I didn't like the gameplay for some reason. It could have been my fault too because Xilia gives you the option of two protagonists routes and I should have started with the Mele one because the other is a Magic User. So I may give Xilia another try because I dropped it really early. I don't have time to watch this video now, but I just wanted to comment on it really quick because I have heard from Tales fans this is a really good one compared to others in the past (like they didn't like Xilia).
I haven't finished this game tbh, I started this game right around the same time as Genshin came out and I only have time to play 1 such large game nowadays so I pretty much only play Tales during the downtimes in-between Genshin patches, so I played up until I defeated the first boss then stopped for a long time, then picked it up again and played up until the 2nd boss which kicked my ass so many times that I stopped playing it for a couple of months, then I played it again right before the time of Genshin's Sumeru patch, played Tales up until I got to the 4th city where the rebels blew up their own town while trying to fight off the local Lord then stopped after that. so far my experience with Tales of Arise have been mostly very positive, i've been having a great time with it but I just don't have the time to play 2 open world games side by side nowadays, Genshin is just taking up too much of what little free time I have but i'm finding it really hard to quit that game since i've spent so much money and time on it that i've fallen into a sunk cost fallacy, I've had an amazing time during my early days of playing genshin but my frustration have just been building up with all sorts of weird decisions the devs keep making but I still can't find myself quitting it even tho I enjoy it a lot less than I used to and in comparison, every time I have a little bit of free time with Tales of Arise, it's always been a blast, well aside from the Boss from the snowy city, he was a pain in the ass on hard, had to turn down the difficulty to get through him. genshin's got me by the balls, like stockholm syndrome from a game, or like a relationship that used to be great but nowadays, you're always fighting but you can't bring yourself to break up with her because you keep thinking back on the good time you once head, hoping you can make good times like those again🤣
You know what, Genshin's got me by the balls aswell so I understand your situation haha I've really been enjoying Sumeru and Fontaine though. But hopefully you can go back to Arise whenever Genshin slows down again, even if Fontaine just got added so it will probably be a while before you have downtime in that game lmao
@@Arkry_ i think you're the perfect guy to ask since you've played both genshin and arise extensively, I really want to play and finish Tales of Arise so is it worth it to quit genshin? because i can continue what i've been doing now and only play it a couple of days every month but it just feels like i'm hampering myself from fully enjoying what Tales has to offer since every time I come back, i have to relearn the game's more intricate combat mechanics and get a refresher on little things on the story so far, i feel like i could be enjoying tales more if I just devoted my time to it and only it but you know.... genshin FOMO and then there's also Starfield and Granblue Relink around the corner, I sure wish to come back to the days when i had plenty of free time! even though I had no money then, as long as I had $60 I could devote my time to fully completing a game, nowadays it's a miracle that i even finish the main quest...
@@f.b.l.9813 I would say focus on Tales Of Arise and take a break from Genshin. Tales of Arise is a game that you can finish, Genshin will keep updating every few months and won't be finished for many years. But that also means that Genshin will still be there when you come back. Even if you want to take a longer break to not only play Arise but also Starfield or Granblue, you can always just return to Genshin whenever you want. Especially since it sounds like you're starting to burn out on Genshin, maybe when you take a break, you will end up enjoying Genshin more when you return. I do understand the FOMO but if you're scared of missing out on characters, they will always get a rerun and if you see a limited event that you really want to play, you can always return to the game for a few days/weeks, do the event and go back to whatever else you want to play. It's always best to just play what you feel like instead of playing a game because you're scared of missing content, it'll make it a lot more enjoyable! Or at least that's my opinion on it :)
My time honestly is already limited i prolly got through 1/3 of it. At this point i would resolve to watch a playthrough of rpgs instead 😅 it would reduce the time and money
Okay I watched the video and I think since the price is low now, I do want to give this game a try, I'll just be using a guide when it comes to the combat and stick to easy. I've been playing video games for a very long time now (over 30 years), and I am at a point where I don't want to tackle hard games. Like last year I played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, it was my first time in ages playing a game where the whole combat was based around Tower Defense, which I normally can't stand, but since I put the difficulty on easy, I was able to enjoy the game a lot more, even though the combat was still the weakest part for me (everything else was amazing). But I plan on replaying Tales of Symphonia though since I got my Wii hooked up and I can play Gamecube games on it. ToS is a Gamecube game. I haven't played that game in 10 years at least and I remember loving that game it was one of my fav games of all time, even with it's flaws. One interesting fact was that there were 2 chars in the game that were almost polar opposites in how I felt about them- one I disliked from a personality POV, but he was one of my fav chars in a battle. It was the complete opposite for another char, she was one of my fav chars in the story, but her play style was very poor, and I only used her when I had to use her. But yeah if you do plan on playing more Tales games, I think look out for videos on what games to play, definitely start out with fan faves, like I think with most Tales fans, Vesperia is one of the top ones as well as Abyss.
I hope you enjoy your time with it! Yeah from what Ive heard Vesperia and Abyss seem to be pretty popular, Berseria is also a title I hear a lot about tho.
Great video, great game! Although one thing I'd like to add (sadly on the negative side) is that the villains are pretty weak, specially Vohlran, I felt like his potential was completely wasted. All in all I loved the game, particularly the characters but as the credits rolled I wanted to have cried of hapiness, but instead I was "just" satisfied and happy, not overly happy, still I liked the ending quite a bit more than Tales of Berseria's.
