Was Tales of Arise Worth The Wait?

Was Tales of Arise Worth The Wait?
0:00 - Intro
1:32 - Graphics, World and Music
4:25 - Combat
8:52 - Characters
12:08 - Narrative
15:21 - Conclusion
Tales of Arise was my personal most hyped title of 2021, it was the one game I was eagerly awaiting. And after a 50 hour playthrough, I'm confident that I can answer whether Tales of Arise was worth the wait or not.
This review will have minor spoilers for the game.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Used:
Sen no Kiseki III OST (First Volume) - Saint-Arkh, the Old Capital
Sen no Kiseki OST - The Sound of Rainfall in the Academy
Ao no Kiseki OST - Seize The Truth
Tokyo Xanadu OST - Hazy Moon
Sen no Kiseki IV OST - Eryn, the Hidden Village
Tokyo Xanadu OST - The Usual Morning
Sen no Kiseki III OST (Second Volume) - Ordis, the Azure Port Town
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoy this content, stay connected via:
► Twitter - / the_kiseki_nut
► Facebook - The-Kiseki-N...
► Twitch - / about

[@TheKisekiNut]

The game I was most excited for this year, but did it live up to the hype? Hmm...

[@Nikita_Akashya]

I was thinking about getting this game if my PC could handle it. Then I watched some of Omegas Videos on the bosses. My brain is unable to handle all the stuff onscreen in the later parts. These fights caused headaches, sadly. I was completely unable to follow what was happening, kinda like the Final Boss of Sky SC where I couldn't even see what was going on. But I'm watching my friend play the game and so far we both enjoy it. I like the story and he takes care of the gameplay. I think Arise is so far one of , if not the best Tales since Abyss. My favorite is still Abyss though. You should play it if you haven't already. I still want a remaster for that game. It's stuck on PS 2 and 3DS. Both games have the best romances in Tales and I love the main couples.

[@justagamer113]

This is my first tales and the combat and visual got me hooked looking fwd to the next one now 👏🏼👍🏼

[@andrewli7319]

I totally understand the love of story for jrpg and if you are interested in another tales game tales of berseria has a really unique and amazing story that I think you’d be interested in

[@outkastshadowking2719]

@Nikita Akashya Things get pretty chaotic in the later half of Tales of Arise during battle and so many effects are happening at once.

[@justifiedfun9811]

Yes this game was awesome and fun

[@Chaiberry]

I really liked how the main group always had an 'aim' and a 'goal' in sight, never aimless. Their actions impacted the story, rather than the story bending to their development. This made the cast overall seem much more sure of themselves, self-driven and confident, which I enjoyed seeing. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[@kylemiller2920]

I really liked the fact that the palpable tension between certain characters was realistic, and added to individual character growth. It made the characters feel alive and believable. I also liked the fact that the characters each had their own clear ambitions, that they didn't all have to have one common goal. it allowed the plot to feel less one dimensional, each character was able to drive the plot from the perspective of their own motivations which made the story feel like a lot of sub-narratives feeding into the larger plot.

[@Hilversumborn]

IMO, It’s not the best Tales game but still a great addition to the series. Plus I’m happy that it’s successful cause it felt like a make or break moment for the series.

[@jakeaw1794]

Hey bud! Another great review. If you haven't played it yet, give Tales of Abyss a shot. It has one of the best stories of any jrpg I've ever played.

[@vayne-san7805]

i see a person of cultured

[@darknesswave100]

Abyss really is a fantastic game

[@riser7795]

Couldn't agree more. I've played all tales mothership titles so far and none has yet to surpass Abyss worldbuilding, story and character development, especially the main protagonist. Hope one day Bamco will do a remaster/remake of it.

[@andrewharper8995]

Great video and I'm so happy Arise is living up to the hype. It has just jumped up my play list significantly!

[@dennisbergkamp17]

Loved the spooky intro. For me, I agree with your opinions of the game. The combat was so damn fun and satisfying to play. Arise very well may be my game of the year…it’s a toss up between Tales of Arise and Persona 5 Strikers, with Monstrum Nox coming in at a close number two.

[@emblemknightrg2529]

To me Arise tackled the theme of Racism, every realm being a showcase on the different levels/types and even historic periods of History. 1.Fire: Enslavement during the times of the Romans/Egyptians 2.Light: Distraught and sabotage of the holocaust 3.Earth: The murders of old London 4.Wind: Extremities like the witches accusations of the Middle Ages 5.Water: The purest form of Racism towards anyone simply for existing. The Endings of the few tales games i played left me with certain mixed feelings but this one gave me a huge grin at the end.

[@NathanYoungLibrary]

I really appreciate the clear ranking of priority for yourself in how you're approaching the game. Story being the #1 thing and Character being high, while overall gameplay and graphics being at the bottom (of the priority list, still important, obviously) makes a ton of sense. I wouldn't rank it exactly that way for myself, but I don't think I knew that until I saw your list and had something to reflect on. So thanks for that! Glad you enjoyed Arise so much.

[@azon7458]

Glad to hear it! I just started to playing it and I'm loving it so far.

[@ricardirickydorante5894]

Solid review!

[@Kirill1124]

Easily one of the best Tales of for me. Really loved the game!

[@jesserivera2043]

This is the fourth time I bought a game following your review, and you've never steered me wrong yet. Lately I've been having trouble finishing Tales games due to being in favor of the Trails series, but this is definitely a great stand-in until Azure comes out in March

[@CuteAndFunnyFan]

Arise`s gameplay is amazing. Lived up to the hype to me.

