Especialmente a primeira parte do jogo, com toda aquela história de ter que derrotar os 5 lordes, é boa. Mas chegando na segunda parte da história, se perde bastante e, pelo menos para mim, o combate começou a ficar meio chato, com todos aqueles inimigos com 1kk de HP. Embora colocando numa balança todos os erros e acertos, definitivamente vale a pena.
Quem diria que pescar NÃO seria a parte mais chata.
bosses take 20+ minutes and one shot your party
Really good gameplay, accompanied by beautifully flashy attacks. By far the weakest story of the Tales-games, with a very interesting start, but the story becomes more questionable (and predictable) as time goes on.
The two anime openings the game has are good metaphors for the game (in my opinion), the first one playing throughout the first half being extremely strong and my personal favorite, with the second being significantly weaker by all means.
Lastly, the 2D-animated scenes by Ufotable had some questionable choices, in the sense that some of them are an utter waste of their talent and one of the potentially flashiest fights in the game not receiving a scene like that is a cardinal sin.
The two anime openings the game has are good metaphors for the game (in my opinion), the first one playing throughout the first half being extremely strong and my personal favorite, with the second being significantly weaker by all means.
Lastly, the 2D-animated scenes by Ufotable had some questionable choices, in the sense that some of them are an utter waste of their talent and one of the potentially flashiest fights in the game not receiving a scene like that is a cardinal sin.
Xenoblade at home
This is the first Tales game I've actually finished, and boy howdy, am I glad I got to play this for "free" through PS Plus, because Arise does not set a good impression of the series, god damn. I would have been even more sour on this had I paid money for it. This game exemplifies and doubles down on everything I don't like about most action JRPGs, along with adding its own clunk and jank that makes the whole game progressively more unfun to play the further it drags on. Couple that with a story that feels like it goes out of its way to be the bluntest, by-the-books rebellion story about racism and slavery being bad (woah, really? i never would have guessed), while also being complete jargony nonsense, both at the same time, and you have a recipe for pure melatonin.
I've found that most action JRPGs tend to fall into what I like to call "The Rhythm" the further they continue. Every single encounter, no matter what enemy or boss you're facing, plays out exactly the same, with you rinsing and repeating the exact same attack pattern ad nauseam until the enemies are down, every single time. Without exception. Final Fantasy XVI, NEO: The World Ends with You, Persona 5 Strikers, Scarlet Nexus, and so on. All of those do this. The feel of the patterns can make a difference between enjoyment and not; Scarlet Nexus, for example, I feel has excellent-feeling and very satisfying combat, even in spite of how repetitive it is. Tales of Arise, on the other hand, I don't like. Like the others, Tales of Arise is no different in following "The Rhythm," except it adds on its own BS to make it even less fun that it already would have been otherwise. For one, this game is grindy as hell, regularly requiring you to farm regular encounters to keep up with the rapidly increasing level of the enemies, as they give proportionally little EXP to compensate. This extremely repetitive process of going in and out of battles with the same enemies, over and over again, made me painfully sick of performing the same motions in each and every battle. There was no sense of progression, it was just the same thing, each and every time. What made it even worse, however, is how constraining the game's economy is. Because enemy encounters, and especially boss fights, tend to drag on for eons at a time, I often found myself running low on the all-too-necessary recovery items, as the ally AI tended to waste all of the party's CP the second they could use a supportive arte. With how little money there is going around, and how expensive items tend to be, I found myself barely scraping by the further the game went on. I skipped out on a lot of the lategame encounters just to save my recovery items and CP, which, in turn, put me even further behind on EXP, making the boss encounters and required encounters that much more difficult to sit through. It's multiple negative feedback loops that coalesce into a giant ouroboros of pain. The only saving grace is that the animations of the finishers are really cool and flashy, I love them. Hearing ASTRAL ENERGY! | SAY NO MORE! over and over never got old.
The story is way too plain, and not even in a fun way, like Fire Emblem Engage or Just Cause 3 or something. It's just plain to the point of being boring and forgettable. How they managed that, I have no idea. There are hints of something more interesting under the surface, like with the major theme of loneliness and how it can affect someone's state of mind and growth as a person; a theme that isn't explored much, if at all, in JRPGs; but all of that is overshadowed by just how bland the rest of the game's story is. This game, and especially its extremely jargony dialogue, is more blunt than a wrecking ball with its themes and message, focuses way too much on the stuff that it really shouldn't have, and overstays its welcome about 10 hours longer than it should have.
