The “Tales of” series is probably a work in the JRPG that highlights the characteristics of Japanese anime culture, from the design to the appointment of voice actors. Also, in battle, it is not a command-type turn-based RPG from the beginning of the series, but it is a highly immersive “playable animation” style because you can develop offense and defense with active actions.
The “Tales of Arise” reviewed this time is the original title for home use (so-called numbering title) since “Tales of Zestiria” released in 2016. It seems that the development was “inheritance and evolution”, and while playing the game, the system that was popular from the familiar ones to the recent works is mixed, but the elements that were not seen in the “Tales of” series so far It was a challenging content that included.
Since the story is very important in this work, please understand that we will not mention the story from the middle stage onward, but only the overall feel and the evaluation of the system including battle.
The rebellion that unfolds in a world like the Middle Ages has a certain nostalgia.
The story of this work begins with an explanation of how the natural planet Dana was unilaterally invaded by the scientific and magical planet Lena and became a slave for 300 years. The focus is on Alphen, who is the status of.
Alphen is born with an iron mask that covers his face and does not feel any pain. Alfen, who spends his days as a slave, meets Zion, a Lena who has a curse called (Ibara), which causes severe pain to those who touch it.
The content is that the two who give severe pain to everything that touches the body that does not feel pain fight together in the battle with Lena, meet friends who share the same aspirations during the journey, and aim to release Dana. Such Dana is divided into five countries, each of which has a lord called Surdo (lord), and the purpose of the main character is to dismiss these five people.
If you take a quick look at the early story and purpose, you might think it’s a common RPG touch. At first, I was destined to be a slave since I was born, and when I saw how I resisted it, I was reminded of Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars”, and I added the element of Boy Meets Girl to it. I got the impression.
The element of Boy Meets Girl is often the tendency of “Tales of” works, and it is not uncommon for the environment in which they were born and raised to differ greatly, let alone being of the opposite sex. Another convention in the series is that the protagonist is forced to leave his hometown in the middle of an absurd situation. Even in this work, the unfavorable environment of slaves and the flow of meeting a woman named Zion, who is an alien and of the opposite sex, follow the rules of the series. Such a sudden start is the rule of the “Tales of” series, and by following this in this work as well, it gives the fans a sense of nostalgia and peace of mind.
If you evaluate the flow of the story without touching the content, you may find it a little difficult to understand the depth of the story at first glance because the terms unique to this game come out quite a bit (because this series uses quite special terms). This is also a unique element). The purpose is to defeat the lords of five countries, open the planet Dana, and win freedom, so if you suppress this, it is a standard rebellion story, and I highly recommend it to those who like this content.
The playable characters that appear also have different pasts, and it is also shown in the play that specific characters can not agree with each other due to the beliefs of each individual, but the same vector is suitable for the same purpose. In addition, since all of them support each other as an adult’s response, they can be seen with general peace of mind without having a great dislike for a specific character.
Also, compared to the conventional work, I felt that one of the factors that makes this work calm and playable is that the characters are not the dark characters that were animated and animated, but rather realistic.
The state of the city and the field are based on medieval Europe, and it is an orthodox JRPG composition that mixes psychic elements and magic peculiar to Japanese animation with the motif of medieval Europe that was often seen in the NES and Super Nintendo era. In addition, in this world, it is the first work in a sense because the technology has not developed so much as a whole and there are elements of lost technology, probably because slaves are forced to work exploitatively. I felt a part close to “Tales of Fantasia”.
The graphics of each field and city are also variously made based on the policies and circumstances of each country, and I am satisfied with the finish that makes me want to advance the adventure one after another. Orbus Karagria, who is doing terrible slave exploitation at the beginning, is made to show not only the living facilities that are civilized and degenerated, but also the hygienic environment, and this work was produced with a great deal of energy from the beginning of the game. You can see that it is done. When I left Orbus Caragria from there and stepped into a wider world, the field graphics reminiscent of the size of the world are just a wonderful word.
As for the character’s outfit, Alphen and Zion’s outfits are well-crafted, with nuances that make players feel the changes of the times and cultural differences in this world. rice field. As I briefly introduced the outline of the story earlier, this series, which uses fairly special terms, has carefully created the settings, and even in this work, not only the terms but also the graphic design is quite important so as not to destroy the world view. I’m putting effort into it. Looking back on past works, I think that this effort is quite important.
Not only does BGM not spoil the atmosphere, but it also has a calm melody that does not interfere with the conversation between characters that takes place along the way. The BGM at the time of battle is unusually intense, but it is a different song for each boss, and the melody that reflects the character and theme of the boss excites the player’s mood.