[@GameKritikTVGerman]

Great review :)

[@lukasvitroler2178]

nice! going to look forward to trying it out then :D

[@neogamer6461]

I really enjoyed the combat and the world of Arise. The characters all felt really unique in terms of playstyle and made me want to experiment with other characters in battle. I normally only use the protagonist in battle when it comes to Tales games but it was fun seeing how they work in battle. The characters too had nice chemistry like you said. They all feel isolated from their world either because of their background or abilities. The story too had clear direction and didn't try to force itself too much. One of my favorites this year for sure.

[@mjalyt2874]

nice review

[@apukami3643]

Glad you liked it as much as you did after rebouncing from Vesperia. There are still some old titles that are better but Arise is still solid top tier

[@brandonthomas6602]

I hope you know how much some of us appreciate your content, seriously, good stuff.

[@TaiketsuG]

Nice video to ToA, i also really enjoyed it overall and will be doing a NG+ in the future for trophy collecting

[@AsbelLhant100]

Tho I'd say Graces f should be played more for gameplay.

[@ninototo1]

@@AsbelLhant100 yup I didn't care much about the story but the gameplay is soooo good. also amazing skits

[@mrdarkstar3756]

Almost done the main story gotta say I love it and the cast *Kisara is the Shield mom we all need) personally in my top 5 For the Tales of series.

[@nicholasyoung1000]

Im very much looking forward to giving it a play! It’s next on my list - but I’m in a Fire Emblem: Three Houses obsession right now!

[@MikeMethot256]

I just arrived at the 3rd region and I gotta say I really appreciate the pacing ! Definitely my favorite game of the year next to great ace attorney

[@alexfairbrother3313]

Great video! I also really enjoyed arise. Side note where did you find your wallpaper for your pc?

[@TheKisekiNut]

Good game, right? Steam wallpaper engine, literally just search CS3 or Trails and you'll probably find it.

[@morriganrenfield8240]

I definitely adored this game. The characters and combat are the highlight of this game even where it falls off in the last third of the game in terms of writing. Depending on how i feel it’s somewhere between a 9-10. Definitely in my top ten!

[@darkrulier]

Tales of Arise is a GREAT game! I put close to 80hrs into it!

[@hiddengem1427]

when it comes to tales games stories none get close to tales of the abyss , it deserve a remaster

[@leon888111]

Yeah I tried replaying it on 2ds the graphics were too bad smh

[@jinyboi]

im in the same boat as you as in i got burned by vesperia (my first tales game). this is why im going into arise with cautious optimism. excited that dogi made a cameo appearance in arise lol

[@TheKisekiNut]

You'll notice his voice very quickly.

[@kani-licious]

as someone who likes trails and not vesperia looks like ill be picking this up

[@EVERYWHERE_MAN]

I’ve been fan of the tales of series games since tales of symphonia and I gotta tell you I can’t wait to play Arise

[@jacobturner8965]

I only started getting hyped after the demo. But even then the game completely blew me out of the water.

[@TheSarste]

So pleased you enjoyed Arise - I did too!

[@TheKisekiNut]

Hey, if it's a good game I'll say it! Arise was quality.

[@lukeamparo6586]

Would like to see your thoughts on Berseria and Zestiria. This game may not have the depth of Vesperia but the aerial combat is more fleshed out and I personally find the system more streamlined from combat to gear stats. Character writing and vocal performance was satisfactory at least and heartwarming at most. SPOILERS: Aside from Niez and a Vholran the writing felt solid.

[@thecognitiverambler8911]

Nice video! I'm only ~10 hours into Arise so far, so I still have a ways to go, but I'm definitely enjoying it so far. Have you played Tales of Berseria? That's my personal favorite in the series, and so far, it's not looking like Arise - while good - will dethrone it for me!

[@TheKisekiNut]

I've played Berseria, I definitely enjoyed this more.

[@PantsaBear]

Arise starts slow honestly, 10 hours isn't really anywhere near enough to have a good idea of what you'll think by the end. I've beaten both Berseria and this game and while Berseria does certain things better and I still love it, Arise will be the game more people will prefer overall

[@DiabolicCrusher]

Yes it was. Game was pretty good. Loved the new dodging system instead of attacking a few times then sitting there blocking attacks. Ost was a bunch of bangers. Characters are likeable(especially Shionne since she's pretty damn beautiful). Sure, pc release wasn't exactly perfect(the fps drops in elde menancia region, man...), but hey, it wasn't a disaster like Sao Lycoris. My main complaint is stupid companion AI and dumbed down tactics menu.

[@marc-ap4699]

Coming from a non Tales of game fan this was a incredible jrpg ! The story got a bit weird by the end with the space Star Oceanish villain but everything was top tier ! I'm now looking forward to the next instalment in the series. Now it's time to play some Kuro no Kiseki ! :D

[@TheKisekiNut]

It's nice to play other JRPGs. Still a fan of the genre at the end of the day. And it's even better when you play games like this. Still got plenty of time till Kuro so I'll get a few more sorted before then!

[@marc-ap4699]

I'm currently playing Yakuza like a dragon , it's so good and funny I totally recommend it to any turn based jrpg fan. The story and the cast is very mature, it's a good change of pace from all the teenage schools games that is overflowing the genre ;)

[@TheKisekiNut]

@@marc-ap4699It's actually on my list! Don't think I'm gonna get to it this year though, still gotta finish DQ11, Kuro of course, and I also want to play the Mysterious Trilogy from the Atelier Series with the announcement of that new game. Oh well, backlogs are meant to grow.

