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Tales of Arise SPOILER Thread
- Thread starter Rainy
- Start date
Oh thank god, I was wondering when this would go up. I didn't want to be the one to make it since I finished the game before launch. I would be way ahead by default.
Loved the story overall. The mirroring of the "Renans" and the real Renans, both tools for the Great Spirit, was some "real Star Trek hours." And I'm always a sucker for found family themes because that stuff resonates with me deeply on a personal level.
I was really hoping Vholran would pop up for a final duel and I started to lose hope immediately before he crashed his friggin' hijacked starship down to go after Alphen. I laughed so hard at that (not necessarily in a bad way). I also freaked the fuck out midway through that fight because I played on Moderate and he was doing enough damage to me that I needed to spam healing items. And suddenly, no menu access! When I realized that it was because Alphen had become invincible I sighed with such vivid relief.
As is often the case with me, I wish the pre-credits ending fare was richer. Alphen's "let's go" holds weight as the last line, but I could have used a better look at the world! Still, I was in tears. <3 And the mid-credits sketches, revealing everybody's near-future. That made up for things a good bit for me.
Loved the story overall. The mirroring of the "Renans" and the real Renans, both tools for the Great Spirit, was some "real Star Trek hours." And I'm always a sucker for found family themes because that stuff resonates with me deeply on a personal level.
I was really hoping Vholran would pop up for a final duel and I started to lose hope immediately before he crashed his friggin' hijacked starship down to go after Alphen. I laughed so hard at that (not necessarily in a bad way). I also freaked the fuck out midway through that fight because I played on Moderate and he was doing enough damage to me that I needed to spam healing items. And suddenly, no menu access! When I realized that it was because Alphen had become invincible I sighed with such vivid relief.
As is often the case with me, I wish the pre-credits ending fare was richer. Alphen's "let's go" holds weight as the last line, but I could have used a better look at the world! Still, I was in tears. <3 And the mid-credits sketches, revealing everybody's near-future. That made up for things a good bit for me.
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The first half of that fight you can lose, you can die and have to retry. It's the post-cutscene 2nd half of the fight when your weapons and artes swap to the flaming sword that you can't lose anymore. And it can be challenging on a higher difficulty, especially if he lands any of his status ailment moves and then it's gg.
Oh yeah, I figured. I came within an inch of my demise in the first half. I spammed Grape Gels so fast.
The fact that they have Law stop Rinwell's completely valid revenge story is and will always be utter bullshit. I only just got to the Second half of the game, but prior to and after that scene, we've had absolutely no issue absolutely murdering the Lord's for revenge, but because the 4th lord is a woman (or because Rinwell is a girl, either or), suddenly revenge killing is a step to far. Except it's not, because right after Law stops her, the party talks about how Almadrea is a huge bitch and they need to go kick her ass, which we don't even get to do because the game refuses to let us lay a single blow on her, cutscene or gameplay.
Also, the both sides rhetoric in this game is buttcheeks. "Dahnan's had leaders before, some of whom were bad, so that's basically the same as genociding a culture and enslaving the population for 3 centuries!"
Also, the both sides rhetoric in this game is buttcheeks. "Dahnan's had leaders before, some of whom were bad, so that's basically the same as genociding a culture and enslaving the population for 3 centuries!"
Shit like that, and in addition to the super repetitiveness of the skits and story scenes, I'd honestly have to rank Arise as 2nd to last in terms out writing out of the games I've played (every localized game except Phantasia), only beating Hearts R because I just straight up don't remember anything about it except one really stupid scene with Chal.
Despite apparently having around 15 hours of scenes in the story, it felt like a a third as much happened in this game compared to others on the series.
OK, so I have a bunch of thoughts that are flying over my head so none of these are cohesive so bear with me.
The relationship between Alphen and Shionne felt earned I would say. Clearly I resonate with their relationship, two opposite fates intertwining whose fates shape the very crux of this story. I'm expecting many to disagree with me but I feel Alphen x Shionne is better than Luke and Tear for me. there I said it.
