Tales of Arise - New Tales Game (PC/PS4/PS5/Series/Xbox) 09/09/21

[smac]

Yangus, aye?

[Kayin Amoh]

And pretty much everyone in Khrumble-Dun from Dragon Quest Builders 2, among others. It's a series with a lot of accents in the West.

[Curtis]

The city in the third realm is so gorgeous i wanna live there! 

[df0]

Any tips on area 4 boss? Talk about a spike in difficulty.

[Kayin Amoh]

4 hours ago, df0 said:

Any tips on area 4 boss? Talk about a spike in difficulty.

 

Need a reminder on which one that is.

Spoiler

Is it the one on the ship?

 

I mainly had Alphen as my playable throughout, with Kisara, Shionne and Dohalim as my main team. Do long as you hold LB to target the cores you should get downs at some point, then use all your fire charge (hold down the button after an arte) and you should melt their health. Sure, you're left at 1 hp and might die, but it does some great damage before you keel over and use a life bottle.

 

If an enemy goes airborne, Shionne will land it with her dpad command, same for Alphen with his attack at any time, and also Rinwell if you see them charging a spell with the circular timer appearing. I don't think the enemy I think you're talking about charges (could be mistaken), but Kisara will down them if they try that as well.

 

So yeah. Putting them on their ass when they try anything funny helps a lot. And if it is the boss I mentioned, hold one of Rinwell's interrupt commands in reserve. 

Spoiler

She'll say she's ready to take care of the boss casting, but be sure to wait until the circular timer appears rather than immediately calling her in.

 

[df0]

Upgraded some of the necklaces or whatever, made a big difference. I'm still very much floating on the surface (no pun intended), nothing grabs me. Opinion: scenes that are meant to be emotional make me chuckle and cringe, moments that are meant as comic relief make me yell "what are you doing? what is this!?", some of the voice acting triggers replacement-shame. It's bad b-movie bad and not in a good way.

 

I should stay away from anime JRPGs and focus on Dragon Quests' and Persona's.

 

Combat is great, the very limited and linear exploring is fun enough. It's a shame the rest of the game gets in the way.

[b00dles]

It's very much pretty standard fare but I do like a JRPG even if the majority of them are almost too formulaic.

 

Although I think I preferred that Ys game on the island as well as tales of Berseria but I'm not sure I could say why. 🤔 

 

I'm admittedly only half listening to any of the conversations/ cut scenes and there are some bits I've completely not heard at all and yet I still know what's going on. 

 

Persona is an entirely different beast though really. I'd say dragon quest is... a slightly different beast, to mangle the saying. I'd recommend you didn't buy any of the other tales games from the sound of it @df0

[df0]

Oh yeah, lesson learned. I was persuaded by the very positive reviews this received so my thought process was “it can’t be that bad surely”. I am sooo not the target audience for this.

[b00dles]

4 minutes ago, df0 said:

Oh yeah, lesson learned. I was persuaded by the very positive reviews this received so my thought process was “it can’t be that bad surely”. I am sooo not the target audience for this.

Well if it's any consolation, it isn't that bad, there's definitely worse ones

If you think this is anime cringe, you should play the ones set in a military school (everyone obvs in unnecessary school uniform) and where the main character has a big robot

[Flub]

I finished the game last night. I had a great time. Enjoyed the story. The characters were fine. Great combat system. Lovely graphics engine. The last dungeon was about twice as long as it should have been (You'll see why when you get there). I did end up not bothering with the skits in my final push to the end though.

 

Surprisingly the last boss was probably the least interesting visually of them all.

 

Spoilers for the ending

Spoiler

I did like that the great spirit wasn't actually evil. Just very afraid of dying at an instincive and animalistic level. Also that shot of Rena as it come into view was a shock.

 

[b00dles]

24 minutes ago, Flub said:

I finished the game last night. I had a great time. Enjoyed the story. The characters were fine. Great combat system. Lovely graphics engine. The last dungeon was about twice as long as it should have been (You'll see why when you get there). I did end up not bothering with the skits in my final push to the end though.