[@darknesswave100]

It's always fascinating to me seeing different opinions for games (especially in comment sections in general) since it allows me to see just how many differing opinions there are out there based on personal experiences. I for one enjoyed this game immensely. The characters are great the story is fantastic all the way through and the combat is the most fun I've had with a Tales game since probably vesperia and graces. It goes to show you how different we all are in terms of our individual experiences and it's the best part about games in my opinion. Some people didn't like the story or other things while I enjoyed it a lot and that's okay. Just differing opinions. I also enjoyed how the party always had some type of goal. In more jrpgs than I'd care to admit there seems to be a problem with the party just going through the motions which thankfully this game doesnt have imo

[@TheKisekiNut]

Agreed totally with the goal. There was always a perpetual motion forward, never a lull in the story. Sure there were some exposition heavy moments but at least something was 'happening'.

[@darknesswave100]

@@TheKisekiNut yeah I dont know how many of the Tales games you've played so far but there are times in almost all of them where that exact thing happens. Where nothing is really happening to move the plot along until some outside force makes them have to step up. I love Vesperia for instance but even I'll admit that it happens on a few occasions in that game where the plot kinda just stops and nothing happens. This game however something was always happening throughout the whole game and there was always some sort of goal in mind whether it was taking down the lords or something else

[@siege_sensei]

I have arise and still have yet to play it because I haven't been feeling well lately. But I'm glad that when I do get play it, it will be a good game.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Comes down to opinion, but I really enjoyed it.

[@nethalee4914]

This was a great ‘cup-o-tea’ jrpg :) It had all the elements I wanted. Though it isn’t the ‘best,’ and some parts of the story are cliche… The gameplay was so satisfying and the ending made me happy.

[@Kraft747]

It livens up the expectation for sure, I love the combat system, the skit is funny as the usual tales series 🤣, the music is great, story and chara have some minus but still a good development. I think many players have the same concern regarding this matter, the first part of the story is superb while the second part is a bit too overwhelming (and a bit weird on some parts for me haha), I think if they continue the route they've been building since the first part, it will become a fantastic finale. But for me, Tales of Arise is one of the best JRPG this year 👍.

[@PantsaBear]

English voice acting in this game is incredible, it really sells the story and the moments this game has. Feels like a longer game than it is because of those moments too. It's a true epic that I'm glad I experienced. Also has some real interesting food for thought too about certain things. One of my games of the year forsure!

[@flamehiro]

Best jrpg of 2021!

[@PantsaBear]

I know there was a warning for minor spoilers at the beginning but... Idk you really showed and hinted at much more than really necessary. I'd say this vid contains a lot more than minor spoilers. I've beaten the game myself, and I do think this game's greatest strength is in its moments derived from going in as blind as possible. I get that you need to reveal some stuff to explain your opinions, but idk it just really seemed pretty excessive considering what you were discussing. Explaining the ending the way you did, showing footage from like 35 hours into the game, alluding to what characters will be developing too, etc. I actually avoided watching this vid until I beat the game today, and I'm kinda glad I did since some things wouldn't have hit as hard if I had them basically spelled out to me before experiencing it firsthand. It might have been better off having a "Thoughts After Beating Tales of Arise" video or something and just describing your experience differently in this kind of video. Either way Im still very much a fan, cheers mate. Will be looking forward to your next video

[@Soras_]

I finished the game. I really want more story after the end , maybe a extension？

[@xviinaichi3793]

14:43 the empathy for Vholran Alphen displays come from him essentially being the same as him. Both as slaves and lab experiments. The difference is Alphen had a emotional pillar that prevented him from going that deep dark pit Vholran was in. I feel the problem is more so that the display of sympathy was a bit late.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Wasn't talking about Vholran, was referring to the 'Great Spirit' where Rinwell finds out it's only doing this stuff because it's scared and wants to survive. I didn't mind Vholran too much.

[@xviinaichi3793]

@@TheKisekiNut ooh yea rolled my eyes on that part lol

[@outkastshadowking2719]

I was wondering why they were crying it came out of nowhere and it made no sense. Cold Steel II did a better job at executing a certain tear jerking moment before departure.

[@benjaminchaulk6269]

​@@TheKisekiNut Yeah I got chills when the cutscene happened when they went into shionnes eye and showed this evil force and something more going on. Then same thing after the first big vholron battle where the lady in red showed up. It was like 'oh shit, this is real'. Then they backtracked on it and made it a weak whimpering world ender.

[@LurkingLarper]

Awesome game and goes right to the top in the series for me. Unlike most Tales games I liked all of the party even if punchy boi is more of a running joke than an active character. Awesome looking, excellent combat system that's been reiterated successfully from past entries, good story with difficult themes and lovely characters you grow to love and root for. I only have two main issues with the game: pacing and antagonist. Pacing can suffer a lot when you get bogged down by 3 skits in a row when entering any new area and they take their sweet time. Most skits aren't anything special, but some are important in character development and flavor so you need to balance with all that exposition. And the antagonist is... almost non-existant. The actual story and reveal of the villain and why they do what they do is more interesting than the antagonist which is kinda not there to even begin with. More like recurring boogie man who no one actually fears. Anyway, easy game to recommend for any genre fan and mayhaps a modern classic in the making.

