Tales of Arise is a fun adventure, featuring a compelling story, cast of likable characters, and engaging action combat.

It starts off with as fairly standard story of rebellion. Dahna is suffering under three centuries of enslavement by the Renans, technologically advanced conquerors from the neighboring planet's artificial satellite. It's various regions are kept isolated from one another and ruled over by a Lord. We meet our masked protagonist in one of these areas, a fiery land known as Calaglia. Here he runs into Shionne, a Renan princess fleeing captivity, and quickly becomes embroiled in a plot to overthrow the local Lord.

This sequence serves as an extended tutorial and it works fairly well, introducing players to Tales of Arise's fluid action combat and role-playing mechanics. Combat consists of standard attacks tied to R1 and artes (i.e., special attacks) mapped to the face buttons (X, Y, A), which can be chained together into combos. Characters can dodge enemy attacks (R2) and jump (B) to initiate aerial combat, which employs an entirely separate set of artes. The goal is to "break" enemies by piling on damage in order to perform special "Boost Strike" attacks with party members. Enemies have elemental affinities which can be exploited using attacks of the opposing element. They can also be downed through carefully timed "boost attacks." Each character's boost attack has a unique effect; for example, Kisara, the shield-wielding tank can jump in front of a charging enemy, interrupting its movement and leaving it vulnerable to counterattacks.

The player controls a single character during combat, but can switch instantly to any other. Movement is critical in order to avoid telegraphed enemy attacks and to position yourself to inflict maximum damage on separately targetable weak points. Enemies do tend to be damage sponges as a result, but it's no different from what you would see in any action RPG focused on exploiting weak points al la Monster Hunter. The interplay between dodging enemy attacks, initiating your own attacks and artes, timing boost attacks, using healing items, and reacting to your AI allies’ actions (e.g., if Shionne casts healing circle, you need to stand in that circle) gives the combat an MMO feel or something similar to Xenoblade.

The RPG mechanics come in the form of gear and skills. Gear is relatively simple with a weapon, armor, and accessory slot available for each character. There is a bog standard crafting system for weapons and armor, but the accessory crafting system is actually really unique and fun to engage with. Each accessory has a core ability and additional bonuses which are unlocked as you level it up (by spending resources that could otherwise be used to craft accessories). Unlocked bonuses can then be transferred between accessories allowing players to create a variety of different "builds" for characters. This is all in addition to a rather uninspiring skills system whereby you earn skill points for completing quests and killing monsters then spend them on bonuses. Given the preponderance of skill points, theres never any reason to prioritize specific skills, rendering the whole system pretty uninteresting.

The companions you meet during a play-through are distinct and likable. In typical Tales fashion, their personalities and backstories are explored via in-game cutscenes presented in a comic book style. These are effective, although some players will dislike the amount of reading required. I tend to prefer the older style skits from Symphonia, which played out using just the characters’ heads and felt less intrusive, but can appreciate the new direction and inclusion of body language. I enjoyed the stories of Rinwell, Law, Kisara, and Dohliam. Not to mention the interplay between Alphen and Shionne, whose backstory is absolutely crucial to the plot, which sees the ragtag band of companions transform into a found family who fight and struggle together to save the world.

The game is not without failings though, namely lack of detail in the world. Assets are recycled relentlessly and there just isn’t much to do outside of the main story. Side quests are bland and uninspired, requiring you to kill monsters, speak to NPCs, or locate lost items. You can also mine ore (used in the aforementioned accessory crafting system) and fish (used in the yet to be mentioned cooking system). It's a beautiful looking game with nice lighting and shadows, expressive anime character designs, and varied environments, but the world feels empty. NPCs are also largely dull and lifeless, sometimes miraculously duplicated in the same room!

That plot takes an impressive turn once the Renan lords have been defeated. I was actually shocked when, after beating Vohlarn, the credits didn't start rolling. Everything was building up to that moment and I just assumed the game would end. Instead, you learn of the true plot and set out to save Dahna from an even larger threat—cannibalization of its life force (i.e., astral energy) by the sentient spirit of the neighboring planet, Rena. At that time, I wasn't ready for another twenty hours hours playtime. I put the game down for about a year, only to recently pick it back up and blast through the remaining story while completing most of the optional content. Although I was originally daunted, I'm glad I returned because Arise is a fun time with great combat and characters, as well as a compelling narrative.

Finally, I always appreciate when a video game includes insert music and Arise has some real bangers. The OP is phenomenal, but then the second OP hits (appropriately titled "Hello, Again") after defeating Vohlarn which really hammers in that there is work left to be done. Finally, the ED provides a beautiful moment of release when Alphen and Shionne work together to channel the spirit of Dahna and save their world.