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

[gossi the dog]

If you look at the naming for all the games in the mainline series then Tales of Destiny; Rebirth, of the Abyss and Innocence are all good names. The rest are nonsensical.

 

Tales of Phantasia

Tales of Destiny

Tales of Eternia

Tales of Destiny 2

Tales of Symphonia

Tales of Rebirth

Tales of Legendia

Tales of the Abyss

Tales of Innocence

Tales of Vesperia

Tales of Hearts

Tales of Graces

Tales of Xillia

Tales of Xillia 2

Tales of Zestiria

Tales of Berseria

Tales of Arise

[smac]

Well, blow me down. The last bonus question on tonight's University Challenge was on the naming of 'Tales of...' games!

 

Final buzzer went before he finished asking the first question, but I think a UC researcher might be a 'mukker.

 

('Silent Hill' was the answer to a previous bonus question, too!).

[Curtis]

Really looking forward to this, hopefully on Thursday based on Boss_Deals track record.

 

I'm such a sucker for gorgeous cel-shaded looking games since Wind Waker. 

 

I liked the demo, but i'm more interested in the early parts before you have a full squad and the battles aren't so 'full-on'. That will make the late game, bat-shit mental stuff, oh-so-satisfying.

 

 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Yep, the demo really whetted my appetite for this. I've got a feeling it's going to be a good un. 

[Kiwi Cake]

On 01/09/2021 at 12:25, Jamie John said:

 

The previous 'Tales of' games have made sense, though, because the third word has been the fantasy name of the world the characters are in (I think), so 'Tales of Symphonia' are stories from that particular fantasy world, which make sense. 'Tales of Arise', however, doesn't make sense in the same way, unless the game is set in a place called 'Arise', which is stupid for other reasons.

 

Symphonia takes place in Sylvarant, Vesperia in Terca Lumireis, while Zesteria and Berseria take place in the same world a number of years apart (called neither Zesteria or Berseria). The names are mostly all nonsense.

 

Ironically Tales of Arise, supposedly being a story about a race of people who have been subjugated and enslaved by another, may end up being more directly related to the narrative than many previous series entries, despite making no sense grammatically.

 

I liked the demo of this and am looking forward to the full thing. I replayed the definitive edition of Vesperia last year and it's still a strong example of a good JRPG.

[Jamie John]

7 minutes ago, Kiwi Cake said:

Symphonia takes place in Sylvarant, Vesperia in Terca Lumireis, while Zesteria and Berseria take place in the same world a number of years apart (called neither Zesteria or Berseria). The names are mostly all nonsense.

 

Oh.

 

Well it's still a stupid name 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

Tales of A-buys

 

 

 

[Kayin Amoh]

Reviews are out? I'm still playing through it for mine.

 

Yes, it's very good so far. Drop dead beautiful, and I like the characters. It's a little more traditional than I was expecting (the world is still corridors, so exploration basically means walking into every dead end on the map for the item that's invariably waiting at the end of them), but anyone interested in it likely won't be disappointed.

[Sixkiller]

1 hour ago, Opinionated Ham Scarecrow said:

Tales of A-buys

 

 

 

 

"this character is just a sandpaper handjob" 

 

love ACG's way with words 

[Opinionated Ham Scarecrow]

"a sword that looks like it was made with Groot's dick"

[deerokus]

On 06/09/2021 at 21:03, smac said:

Well, blow me down. The last bonus question on tonight's University Challenge was on the naming of 'Tales of...' games!

 

Final buzzer went before he finished asking the first question, but I think a UC researcher might be a 'mukker.

 

('Silent Hill' was the answer to a previous bonus question, too!).

There were some relatively obscure gaming questions the other week too.

 

[smac]

It's the equivalent of their including rock and pop in the music bonuses.

[Flub]

I've got this preordered on my XBox. Going to try the New Zealand trick tonight after work. Although the Japanese trick would probably work right now since it came out there today.

[Cyhwuhx]

So is this the first good one since Symphonia? (Which, let's be honest, was only good because it was one-eye RPG king in the desert of the blind that was Gamecube.)

 

I've often started one of the games after Symphonia, but every time I fail to get past the paper thin anime exterior which makes the likes of World Trigger look like Tolstoy. Often combat is just so-so. Does this have a bit more meat on the bones? I don't need the story to be a stone-cold classic, I'm just pretty done with the power of friendship and burning justice storylines that hold no consequence.

[Flub]

17 minutes ago, Cyhwuhx said:

So is this the first good one since Symphonia? (Which, let's be honest, was only good because it was one-eye RPG king in the desert of the blind that was Gamecube.)

 

I've often started one of the games after Symphonia, but every time I fail to get past the paper thin anime exterior which makes the likes of World Trigger look like Tolstoy. Often combat is just so-so. Does this have a bit more meat on the bones? I don't need the story to be a stone-cold classic, I'm just pretty done with the power of friendship and burning justice storylines that hold no consequence.

 

Does this help? The last one I tried to play was Bersaria but this one looks to have actually had some money spent on it

 

 

[Luseth]

Hoping my copy is at home for when I get back, have really enjoyed the tales games over the years, though I haven't gotten round to playing Xillia and Xillia 2 yet despite them sitting on the shelf

 

The last few have been good but haven't really pushed the boundary or tried to switch things up at all and this looks like the first attempt at that so here's hoping

[Laine]

I really want to love these games but I don’t get on with the battle system at all. The demo really didn’t help - I get they wanted to show off with it but I couldn’t follow what what was going on at all. Whinge whinge.