[@xalin73]

Shionne sounds a lot like Vita and Magilou, and Futaba. Erica Lindbeck is such an awesome voice actress!

[@TheKisekiNut]

I believe she's returning for SMT V as well.

[@ramonartner5763]

Have you ever played The Caligula Effect: Overdose? I was thinking about playing it but reviews in general aren't that good :(

[@crimson6172]

The gameplay is really fun, it's the best the series has to offer and the graphics too. Although those are two factors that resulted due to it being a 2021 game where better technologies are available for the developers. The storyline and characters did not beat Tales of the Abyss but it is still good, still a huge improvement over the world of Zestiria and Berseria for me.

[@kot_on_the_road]

You have basically tha same viewpoint as me. I enjoyed the game very much.

[@radretro3777]

Yeah, for as much as people love to trash talk english voice acting this game and many others are great and underrated. I just got the platinum trophy earlier today and I loved every second. I prefer old school tales combat but other than that great game imo.

[@TheMDZ79]

Just beat this game today. Thoughts: Good: Boss fights the way they use Mystic arts, you can evade it Gameplay Story Mix: OST some are good, and some are okay Sidequest there are some good and bad ones Bad: - Monster Design being repetitive - Giganto bosses are repetitive, prefer Tales of Vesperia ones. - DLC practice I would say it was fun, if not for the story, I would've stopped playing this game half way through.

[@Darkwolfzx9]

YOOOO just like me with Tales of Vesperia

[@justifiedfun9811]

YES

[@r.c.3813]

Welp beceuse of your hint I now know I'm finely halfway through the game nice

[@outkastshadowking2719]

I love game a lot, but I wish the most of the musics especially the battle themes was alot better because not a single one I wanted to listen to as an OST. Skits are huge improvements over Scarlet Nexus, but towards the end they became overwhelming. As for the voice actor for Alphin give that guy a raise because he did extremely well and also Shonne. I also noticed some Dark Souls reference. Overall I enjoyed the game! I just hope they hire new music directors and make the next game open world with dungeons and sercets, plus more enemies.

[@timegame4016]

Since snes and ps1 era until now Tale's games integral part of jrpg history

[@chimeratcg07]

Absolutely worth the wait.

[@jacobturner8965]

Okay.. now I can watch these videos since I've finally finished it... Like I commented before I had limited interest in the game after playing and not getting into berseria even though I did like some older tales games, I still wasn't sold on Arise. Having finished the game now though, I'm so glad I didn't skip, genuinely became one of my favourite games of all times. I loved the gameplay and the story and the characters, there are some things along the way that were... Annoying. But all in all, it's definitely up there with persona 4 and Sky SC for me.

[@jacobturner8965]

I think in a way, this is the game I wanted ffXV to be, a good story with brilliant character interactions, you're travelling through the realms and you never really stay in one place for too long (bar the last couple dungeons which go on for too long), the combat is just tons better. I don't really know what made me think about FFXV when playing Arise, but I'm glad I've finally got over that bitterly disappointing game.

[@michaelconnell1010]

Please try out Tales of the Abyss next

[@ericriddick311]

This makes me want a ps4 even more.

[@jamesbratten4407]

You ever gonna stream again?

[@isaacconner8622]

Couldn’t agree more. I’ve beaten every English tales game and Vesperia isn’t even in the top 5 IMO. Arise is awesome

[@SirBanana1992]

without saying too much, I really loved Tales of Arise, especially its gameplay being one of the best in the series imo and the soundtrack being great in general though I have a bias for orchestral pieces. On the other side, I felt the villains were generally either boring, unengaging or wasted, the game past "part 5 or so" feels a bit rushed and there was a too large chunk of exposition right between 2 gameplay segments which I feel could have been spread around a bit more. I'm sure I was in there for about 3 hours or so and just lost track of their explanations halfway through. Comparatively, Trails in the Sky's schoolplay in chapter 3 wasn't nearly as bad because its the kind of content you can just sit back and enjoy as a lighthearted comical moment, but to dedicate this long to heavy important information with very little break is exhausting. Still definitely one of my favorite Tales now.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I actually really liked the direction it went in after the 'shift' - I like the Sci-Fi element in games like this. I've just kind of accepted that the villains in Tales game aren't that good. The only who I would say is half decent is the one from Berseria, the rest are all lacking. So I focused more on the main group than the Lords.

[@SirBanana1992]

@@TheKisekiNut I did appreciate that direction too, it gave me some Xenoblade vibes and I really enjoyed that. My problem was that they didn't take their time to let us appreciate it. There is a certain place I would have liked to see more of but was made essentially into an on-rail straight corridor that's left behind after but just a few minutes.

[@fabiorosolen]

One thing I liked...the MC got a happy ending.

[@vayne-san7805]

This is the second best tales for me. the first being abyss

[@oneofnone7947]

As someone who is in new game plus laughs in devils arms

[@zanychelly]

I personally think that Arise requires more hack n slash skill than Vesperia, but Vesperia is more deep if you to go further. I played Arise on moderate.

[@tristandean7915]

“Lake” to soon man to soon 😭😭😭😭

[@garchomowner]

this game would be almost perfect if it wasn't for the lack of enemy variety. i am 70 hours in and about to do the final dungeon, and while boss battles are all excellent up to this point, the regular battles start to drag on due to recycled enemies.