Another tales game I got the platnum for (I usually get real close if I don't actually do it). An amazing game that had very few things I personally think it needed for improvement. I missed the 4 player Co-op features the most honestly. I have been going through tales games with a friend for a while, unfortunately the plot in Arise didn't hook him (he was impatient and complaining about them drip feeding info and not revealing all of Shionne and Alphens back stories way earlier in the story... Which in my opinion is a bit of a poor take since he has played/watched other stuff that did it way worse. That said the same person confuses the art style with the mood in earlier games. says "it's light and fluffy" while asbel in graces is going to an extreme depression spiral. (The depression spiral in question features multiple deaths, betrayals as well as a loss of his friends family and home). Arise isn't perfect but it does touch on some of older systems that I missed. -Weapons and armor actually having a scaling improvement in stats not just random skills which can unbalance the equipment you use through a whole game... 1 playthrough of Berseria and got a beast blade with multiple attack up skills at the start of the game that lasted me the whole game ( for those interested it had 2 attack +500 on it... Never getting that luck again). I like when weapons have skills but I don't like random skills on equipment it ruins the feeling or progress for me. I love how the developers still try to make every character in every installment have something that makes them function differently from those before.
I played it at launch and it was good, my biggest issue is the weak paywall stuff and it didnt have the rift like endgame dungeon that Tales of Berseria had...it was a good game but left a bad taste in my mouth bc I like postgame content stuff
For me it was the story, especially the second half, it frlt dragged and then exposition dumped towards the end. And then we have discount Sephiroth (Volhran) left me wanting for more, easily the villain I wanted to see the most throughout the game both in terms of story and gameplay wise.
Gameplay wise I think Tales of Arise is amazing and a great evolution of the Tales of battle systems. The characters are mostly great and pretty well rounded. The only character I'm not too fond of is actually Alphen funnily enough. I just don't think he's a particularly interesting protagonist personality wise. However when it comes to story I think Arise was just okay. I do think it has one of the weaker stories in the Tales of series but it all comes down to personal taste.
agreed. When u compare it to other tales games u can see how its rushed and lacking in depth. U spend almost no time on the other world. The last third of the game felt incomplete. Same with some of the main story arcs. It also lacked perspective from the enemies side. Its a decent game but a weak part of the tales series.
Great video! I played about 2 hours of tales of arise and dropped it after I found the story mediocre. Not a big fan of tales of but i did enjoy berseria and abyss quite a bit, really wondering if I should give this game another chance.
If you didnt enjoy the begining very much, you would probably despise the latter half. It starts of quite strong and continues so untill about half way through, where it drops off a bit, and than it drops off completely at about 3/4 in my opinion.
@@KaiSaeren I feel like that with almost all Tales games. Soon as you get to the part before the final dungeon where you gotta back track all over the world again, combined with the final dungeon , i'm just forcing myself to finish. I played Arise , Berseria, Zesteria and then Vesperia back to back and had pretty much the same expierence in all of them. Loved the first 3/4 , then slogged through the last 1/4 for the story conclusion.
@@user-qy4xo4id1t I was talking more plotwise but I agree with you here as well, the last bit between where you feel the game is ending and where it actually ends is often a chore, the last dungeon and baktracking is overlong.
Yeah I'm surprised with how divided the fans seem to be. Ive seen comments fro;m people who love the game but also from people who hate it. I dont mind tho, it's interesting to see the different opinions.
@@Arkry_ Sadly, fandoms getting divided over the newest entry isn't anything new. It happens all the time in many fandoms of long-running franchises. You can see this happening in the Zelda fandom with old-school fans hating on BotW & TofK and calling them "not real Zelda games". Same thing with the Final Fantasy fandom with FFXVI and the Yazuza/Like A Dragon fandom with Yakuza 7. Even within the Tales fandom every entry got criticized and bashed on when they first released. Berseria used to get a lot of flack for having a scantly-dressed and edgy female protagonist, the scene of the original Laphicet's death getting censored in localized releases, its bittersweet ending, the unskippable skits, and it being a prequel to the much maligned Zestiria. Zestiria was criticized for damn near everything and even to this day is seen as one of the most weakest titles in this franchise. Xillia was seen as a rushed and incomplete game, and while Xillia 2 was received generally better than its prequel it was still heavily criticized for having a silent protagonist and it being the darkest game storywise in the entire franchise. Graces was mocked for leaning too hard on "The Power of Friendship" and its handling of romance. Even the Holy Trinity (Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia) got their fare share of negativity back in the day. With Arise, most of the negativity comes from the fact that it's not only the newest title but also a series reboot that tries to renovate and evolve the Tales formula, and if there's one thing that old-timer fans do not like, it's change. People in general seem to have a huge primary bias when it comes to video games, and while I can understand that people will have their critiques, it gets tiring dealing the same repetitive cycle of "new game sucks because it's new and different, the old games are soooo much better and can do no wrong". End rant from an old and bitter Tales fan who actually loves the newest entry and think that it's a good Tales game and a good step forward for this franchise.
@@us0_tsuki Why on earth do you pay so much mind to the critics? They exist in absolutely everything. Be thankful for the things you enjoy, you don't need to convince anybody else of their value.
@@raiusdaltar1483 Because I'm sick and tired of the constant negativity and toxicity I see in fandoms. I do still find enjoyment in the media I consume, but it's tiring to see constant drama and discourse over the games I like.