The battle system has evolved from the system that was popular in past works to one that makes it easier to get a sense of exhilaration.
As I wrote at the beginning, the battle system of this work, “Tales of” series is a fierce real-time action battle, and the characteristics of Japanese animation are quite apparent.
I will briefly introduce the basic operation method. The author is playing on PS5. First of all, you can move the play character freely on the field with the left stick. The attack method is normal attack with the R1 button, and the ✕, □, and △ buttons are set with techniques, and these are combined to fight. As the story progresses, you can form a sub-set of techniques, press and hold the L2 button to display a subset, and enter it in this state to activate it.
Other actions include jump (◯ button), avoidance or guard (R2 button), target switching (L1), boost attack and boost strike (cross button). There is also a evasion called just evasion that evades according to the enemy’s attack, and if you use this, the character you are using will be able to advance the battle advantageously depending on the skill you have acquired.
If you classify the characteristics of the characters here, Alphen is a traditional swashbuckler character who is good at melee attacks and draws the genealogy of the main character of the series. Zion has a rather unusual ranged attack of fighting with a gun as a weapon, while being able to perform recovery and artistic attacks. Linwell is a typical magic attack character. Rowe is a fighting character who specializes in quick melee attacks, and has the property of defeating enemy super armor more than other characters. Kisara is a guard counter character who fights with a large shield and staff as weapons, and some techniques can be activated while guarding. Tuoharim is in the opposite standing position to Zion, who can perform melee attacks in addition to tactical attacks and recovery techniques, and if evasion is done well, the weapon will stretch like a ruyi stick and a great reach will be obtained.
Players should mainly focus on the operating character, but what about the other members participating in the battle? They will automatically fight based on the set AI. The setting of this AI is quite excellent, and I actively participated in the battle while following the contents of the strategy constructed by the player, so I was not frustrated by the action of the AI.
Since the strategy can be set in detail from the beginning of the game to the conditions and actions, it is a good idea to build your favorite battle style once you understand the battle system to some extent. It is good to make effective use of it because you can also organize a strategy to keep a large distance from the enemy and concentrate on avoiding attacks in preparation for a strong blow of the enemy.
It is not the case that attacks can be unilaterally inexhaustibly launched, and there are proper rules. First, normal attacks can be made up to 3 times in a row in a series of combos. This number will increase as you learn it separately from the “skill panel” that gives skills to the character. Since the normal attack can be launched even after the technique is performed, it is also one way to observe the enemy’s posture and state and flexibly insert the normal attack between the techniques in order to connect the combo stably. ..
In past works, techniques and techniques were used by consuming MP in other RPG works called “TP”, but in this work, they are activated by consuming a gauge called “AG (Arts Gauge)”. AG is some diamond icon displayed above the HP gauge of the character you are operating. This can also be increased by opening it in the skill panel, so I would like to actively learn it. Since the amount of AG consumed is determined by each technique, the player will not activate the technique in the dark clouds, but will activate it with some planning. When AG is consumed, it recovers naturally when the combo is interrupted, recovers when a critical hit occurs by skill acquisition, and recovers a certain amount when using the “boost attack” introduced later, so there is not much after consumption. You don’t have to worry about it.
Although I’m going to talk a little bit here, the “Tales of” series has implemented counting the number of times the technique has been used from the beginning, and a system has been introduced in which a new technique is learned when the technique reaches a certain number of times. .. This is followed in this work as well, and you will learn new techniques by using the technique a certain number of times. Therefore, it is best to use it at least 100 times even if it is not very convenient. In addition, the more counts the technique accumulates, the stronger the power of the technique will be. It’s unclear how many times you have to do it to learn all the techniques of this work, but if you find a technique you like, you should actively use it.
Some may find this a penance. To be honest, I also feel that this annual event is a penance. It would be helpful if you could at least prepare an item that doubles the usage count as a help item, but as long as it is an AG system, it is a dream that will not come true. But that’s hard …
The other system “BG (Boost Gauge)” is displayed next to the character’s face at the bottom left of the screen during battle, and when used, a special action called boost attack can be performed. For example, Alphen can turn the enemy back, Zion can knock down the enemy in the air, Rinfell can interfere with the enemy who is chanting the technique, and you can make the technique your own. You can perform different powerful techniques. BG will recover over time if you use the boost action, but you can also increase the recovery means in the skill panel, so during the game I would like to preferentially acquire it together with AG related skills.