[@TheKisekiNut]

It is unfortunate, you really do notice the lack of variety in the later stages.

[@Kazuchi35]

Damn, you already said you liked it, but I didn't think you're going to like it as much as I did. I really liked Berseria, but I think Arise is the best Tales of game to date. Of course that's only my opinion, I know how many people like Symphonia.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Symphonia and Berseria were solid as well. But Arise was above them both for my personal tastes.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Enjoying the game so far, but it's annoying how they took out Victory Quotes

[@TheKisekiNut]

Sort of added them after the battles, but yeah, it's not really the same on that front.

[@lliammclachlan]

How does it compare to tales of Berseria?

[@MultiBeveridge]

Nice review mate, really glad you enjoyed the game. I wholeheartedly agree with what you said about the combat and presentation of the game, but personally I really disliked the story and characters, especially compared to other Tales titles I liked.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Understandable bud, not gonna be for everyone. For me it's the best I've played so far, different opinions and all that.

[@vaporsaver]

--"combat is the highlight of Tales games" --"not as deep as Vesperia's" I just gotta say, this is why I dont get folks who get so caught up on Jrpg stories, they've always been about the gameplay to me, even turn-based ones personally. Old school jrpgs with crazy high random encounter rates? You HAD to like the combat to play them. And action jrpgs? Pshh, story would have to be sooooo BAD to put me off if the combat hits. It's crazy to me some people put up with or suffer through turn-based combat just to experience the story. Like just watch a playthrough then smh. Dont get me wrong, I love good writing, dialogue, characters, interactions, development and all that. When theyre great they're great and enhance the experience greatly, but complaints about a story being aimless and all that, yet admitting Tales games are about the combat and also admitting vesperia's combat is deep...it's just different values i guess, like you said you place story at the top. For me Tales games are like JRPG devil may cry. DMC has never had a stand out plot or anything, it's serviceable. It's all about that sweet sweet combo mad gameplay. Story is a bonus here, but it's not like any of them have horrible plots or characters either. I dunno...just the complaints about vesperia's plot seem so minor when the game's about the combat.

[@Whokilledkenny9]

I can't disagree that game was fun and a solid title, but I don't think it lived up to the expectations that were set by the a lot of the reviewers and the marketing. I really enjoyed the first half of the game, but the second half feels like a completely different game. It goes so off the rails and really dampened what was a solid experience. I also felt the pacing behind a lot of the big reveals in the game was poorly executed. The gameplay felt great outside of boss battles. I found myself really missing bosses having flinch. The characters were fine. Shionne and Alphen's relationship and our certain exuberant musician were great, but everyone else didn't live up to some of the prior tales casts. All in all, I think its a great place to start for newcomers to jrpg's and its a solid title but I can't help but feel disappointed and wanting more from it, especially with the reviews people are giving it. I feel the hype is a bit overblown, especially compared to something like the trails series or even earlier tales games.

[@CuteAndFunnyFan]

Kiseki series has really changed a lot like tales of tbh. It became waifu heroes after CS saga started. Arise is actually one of the more challenging tales of titles.

[@violinjon]

Anybody getting physically tired from playing this? I'm a pro musician, so I guess I am more sensitive to finger fatigue. Despite playing Symphonia Xillia and Berseria, I'm still not loving the combat (more to do with a preference against action games). After the third lord I just turned things down to story (after playing through on moderate). Less time spent in combat and less button presses needed... still think it's a pretty good game, although after coming from Trails I was sad at the bland NPC dialog! Also like to note - for nerds out there - it runs flawlessly in Linux!

[@Latronibus]

You might benefit from switching the basic attack and jump buttons on your controller. Assuming you're using one. If you're M&K then yeah this will be a nightmare.

[@violinjon]

@@Latronibus thanks for the tip, I just tried that. Definitely is more comfortable.

[@larcek.giglamesh]

Personally i expected alot more. They did a solid transition to Unreal Engine but didn't use it to its full potentials. While some may claim it part of the game design, the lack of Graphics Settings and for instance NPC's very slowly fading into existance even when you're right next to them, feels alot more like a technical lack of polish. Trying to keep spoilers to minimum, but there are some... If we simply go by the usual elements of Games, the Gameplay in Battles are fun, each Character plays very differently and has their roles, the Graphics are a beauty to look at, though many scenes have been prepared, since the lack of overworld to explore just gave them enough space to create some beautiful sceneries like the Waterfalls. The Music albeit not boring and using some orchestra is simply not memorable at all, making me only remember the Openings. The Global Plot is extended too massively in the second half of the game and the resolution falls rather flat. The regional Plot escalates too quickly, hardly allowing to build up any momentum or just getting familiar with the area, partially because Exploration isn't a thing in this game, but meanwhile the Character Development is rather strong. The Exploration in this Game is close to non-existant, there's no Fog, once you enter a new area, you can view the full map for given area instantly, so accidently going the right way is a thing of the past. As mentioned before by KisekiNut, there's hardly any side tracks in this game, if there are any, they are either part of later Story Plot, or just lead to a few items. Cities also rather fall of short in terms of Exploration since once more your pathing is strictly determined and even though many of them look rather massive, there's no means to take a stroll, at times even raising Questions on how the local Plot would work. As for Minigames, i was not a fan of Fishing, the Ranch worked by itself (did anyone ever need to Setup new Guards!?), searching Owls was nice and Cooking was fine. While i did spend my 90 hours ingame with (given by ingame stats) 24 hours of battles, i still wanted to explore alot more of the world. For a Game that was meant to be released on PS4+/XBox+/PC, the total disc space (on PC) of 40 GB is rather small. They could have easily cranked it up to 60 GB, or more, adding more enemy variations, more additional areas, more quests, every armor outfits, maybe bringing back discovers points and so on. instead though, they rather went for the classic methods of skin variations to even create "new" bosses and kept most elements familiar to previous titles. I'm also not gonna talk about the whole DLC ordeal, just a pointer, the 3 Costumes (from the initial release) contain talent Bubbles for each Character, so the Ultimate Edition might be the cheaper option if you want all the Talents and Artes. As for the SAO DLC, i'd suggest to skip it. So, was it the game a fun ride for me? Sure! But with some Questions left unanswered, and the whole story and world progression being very linear, i expected alot more to fill the void.