Recently Iv been wanting to replay it, I remember loving the first 3/4 or so when things were emotionally complex and more morally grey, everyone had their own motivations and it wasnt just about power of friendship like jrpgs usually are, but I ended up being dissapointed as the last 1/4 kinda dropped the ball and reverted to just that, dropping most of the complexity that drew me in and instead everyone just became all for saving everyone and everyone being friends, it felt really weird and out of touch, as if they suddenly forgot about the hundreds of years of slavery and torture and expected everyone to just cooperate no problem. I enjoyed the game quite a bit but still was dissapointed we didnt really get what was promised in that innitial trailer all those years ago, and of course rather salty about the story dropping the ball, at least for me. Oh yea and fuck Law for that stunt he pulled with that boss, that was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in jrpg, absolutely awfully done, made me question the sanity of the cast for agreeing and very much soured my experience right then and there.
But the party never forgot about the whole "300 years of slavery and torture" thing. They still acknowledge that but they also know that the Dahnans and Renans can't keep hating each other forever and that the cycle of hate has to end in order for the two races to move towards coexistence. They understand that it won't be easy and it'll take time, but it has to happen or else the Dahnans and Renans will continue to hate and oppress each other. The cast wanting to save everyone and have them get along isn't "weird or out of touch", but something that the story was building up to. And yeah. What a terrible person Law is, wanting to help his friend not be consumed by hatred. He should've just let Rinwell attack Almeidrea in blind anger. I'm sure nothing wrong would've happened then.
yes..this game was awesome and i hate the tales series..the gameplay was fast paced, fun, and not convoluted like most of the tales games..especially zesteria that combat was abysmal
I only have problems with the exposition dump towards the end, i think it could had been handled better.I did not mind the spongy enemies, maybe changing the battle system to all characters could participate at once would had softened the concern.
Finished a week ago (started at day one but dropped) Im a Tales Of Berseria enjoyer and TOA for my POV has Splendid graphics and the Ufotable anime moments are incredible as always, but that's all...combat system is fun but get repetitive and annoying + story mega based and simple. The DLC pls DON'T buy it, is terrible and cringe
Great vid. Imo, first 70% of the game is brilliant, the last 30% is some of the worst design and storytelling I've seen in a game. Still really enjoyed it, but yeah...
Good video, interesting point of view What i would say is that ToA is fine but if you would play any other Tales of game, it is immediately obvious that it is pretty mediocre Characters are great, i will give it that. the whole cast is likeable and interesting, story is....serviceable, it is really simple imo and apart from one or two things, pretty generic, it does the job but my god is it absolutely incomparable to any other Tales of title, the pacing was also not very good The world is also pretty small and short...not much to do in any location except maybe fishing The villain tho...this game has the worst, most forgettable, boring, pointless, laughable villain not only it Tales of but in RPGs in general, absolute waste of time edgelord What the game does great is combat, it is really fun, fast paced and gorgeous to look at Now let me go and watch your Persona video 😀
Thanks! Thats very interesting to hear, Im definitely gonna be playing more Tales Of games so Im excited to see how my feelings might change when looking back
@@Arkry_ I feel like i went on a rant about the game lol, overall it is definitely a good game and the combat is superb and i am glad it pulled you into the franchise!! Hopefully you will play and enjoy the other titles as well Maybe enough to make a video on them as well 🙂
@@AkumaItachi Dont worry about it haha, it's interesting to see more opinions on this game! I feel like whenever I get around to playing another Tales game I'll probably make a video on it!
How is Tales of Arise "mediocre"? It got good review scores from both critics and users, is the fastest selling title in this franchise and is currently sitting at being the third best sold Tales game worldwide (behind Symphonia and Vesperia), and won multiple awards including Best RPG at the Game Awards. It's also pretty well-received by the fanbase (ignoring the vocal minority of hardcore purists who want to hate on the game). And the story wasn't that bad? Yes, it's more simple and standard, but that was intentional since past interviews stated that they wanted to write a simple and straightforward plot to appeal to a wider audience and Japanese fans complained that the plots of the last few Tales titles were too complex to understand. And honestly, Tales games don't get that much praise for their writing. Only Symphonia, Abyss, and Berseria are liked for their stories. The maps in Arise aren't that small. The areas are significantly expansive compared to the maps of other modern Tales titles and you also have treasures and owls to collect to encourage exploring a location, not just fishing. And lastly, if you seriously believe that Vholran is "the worst, most forgettable, boring, pointless, laughable villain not only it Tales of but in RPGs" then you need to consume more media.
