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Do you think Tales of Arise deserved the rave reviews it got?
- Thread starter Dust
- Start date
I usually don't let people influence my decision, but I've been on the fence about this for a while. Reading this thread has given me good info.
It is a good game, but it could be way more. The areas look beautiful and are thankfully not overly linear, but they still feel too restricted in what you can do and there are invisible walls everywhere.
I also think that the structure of new region with one or two towns, a dungeon and then the cave to the next region is too uninteresting. At least the dungeons were more interesting than all of the ones in the last 10 or so tales games, but it really needs puzzles.
It has a score of 84, right? I pretty much agree with that, there are lots of worse games that got better ratings, and the late game stuff really helped with elevating my opinion. I just love the 4 optional bosses with their very own small dungeons and the additional tough bosses that got added there. WIth the now completely unlocked world that made it absolutely fun.
I also think that the structure of new region with one or two towns, a dungeon and then the cave to the next region is too uninteresting. At least the dungeons were more interesting than all of the ones in the last 10 or so tales games, but it really needs puzzles.
It has a score of 84, right? I pretty much agree with that, there are lots of worse games that got better ratings, and the late game stuff really helped with elevating my opinion. I just love the 4 optional bosses with their very own small dungeons and the additional tough bosses that got added there. WIth the now completely unlocked world that made it absolutely fun.
It's a good game but by the end I thought it was fairly average overall despite being high on it at the start. The last fourth maybe went on too long and felt like the story was repeating itself a bit too much. And the soundtrack was fairly bland. Berserias isn't interesting but it at least has one standout track in Velvets theme but Arise didn't even have one track that stood out like that.
User Banned (Permanent): Inflammatory generalizations, long history of bans for hostility and other similar behavior.
Or anime fans that havent played enough it voted for the waifus or consider anime as enough quality instead of you know, a well written characters and plot.
Probably went with the "I had fun in these terrible times of covid when i put a wolf tail in my Alphen UwU". The bar lowers in terrible times.
Pretty decent game that peaks when you get all the party members. After that though, I think it falls off a cliff with the story and writing. Gameplay, while strong throughout, has diminishing returns by the end.
I mean, that's not really fair. Some aspects of the game may have clicked more with others, there's nothing wrong with that. Wasn't quite the case with me, or some others in the thread, but it doesn't mean they're wrong.
I personally think the scores were largely deserved and it's the best tales game IMO. I'll admit the cast wasn't going it for me early on but they grew on me and I loved them by the end. Is it the best tales story? No that's still berseria. And honestly graces f still probably has better combat. But I think as a total package it had a lot less glaring flaws or incredibly weak areas than those two and thus managed to be my favorite in the series
Not at all. It's a solid 6-7, but one of my least favorite in the series.
I felt like the difficulty was balanced with the booster DLC in mind, and outside of the visuals it was just very middle of the road.
I need to finish it still, but I just wasn't having fun.
I felt like the difficulty was balanced with the booster DLC in mind, and outside of the visuals it was just very middle of the road.
I need to finish it still, but I just wasn't having fun.
That's a good price, but no. I really don't think it's worth it as an experience, personally. The combat overstays its welcome and, imo, it hard fumbles the messaging of the story. The music is the standard generic Motoi affair.
At $25 I'd say go for it.
Really weird seeing so many people on Era hate this game, considering I see people here championing far worse jrpgs all the time.
It's a decent Tales of game.
Are you in the mood for a long action JRPG? That's a pretty good price imo.
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To be fair, i did NOT put a wolf tail on my Alphen OwO
Dog tail went to Law only ok
Definitely buy it, its a namco bandai rpg it WILL be 20$
Its not a bad game
Dog tail went to Law only ok
Definitely buy it, its a namco bandai rpg it WILL be 20$
Its not a bad game
Now that the honeymoon's over I can see some of the flaws better, but I had a lot of fun with it and I do still think it's a great game, so I'd say yeah.
Yeah that was my main issue... which has kinda been an issue in the series since Vesperia tbh. Arise was just much prettier while doing it so it was easier to forgive lol. Berseria's story is probably the one that feels the most "complete" of the recent ones to me.