Honestly, this game has one of the best parties in all of the Tales games. the relationships forged are not throwaway insta friendships rather they take their time to showcase each members feelings towards each other whether it's animosity or a tender connection moment.
In the case of Shionne, you can clearly see the icy walls that she had built around herself slowly thin down and her become more trusting of Alphen and the crew. As for motivational drivers, aside from Rinwell, I felt like we knew exactly where each of their darkness was coming from and it felt justified and you could understand what each of them were risking it all to fight for.
I gotta say, I was intially really thrown off when Shionne had her "Damsel in Distress/Kairi in KH3" moment right after Lady Almedria, but her subsequent accounts on the truth of her existence sorta dampened that feeling for me completely. When I intially saw it, I was completely expecting a full on fridging of the character.
All in all, I think this was my favorite JRPG of the year and would love Bamco to continue in this fashion for the series.
The relationship between Alphen and Shionne felt earned I would say. Clearly I resonate with their relationship, two opposite fates intertwining whose fates shape the very crux of this story. I'm expecting many to disagree with me but I feel Alphen x Shionne is better than Luke and Tear for me. there I said it.
Honestly, this game has one of the best parties in all of the Tales games. the relationships forged are not throwaway insta friendships rather they take their time to showcase each members feelings towards each other whether it's animosity or a tender connection moment.
In the case of Shionne, you can clearly see the icy walls that she had built around herself slowly thin down and her become more trusting of Alphen and the crew. As for motivational drivers, aside from Rinwell, I felt like we knew exactly where each of their darkness was coming from and it felt justified and you could understand what each of them were risking it all to fight for.
I gotta say, I was intially really thrown off when Shionne had her "Damsel in Distress/Kairi in KH3" moment right after Lady Almedria, but her subsequent accounts on the truth of her existence sorta dampened that feeling for me completely. When I intially saw it, I was completely expecting a full on fridging of the character.
All in all, I think this was my favorite JRPG of the year and would love Bamco to continue in this fashion for the series.
I actually almost got smoked in the first half cause of that. He hit me with that lightning AOE and I got paralyzed.
Thankfully, I was playing on Moderate and he didn't immediately kill me.
Finished it last night: trying to figure out where it ranks, but it's definitely top 5 Tales games material for me--Alphen at the very least has surpassed Yuri as my favorite protag in this franchise.
Also really glad about the cheesy-ass happy ending. After getting nothing but bittersweet/bummer endings since Xillia, this was an extremely welcome change, hopefully future Tales games follow suit.
Similar to Capcom with Inafune, it's amazing how swift and radical the positive changes have been, once Tabata was ejected from this franchise.
Also really glad about the cheesy-ass happy ending. After getting nothing but bittersweet/bummer endings since Xillia, this was an extremely welcome change, hopefully future Tales games follow suit.
Similar to Capcom with Inafune, it's amazing how swift and radical the positive changes have been, once Tabata was ejected from this franchise.
as an addendum, I'd also like to say that I'm not a huge fan of the over reliance of Skits for plot exposition, I mean the cutscenes were going on, why not just continue exposing whatever on that scene rather than changing it up to a skit? it kinda broke the immersion.
Who here thinks that the game should have been called Tales of Star Ocean?
Seriously, the last part felt like I was in Star Ocean. It was more Star Ocean than Star Ocean 5.
Seriously, the last part felt like I was in Star Ocean. It was more Star Ocean than Star Ocean 5.
I'd say it was top 3 tales for me and one of the most enjoyable jrpg experiences I've had with the world, story and gameplay all coming together. Felt like a real next gen Tales and I hope it continues. I hope they lean more towards sci fi over fantasy in the future.