@@us0_tsuki I explained why, good sales and metacritic reviews do not mean anything really, it looked good so people bought it and online reviews are not the best measure if you look at some scores for some games, lot of newcomers to the franchise too who had nothing to compare it to Yeah, that sounds like copium Making the story extremely basic to appeal to a wider audience...why, why now? Tales franchise is going on for years and every single one of them had a better plot than Arise, Arise had a good setup but the execution was very lacking But hey, as long as it sold enough to get them money to make a better game next time Ok, fishing and finding owls, treasures are not really "content", they are there to give you stuff Yes, yes i do believe that, i didn't even remember his name until you said it because he did absolutely nothing during the game, then had a few scenes that were supposed to tell you why he is doing...something And then you defeat him with the power trip Alphen He is completely worthless, i consumed enough media to see that A lot of people doing reviews, lot of them here on YT, even the ones that enjoyed the story for what it was, agree that he is an awful and extremely forgettable "villain" Combat was fun but other than that, it was mediocre
always be blunt never be apologetic to criticism its not difficulty the enemies just have too much health cause the game is very flawed in combat especially boss fights the game isn't great, just a very corporate design broad appeal jrpg sanitizing so much of Tales of series for maximum appeal and getting none of it
I mean if you want a cookie-cutter plot that we seen a 100 times over in mangas, anime and JRPGs andextreme padding at times that truly hurts the experience then yep, I would also recpmmend Tales of Arise. Sure it does look beautiful and its fully voice acted... I feel Tales of Berseria is the high point, for me, of teh Tales of series and way better than this one even if it is, bny no mean, perfect.
"I mean if you want a cookie-cutter plot that we seen a 100 times over in mangas, anime and JRPGs and extreme padding at times that truly hurts the experience" Which literally describes the entire Tales of franchise. They're straight-up anime in video game format, plot, padding, and all. Even Berseria isn't any better since it used to get constantly compared to Berserk back in the day.
@@us0_tsuki I'm sorry but this game wish it was as deep or interesting as Berserk. Not all animes are the same to bppt, Tales of Arise is just way too simple in its story and characters, with every trope in the book, to be considered better than average. Other episodes, like Berseria (not Berserk) are deeper. But Arise has shinier graphics, I guess it has this going for it.
@@AngladaFrankFrankyvape Which was intentional. The writers wanted to write a more simple and straightforward story because they wanted to reach a wider audience and Tales fans back in Japan thought that the plots of the last few games were too complex to understand. And past Tales games were no less tropey with their stories than Arise.
The story is cliche and boring, the combat is fun at first but gets boring after a while. The world and dungeon is monotonous. The skits are very repetitive and exposition dump. So probably 6/10 At least the graphic is superb.
![Ice On My Teeth - ATEEZ エイティーズ 에이티즈 [Music Bank] | KBS WORLD TV 241115](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-n92OgbbwA/mqdefault.jpg)
TOA has been in my backlog for almost 2 years and I'm definitely changing that soon! I'm even more excited to play it after this video!
Excited to hear your thoughts on it!
I'm gonna advertise for this game and I'm telling you, it is WELL worth the play through. The story is standard but amazing, the character development is great, the pacing is great, and the battle system is just amazing. I typically only stick to a few characters as I fight in any tales game, but this was the first one where I actually put effort into switching between characters and learning to fight with all of them. So whenever one of my characters died that I was controlling, it was nothing to switch to another and keep going with no drawbacks because I was already familiar with how they fought. Great game, don't pass it up.
I'm a Tales veteran and has played almost all of them within the series.
It is interesting that you think the game has a slow start. To me, the story pacing of Arise felt a tiny bit rushed especially near the beginning (Fire and Snow area). Many other Tales games in the series had much slower start, but once you get to the plot twist or plot progression, it becomes very interesting. This is especially true of Symphonia, where story starts very generic, but everything changed when you thought the journey is ending.
Due to the skit feature, Tales series has always excelled in its characterization. Story could be a hit or miss depending on the game, but the characterization are always top-notch.
Actually at 27:30, you can see the monster level on top-left corner. You can run away from combat if the enemy is too strong.
Tales of Arise was of the first games, I got for my PS5. I thought it was just going to be a game, I would play but stop half-way through. Instead, I played though the whole game, experienced the excellent story, did all the side quests, beat the hardest boss, got the best weapons an armor, and unlock the platinum trophy. While Tales of Arise isn't a masterpiece in my eyes, it comes so damn close that I personally consider it a game everyone should play. If I had to score the game it's an easy 9.8 eight for me, and my personal favorite Tales game.
playing this game at 4k on my ps5, beautiful
Great review! I played Tales of Arise and got the platinum right when it released and I loved it. You just reminded me of how great a game it is. I may have to replay it soon. Thanks!
Thanks for leaving such a nice comment! I dont replay games often but sometimes it can be really nice to revisit a game you loved.
@@Arkry_ I understand. There's just so many games in the backlog.
You might have a valid reason now that the DLC for it is so close.@@kevinstreetgaming
@@0twaster0i02 I have it pre-ordered! You better believe I'm going to play the dlc expansion.
@@kevinstreetgaming I got the base game today too. Are any of the DLCs worth it? I mean, like adding content to the game rather than making grinding easier or giving cosmetic changes through costumes? I know that there are some "skills" locked behind some costumes and the SAO dlc has a boss fight but it's pretty short. Do you recommend any of them as a substantial content that might be worth it?
Im glad u like it, you should try tales of berseria next, its the best of the whole Series
I wished they added a fair amount more content. One of my favorites games I ever played. Right next to cyberpunk.
Yes! This is one of the best stories ive ever played. I picked it up and put it down for the first few game hours. But then suddenly i was booked and became obsessed. I had to see the characters succeed.
10/10.
Play it. Even if it takes a couple of hours to attach to it x
iirc, Star Ocean has a similar combat system.