[@chris-098]

It's a definitely the most gorgeous game in the series, the combat is great but the reviews overhyped this game so much, i heard that it's THE DARKEST, THE MOST MATURE, THE BEST STORY IN THE WHOLE SERIES... it's none of those really and it's pretty much your run of the mill jrpg story (that becomes really convoluted near the end) no one talked about the issues in the second half of the game so now you see a lot of people that didn't expect the drop in quality are complaining about it so it's really up to the player to make their own opinion on this (you might love it, you might get bored) for me Berseria or even Vespiria handled the story a lot better but that's just me.

[@SirBanana1992]

imo the darkest would have to be Xillia 2 just for its implications alone. At least darkest, not including the other mentions.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Horses for courses, I was just happy that the story actually made sense unlike Vesperia.

[@dobadobadooo]

I'm in the last stretch of the game, and I feel like this game was a pretty mixed bag. On the one hand I love the graphics and visuals of the game, it's easily the prettiest game in the series (aside from maybe Vesperia). The dungeons are also finally good again! I did not like the ugly, boring corridor dungeons we've had since Xillia, so I'm glad we're finally moving away from those. I also really enjoyed the party members, I feel like the game did a really good job of having the whole group have a nice dynamic, instead of just having them all feel like accessories to the main protagonist (looking at you Cold Steel). I'm also really enjoying the combat, they did a great job of making every character fun to play as. So in terms of gameplay and visuals, this is a huge step forward for the series. The part where the game kinda dropped the ball though is the story, side-characters, and villains. This game has arguably the worst villains in the series for me, aside from maybe Zestiria. They don't feel interesting or sympathetic in the slightest, and they all die so quickly after they're introduced it almost feels like the game itself doesn't even give a shit about them. None of them have interesting or relatable goals, which is a shame since this is generally a staple of the series. The rest of the cast don't fare much better, where Zephyr is literally the only good non-playable character in the whole game. The story itself is also just a bit too straight-forward for my taste, like it's afraid you'll not get the messages it's trying to convey unless it repeatedly spoon feeds them to you. Compare it to the likes of Symphonia, which also tackles discrimination and racism, but does it all in a way that feels so much more subtle and deep. It shows the villains as both the oppressors and the oppressed, and doesn't really give you a straight-forward answer on how to fix things either. There are actually tons of similarities between these two games, but I'll spare you all a rant on that. Overall I'd still say it's a solid game, but it sometimes feels like it takes two steps forward, and one step back. The good still far outweigh the bad, but I really wish they put more effort into the plot and non-playable characters. I'd probably give the game an *8/10,* it's still worth buying, but it's hardly the masterpiece some critics are hailing it as.

[@chris-098]

Even Zestiria had better villains honestly which is really unfortunate cause here they had some potential but they got next to nothing in terms of being an actual character.

[@CuteAndFunnyFan]

@@chris-098 Zestiria had no good villains

[@chris-098]

@@CuteAndFunnyFan Symonne? Lunarre? not saying they were great but they're way more memorable than any of the villains in Arise.

[@dobadobadooo]

@@chris-098 I agree, but that's a pretty low bar. I think Symphonia, Berseria, Xillia and Abyss all had very good villains/antagonists, while the rest of the series' villains range from decent to bad.

[@outkastshadowking2719]

Cold Steel I, has a great dynamic with combat link and damage type weapons, so Rean and the other protagonist didn't feel like accessories.

[@indrab2121]

Well.. I don't know man, I think I have to disagree with you this time. After playing bunch of memorable JRPGs for almost 20 years - FF series up to X (after X is not the same anymore), Breath of fire series, Trails series, Persona series, shadow hearts, Xenogears, early Tales series, etc; Arise is super disappointed for me. The gameplay is super good, story is very generic, characters are meh. Early arcs are very promising, however during and after the 4th lord arc, the conversations become super cringy to some point that I have to skip some conversations cause I really can't stand it. But well, everyone has their opinion....

[@BlackFantasy470]

Tales of Arise is a nice and interesting game but definitely not worth the hype. I bought it because its gameplay reminded me of Star Ocean The Last Hope (one of my favourite Ps3 games). It did well to try to get me hooked but somewhat failed because it's so unbalanced: normal enemies fall in the blink of an eye while bosses are ridiculously tough and hardhitting making me use all my plentiful items or reduce the difficulty. Except that it's decent, unfortunately no real story surprises. Definitely not my favorite Tales game. That's still Tales of Graces.