 

Surprisingly the last boss was probably the least interesting visually of them all.

 

Spoilers for the ending

  Reveal hidden contents

I did like that the great spirit wasn't actually evil. Just very afraid of dying at an instincive and animalistic level. Also that shot of Rena as it come into view was a shock.

 

Oh I'm enjoying it, I can just understand why some people wouldn't, it does look bloody nice compared to the previous tales games too. 

 

The fights at the moment (I'm on the last bit myself) look basically like some sort of insane light show, to think quake 2's block coloured lighting was an absolute breakthrough and this has totally bonkers lazer shows every fight. 

[Flub]

Early on I switched to playing as Rinwell. It let me hang back and keep an overview of the fights more easily.

[Kayin Amoh]

But then you miss out on the pyrotechnics!

 

I'd recommend doing the post game quest too. Weirdly, some of the bonus dungeon's environments are way better looking than the last dungeon itself. The mountain one in particular.

[b00dles]

One thing that I do think is genuinely bad for any RPG in space year 2021 - why do I have to enter a fight to see how tough an enemy is? 

When you're doing some of the big zeugle hunts, you have to effectively go to the quest giver, accept the quest, go to the location, see what reaction the chat is for a general idea of difficulty and then actually enter the fight to see for definite what level it is. 

 

I suppose having the level of the boss or a recommended in your quest log is perhaps unrealistic but it certainly saves a whole load of titting about. 

[Flub]

1 hour ago, Kayin Amoh said:

But then you miss out on the pyrotechnics!

 

I'd recommend doing the post game quest too. Weirdly, some of the bonus dungeon's environments are way better looking than the last dungeon itself. The mountain one in particular.

 

Rinwell eventually learns some really, really big spells

[df0]

Can't fast travel because the game wants me to complete this long ass story related dungeon. I should give up, but I paid 70 euro for this so I'm going to brute force my way through it skipping every single dialogue and cutscene 😒

 

 

🙄

[Kayin Amoh]

It is pretty good!

 

Sorry, I know you're not getting on with it, but I liked it a lot. 

[b00dles]

31 minutes ago, df0 said:

Can't fast travel because the game wants me to complete this long ass story related dungeon. I should give up, but I paid 70 euro for this so I'm going to brute force my way through it skipping every single dialogue and cutscene 😒

 

 

🙄

Why not just sell it while you can still get good money for it? Or did you download it?

 

And without wanting to sound like a dick, you can't really complain about those reviews if you don't like JRPGs, you're not going to like it. I'm sure the FIFA games get good reviews but I'm never going to buy one as I don't find them enjoyable in the first place, same with CoD.

[b00dles]

Incidentally, I wouldn't give this that high a review as those. Maybe 8/10 but knock off 2 if you don't like the genre.

[Kayin Amoh]

8's my score for it as well, incidentally. The final 20% of the game or so go some unwelcome ways with the storyline and everyone turns into a walking exposition machine. It's like they tried to out Death Stranding Death Stranding with the level of nonsense they start spewing out endlessly.

 

That said, love the combat, there's a good chunk of game in there, looks lovely and I just had a really good time with it overall.

[df0]

4 hours ago, b00dles said:

Why not just sell it while you can still get good money for it? Or did you download it?

 

And without wanting to sound like a dick, you can't really complain about those reviews if you don't like JRPGs, you're not going to like it. I'm sure the FIFA games get good reviews but I'm never going to buy one as I don't find them enjoyable in the first place, same with CoD.

Digital. To think I was even thinking about the digital deluxe version with costumes 😅

 

That's a fair point you make and I can not disagree with it, but allow me to elaborate on why I bought this in the first place.

I've no interest in Battlefield of Call of Duty, the last time I played a game in any of those franchises was on Xbox 360. I know what they are about and I know I am not the target audience which I am perfectly fine with. But BF and CoD do not score 9's and 10's every entry.