[Kayin Amoh]

It takes a little getting used to. Basically, hammer enemies in a short period of time until a diamond appears, then tap the Dpad to call in an instant kill attack on  anything aside from bosses. Main dude can unleash flame attacks that do good damage but harm himself by holding down a button after the initial (arte) attack. Your healer should heal you automatically if they have CP left, though staying alive until they cast is on you if you got too burned.

 

 

There's more to it than that of course, but it's the fastest way to rip through enemies. Before the diamond fills up you'll call in a partner special attack, which tends to target one type of enemy or action: Shionne blasts enemies out of the sky, Kisara stuns enemies who're charging, etc.

[Curtis]

The first boss is Lv.15 and I'm Lv.8, should i be grinding/fighting mobs rather than legging it past them, or is it really down to "getting good"?

 

I've gotta be honest, none of the button variations I've tried feel comfortable. The games I'm used to never have evade and jump. 😩 Its pissing me off because i know mid-air combos are necessary to continue your string.

 

Also, the tracking of the lock-on is weak sauce - i keep whiffing moves. And the auto adjust camera doesn't seem to work whether its on min or max. 🤔

 

All-in-all not a great start. Doesn't help that the 4 hours I've played are all intro, and pretty dull. All new JRPG's should have an option to skip all the bullshit and just give you a montage of whats happened up until that point so you can jump straight into it.

[Kayin Amoh]

You do have to be facing the enemy before you use your attack, or you'll sometimes just perform the arte in the direction you're facing.

 

You can skip some mobs, but this isn't necessarily a super easy game on normal and you do need to boost yourself along the way. Can't remember what I was at for the first boss, but I wasn't running past much at the time.

 

You don't need to use jump to continue your strings. There's plenty of artes that lift you up into the air alongside your enemy, and if you see the 'BREAK' sign it means that you're able to juggle them up with them. If you want to do damage just hold down the same button (assuming you're staying as main character) when you press it and you'll smack them back down with the AOE phoenix. If you want to combo, don't hold it and do some normal slashes into another arte. Then hold it down to have a nice fiery finish. There's an arte called Stardust or similar you can unlock fairly early on, that one's a bunch of rapid attacks in the air and great for keeping them up while boosting their one shot kill gauge.

[Curtis]

I have been using the Uppercut move after a Break, and Stardust works wonderfully mid-air as you mentioned. I reckon i might stick 'Jump' on a button i'm not using and just forget about it in combat. Its always mapped to circle when you're exploring regardless of the settings. I think the Nioh button arrangement will be best for my muscle memory with a game like this.

 

Right! Time to grind some mobs! 

[SteveH]

I can't quite believe my eyes on the Series X. NPC's all popping into view about 6 feet in front of you. It looks like shit and completely ruins it. 

[Hexx]

I adored Tales of Symphonia, but haven't got on with any since.

The reviews have really got my interest in this though

[Curtis]

Really enjoying this now I've put some more time into it and gotten used to the combos necessary to build the Burst meter faster, which in turn makes the battles go faster.

 

I do love the fact its very linear, and every branch in the map is an obvious reward. Sometimes simpler is better.

 

I just arrived at the main city in the second realm. Gorgeous area and a wonderful contrast compared to the first. 

 

I do have niggles regarding the stop/start pacing of the exposition/dialogue. It makes no sense to do a talky bit, walk 5 paces, then cut to a reveal or another scene.

 

I also don't know why there are dialogue portions that require an X button press in order to get the next sentence (a pet peeve of mine) and some where it flows. If its a side quest NPC with written text and "hmms" & "aahs" soundbytes i understand, but mixing the talky bits is bothersome. Good thing is the English voices are bearable and i don't have to concentrate on reading reams of text.

 

Anyway, back to it. Good game. Not blown away yet, but I'm only 8 hours in so early days.

 

[deerokus]

If you're not using a 120hz screen make sure and switch to graphics mode (which is 4k60) It defaults to frame rate for some reason.

 

Keep thinking the baddy at the start is called ball sac.

 

[Curtis]

"Ball sack" all day long!

[Kayin Amoh]

Glad to hear it's clicking, the combat really starts to take off once you have a full party and aren't forced into downtime where enemies can recover before the instakill kicks off.

 

50 hours in now. Some optional bosses I'm not built for at this stage, so continuing the story.

[Flub]

I'm enjoying myself. Played a chunk last night and got to just past the first "boss" in the second area. The only other Tales game I've played is Bersaria and while I liked it the rather old graphics engine combined with corridor like world zones put me off. This game has the same corridor zones but the graphics engine has been improved so much that I'm finding it a benefit rather than a failing. As has been said earlier. Is nice to know that if you go down every dead end you get nice rewards and makes the main path that much more obvious (Since quest markers are often poor).

 

Combat is opening up the more skills I unlock.

[SteveH]

Well Microsoft's smart delivery failed miserably as I hadn't noticed it had installed the regular version plus the Series X/S version. I'd started my playthrough with the regular version and only realised this morning after around 3 hours play. I deleted the One version and the fucking save game isn't compatible between the One and Series versions 🤬

 

 Have to say though, doesn't look in the slightest bit different playing the "enhanced" version. Still the same pop-in sadly. 

[Talk Show Host]

2 hours ago, SteveH said:

Well Microsoft's smart delivery failed miserably as I hadn't noticed it had installed the regular version plus the Series X/S version. I'd started my playthrough with the regular version and only realised this morning after around 3 hours play. I deleted the One version and the fucking save game isn't compatible between the One and Series versions 🤬

 

 Have to say though, doesn't look in the slightest bit different playing the "enhanced" version. Still the same pop-in sadly. 

The pop in is the main thing keeping me from buying it actually. It is unacceptable. Is it really that bad?