Great Video! As someone who didn’t play it I’m quite interested now…..would prolly avoid the dlc 😅
My first Tales game, and a great experience so far. Got it on sale on Steam, as a potential replacement for when Honkai Impact 3rd finally shuts down. Was attracted to the combat gameplay. Story and exploration brings me back to playing FF7 on the original PS decades ago (yes, I'm old). It's a great break from the usual grindy MMO or gacha type games. The cutscenes fulfill the anime craving so far (haven't gotten to the point that they're irritating). And if you get it cheap, it's hours of fun and build experimentation for your characters. 5/5 best game I've spent on in years.
Great vid! I really enjoyed Arise, and Is A game I would easily recommend to almost anyone. My main criticism with the game without saying any spoilers Is the back half of the game got pretty messy pacing/story wise IMO. Also I highly recommend Tales Of Berseria If you haven't tried It yet. It might have the best story out of any game I've ever played.
I'm definitely playing the other tales games, probably Berseria next since I bought it a while ago!
Berseria is the best out of all modern tales story wise.
Tho its combat is wonky AF.
i play toa earlier this year, worth every money
A small correction: The pre-order items can be purchased as a pack. See 50:25
I randomly picked this up on Steam recently. I'm not sure how I even came across it. I've only played a few hours of Tales of Zestiria many years ago, but was underwhelmed.
The visuals of this game immediately drew me to it, and the combat reminds me of FF7R (but maybe better). The game overall reminds me very much of Xenoblade 2/3, which I put many hours into. From game mechanics to storytelling, Arise takes the best pieces of other games and puts it into a package that I'm really enjoying. I'm just 7 hours in, but it's not often a game hooks me like this, and now I'm more interested in trying previous Tales games.
Wonderful review! I love tales of arise
I keep seeing this game at Gamestop for a really cheap price. I might still get it, it's just the only thing holding me back is my history with the franchise since Gameplay will always be the #1 factor if I finish a game or not. Tales of Symphonia was my first tales game and I loved the gameplay, it was easy to pick up. But then I tried Tales of Xilia and I didn't like the gameplay for some reason. It could have been my fault too because Xilia gives you the option of two protagonists routes and I should have started with the Mele one because the other is a Magic User. So I may give Xilia another try because I dropped it really early. I don't have time to watch this video now, but I just wanted to comment on it really quick because I have heard from Tales fans this is a really good one compared to others in the past (like they didn't like Xilia).
Nishiquikpops sent me! Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much!!
I haven't finished this game tbh, I started this game right around the same time as Genshin came out and I only have time to play 1 such large game nowadays so I pretty much only play Tales during the downtimes in-between Genshin patches, so I played up until I defeated the first boss then stopped for a long time, then picked it up again and played up until the 2nd boss which kicked my ass so many times that I stopped playing it for a couple of months, then I played it again right before the time of Genshin's Sumeru patch, played Tales up until I got to the 4th city where the rebels blew up their own town while trying to fight off the local Lord then stopped after that. so far my experience with Tales of Arise have been mostly very positive, i've been having a great time with it but I just don't have the time to play 2 open world games side by side nowadays, Genshin is just taking up too much of what little free time I have but i'm finding it really hard to quit that game since i've spent so much money and time on it that i've fallen into a sunk cost fallacy, I've had an amazing time during my early days of playing genshin but my frustration have just been building up with all sorts of weird decisions the devs keep making but I still can't find myself quitting it even tho I enjoy it a lot less than I used to and in comparison, every time I have a little bit of free time with Tales of Arise, it's always been a blast, well aside from the Boss from the snowy city, he was a pain in the ass on hard, had to turn down the difficulty to get through him. genshin's got me by the balls, like stockholm syndrome from a game, or like a relationship that used to be great but nowadays, you're always fighting but you can't bring yourself to break up with her because you keep thinking back on the good time you once head, hoping you can make good times like those again🤣
You know what, Genshin's got me by the balls aswell so I understand your situation haha
I've really been enjoying Sumeru and Fontaine though. But hopefully you can go back to Arise whenever Genshin slows down again, even if Fontaine just got added so it will probably be a while before you have downtime in that game lmao
@@Arkry_ i think you're the perfect guy to ask since you've played both genshin and arise extensively, I really want to play and finish Tales of Arise so is it worth it to quit genshin? because i can continue what i've been doing now and only play it a couple of days every month but it just feels like i'm hampering myself from fully enjoying what Tales has to offer since every time I come back, i have to relearn the game's more intricate combat mechanics and get a refresher on little things on the story so far, i feel like i could be enjoying tales more if I just devoted my time to it and only it but you know.... genshin FOMO and then there's also Starfield and Granblue Relink around the corner, I sure wish to come back to the days when i had plenty of free time! even though I had no money then, as long as I had $60 I could devote my time to fully completing a game, nowadays it's a miracle that i even finish the main quest...
@@f.b.l.9813 I would say focus on Tales Of Arise and take a break from Genshin.
Tales of Arise is a game that you can finish, Genshin will keep updating every few months and won't be finished for many years. But that also means that Genshin will still be there when you come back. Even if you want to take a longer break to not only play Arise but also Starfield or Granblue, you can always just return to Genshin whenever you want.
Especially since it sounds like you're starting to burn out on Genshin, maybe when you take a break, you will end up enjoying Genshin more when you return.
I do understand the FOMO but if you're scared of missing out on characters, they will always get a rerun and if you see a limited event that you really want to play, you can always return to the game for a few days/weeks, do the event and go back to whatever else you want to play.