Good to see I'm not the only one who really likes Alphen. A lot of people in the OT say he's just a generic shounen protag but I really like his personality and I felt he had a lot of standout moments throughout the story.
this was great, I mean I was half sure I almost reached the endgame but the game was only 60% done.
Are they? I haven't been keeping up with the discussion all that much, but I felt he had a great amount of depth for a Tales protag (especially if you watch the skits and listen to overworld conversations)--at least compared to the likes of Yuri, who was just cool guy, and Asbel/Lloyd/Jude/Cless/Veigue, who really were just generic shounen protags.
Loved that the game turned into a secret Star Ocean game in the last third lol. Really enjoyed the game and one of my favorite in the series now along side Vesperia and Abyss.
There's a lot of shit I don't like about the story in this game, but the Law/Rinwell thing everybody has been up in arms about is not one of them. It was frankly one of the very few main story scenes I actually enjoyed and will probably remember moving forward. Emotions are hard and make people do things that may look weird to others. I think Law stewing with feelings of regret, and those feelings finally manifesting when the party member he's closest to is about to do the exact same thing that he regretted is totally believable. Keep in mind the situations of how the previous lords were dealt with. Alphen and Shionne absolutely went to take down Balseph, albeit with different motivations, Alphen being liberation and Shionne's being… not that. Lord Dohalim joined the party and they proceeded to spare the actual mastermind of the Viscint hollowings. Ganabelt was the only one where vengeance actually factors into the equation. So Law acting the moment he realizes Rinwell's goal has actually been revenge all along totally tracks.
So anyway, all I'll say is this game is vying for my favorite/best Tales game, coming from having played all of them. The outright technical and rewarding gameplay which I did enjoy for the most part on Hard was fantastic to optimize and all the characters really play exceptionally well. The story was extremely enjoyable and tightly written and had some great moment and twists, especially when it pulled a Legendia with its 2nd arc which I was absolutely thrilled by. And the characters are some of the most grounded, relatable, and appreciated characters in a long time. The skits are a downer, not as many fun ones as previous titles, but they did so much to flesh out characters and motiviations and give them development that I can't entirely harp on them. Just such a satisfying experience from start to finish.
My only gripe right now is that the trophy system is broken on PS5, a bug after the 4th realm can cause trophies to just completely break and here I am sitting at the end of my playthrough, 100% of everything, and missing every story, bond, optional boss and fishing trophy since the 4th realm. Which really grinds my gears.
My only gripe right now is that the trophy system is broken on PS5, a bug after the 4th realm can cause trophies to just completely break and here I am sitting at the end of my playthrough, 100% of everything, and missing every story, bond, optional boss and fishing trophy since the 4th realm. Which really grinds my gears.
The OT has been insufferable to read to say the least. Some of the most disingenuous, improper reads and mischaracterizations you'd ever see. Everything about Rinwell/Law has been utterly incomprehensible with how some people are interpreting or outright dismissing.
Rinwells revenge story and all didnt faze me and all with Tales of being anime, but Alphen still being able to burn his whole arm with the burning sword is something I didn't like. There is no explanation for that except for "Eh, it's fine" even though that dude burns his arm and hand immediately to charcoal every single time.
lol glad I've been steering clear then. I saw some of the Law/Rinwell discussion poured over to the Smash OT, and after wrapping my head around what was being said, decided I wanted nothing to do with it. This place is not ideal for discussing jrpgs.
I just chalked it up to his sovereign powers, but yeah I would have liked a more solid explanation.
What about Vholran, who they go to with the explicit purpose of getting revenge on as well? I also don't see how, considering we still willingly killed the other lords, killing Almadrea is some step too far, for revenge or otherwise. Like, even if the motivation 'shouldn't' be revenge, they still could and should kill her, because she's a monster.
I get why Law would be motivated to do it (even if I think it's stupid, he should feel bad about not reconciling with his father, but I don't see why he should feel bad about killing the Thunder Lord, fuck that guy), but I don't think it checks out in the overall narrative and it comes across really heavily as them just not wanting to have you off a woman, especially when you add in that there are no female enemies in the game (at least so far). I imagine when we get to the Red Woman, she'll have some seraphic form or some shit).