This is the first Tales game I've actually finished, and boy howdy, am I glad I got to play this for "free" through PS Plus, because Arise does not set a good impression of the series, god damn. I would have been even more sour on this had I paid money for it. This game exemplifies and doubles down on everything I don't like about most action JRPGs, along with adding its own clunk and jank that makes the whole game progressively more unfun to play the further it drags on. Couple that with a story that feels like it goes out of its way to be the bluntest, by-the-books rebellion story about racism and slavery being bad (woah, really? i never would have guessed), while also being complete jargony nonsense, both at the same time, and you have a recipe for pure melatonin.
I've found that most action JRPGs tend to fall into what I like to call "The Rhythm" the further they continue. Every single encounter, no matter what enemy or boss you're facing, plays out exactly the same, with you rinsing and repeating the exact same attack pattern ad nauseam until the enemies are down, every single time. Without exception. Final Fantasy XVI, NEO: The World Ends with You, Persona 5 Strikers, Scarlet Nexus, and so on. All of those do this. The feel of the patterns can make a difference between enjoyment and not; Scarlet Nexus, for example, I feel has excellent-feeling and very satisfying combat, even in spite of how repetitive it is. Tales of Arise, on the other hand, I don't like. Like the others, Tales of Arise is no different in following "The Rhythm," except it adds on its own BS to make it even less fun that it already would have been otherwise. For one, this game is grindy as hell, regularly requiring you to farm regular encounters to keep up with the rapidly increasing level of the enemies, as they give proportionally little EXP to compensate. This extremely repetitive process of going in and out of battles with the same enemies, over and over again, made me painfully sick of performing the same motions in each and every battle. There was no sense of progression, it was just the same thing, each and every time. What made it even worse, however, is how constraining the game's economy is. Because enemy encounters, and especially boss fights, tend to drag on for eons at a time, I often found myself running low on the all-too-necessary recovery items, as the ally AI tended to waste all of the party's CP the second they could use a supportive arte. With how little money there is going around, and how expensive items tend to be, I found myself barely scraping by the further the game went on. I skipped out on a lot of the lategame encounters just to save my recovery items and CP, which, in turn, put me even further behind on EXP, making the boss encounters and required encounters that much more difficult to sit through. It's multiple negative feedback loops that coalesce into a giant ouroboros of pain. The only saving grace is that the animations of the finishers are really cool and flashy, I love them. Hearing ASTRAL ENERGY! | SAY NO MORE! over and over never got old.
The story is way too plain, and not even in a fun way, like Fire Emblem Engage or Just Cause 3 or something. It's just plain to the point of being boring and forgettable. How they managed that, I have no idea. There are hints of something more interesting under the surface, like with the major theme of loneliness and how it can affect someone's state of mind and growth as a person; a theme that isn't explored much, if at all, in JRPGs; but all of that is overshadowed by just how bland the rest of the game's story is. This game, and especially its extremely jargony dialogue, is more blunt than a wrecking ball with its themes and message, focuses way too much on the stuff that it really shouldn't have, and overstays its welcome about 10 hours longer than it should have.
Peak
Buen juego en todos los sentidos pero demasiado largo
Another great jRPG aimed more towards genre enthusiasts than casual gamers because it has a few features that may deter some who isn't this kind of game fan. Excellent storyline that captivated old fart like myself :) Very well-written script. However, the game itself could be shorter - 2/3 would have been sufficient. Now, Scarlet Nexus awaits me :)
BUGADO PRA CARALHO
mas bom
mas bom
Al chile lo que te cuentan en la segunda mitad parece void meme
Muy bonito les ha quedado con el cambio de motor, pero el combate nuevo es nefasto y soy incapaz de aguantarlo durante lo largos que son estos juegos siempre.
Achei o jogo sublime, gameplay incrível, história incrível, personagens cativantes, JRPG que dá orgulho de se ver, claramente um dos melhores JRPG modernos que claramente não será esquecido por mim num futuro próximo.
It's hard to recommend this game. On the surface, it's nice, beutiful. It systems however leave a bit to be desired; particularly, combat isn't the best. Fights aren't too fun, and everything new that's added to it gets old quickly due to relentless repetition. There is basically no difference between mobs. The most basic of trashmobs doesn't feel like it demands a different playstyle from the actual final boss of the game. There are tiny hints of strategy with each character's specia move, that don't really serve a lot, and only seem to be useful for enemies specifically designed to make use of them. They create a problem and a solution at the same time.
There are charming bits here and there, mainly fun interactions between the cast of characters that make up your party; a found family so endearing that almost justifies 40 hours of an overarching story that doesn't quite hit the spot. Almost.
Seriously, now, I've come to really appreciate this group of misfits. At first, they always look like they're not gonna fit together, but they do. They are your best reason to play this.