It's always best to just play what you feel like instead of playing a game because you're scared of missing content, it'll make it a lot more enjoyable! Or at least that's my opinion on it :)
I've already beaten the game, but I feel burnt out on not wanting to play it again 😞
i liked rinwell since i saw her story trailer, and she is the sole reason i still havent uninstall tales of arise from my PC
Fair, I didnt really follow the marketing but she did become one of my favorites!
My time honestly is already limited i prolly got through 1/3 of it. At this point i would resolve to watch a playthrough of rpgs instead 😅 it would reduce the time and money
Okay I watched the video and I think since the price is low now, I do want to give this game a try, I'll just be using a guide when it comes to the combat and stick to easy. I've been playing video games for a very long time now (over 30 years), and I am at a point where I don't want to tackle hard games. Like last year I played 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, it was my first time in ages playing a game where the whole combat was based around Tower Defense, which I normally can't stand, but since I put the difficulty on easy, I was able to enjoy the game a lot more, even though the combat was still the weakest part for me (everything else was amazing).
But I plan on replaying Tales of Symphonia though since I got my Wii hooked up and I can play Gamecube games on it. ToS is a Gamecube game. I haven't played that game in 10 years at least and I remember loving that game it was one of my fav games of all time, even with it's flaws. One interesting fact was that there were 2 chars in the game that were almost polar opposites in how I felt about them- one I disliked from a personality POV, but he was one of my fav chars in a battle. It was the complete opposite for another char, she was one of my fav chars in the story, but her play style was very poor, and I only used her when I had to use her.
But yeah if you do plan on playing more Tales games, I think look out for videos on what games to play, definitely start out with fan faves, like I think with most Tales fans, Vesperia is one of the top ones as well as Abyss.
I hope you enjoy your time with it!
Yeah from what Ive heard Vesperia and Abyss seem to be pretty popular, Berseria is also a title I hear a lot about tho.
Great video, great game! Although one thing I'd like to add (sadly on the negative side) is that the villains are pretty weak, specially Vohlran, I felt like his potential was completely wasted. All in all I loved the game, particularly the characters but as the credits rolled I wanted to have cried of hapiness, but instead I was "just" satisfied and happy, not overly happy, still I liked the ending quite a bit more than Tales of Berseria's.
quests do give you money do few of them you'll have what you need to buy weapons
Money is easy to obtain. No tricks about it.
@@ChimuKusanagi exactly or better if he is far enough in the game and had best bait and best rod he can catch fish and sell it for 3k each time =]
Tales of Arise is definitely one of my favorite action JRPGs of all time. And the funny thing is I really dont like Berseria or Vesperia.
Another tales game I got the platnum for (I usually get real close if I don't actually do it).
An amazing game that had very few things I personally think it needed for improvement. I missed the 4 player Co-op features the most honestly.
I have been going through tales games with a friend for a while, unfortunately the plot in Arise didn't hook him (he was impatient and complaining about them drip feeding info and not revealing all of Shionne and Alphens back stories way earlier in the story... Which in my opinion is a bit of a poor take since he has played/watched other stuff that did it way worse. That said the same person confuses the art style with the mood in earlier games. says "it's light and fluffy" while asbel in graces is going to an extreme depression spiral. (The depression spiral in question features multiple deaths, betrayals as well as a loss of his friends family and home).
Arise isn't perfect but it does touch on some of older systems that I missed.
-Weapons and armor actually having a scaling improvement in stats not just random skills which can unbalance the equipment you use through a whole game... 1 playthrough of Berseria and got a beast blade with multiple attack up skills at the start of the game that lasted me the whole game ( for those interested it had 2 attack +500 on it... Never getting that luck again).
I like when weapons have skills but I don't like random skills on equipment it ruins the feeling or progress for me.
I love how the developers still try to make every character in every installment have something that makes them function differently from those before.
I played it at launch and it was good, my biggest issue is the weak paywall stuff and it didnt have the rift like endgame dungeon that Tales of Berseria had...it was a good game but left a bad taste in my mouth bc I like postgame content stuff
For me it was the story, especially the second half, it frlt dragged and then exposition dumped towards the end. And then we have discount Sephiroth (Volhran) left me wanting for more, easily the villain I wanted to see the most throughout the game both in terms of story and gameplay wise.
Gameplay wise I think Tales of Arise is amazing and a great evolution of the Tales of battle systems. The characters are mostly great and pretty well rounded. The only character I'm not too fond of is actually Alphen funnily enough. I just don't think he's a particularly interesting protagonist personality wise. However when it comes to story I think Arise was just okay. I do think it has one of the weaker stories in the Tales of series but it all comes down to personal taste.
agreed. When u compare it to other tales games u can see how its rushed and lacking in depth. U spend almost no time on the other world. The last third of the game felt incomplete. Same with some of the main story arcs. It also lacked perspective from the enemies side. Its a decent game but a weak part of the tales series.
Great video! I played about 2 hours of tales of arise and dropped it after I found the story mediocre. Not a big fan of tales of but i did enjoy berseria and abyss quite a bit, really wondering if I should give this game another chance.
Idk how far you played but if you're still not feeling it in the second region it might not be for you, but I would definitely recommend going back!
If you didnt enjoy the begining very much, you would probably despise the latter half. It starts of quite strong and continues so untill about half way through, where it drops off a bit, and than it drops off completely at about 3/4 in my opinion.