[@leon888111]

Tales of graces combat was too legendary

[@Latronibus]

I'm surprised you said Tales of Arise's story beat its characters even by a bit. I had exactly the opposite view. The characters were fun. Separately they're boring if not outright annoying, but the way they interact is just so much fun, even in moderately serious moments. Where things suffered a lot was when the story was pushing them to repeat story elements over and over again towards the end of the game. But the story was just bland. It had some surprises but they ultimately felt unearned and delivered amidst too much density of exposition. And the story of the "first part" was just bog-standard, despite running for quite some time. I honestly started drawing some comparisons to the beginning of Symphonia as I made my way through the third realm, and the beginning of Symphonia is practically a parody (which gets mercilessly deconstructed). I also felt like the combat suffered towards the end of the game where the relative lack of staggering of even trash mobs made combos vastly inferior to hit-and-run or spell spam. But then I was playing on Moderate so maybe some of that annoyance (especially farming gald to buy consumables) was self-inflicted.

[@TheKisekiNut]

No, what I meant there is I place story above characters in my personal enjoyment. I wasn't saying the characters were worse than the story.

[@Latronibus]

@@TheKisekiNut Ah, that makes more sense.

[@thelightningking8772]

Yeah Tales of Arise was pretty good. I pretty much agree with almost everything you said. The soundtrack was my favorite part of the game and it gave me Dark Souls vibes on some of the tracks (probably because the composer worked on those games too). I do think the game overstays its welcome near the end and the antagonist was probably my least favorite in the series for how much of a nothing character he was. For me its my fifth favorite Tales game just being beaten out by Vesperia. Side note: I might be alone in this, as I haven’t seen much discussion on it, but I really did not like the final story outfits for Alphen and Shionne.

[@solareflare47]

Personally think the first half was riddled with cliche and generic writing and bad villains, while the second half is riddled with info dumps more bad villains, and just straight up poor writing. The combat was fun but mostly only for mobs. For bosses it just felt like a dampened down hack and slash or as I called it, watered down Ys. Considering the combat emphasizes combos the bosses felt counterintuitive. I did enjoy the cast but not till the second half.

[@kingabdi900]

The story in the game was lacking. Fighting the lords felt like fighting cartoon villains with no conviction of real substantiation as to why they do anything. And vholran was the most random villain, who offered nothing to the story. And then it went off the rails at the end as well. But still an enjoyable game Tbh

[@jackyvanmarsenille8547]

Absolutely. I seriously, seriously feel disconnected from mainstream reviewers the way Deathloop and Tales got hyped into the stratosphere, and Lost Judgement got somewhat downplayed, all in a 2 week period.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Spoilers, it's on my list of best JRPGs for 2021.

[@ittadakimaho]

Sadly the game did make me end up feeling stale while the game made me binge it i’d say the last 30% felt just like an ungrateful chore where the gameplay had shown its bad colors and the story went in a way that i stopped caring and was presented in a way that made me realize all the flaws of the earlier game as well. Sadly i did not finish this game in a safisfied manner and given how bad a taste those last 30% left, it took every motivation to ever touch it again :(

[@hunterofcomedy]

*SPOILERS* Honestly, I had the opposite opinion as you for Vesperia and Arise. I felt the characters of this game were overdone trope half the time, and while that doesn't usually bother me, this time it did. Mainly because of how rushed the pacing was and "character growth" seemed artificial at times. Like when Kisara lost her brother, her only living family, and a few hours later completely gave up on revenge. Normal people don't do that, but Arise had to make every character a "paragon of virtue" by the end of the game, instead of letting them be flawed. What really urked me was when Law stopped Rinwell from getting revenge but said "I don't know why I'm stopping you". And then only a day later Rinwell gave up on revenge that she'd been obsessing with for years! It just bothered me so much because they just couldn't let the characters be anything less than virtuous and that's not how people work. Plus...they kept changing who the villain of the story was and even tried to redeem the evil planet that wanted to eat our planet because "it's scared"?! WTF kind of half-assed story does that?! I'm sorry, I really wanted to like this game but ever since the midpoint of the game when all the characters join up, it felt very forced and I just couldn't enjoy it. It's not the worst game by any means, but they just didn't deliver on the solid premise by constantly fiddling with "who the true villain is".

[@Lamasis2]

No, it wasn't. Except the visuals, that game looked gorgeous.

[@ghostghost514]

I like the game (my because I am a fan of the "Tales of" series). I have many things I don't like as well for example the style of skits. The people may like it for time being but over time they not going to return to play it as much as previous "Tales of" games. A alot of things got sacrificed or replace for bad ideas for sake of "Innovation".

[@Heelydon77]

Mostly agree, although I heavily disagree with two points. To me, Alphen is easily a letdown. He is incredibly one dimensional with even his big revelation really not changing anything about how he acts, his goals or what he does. This is certainly due to again the limitations they set for his character given the writing of his background, but still, I just found this, in contrast to the other wonderfully written characters, to be a noticable letdown. And finally, I disagree that everything was answered. I think the conclusion of the story itself HEAVILY begs some questions about "what now? " which I found incredibly infuriating, that arguably the biggest, world changing event within the story, is entirely unexplored and seemingly without the characters having no interest in actually reacting to it being a thing. This changes virtually EVERYTHING within the scope of the story and the characters and locations that we have been a part of, and nothing about that was really touched. It's a very solid game, but it would take VERY little to make it much better if they just bothered to explore these areas a bit more.