I also don't think they should have spared the Viscint Hollowing guy either, so maybe that's why I have no empathy for Almadrea.
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The 'both sides-ing' of the slavery/colonization part, with falsely equating the importance of personal friendships/relationships with the systematic enslavement and geocoding of a planet of people over 3 centuries is still wild to me. Tales absolutely needs to bow out of that writing space if that's the best they can do (Though apparently the translation doesn't help, I've spotted a good chunk of subtitled comments that don't match up at all with what's being said)
Rinwell's subplot 'resolution' with Almedria is just....at the very least, it didn't click with me at all, and felt super shonen trope-y, even moreso than alphen and Shionne's tsundere relationship (which I didn't really mind, as Shionne had a good amount of dere thrown early on to make it more palatable)
We get like a few scenes of Alphen and Law talking about the latter's regrets, but I don't recall killing the 2nd lord eating Law up inside being one of them, they were mainly about Zepher. Meanwhile, we have no problems killing any of the other 'bad' Lords, and the game tries to falsely equate Rinwell's vengeance against her parent's murderer as being the same as the Dahnans' mob mentality.
I did find it a little amusing after having seen/noted the girl in red for each of the introductions to the Lords only to not be seen later on, and no one commenting on it at the time, only to have the game characters 'finally' talk about her at the end of part 1, and be like 'Dohalim/Shionne, you never saw her?'....tho tbh, Kisara never asking Dohalim about it was pretty convenient, since she discusses having seen her around for quite a while.
The skit over-reliance for plot point reinforcement (as opposed to character building/joke-y moments, which still happened) got a little absurd - I actually liked the new style for them (especially as they use your costume choices, which can get kinda hilarious), but using it as a replacement/addition to hammer plot points over and over again (at one point I think there were like 4 'skits' in a row in 2nd realm, all discussing what had JUST happened in the plot) got kinda exhausting.
Alphen is great, maybe less 'development' character-wise than someone like Luke (but Alphen is much more like-able), but he's got the same, if not more, growth than, say Velvet, and certainly more than Yuri, who is pretty static.
There is a quote/skit somewhere in the end of part 1 that Dohalim has with Alphen - hypothesizing something like 'the flame in your heart is stronger than the flame of the sword, so that must be why it doesn't cripple you in combat', followed by basically saying that it's probably a sovereign-associated thing.
Rinwell's subplot 'resolution' with Almedria is just....at the very least, it didn't click with me at all, and felt super shonen trope-y, even moreso than alphen and Shionne's tsundere relationship (which I didn't really mind, as Shionne had a good amount of dere thrown early on to make it more palatable)
We get like a few scenes of Alphen and Law talking about the latter's regrets, but I don't recall killing the 2nd lord eating Law up inside being one of them, they were mainly about Zepher. Meanwhile, we have no problems killing any of the other 'bad' Lords, and the game tries to falsely equate Rinwell's vengeance against her parent's murderer as being the same as the Dahnans' mob mentality.
I did find it a little amusing after having seen/noted the girl in red for each of the introductions to the Lords only to not be seen later on, and no one commenting on it at the time, only to have the game characters 'finally' talk about her at the end of part 1, and be like 'Dohalim/Shionne, you never saw her?'....tho tbh, Kisara never asking Dohalim about it was pretty convenient, since she discusses having seen her around for quite a while.
The skit over-reliance for plot point reinforcement (as opposed to character building/joke-y moments, which still happened) got a little absurd - I actually liked the new style for them (especially as they use your costume choices, which can get kinda hilarious), but using it as a replacement/addition to hammer plot points over and over again (at one point I think there were like 4 'skits' in a row in 2nd realm, all discussing what had JUST happened in the plot) got kinda exhausting.