@@KaiSaeren I feel like that with almost all Tales games. Soon as you get to the part before the final dungeon where you gotta back track all over the world again, combined with the final dungeon , i'm just forcing myself to finish. I played Arise , Berseria, Zesteria and then Vesperia back to back and had pretty much the same expierence in all of them. Loved the first 3/4 , then slogged through the last 1/4 for the story conclusion.
@@user-qy4xo4id1t I was talking more plotwise but I agree with you here as well, the last bit between where you feel the game is ending and where it actually ends is often a chore, the last dungeon and baktracking is overlong.
Boy, there sure is a whole lot of hating and whining over Tales of Arise in this comment section.
Yeah I'm surprised with how divided the fans seem to be. Ive seen comments fro;m people who love the game but also from people who hate it.
I dont mind tho, it's interesting to see the different opinions.
@@Arkry_ Sadly, fandoms getting divided over the newest entry isn't anything new. It happens all the time in many fandoms of long-running franchises. You can see this happening in the Zelda fandom with old-school fans hating on BotW & TofK and calling them "not real Zelda games". Same thing with the Final Fantasy fandom with FFXVI and the Yazuza/Like A Dragon fandom with Yakuza 7.
Even within the Tales fandom every entry got criticized and bashed on when they first released. Berseria used to get a lot of flack for having a scantly-dressed and edgy female protagonist, the scene of the original Laphicet's death getting censored in localized releases, its bittersweet ending, the unskippable skits, and it being a prequel to the much maligned Zestiria. Zestiria was criticized for damn near everything and even to this day is seen as one of the most weakest titles in this franchise. Xillia was seen as a rushed and incomplete game, and while Xillia 2 was received generally better than its prequel it was still heavily criticized for having a silent protagonist and it being the darkest game storywise in the entire franchise. Graces was mocked for leaning too hard on "The Power of Friendship" and its handling of romance. Even the Holy Trinity (Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia) got their fare share of negativity back in the day.
With Arise, most of the negativity comes from the fact that it's not only the newest title but also a series reboot that tries to renovate and evolve the Tales formula, and if there's one thing that old-timer fans do not like, it's change.
People in general seem to have a huge primary bias when it comes to video games, and while I can understand that people will have their critiques, it gets tiring dealing the same repetitive cycle of "new game sucks because it's new and different, the old games are soooo much better and can do no wrong".
End rant from an old and bitter Tales fan who actually loves the newest entry and think that it's a good Tales game and a good step forward for this franchise.
@@us0_tsuki Why on earth do you pay so much mind to the critics? They exist in absolutely everything. Be thankful for the things you enjoy, you don't need to convince anybody else of their value.
@@raiusdaltar1483 Because I'm sick and tired of the constant negativity and toxicity I see in fandoms. I do still find enjoyment in the media I consume, but it's tiring to see constant drama and discourse over the games I like.
the game's mid and predatory in monetization
Recently Iv been wanting to replay it, I remember loving the first 3/4 or so when things were emotionally complex and more morally grey, everyone had their own motivations and it wasnt just about power of friendship like jrpgs usually are, but I ended up being dissapointed as the last 1/4 kinda dropped the ball and reverted to just that, dropping most of the complexity that drew me in and instead everyone just became all for saving everyone and everyone being friends, it felt really weird and out of touch, as if they suddenly forgot about the hundreds of years of slavery and torture and expected everyone to just cooperate no problem.
I enjoyed the game quite a bit but still was dissapointed we didnt really get what was promised in that innitial trailer all those years ago, and of course rather salty about the story dropping the ball, at least for me. Oh yea and fuck Law for that stunt he pulled with that boss, that was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in jrpg, absolutely awfully done, made me question the sanity of the cast for agreeing and very much soured my experience right then and there.
But the party never forgot about the whole "300 years of slavery and torture" thing. They still acknowledge that but they also know that the Dahnans and Renans can't keep hating each other forever and that the cycle of hate has to end in order for the two races to move towards coexistence. They understand that it won't be easy and it'll take time, but it has to happen or else the Dahnans and Renans will continue to hate and oppress each other. The cast wanting to save everyone and have them get along isn't "weird or out of touch", but something that the story was building up to.
And yeah. What a terrible person Law is, wanting to help his friend not be consumed by hatred. He should've just let Rinwell attack Almeidrea in blind anger. I'm sure nothing wrong would've happened then.
Great game overall but the last dungeon sucked gigantic balls. Every enemy was a huge sponge, battles took so long ad there were a lot of enemies
Scarlet nexus???
Scarlet Nexus!!!
yes..this game was awesome and i hate the tales series..the gameplay was fast paced, fun, and not convoluted like most of the tales games..especially zesteria that combat was abysmal
I only have problems with the exposition dump towards the end, i think it could had been handled better.I did not mind the spongy enemies, maybe changing the battle system to all characters could participate at once would had softened the concern.
I called Rinwell the racist of the game. And it's not the first time Tales games went through that kind of writing.
I couldnt understand anything you said.
Finished a week ago (started at day one but dropped) Im a Tales Of Berseria enjoyer and TOA for my POV has Splendid graphics and the Ufotable anime moments are incredible as always, but that's all...combat system is fun but get repetitive and annoying + story mega based and simple. The DLC pls DON'T buy it, is terrible and cringe
Great vid. Imo, first 70% of the game is brilliant, the last 30% is some of the worst design and storytelling I've seen in a game. Still really enjoyed it, but yeah...