But yeah, don't be teasing a whole other planet/continent/race and show up with one lil' town in shambles and a dungeon... it's like they wanna pull another Symphonia so bad but always end up running out of time and resources.
As a long-time Tales fan, this is by far the dumbest writing in the series. And that's really saying something. I'm surprised there's no cutscenes for someone to explain to the characters how to open a door, because I'm not convinced they could figure that out on their own. It looks good and the combat is decent, by series standards, but I could feel my brain dying as I tried playing.
It is definitely the best post-Vesperia game for me, but still sits right with Xillia/Berseria in the "pretty good but not great" category.
If it had more actual cutscenes, less skits, and more focused dialogue, I would have liked it a lot more.
I thought it was gorgeous, had a good plot, and had the best battle system of any modern Tales game, but both story and gameplay got way too repetitive and bloated by the end. I started skipping through voiced dialogue (I still read it obviously) in the second half and am surprised I didn't do it sooner. The amount of times they beat around the bush or repeat the same things in different ways is astronomical. Less really is more sometimes.
If it had more actual cutscenes, less skits, and more focused dialogue, I would have liked it a lot more.
I thought it was gorgeous, had a good plot, and had the best battle system of any modern Tales game, but both story and gameplay got way too repetitive and bloated by the end. I started skipping through voiced dialogue (I still read it obviously) in the second half and am surprised I didn't do it sooner. The amount of times they beat around the bush or repeat the same things in different ways is astronomical. Less really is more sometimes.
I have a ton of other stuff I can play, plus I have a strong feeling this will be on Game Pass sooner or later.
I fit pretty squarely into the "Good game but review scores were too high" category. I don't feel even remotely negative on the game at all but it was not the superstar that the reviews at launch suggested, IMO. Reviews almost made it feel like an absolute JRPG paragon, but I don't think that's quite accurate.
Sure, I have some criticisms that I hope to see addressed in future games, but none of them straight up create a negative overall experience for me.
Sure, I have some criticisms that I hope to see addressed in future games, but none of them straight up create a negative overall experience for me.
In that case I wouldn't buy right now
I bought it day one, and other games had WAY more priority for me like SMT V, Lost Judgment, Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, P5R and i didnt even start on it until like 2 weeks ago as a result
But it is really cheap right now and there is no rush in life, and i do NOT see it going below 20$ personally, so 25 is great
I guess *shrug*. Personally, I think JRPG reviewers at outlets in general tend to inflate their impressions and scores out of enthusiasm for seeing bigger JRPGs release or break in to the mainstream zeitgeist which are fewer and far between nowadays. Like the JRPG go to-s on podcasts had me feeling like KH3 was going to be amazing and convinced me to pick it up ASAP and I came away from that thinking "Really? This is what you were raving about?". Maybe that's unfair, though. I think Scarlet Nexus's reception was about on par for what that game was for instance.
Personally as far as Arise goes, I really love the art style and the combat has had me playing it more than I have any other Tales game (I've tried Zestiria and Berseria). That said, everything else about it is just about average to below average compared to any other mid range JRPG I've played in the past 10 years or so. So yeah an 87 metacritic is a little higher than I'd personally think it should be at.
Personally as far as Arise goes, I really love the art style and the combat has had me playing it more than I have any other Tales game (I've tried Zestiria and Berseria). That said, everything else about it is just about average to below average compared to any other mid range JRPG I've played in the past 10 years or so. So yeah an 87 metacritic is a little higher than I'd personally think it should be at.
Yep scores were too high
writing and pacing were a mess, the combat was fun once you got all characters but last few dungeons dragged out pretty badly imo. The visual refresh was great for the series though.
I'd run it in at more of a low 7/high 6.
writing and pacing were a mess, the combat was fun once you got all characters but last few dungeons dragged out pretty badly imo. The visual refresh was great for the series though.
I'd run it in at more of a low 7/high 6.