Alphen is great, maybe less 'development' character-wise than someone like Luke (but Alphen is much more like-able), but he's got the same, if not more, growth than, say Velvet, and certainly more than Yuri, who is pretty static.
There is a quote/skit somewhere in the end of part 1 that Dohalim has with Alphen - hypothesizing something like 'the flame in your heart is stronger than the flame of the sword, so that must be why it doesn't cripple you in combat', followed by basically saying that it's probably a sovereign-associated thing.
At which part? The majority of the time it's Shionne's healing artes that allow him to, after they get their sovereign powers it mitigates the damage to himself and allows him to more freely draw power from the fire core unrestricted, there's a cutscene/skit detailing this. What part are you going on about that isn't explained?
Given the massive amounts of damage Vholoan takes throughout the game I don't think it's a stretch to apply that same logic to Alphen is how I viewed it. He has a higher pain tolerance and also they talk about in a skit how Shionne always has to heal his arm after every battle so it does take a toll. He is pain numb for the first half of the game and his sovereign powers are activated once his mask breaks off.
Refresh my memory because it's been a hot minute, but how was Vholran a revenge thing? I don't remember that being the case at all. As for the lords before Almeidrea, they killed two- Balseph and Ganabelt. Law regrets killing Ganabelt, and the actual killing blow of Balseph was dealt by his own fire monster dude (after Alphen deflected an attack in self defense).
I mean the point with Law and Rinwell is right around the time they start both sidesing everything and absolving pretty much everything humanoid of any responsibility by claiming it's the helganquil but then oh no it's not the helganquil it's the great spirit of Rena. But oh no, it's not the great spirit of rena's fault either, it's just unfortunate luck a planet that was supposed to be one is instead two.
The whole plot line not really having a defined arc for any villain has made it the most bland of Tales stories for characters combined with Alphen being the Deku type of shonen protagonist. Games only really saved by Dohalim.
game was super predictable with Alphen suffering amnesia. It was always going to be Alphen is a Renan or Alphen is super ancient. Actually, it turns out both were true cause all humans are actually Dahnans and some were modified and raised over centuries to forget.
That big dark monster in the 2nd OP must have been a trash mob somewhere because I don't even remember fighting it. As for the whole space part what a let down, turns out their home world is nothing but a space station. I find it completely stupid that all those Renans didn't once notice that the planet they are supposedly from they never bothered to visit.
He kidnapped Shionne (and potentially worse, as the team pontificates on a few occasions), as well as attempts to kill the party directly on multiple occasions. He also completely subjugated the people and had them willing to mindlessly sacrifice themselves on a whim. There's also the fact that the express purpose of going to these realms for the cores was with the intent to kill the other lords so, even without the 'revenge' aspect, killing them was the goal.
As for Law killing Ganabelt, why does he regret it? His guilt over his father is one thing, but considering the vile shit Ganabelt has done, remoreselessly at that, why would he feel bad about it, especially when we kill random soldiers all the time? As for Balseph, that's another case of 'technically' taking it out of the heroes hands, but they absolutely would have killed him. At least in Balseph's case, you get to actually fight him.
The whole bothsidesing element was one of my biggest problems with the whole narrative. Like, I get it, obviously not all Renans are bad people complicit in generations upon generations of slavery. But holy shit they made it the entire plot, every single scene and skit for 60% of the game is just "not all Renans are bad!". It all just felt like nonstop Renan apologism to me and while I know that's probably reductive, it just really really grated on my nerves. I really would have preferred the story to focus more on empowering the Dahnans who had been denied personhood for so long (why I find Alphen in the early arcs to be so good, him boldly and triumphantly reclaiming his name, "I AM NOT A SLAVE!!", etc). Instead it's just constant teaching the Dahnans to not hate their oppressors. I was so checked out after a point.
I also have to repeat there is something to be said that the only lord to not have a direct fight was the female lord. You beat the dragon then she's done.