There are charming bits here and there, mainly fun interactions between the cast of characters that make up your party; a found family so endearing that almost justifies 40 hours of an overarching story that doesn't quite hit the spot. Almost.
Seriously, now, I've come to really appreciate this group of misfits. At first, they always look like they're not gonna fit together, but they do. They are your best reason to play this.
it's alright
long ass game
Liked this a lot more than Vesperia, but I'm not sure if these games are for me. Combat is fun toward the beginning but feels more and more like a chore. A lot of enemies feel like HP sponges, and the while the special attacks look cool, they don't feel satisfying to trigger.
Story is generally alright! Introduces some fun stuff into a generally cliche anime rebellion plotline. I really liked the comic panel cut scenes, they helped to make exposition a little more dynamic, and hid the fact that the in game models aren't all that expressive.
Story is generally alright! Introduces some fun stuff into a generally cliche anime rebellion plotline. I really liked the comic panel cut scenes, they helped to make exposition a little more dynamic, and hid the fact that the in game models aren't all that expressive.
This review contains spoilers
A heartfelt love letter and much needed modernization of the JRPG genre. It doesn't move past the genre's more annoying conventions like a lack of player choice and some overdramatic sequences, but it's truly genuine in how it approaches the themes of trauma, loss, oppression, social justice, and love between friends.
All the time it feels like I’m consuming something low quality. The art is so generic, the camera on combat is so bad. The dialogues in comic book style are horrible, with many of them with a animated character moving only the mouth and the entire body totally stagnant. This was the last chance I gave the series. The only impression that remains is that it's just a JRPG fast food, and it's not even a good one.
Starts off strong, beautiful world, interesting battle mechanics, engaging story. As it continues all starts to fall apart. Battles tend to drag on for too long towards the end game where you slap the same boss for an hour before getting one-shotted. World is beautiful but not much to do in and interact with. Story falls off once it enters the 2nd arc and becomes corny beyond repair. First 20 hours were magical with a sour latter half.
PLEASE tales game please make a game with a good story that doesnt make me want to go on my phone every time a cutscene plays
It’s quite fine and cool sometimes
It starts out very promising but things quickly become rather repetitive and uninteresting.
I tried. I tried so hard but it didn't click once with me.
Simplemente es una obra maestra. Es un titulo que toma todos los recursos que lo podian hacer grande y los explota llevandolo a su mejor version. Su historia es super adulta tratando el amor, la voluntad, los problemas personales, la esclavitud y hasta la muerte de una manera mas que espectacular. Sus momentos de anime son simplemente epicos. Su combate a mi gusto es lo mas flojo, pero por lo demas es un titulo infaltable para las 5 estrellas
This game was my introduction to the Tales of series.
I always thought that it looked great, especially after all the praise it got, I was curious to check it out so I decided to play it.
To be completely honest, I got into the game wanting to like it, but unfortunately from the first few minutes, I realized that it's just going to be a typical JRPG with some generic plot points and common anime tropes.
Well, what I got is exactly that, the game is nothing more but the most basic JRPG I've played so far. The first half of the game is actually somewhat fun, but the story is very monotonous, and the last few hours are a slog to go through, the final dungeon is exhausting, filled with overleveled spongey enemies and terrible level design, and the ending is absolutely pathetic and nonsensical.
As for the characters, the main cast is underwhelming, there's barely any development, and the side characters are very one dimensional and forgettable.
I don't want to seem very negative, because I actually enjoyed the game for the most part, the gameplay is good, the graphics look fantastic, various different worlds to explore, beautiful landscapes, environments and cities.
I actually had fun solely because of the gameplay, and it motivated me to explore a lot and do side quests and interact with the world for many hours.
Personally I'm disappointed, is it a solid fun game? In some ways yeah, do I recommend it? Not really, I mean if you're craving to play a JRPG then maybe, but there are superior JRPGs out there that do everything this game does but better.
Final Rating: "Decent" ~ 6/10.
I always thought that it looked great, especially after all the praise it got, I was curious to check it out so I decided to play it.
To be completely honest, I got into the game wanting to like it, but unfortunately from the first few minutes, I realized that it's just going to be a typical JRPG with some generic plot points and common anime tropes.
Well, what I got is exactly that, the game is nothing more but the most basic JRPG I've played so far. The first half of the game is actually somewhat fun, but the story is very monotonous, and the last few hours are a slog to go through, the final dungeon is exhausting, filled with overleveled spongey enemies and terrible level design, and the ending is absolutely pathetic and nonsensical.
As for the characters, the main cast is underwhelming, there's barely any development, and the side characters are very one dimensional and forgettable.