Scores were out of whack with this one. Boring intro that never picks up steam, combat that quickly devolved into spamming gels to keep my braindead AI partners either alive or able to cast and the endless conversations. I would have regretted buying it at any price.
I played tons and tons of JRPGs when I was younger (= had more time) and nowadays only occasionally dive into one that really piques my interest, which the demo managed to do. Played through the entire game and while the last third definitely had some bloat and infuriating backtracking, it's the most fun I've had with a JRPG since the first Xenoblade Chronicles. So yes, I think it deserves the praise, 9th place on my personal GOTY list.
The one right answer.
Seriously it's just opinions. I have some games in my Top5 that haven't been that highly rated and will be overlooked for most people when it comes to awards.
On the other side there will be always some game where you "don't get the hype". My candidate for this year would be Halo Infinite, I was shocked how repetitive and tiresome the campaign was for me outside of it's great gunplay. But a lot of people seem to love it and that's fine. Deathloop seems to be a candidate for some people too, I liked the game, even if not as much as other Arkane titles, but most stuff you hear seems to be rather positive, people who don't like something are in most cases just a bit louder.
Regarding Tales Of Arise I only played it for a few hours and liked it so far, I bounced off Vesperia and Berseria pretty quickly, so at least Arise made already one thing better for me personally.
Not at all -- I can tell they were trying and it didn't insult me on the levels of Xillia 2/Zestiria, but the game was thoroughly average from beginning to end. I'm left scratching my head at the reviews like you are, OP.
Still, opinions are opinions, and I don't hold the game in contempt -- clearly Arise's new direction'[s working for folks; I'll just have to accept whatever magic I found in Symphonia and Abyss will likely never be channeled again.
Still, opinions are opinions, and I don't hold the game in contempt -- clearly Arise's new direction'[s working for folks; I'll just have to accept whatever magic I found in Symphonia and Abyss will likely never be channeled again.
There's a lot to like about the game, but two big issues really drag it down.
#1:
The writing is SO BAD, especially on the back half. I'm around 2/3 through with the game I think and I am taking a break since I can literally feel my IQ dropping as I listen to the dialogue. And I love stupid anime games, XBC1 and XBC2 are my absolute favorite JRPGs, and they're both full of dumb anime tropes. Tales of Arise somehow goes beyond "dumb but lovable" to just plain idiocy.
#2:
The combat starts okay, but eventually devolves into spamming your highest damage/quickest arte against super tanky enemies. Bosses and enemies later on have hyperarmor and you can't cancel animations with dodge/other attacks, so there's no reason to ever use the longer artes since you'll get knocked out of them every time.
#1:
The writing is SO BAD, especially on the back half. I'm around 2/3 through with the game I think and I am taking a break since I can literally feel my IQ dropping as I listen to the dialogue. And I love stupid anime games, XBC1 and XBC2 are my absolute favorite JRPGs, and they're both full of dumb anime tropes. Tales of Arise somehow goes beyond "dumb but lovable" to just plain idiocy.
#2:
The combat starts okay, but eventually devolves into spamming your highest damage/quickest arte against super tanky enemies. Bosses and enemies later on have hyperarmor and you can't cancel animations with dodge/other attacks, so there's no reason to ever use the longer artes since you'll get knocked out of them every time.
Yes it did, but it will get mocked for being "too anime" of course.
The story was really well done and it was fun to play
The story was really well done and it was fun to play
Didn't like it. Combat was pretty bad IMO, regular enemies were a joke and then bosses were huge damage sponges with OHKO attacks that your AI party loved to just stand there and take. Story and characters were ok but pretty forgettable. I stopped playing right after I got the last 2 party members and I really have no desire to go back.
So people who dislike the game were predisposed to hate it? There can't be valid criticism of the game?
