Tales is a long-standing brand of Bandai Namco.
Tales of Arise, a game released in early September this year, is a move that shows that developer/publisher Bandai Namco has decided to revive this brand.
To do that, Bandai Nam brought in veteran employees to contribute to the success of Tales of Phantasia.
Will Bandai Namco succeed in reviving the Tales brand with Tales of Arise?
Tales of Arise is set during the conflict between two planets, Dahna and Rena, with Dahna trying to escape the oppressive slavery created by Rena.
The main character, Alphen, is a person from Dahnan.
Accompanying them are Law and Rinwell, with Law being the `fight first, brain later` type of character and Rinwell being the complete opposite.
Working together, the main characters have many stories and interactions, creating conflict and determination, despair and hope, pain and love, freedom and oppression.
In terms of combat, Tales of Arise isn’t necessarily a complete innovation in the JRPG genre, but it can be said that this game reaches the pinnacle of the genre.
During combat, players can use 4 characters at the same time with the remaining 2 characters acting as support.
Flaming Edge is a type of attack that requires Alphen to sacrifice his health to unleash powerful moves.
Combining the above factors with the use of items and changing characters as you like, Tales of Arise has led to an engaging combat experience, not monotonous with just continuously spamming one or two attacks.
Another commendable point of Tales of Arise is the diversity of enemies.
Tales of Arise is also a technical marvel, perhaps because it was developed over a long period of time, the game operates smoothly and without errors – at least during the time we experienced it.
Of course, no game is perfect and Tales of Arise is no exception.
However, since these side quests can be done while exploring, players do not have to search far and wide to complete these side quests and can instead complete them as they progress through the story.
Dialogue, especially that occurring during combat, is sometimes forced and repetitive.
Regardless, the important thing is that none of the game’s shortcomings weaken the Tales of Arise experience.
Indeed, Tales of Arise is a game designed for longtime fans of the Tales franchise as well as those new to the series.