Of course. It is a great game, except for the anti consumer practices👍
Good video, interesting point of view
What i would say is that ToA is fine but if you would play any other Tales of game, it is immediately obvious that it is pretty mediocre
Characters are great, i will give it that. the whole cast is likeable and interesting, story is....serviceable, it is really simple imo and apart from one or two things, pretty generic, it does the job but my god is it absolutely incomparable to any other Tales of title, the pacing was also not very good
The world is also pretty small and short...not much to do in any location except maybe fishing
The villain tho...this game has the worst, most forgettable, boring, pointless, laughable villain not only it Tales of but in RPGs in general, absolute waste of time edgelord
What the game does great is combat, it is really fun, fast paced and gorgeous to look at
Now let me go and watch your Persona video 😀
Thanks! Thats very interesting to hear, Im definitely gonna be playing more Tales Of games so Im excited to see how my feelings might change when looking back
@@Arkry_ I feel like i went on a rant about the game lol, overall it is definitely a good game and the combat is superb and i am glad it pulled you into the franchise!!
Hopefully you will play and enjoy the other titles as well
Maybe enough to make a video on them as well 🙂
@@AkumaItachi Dont worry about it haha, it's interesting to see more opinions on this game! I feel like whenever I get around to playing another Tales game I'll probably make a video on it!
How is Tales of Arise "mediocre"? It got good review scores from both critics and users, is the fastest selling title in this franchise and is currently sitting at being the third best sold Tales game worldwide (behind Symphonia and Vesperia), and won multiple awards including Best RPG at the Game Awards. It's also pretty well-received by the fanbase (ignoring the vocal minority of hardcore purists who want to hate on the game).
And the story wasn't that bad? Yes, it's more simple and standard, but that was intentional since past interviews stated that they wanted to write a simple and straightforward plot to appeal to a wider audience and Japanese fans complained that the plots of the last few Tales titles were too complex to understand. And honestly, Tales games don't get that much praise for their writing. Only Symphonia, Abyss, and Berseria are liked for their stories.
The maps in Arise aren't that small. The areas are significantly expansive compared to the maps of other modern Tales titles and you also have treasures and owls to collect to encourage exploring a location, not just fishing.
And lastly, if you seriously believe that Vholran is "the worst, most forgettable, boring, pointless, laughable villain not only it Tales of but in RPGs" then you need to consume more media.
@@us0_tsuki I explained why, good sales and metacritic reviews do not mean anything really, it looked good so people bought it and online reviews are not the best measure if you look at some scores for some games, lot of newcomers to the franchise too who had nothing to compare it to
Yeah, that sounds like copium
Making the story extremely basic to appeal to a wider audience...why, why now? Tales franchise is going on for years and every single one of them had a better plot than Arise, Arise had a good setup but the execution was very lacking
But hey, as long as it sold enough to get them money to make a better game next time
Ok, fishing and finding owls, treasures are not really "content", they are there to give you stuff
Yes, yes i do believe that, i didn't even remember his name until you said it because he did absolutely nothing during the game, then had a few scenes that were supposed to tell you why he is doing...something
And then you defeat him with the power trip Alphen
He is completely worthless, i consumed enough media to see that
A lot of people doing reviews, lot of them here on YT, even the ones that enjoyed the story for what it was, agree that he is an awful and extremely forgettable "villain"
Combat was fun but other than that, it was mediocre
always be blunt never be apologetic to criticism
its not difficulty the enemies just have too much health cause the game is very flawed in combat especially boss fights
the game isn't great, just a very corporate design broad appeal jrpg sanitizing so much of Tales of series for maximum appeal and getting none of it
I mean if you want a cookie-cutter plot that we seen a 100 times over in mangas, anime and JRPGs andextreme padding at times that truly hurts the experience then yep, I would also recpmmend Tales of Arise. Sure it does look beautiful and its fully voice acted...
I feel Tales of Berseria is the high point, for me, of teh Tales of series and way better than this one even if it is, bny no mean, perfect.
"I mean if you want a cookie-cutter plot that we seen a 100 times over in mangas, anime and JRPGs and extreme padding at times that truly hurts the experience"
Which literally describes the entire Tales of franchise. They're straight-up anime in video game format, plot, padding, and all. Even Berseria isn't any better since it used to get constantly compared to Berserk back in the day.
@@us0_tsuki I'm sorry but this game wish it was as deep or interesting as Berserk.
Not all animes are the same to bppt, Tales of Arise is just way too simple in its story and characters, with every trope in the book, to be considered better than average. Other episodes, like Berseria (not Berserk) are deeper.
But Arise has shinier graphics, I guess it has this going for it.
@@AngladaFrankFrankyvape Which was intentional. The writers wanted to write a more simple and straightforward story because they wanted to reach a wider audience and Tales fans back in Japan thought that the plots of the last few games were too complex to understand. And past Tales games were no less tropey with their stories than Arise.
@@us0_tsuki Great for them, I still like it less than the others.
The story is cliche and boring, the combat is fun at first but gets boring after a while. The world and dungeon is monotonous. The skits are very repetitive and exposition dump. So probably 6/10 At least the graphic is superb.
A very moderate opinion
Wrong! It's a great fun game!
guhh i hated this game
To each of their own. I do not hate the game, but surely could had been better.