I was excited to try this game because it looked good from the previews. I had not played a Tales game since Symphonia. I found the writing so atrocious that I had to put the game down in chapter 2. The characters/voice acting/cut-scene direction were terrible. The characters were one dimensional cardboard cutouts who acted out the same one note theme through cliched dialogue ad nauseum. For example, Shionne was only capable of acting dismissive, patronizing, or guarded to the point that it was unbelievable and grating. You might tell me she eventually changes, but so what? That's no excuse for writing hours of generic samey dialogue that players have to wade through before a payoff. Characters can have an overarching theme, but still go through a variety of temperaments and behaviors without losing the theme's focus. Also the skit system has to be one of the more immersion breaking ways of delivering narrative I have seen in a game, especially when 3-4 skits pop up all in a row. There's a lot more I can type on how this game fails narratively, but it really isn't worth it.
At the risk of coming off as condescending, I honestly have a hard time putting myself in someone's headspace who enjoys this sort of content. Does that person consume any other media? Have they experienced good or even mediocre characterization before? How did their taste become so non-discerning? Do they just not care about the story/characters in these sorts of games? I would honestly be in interested in reading an earnest opinion of someone who liked the story of this game that attempts to break down what they thought was well done about the execution of the characterization & narrative.
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It's definitely a pretty decent game overall. the presentation is nice, I really like the gameplay and it has some likable characters.
However, the writing is just so boring. So much pointless exposition and repetation. It just gets grating. What's worse is that the STORY itself isn't even bad... but the character dialogue is just grating. It gets much much worse the more you play too. The last few hours are borderline torture. Really just wanted the game to be over at that point.
And yeah the enemy variety is pretty much non existant which can be pretty distracting once you realize it.
However, the writing is just so boring. So much pointless exposition and repetation. It just gets grating. What's worse is that the STORY itself isn't even bad... but the character dialogue is just grating. It gets much much worse the more you play too. The last few hours are borderline torture. Really just wanted the game to be over at that point.
And yeah the enemy variety is pretty much non existant which can be pretty distracting once you realize it.
I'm not a reviewer and don't write things off for being too "anime" or following anime tropes, I also don't look for literary perfection in games with the writing. I just want a good story, that hits some emotional notes and is fun to play...
And yeah, this is Tales
LOVE it. I'm about 40 hours in and I hope it goes on for another 40. My favorite Tales game alongside Berseria.
So yes the reviews are justified imo
So yes the reviews are justified imo
I do wonder if it's a localization issue rather than a writing issue. I mean, perhaps the dialog is fantastic in Japanese?
(I havnt played Arise.)
TBH this is the frustrating part. The story had a lot of promise, but it was just bungled so horribly. It feels like they had 10 hours of decent writing and then mixed in 30 hours of idiotic babble to hit the "long enough to be a JRPG" point.
No, the graphics and the combat system are very good for tales standards, but the game is not good. Awful story boring characters...
I would love to play a version of Berseria with these graphics and Combat. Outside of these 2 aspects (and the music) Berseria was the best Tales, and miles better than Arise. The cast was soo good, the skits and humor actually funny, and the story actually interesting.
I would love to play a version of Berseria with these graphics and Combat. Outside of these 2 aspects (and the music) Berseria was the best Tales, and miles better than Arise. The cast was soo good, the skits and humor actually funny, and the story actually interesting.
It was fun as hell to play, so yes. It could've used some improvements (not having co-op hurt), but I can confidently say the reviews were deserved.
Bought it because i don't usually see that kind of reception for tales games, but it wasn't for me.
The combat is great and each character plays pretty uniquely, so it's nice to swap around, but beyond getting a new character it never really evolves, so it stops feeling good to play after a point.
The game is definitely very pretty, and each new environment is very different than the last, but there's too much backtracking there. Similarly, the story just retreads the same stuff and wasn't really that interesting to me. I did do almost all the side quests and caught every fish, so maybe i just burned myself out on it trying to find something good, but it felt too long.
The combat is great and each character plays pretty uniquely, so it's nice to swap around, but beyond getting a new character it never really evolves, so it stops feeling good to play after a point.
The game is definitely very pretty, and each new environment is very different than the last, but there's too much backtracking there. Similarly, the story just retreads the same stuff and wasn't really that interesting to me. I did do almost all the side quests and caught every fish, so maybe i just burned myself out on it trying to find something good, but it felt too long.