On Vholran: That's not vengeance. That's rescuing an ally and stopping a monster. The motivation is different and for Law that's the sticking point. Shionne's intent throughout is to kill the lords, but Dohalim sets a bit of a precedent that killing isn't the only way to resolve each situation, and as we see they are willing to generally willing to consider both options. They all agree the lords need to be stopped but how they do it is up for debate and each member of the party will have their own feelings on the subject.
As for why Law regrets it? Probably because killing people sucks? Like that will affect you if you do that. Law being haunted by the fact he killed a man, regardless of who that man was and what he did, is not shocking at all. Especially as we see in many instances Law is a pretty immature person. Of course it will weigh on him. Oh, and for random soldiers- we beat them in fights. I don't think it's ever said they die?
The 4th Realm is where I basically checked out for these reasons. The cowardice on display took me out of it.
I'm still paying attention, but I don't really care anymore.
What do they mean by Dahna and Rena were supposed to be one planet? According to who? Why are they not one planet? I guess it doesn't matter in the grand scheme but it seemed oddly washed over. Was someone making the planet and oopsied? Was this explained in a skit I missed?
I believe the monster in question is from the post game dungeon. If it's the same one I'm thinking of.
Well that's like 99% of the game right there though. Most things are washed over and only surface level information revealed. Then that surface level detail is talked about re-iterating the same information.
We only know this based on the wills of each planet's respective astral energies, since this was a big point brought up that they're sentient but only when concentrated and their motivations are unknown. It wasn't until rinwell was able to tap into the dark element on Rena that she found out it's true purpose. It was a big reveal for everyone at that point. And could be explored by another game, a distant prequel for example.
Aside from the brief Kisara fight, are there any female enemies in-game, even?
I thought we'd have to fight the 'locked in her own headspace' Shionne in Vohlran's castle (especially after the explicit showing of how the other Dahnans all had zero will of their own), but instead it's just a manifestation of her thorns.
Incidentally, having the dahnans loss of willpower being spell/arte related seems like it kinda came out of the blue during the start of part 2, while running around doing mindless tasks in the 5th realm, unless I missed a skit explaining it.
We kill hundreds of faceless renan soldiers, though?
And TBH, I don't remember Law explicitly stating he felt bad about killing Ganabelt, outside of how it didn't go along with living up to Zepher's ideals, and the concept of 'vengeance' in general leaving him unfulfilled.
I dunno, Tales has a bit of a recurring theme of two worlds becoming one so I think it's just trying to tie into that, and we're not supposed to ask questions lol.
I figured that was probably deliberate sequel bait if the game did well enough to warrant a sequel down the line, because that not only seems like a gigantic detail, but the wills of both planets seem to know this too
I mentioned this earlier but I don't think it's ever strictly stated we are actually killing the soldiers we fight? Like I'm imagining we beat them, they're unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, I don't imagine like Rinwell is walking over to them at that point and fireballing them till they're deceased. I think we just move on as we can?
And Law goes into it in skits especially but it's mostly after the big scene with Rinwell IIRC. My assumption was he just didn't really talk about it until things blew up and he kind of had to. But we know he deals with a lot of guilt and trauma from his time in the Snake Eyes so I think it largely tracks with the fact that he's just very troubled
Eh some games do give actual explanations like Symphonia where Yggdrasil split the world in an attempt to create a better world as misguided as it was through manipulating elemental spirits.
I feel like this game more than almost all of the major mainline titles relies on lot on just hoping the player goes along with surface level details and is also fine with those surface level details being repeated multiple times often with no new info.
Yes. This is fairly normal in nearly any game. It's just one of many mental gymnastics people go through to paint over everything. They cannot separate gameplay elements from story elements.
No doubt it was handled better in Symphonia. Xillia kind of sort of had it too and I thought it was also handled pretty poorly there as well, but we at least got Xillia 2 afterwards to kind of see the societal shift afterwards.