I don't want to seem very negative, because I actually enjoyed the game for the most part, the gameplay is good, the graphics look fantastic, various different worlds to explore, beautiful landscapes, environments and cities.
I actually had fun solely because of the gameplay, and it motivated me to explore a lot and do side quests and interact with the world for many hours.
Personally I'm disappointed, is it a solid fun game? In some ways yeah, do I recommend it? Not really, I mean if you're craving to play a JRPG then maybe, but there are superior JRPGs out there that do everything this game does but better.
Final Rating: "Decent" ~ 6/10.
Eu tinha preconceito com jogos de anime até jogar esse jogo, espetacular!
que jogo LINDO. os gráficos e o estilo artístico são impecáveis e tem varias paisagens de cair o queixo pra serem admiradas. o maior problema do jogo entretanto... é que todo o resto dele é só "bom o suficiente" o que não seria tão ruim se ele não se arrastasse tanto. O combate é legal na maior parte, apesar dos inimigos extremamente repetitivos e batalhas de boss beeeem entediantes, os personagens também agradam mas a história é tão longa e bagunçada que acaba fazendo com que todo o resto não se sustente direito. é uma pena, por que eu estava animado pra jogar esse jogo desde o lançamento e realmente queria muito amar ele.
Jogabilidade boa, mas o gameplay loop é chato pra caralho: se encha de itens, perca tudo no próximo chefe que é demoradíssimo pra vencer, repita. A história é nonsense. A música e os gráficos são excelentes, finalmente trouxeram valor pra série. Os personagens não calam a boca.
Ever since I noticed this game back in 2021, I always thought it looked really cool and wanted to try it for myself, but the price was rather steep here, and even though there were some good sales for it, I never took the plunge, thinking it could go to game pass eventually, and recently my prayers were answered. I can say my expectations for it were mostly hit and that I had a good time.
This game is my first experience with the Tales series, before the marketing for this started I didn't even know it existed, therefore I had no idea what to expect, all I knew is that it looked cool. After playing for a while, I noticed something: It's very similar to Scarlet Nexus (Another 2021 Bandai Namco game) in many aspects. The gameplay feels similar, they share a few mechanics, and even the skits are familiar in style (Though with Arise the characters actually move a bit instead of being just still frames). A pleasant surprise to be sure, since I like Scarlet Nexus. However, they're still very distinct games, especially the story.
I don't have a whole lot of experience with JRPGs, having only played a few, but this is exactly the kind of affair I'd expect from one: Nations enslaved for centuries by an outside force, suddenly a mysterious person appears to our MC, carrying the McGuffin that will finally free them from oppression, meeting colorful and quirky characters to help you on the way. This simplification, while accurate, does not mean the story is bad, quite the opposite in fact. I enjoyed it a lot, there were lots of good moments, and even some 2D animated cutscenes by Ufotable. In the latter half of the game, however, there's a lot of exposition, so be ready to get a dump of info. And by the end, I feel like it got a little dragged out, but I still liked the conclusion (I have not and will not buy the DLC). It took me about 75 hours to finish, having done most sidequests (I did not do the endgame post-finale ones, I don't wanna grind for levels). It has some pacing issues from time to time, but overall an enjoyable experience. Sidequests are repetitive though, lots of "kill that" or "bring me this" or a combination thereof. Characters are pretty good, I watched as many skits as I could, loved seeing how they developed and interacted.
As for how the game plays, it depends on what you choose. You can make the game play itself, or go for a fully manual mode that's pretty much a character action mode (I went with this). Everything feels very fluid, and at least in Normal difficulty the progression is good, you gradually get more powerful and you can feel it, while at the same time the game remains challenging all throughout. Enemies are usually fun to fight, and boss fights were mostly great. There is a problem with recycled content though. You'll fight some of the same enemies in every region you can go to, just reskinned with a new elemental type, same applies to some bosses. Combine that with the eventual skill plateau and lack of new mechanics for the second half, and you'll understand how things can get a bit old.
Visually, this game is looks very good. It's stylized, with vibrant colors giving life to beautiful natural landmarks and cities, and character designs are very good too. From a technical side, I couldn't find any bad textures or blurriness (It was pretty much a bugless experience overall), and the lighting is decent. Animations during cutscenes are good, probably because they use mocap, but can be stiff during real time interactions between characters, especially how their mouths move. Enemy designs are well made, but there's the already mentioned problem of recycled enemies, some of which are merely color palette swaps. Also, kinda ignored in most games, but something I liked was the menu and UIs, they look sleek and are very simplified, something more games could strive for nowadays.