 

Battlefield V: Average 79%, Recommend 74%

Battlefield 1: Average 87%, Recommend 96%

Battlefield 4: Average 79%, Recommend 75%

 

Call of Duty WWII: Average 78%, Recommend 69%

Call of Duty Warzone: Average 80%, Recommend 80%

Call of Duty Blops 4: Average 84%, Recommend 88%

 

OpenCritic

 

I know not to bother with these games, judging from the scores it's still a game very much aimed at the target audience. If for example the upcoming Battlefield 2142 scores 9's and 10's proverbially all across the board, it'll trigger my interest. I'm still not the target audience, but clearly this entry is doing something differently or just very right to warrant these very high scores.

 

Different type of game: Into the Breach. Unfortunately still not available on PlayStation and I admit it's not my genre at all. However, according to many reviews I've read and seen it's a game that's like the second coming of the genre. It's unanimously praised which again triggered my interest. Not my jam, but with praise this good it must be something special and I gladly would give it a try.

 

Back to Tales or Arise. Not being facetious here, but what does this do that warrants these scores? Is the standard for JRPGs this low? Persona 5 scores barely higher with Average 94%, Recommended 98% and that's in my opinion infinitely better in every way (but the combat maybe).

 

I think I'm just very much annoyed I spent 70 euro on this. I went in with high expectations, even commented on how very anime it all is 1 or 2 pages back and what I got was a painfully old fashioned tone-deaf blueprint for the most generic JRPG. I'll stop stinking up the thread, instead I'll go whine in the "Abandoned Games" thread.

[b00dles]

1 minute ago, df0 said:

Digital. To think I was even thinking about the digital deluxe version with costumes 😅

 

That's a fair point you make and I can not disagree with it, but allow me to elaborate on why I bought this in the first place.

I've no interest in Battlefield of Call of Duty, the last time I played a game in any of those franchises was on Xbox 360. I know what they are about and I know I am not the target audience which I am perfectly fine with. But BF and CoD do not score 9's and 10's every entry.

 

Battlefield V: Average 79%, Recommend 74%

Battlefield 1: Average 87%, Recommend 96%

Battlefield 4: Average 79%, Recommend 75%

 

Call of Duty WWII: Average 78%, Recommend 69%

Call of Duty Warzone: Average 80%, Recommend 80%

Call of Duty Blops 4: Average 84%, Recommend 88%

 

OpenCritic

 

I know not to bother with these games, judging from the scores it's still a game very much aimed at the target audience. If for example the upcoming Battlefield 2142 scores 9's and 10's proverbially all across the board, it'll trigger my interest. I'm still not the target audience, but clearly this entry is doing something differently or just very right to warrant these very high scores.

 

Different type of game: Into the Breach. Unfortunately still not available on PlayStation and I admit it's not my genre at all. However, according to many reviews I've read and seen it's a game that's like the second coming of the genre. It's unanimously praised which again triggered my interest. Not my jam, but with praise this good it must be something special and I gladly would give it a try.

 

Back to Tales or Arise. Not being facetious here, but what does this do that warrants these scores? Is the standard for JRPGs this low? Persona 5 scores barely higher with Average 94%, Recommended 98% and that's in my opinion infinitely better in every way (but the combat maybe).

 

I think I'm just very much annoyed I spent 70 euro on this. I went in with high expectations, even commented on how very anime it all is 1 or 2 pages back and what I got was a painfully old fashioned tone-deaf blueprint for the most generic JRPG. I'll stop stinking up the thread, instead I'll go whine in the "Abandoned Games" thread.

To be honest, I really don't agree with those very high scores myself either and as said, if I was reviewing this impartially, I definitely wouldn't rate it that highly. 

 

I think persona 5 is waaaay better but that's also something I'd have difficulty flat out recommending to friends that aren't as much of a games geek as I am due to it being all a bit otaku as well. 

 

It is "better" than trails of cold steel imho and I'd probably suggest it was a bit more approachable than perhaps bravely default 2 but I think that is a better game as well. 