I think people have to learn to dissociate what happen in the narrative and what happens in gameplay. People act like Alphen and gang are going through the entire realm murdering everyone they see but that's a gameplay device and not a narrative device. People are acting like Rinwell and Law are killing machines when they're just teenagers with troubled pasts and murdering someone is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Killing someone isn't something that should be treated normally especially for the teenagers of their party.
I think there are some strong parallels between why Law wanted to stop Rinwell and why Kisara was upset at Dohalim (another plotline I thought was excellent). In both cases, the end result is the same. For the former, the lord would be defeated and the people liberated. For the latter, Dahnans and Renans live harmoniously in an equal society. But while the end results may be the good, the intents that being about those results can't be ignored.
Kisara is almost broken when she finds out her brother fought, bled and died for Dohalim's dream- a dream that didn't actually exist. And why shouldn't she be upset, knowing her brother (and who knows how many others) died believing in a man who only viewed them as people because it was convenient for him? While the end result may be a net good nonetheless, the intent could certainly have made a difference for Migal, who allowed himself to die early because he believed his lord was in it for the right reasons. And it certainly sheds light on why the Dahnans of Viscint were still slaves, if only in name.
In Rinwell's case, her motive for killing Almeidrea at the time has nothing to do with making the world a better place or freeing people. She just wants to kill someone she hates. Law, having been in that same situation, recognizes that not only does he regret it, but that it's also an act you can't take back. So he stops her so she can think things through a little more. And the party all assures her that they will stand by her decision, no matter what that decision is. The end result they seek is unchanged- stop the lord and free the people. Not once does anybody say Almeidrea shouldn't be dealt with. But the party recognizes that the intent does make a difference, even if only to the ones doing the deed.
Kisara is almost broken when she finds out her brother fought, bled and died for Dohalim's dream- a dream that didn't actually exist. And why shouldn't she be upset, knowing her brother (and who knows how many others) died believing in a man who only viewed them as people because it was convenient for him? While the end result may be a net good nonetheless, the intent could certainly have made a difference for Migal, who allowed himself to die early because he believed his lord was in it for the right reasons. And it certainly sheds light on why the Dahnans of Viscint were still slaves, if only in name.
In Rinwell's case, her motive for killing Almeidrea at the time has nothing to do with making the world a better place or freeing people. She just wants to kill someone she hates. Law, having been in that same situation, recognizes that not only does he regret it, but that it's also an act you can't take back. So he stops her so she can think things through a little more. And the party all assures her that they will stand by her decision, no matter what that decision is. The end result they seek is unchanged- stop the lord and free the people. Not once does anybody say Almeidrea shouldn't be dealt with. But the party recognizes that the intent does make a difference, even if only to the ones doing the deed.
The simple fact that Alphen recognizes that he has romantic feelings for Shionne and vis versa puts him well above dense block of concret like Lloyd and Asbel.
An actually generic shonen protagonist isn't that romantically aware.
You know what, I can actually concede on this one, I think your explanation does it a good justice, because the Kisara/Dohalim plotline was one that I definitely got.
I will still stand by the fact that I think the 'way' it was presented was sub par when taken through a meta framework of the event (it really sucks that this is only a major story beat in regards to the one female villain in the game, especially when she's >= as bad as the ones we do kill prior. I'd probably feel better about it if we at least got to fight her at any point, but the fact that at no point do we ever get to hit her, cutscene or gameplay, really rubs me the wrong way. Both the Rinwell and myself, as a player, deserve to at least have that. They also pull the 'have the bad guy kill them so we can keep our hands clean' trope by having Vholran just kill her anyway, so the catharsis is totally robbed.
To compare it to another game that I like more, FF13 does a similar thing with Jihl Nabhaat, the female villain in that game. The remedy this as dlc for the sequel to give us the fight, bu tin 13, the player gets cucked from a fight right before we would get it because the main villain kills her.