One of this game's strongest aspects was the soundtrack. Besides a slight lack of variety for combat music, it is overall great. From the grandiose orchestral songs from Calaglia to the slow and calming tune of Cysloden, they all fit nicely. Sound design also gets in your head after a while, not anything out of the ordinary but also good, though enemies are sometimes way too silent.
That's about all I have to talk about this game. I enjoyed it, and not having paid extra for it feels even better. There's flaws, it's not a perfect game, but it's well worth your time, having fun gameplay and a fun story, complimented by good looks and a good soundtrack. If you like JRPGs and/or action games, this is a very good pick. Be ready to spend some time with it though, it can get a little draining but you'll probably enjoy it like I did.
SCORE: 8/10
This game is my first experience with the Tales series, before the marketing for this started I didn't even know it existed, therefore I had no idea what to expect, all I knew is that it looked cool. After playing for a while, I noticed something: It's very similar to Scarlet Nexus (Another 2021 Bandai Namco game) in many aspects. The gameplay feels similar, they share a few mechanics, and even the skits are familiar in style (Though with Arise the characters actually move a bit instead of being just still frames). A pleasant surprise to be sure, since I like Scarlet Nexus. However, they're still very distinct games, especially the story.
I don't have a whole lot of experience with JRPGs, having only played a few, but this is exactly the kind of affair I'd expect from one: Nations enslaved for centuries by an outside force, suddenly a mysterious person appears to our MC, carrying the McGuffin that will finally free them from oppression, meeting colorful and quirky characters to help you on the way. This simplification, while accurate, does not mean the story is bad, quite the opposite in fact. I enjoyed it a lot, there were lots of good moments, and even some 2D animated cutscenes by Ufotable. In the latter half of the game, however, there's a lot of exposition, so be ready to get a dump of info. And by the end, I feel like it got a little dragged out, but I still liked the conclusion (I have not and will not buy the DLC). It took me about 75 hours to finish, having done most sidequests (I did not do the endgame post-finale ones, I don't wanna grind for levels). It has some pacing issues from time to time, but overall an enjoyable experience. Sidequests are repetitive though, lots of "kill that" or "bring me this" or a combination thereof. Characters are pretty good, I watched as many skits as I could, loved seeing how they developed and interacted.
As for how the game plays, it depends on what you choose. You can make the game play itself, or go for a fully manual mode that's pretty much a character action mode (I went with this). Everything feels very fluid, and at least in Normal difficulty the progression is good, you gradually get more powerful and you can feel it, while at the same time the game remains challenging all throughout. Enemies are usually fun to fight, and boss fights were mostly great. There is a problem with recycled content though. You'll fight some of the same enemies in every region you can go to, just reskinned with a new elemental type, same applies to some bosses. Combine that with the eventual skill plateau and lack of new mechanics for the second half, and you'll understand how things can get a bit old.
Visually, this game is looks very good. It's stylized, with vibrant colors giving life to beautiful natural landmarks and cities, and character designs are very good too. From a technical side, I couldn't find any bad textures or blurriness (It was pretty much a bugless experience overall), and the lighting is decent. Animations during cutscenes are good, probably because they use mocap, but can be stiff during real time interactions between characters, especially how their mouths move. Enemy designs are well made, but there's the already mentioned problem of recycled enemies, some of which are merely color palette swaps. Also, kinda ignored in most games, but something I liked was the menu and UIs, they look sleek and are very simplified, something more games could strive for nowadays.
One of this game's strongest aspects was the soundtrack. Besides a slight lack of variety for combat music, it is overall great. From the grandiose orchestral songs from Calaglia to the slow and calming tune of Cysloden, they all fit nicely. Sound design also gets in your head after a while, not anything out of the ordinary but also good, though enemies are sometimes way too silent.
That's about all I have to talk about this game. I enjoyed it, and not having paid extra for it feels even better. There's flaws, it's not a perfect game, but it's well worth your time, having fun gameplay and a fun story, complimented by good looks and a good soundtrack. If you like JRPGs and/or action games, this is a very good pick. Be ready to spend some time with it though, it can get a little draining but you'll probably enjoy it like I did.
SCORE: 8/10
I was bored with Tales of Arise, then i was having a ton of fun, then i was bored again. There are only like five enemy types in this game and the combat gets stale once you stop gaining new party members to change things up. I generally liked the characters, but the story was pretty much nothing so it failed to keep my attention. Not sure if i dont have the patience for these long character RPGs or if i just keep playing the wrong ones.
Game highlight: gorgeous environment art, i was always excited to see a new area.
Game highlight: gorgeous environment art, i was always excited to see a new area.