 

I know this isn't very helpful but without having read any reviews of it myself, I'm not sure what their justifications would be for those (inflated) scores. It is, however, the latest in a series that numbers almost 20 I think now, even though it doesn't have a number to let you know that. This is unfortunately one of the problems with sites like metacritic, I'd venture that all of those reviewers were already fans of the series, or at the very least very generic JRPG fans. I'd also suggest that there actually aren't quite as many of the very "old school" types of JRPG as there one were. 

 

There are lots of RPGs made by Japanese developers of course but most of them have diverted from this template (for the better, variety is good) so when one comes along that is in this style, it may be "marked up" for that reason. As an example, you have the two already mentioned (persona 5, bravely default 2) and then ni no kuni, dragons quest, final fantasy - and the ffvii remake - and also xenoblade chronicles and things like monster hunter even, they're all JRPGs but they aren't in the vein of tales, which is why it's still going I think. 

 

It's a shame you got (wrongly, I'd also say) fooled into thinking this was a game for you and buying it digitally as I don't think it deserves those scores you've shown. 

 

But, it is a good example of a very generic JRPG on modern machines with the suitable shinies and production values. 

 

Check with fellow forumites next time to double check perhaps (I realise this is little consolation after spending £70 on it of course).

[Thwomp]

I must be doing something stupid, but I've been playing for 20 hours and I still can't get the blazing sword to work. I've googled it and read the help menu in the game, and all it says is "perform a ground attack and continue to hold the button down". I've been doing that, nothing happens!

[Melon_Bread]

22 minutes ago, Thwomp said:

I must be doing something stupid, but I've been playing for 20 hours and I still can't get the blazing sword to work. I've googled it and read the help menu in the game, and all it says is "perform a ground attack and continue to hold the button down". I've been doing that, nothing happens!

 You need a specific skill to get it working I think, it tells you this at one point, it's called Swallow Blade.

[Melon_Bread]

I find the map in this a bit annoying, the quest markers seem to sometimes work other times not and fast travel will suddenly not work.

It keeps downloading the bloody PS4 version every time I start up my PS5 as well.

[Thwomp]

9 minutes ago, Melon_Bread said:

I find the map in this a bit annoying, the quest markers seem to sometimes work other times not and fast travel will suddenly not work.

It keeps downloading the bloody PS4 version every time I start up my PS5 as well.

 

Yeah, I find the map to be a pain in the arse. I don't know why they can't just display the yellow star on the mini map.

[Kayin Amoh]

2 hours ago, Thwomp said:

I must be doing something stupid, but I've been playing for 20 hours and I still can't get the blazing sword to work. I've googled it and read the help menu in the game, and all it says is "perform a ground attack and continue to hold the button down". I've been doing that, nothing happens!

 

It has to be an arte, and you don't need to be on the ground. R1 / RB won't work for it. Set up a few different artes and experiment with them.

[Thwomp]

I know it's a JRPG so I need to temper my expectations, but the story is so bad. I feel like the game deserves better because it looks so nice.

 

Spoiler

They've been repressed for 300 years. Alphen comes along and liberates an entire nation within 30 minutes.

 

Law: sells his father out as a traitor, cries when his father is dealt with as a traitor.

 

Kisara: sells her brother out for treason, cries when he dies.

 

I do really like Dohalim, both his personality and his character model. He's quite refreshing.

[df0]

Strap in, it’s a rough ride. Or move to greener pastures.

[Retroguy]

The battles are good in this, but it’s a shame the strategy options are a big step back from previous entries in the series. You have to set a strategy for the whole group rather than individuals, which is pretty restrictive even with the gambit-style system.

 

There’s also no way to force all your party to even attack your target, let alone set individual targets. You can kinda do it by switching characters and changing their targets manually, but it’s a massive pain having to do it that way. It also seems that the enemies are biased towards attacking the player controlled character to balance the lack of strategic control.

 

It’s all such a wasted opportunity, god knows why they abandoned it- it robs the game of a whole strategic layer which would have made it much deeper for those who wanted to delve into it. You just never feel like you’re properly equipped for a situation and just have to bodge it.