TALES OF ARISE TITLES FULL

I’m not talking about the actual writing, but the way it shows on the subtitles.

The second issue is that the game’s dialogue transcription is absolutely abysmal. (Note: On 10/7/21, a Very Easy mode was added, presumably in response to complaints like mine.) There’s also an intentional dearth of in-game currency (gald), but I managed to stay strong on that front. After 45 hours for the main quest, I really wanted to see everything else the game had to offer, but I did not want to grind another 50 levels, so I spent $14 on leveling DLC at that point.

Confession is part of the Christian faith, and I am ashamed to admit this crap worked on me. Occasionally the game forces the grind artificially, forbidding fast travel out of a completed dungeon without a reason (no cutscenes on the way back). In Story Mode, the game still took 45 hours to complete (easily 10+ more hours than any other Tales title), largely due to the amount of combat necessary. I know this because, again, this is the tenth Tales game I’ve played in the past 2 years. I played the game in Story Mode (below Easy), and it was on par with Normal difficulties in past titles. And the bigger temptation to do it is that the game’s difficulty is inflated unnecessarily. There’s a “news ticker” every time your characters camp (which is often), reminding you over and over that there’s DLC you can buy to boost your stats. The first, larger issue is that the game’s DLC is absolutely insidious.

There are two major flaws with Tales of Arise, both of which are completely fixable. I’m going to do this review in reverse and talk up front about my frustrations, for two reasons: one, this game is so good that I want to end on a positive note two, the problems with this game are so frustrating that I don’t want you to finish this review with that taste in your mouth. The game also focuses heavily on slavery and overcoming the enslavement of the people of Dahna, but to be honest, a world of predominantly white people being enslaved feels a little weird and tone deaf in 2021. There’s a sense that it requires teamwork and a family of loved ones, but generally presents an idea that supernatural beings are to be rejected and overcome. Spirituality and Themes: The overall “ideal” pushed in the narrative is one of overcoming one’s circumstances and creating one’s own destiny, much like many other JRPGs. A large swath of NPCs are enslaved, some by force, some by deception, some by flat-out mind control, and many are killed.ĭrugs & Alcohol: There are references to drinking at a bar when a pair of characters feel strange, they think they were drugged or drank too much at the bar.

TALES OF ARISE TITLES FULL

Many NPCs are also killed in particular, an entire town square full of people are liquefied in an instant. Violence: Most of the game has you fighting monsters, but almost all of the story bosses are humans, and many end up dead. There are two optional hot springs quests the men are shown in towels, the women are only shown from the neck up, but the scenes are again full of suggestive dialogue. One major story boss has a nonsensical, revealing outfit. Primarily the sexual content is the way outfits just slightly push things Shionne’s skirt is a bit too short in the front, and Kisara’s armor has an open back for no good reason. However, there is plenty of innuendo in the dialogue, some obvious (“hey, check out the hot chick over there,”) to subtle jokes, to an expression of concern over potential sexual assault (“he didn’t, like, do anything to you, did he?”). Sexual Content: First, to be clear, there are no sexual acts beyond a single kiss between two characters. F–k is replaced by “freaking” which is used some, as is “crap” instead of sh-t. Language: Many instances of d-mn, h-ll, p-ss. Skip down to the main review if you’d rather not see. Did I set myself up for disappointment? Let’s find out! I’m not sure the last time I anticipated a game as much as this one. In the leadup to Tales of Arise, I went back and played nine other Tales games all the way through. And what I had been missing was actually an entire era of Tales: there are seven Tales titles available for the PlayStation 3, while only Tales of Berseria was developed for the PS4-until now. For almost a decade, I eschewed video games for board games, until Breath of the Wild reminded me of what I had been missing.

Tales of arise titles