[@cuteflygon]

I was pretty disappointed in my first venture into a tales game. Couldn’t get into tales of abyss either, maybe tales game are just not for me. Arise story writing and execution is too cliched for my liking and I don’t sense much dynamics between the characters

[@mrt.7146]

Nintendo seriously needs to get back to moneyhatting Bandai Namco to get the Tales series back on Switch 🥳

[@SirLoyd]

not gonna lie after the third/fourth lord fight my interest plummeted completely, writing feels so cheesy/shallow maybe cause thr was no branching storylines or meaningful side stories and it being seperated from other tales games meant no worldbuilding. it was giving me FF15 vibes.

[@Soras_]

There would be worldbuilding/settings after that, you just haven't gone through it yet.

[@ohwell1547]

@Sir_Loyd yeah the game's writting felt to weird after the final lord, but I think lack of side stuff (not the arena or cameo fight) in the end was do to backlash with zestieria trying to add more world building but made it ...worse? Basically it spit on the face of berseria which is a prequal to zesty.

[@Latronibus]

@@ohwell1547 There were actually quite a lot of sidequests towards the end of the game (before the postgame, but a lot of them were sufficiently harder than the final boss that they are sort of pseudo-super-bosses). But unless you are really good at the combat, you would probably get frustrated at approaching them only to be faced with enemies 10 or even 25 levels above you without warning.

[@xyzzyx4142]

it was more Star Ocean than a Tales game. All the silliness and quirkiness I like in a Tales game was not present.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Plenty of the skits were, and I guess you didn't see the hot spring scene.

[@AddiGoesRawr]

Started watching this channel because I sought refuge in Kiseki after the Tales series started to go off the rails. I've been very upset with Arise, both in its announcements leading up to release and in the game itself. I find the characters don't have the layers of previous titles' casts, the themes are incredibly on-the-nose, and the combat foregoes complexity for cinematic experience. It's honestly caused a rift in a few of my gaming friendships. After seein this vid, I'm just...weirdly heartbroken and disappointed. Unsubbing, best of luck to ya my guy.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. The fact you've let a game get between you and an actual 'friend' just speaks volumes.

[@weeaboofish174]

lol bruh imaging having such a fragile personality that people having diffrent oponions on video games than you makes you question if you should watch content creators or remain friends with people. God I can only imagine how you react to people with other oponions about real world issues. I though arise was just mid but I'm not offended that other people like it, jesus lol.

[@masterchiefpettyofficerspa3646]

This guy is probably going to be lonely for the rest of his life with an attitude like this lmao.

[@darknesswave100]

Your so called "friendship" that was broken by a godamn video game must have been so shallow to the point of non existence. Also unsubbing cause you're disappointed with this game? Get out of here with that nonsense. Heres a newsflash genius. Other people can have a different opinion than you. God forbid you see somebody with a different actual world view than you cause you might lose your damn mind. You might need to look into getting some help for your unhealthy viewpoints since a video game did this much crap to you

[@AddiGoesRawr]

This is unfortunate, gang. I understand that I have a strong and unpopular opinion, but I do know how to treat others with respect. That was a big part of how I worded this comment. I was just being honest, somewhere I felt was safe to do so. The only friendships I've lost have been with people like you guys, but...go off. It sucks to get a reponse from the actual channel owner and have it be so disrespectful. Clearly not a huge loss on my part. edit: Estelle would be ashamed. Mostly of you, lil Nut.

[@Jason_P]

Stopped watching when you said the characters were "A joy to adventure with." Couldn't disagree more. We're also on opposite ends when it comes to Vesperia. I LOVED that game.

[@Kyto1984]

I'm curious what game he actually played. The characters were trash, especially Law. He's a walking contradiction who'll betray his own "beliefs" any time it's convenient for the plot. I almost want to pat Rinwell on the head and tell, "It's fine to be racist. Nearly every single Renan are nightmarish monsters that need to be exterminated," despite the "narrative" attempting to tell the exact opposite.

[@malvia1]

So what kind of cast of characterse are winners in your book?

[@Jason_P]

@@malvia1 Casts I loved (in no particular order and not a complete list): - Persona 4 Golden - Tales of Vesperia (as previously mentioned) - Trails of Cold Steel - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (barely makes the list, but the Blades are the stars of that game)

[@Jason_P]

@@Kyto1984 RIGHT?!?!?? Not to mention how absolutely INSUFFERABLE Shionne is. Dohalim is contradictory at every turn and Kisara is everyone's f'n Mom. I actually didn't like any of these characters. I think overall the failure is the bland main story. Slaves good, Lords bad. It really can't get any more contrived or lame than that.

[@marethyux3744]

Different opinions/experiences man. I've played Symphonia (which will always be my #1 tales unless proven otherwise), Abyss, Berseria, Vesperia, and now Arise. And Arise is up there for me. I loved the game, the characters, and the combat. The only part I have a slight disinclination with is the plot dump at a particular point in the game (to avoid spoilers) and how it's handled.

[@kg888]

The game is good, but not great. The story was going good in the beginning, but the 2nd half it went downhill. Some of the peacing is off.

[@matteste]

To me, the narrative really killed the game for me as I just found it really generic and wooden. It really suffers from this villain of the week structure that makes everything feel really disconnected and awkward in terms of pacing rather than a cohesive whole. And man, the villains really suffered from this with just how bland and shallow they were. Even the main one just felt forced and like a footnote more than an actual threat. It also really falls apart in that Tales staple of taking tropes and examining them. At most it gives them a brief mention before simply brushing it under the rug.