At first glance, it seems that it is just a special action to promote the battlefield in an advantageous way, but since there is a one-shot deadly action called “boost strike” in this work, the activation of boost attack does not mesh with the character’s characteristics and the battle situation. I want to use it positively even at times.
Such “Boost Strike” is probably the biggest feature of this work. During the battle, if you give a large number of combos to one enemy, the letters “STRIKE” and the cross-shaped button icon will be displayed large.
It doesn’t matter if it’s here or not, so if you press the button, the character corresponding to the cross and another character randomly selected will cooperate and inflict a large amount of damage in a one-shot deadly class. If you are not a boss-class enemy, you can activate BS when you are ready to defeat it with a single blow. Since it does not consume BG when used, please concentrate on the pounding attack aiming for this boost strike when the battle starts. Once you know the knack of this boost strike, you will be able to finish most battles with this, and the exhilaration of the battle will rise dramatically. The tension also goes up. As a battle enthusiast, I was devoted to fighting over the story.
And about the mystery of this work, if you receive damage during the battle or succeed in just avoiding it, you will enter a special state called “Over Limits”. In this state, you can use the technique regardless of AG, or you can attack as much as you want because it will be in a complete super armor state, but after using the technique, two buttons of △, □, ✕ Press and hold to activate “secret mystery”.
This is a traditional technique of the series that can cause enormous damage when used, and the cut-in and production are things that tickle the heart of the kitchen, so please do not hesitate to use it and feel the exhilaration. If you use the mystery, the overlimits state will be canceled, so the theory is to activate when the overlimits gauge is short.
Although it is a tradition of the series that the mystery is hard to see due to these specifications, this work has a cooler boost strike than the mystery, and it can be put out hard, and the feeling of exhilaration is comparable to the mystery. .. As a result, there is a reversal phenomenon in me that boost strikes are more fun than mysteries. In the past work, there was a mystery of coalescence, but Boost Strike can easily launch a powerful cooperative attack, and the production is not inferior. However, I think that the evaluation of this game will be greatly divided depending on whether or not you can master these powerful techniques. The reason is that the difficulty level of this work is quite high even in the past.
There may be pros and cons to the increased difficulty of this game and the higher price of recovery items, but the game is balanced.
This work consumes not only AG but also CP (cure points), which are prepared separately, when using a technique that has a healing effect during battle. In addition, it will be consumed for the recovery of the walls, burning flames, and fallen civilians that block Alphen’s path on the field.
CP recovery is recovered at special items such as orange gummies, the effects of meals, inns, and campsites that camp at specific points on the field. The upper limit of CP can be raised by leveling up the character or defeating a specific strong enemy.
At first glance, CP seems to have no problem as a game system, but CP seems to be exhausted, and it is not possible to recover characters in battle during the game, and both HP and CP are extremely recovered. I fell into a shortage of items and annihilated it. It’s not uncommon.
To be clear, I think that this work is quite high in the successive series even if it is normal, but the game balance is considerably adjusted and stable. As you can see from the battle system of this work introduced earlier, I think that it was well thought out if you think that it is a CP system because you can push it with an attack. However, the difficulty level is high. Let me introduce a few factors that increase the difficulty level.
The first is the existence of events on the field that consume CP. This gives the player the freedom to choose whether or not to do it, so if you don’t feel the need to say this, you can ignore it, but usually after consuming CP and removing obstacles At that point, there are good items, and if you help someone in need, you will get a thank-you gift, so I don’t recommend going through it. However, consuming CP in such a place will deplete it and you will not be able to recover, so you will not be able to do much in battle, and you will aim for 0 damage by just avoiding it.
The second is the cost of recovery items and restrictions on possession. Originally, in the “Tales of” series, the possession limit is set to 15 for items that directly recover, such as Apple Gummies that recover HP and Orange Gummies that recover TP (CP in this work). It is followed in the work. Even if you have the recovery item up to the limit and drop the recovery item from the enemy when you end the battle with damage, it will be inevitably discarded due to the possession limit. I’d like you to use it before throwing it away, but such questions are ruthlessly thrown away without being asked by the game side.
Before picking up something that has fallen along the way, such as a treasure chest, a confirmation message will appear saying “Don’t pick it up and throw it away”. Can be adjusted. This wasn’t a big problem in the other series, but it’s a big factor in increasing the difficulty for this work, which lacks recovery means. In addition to that, the high price of these recovery items is a troublesome point that bothers the player’s head.
In the case of Apple Gummies, it was usually 50 to 100 gardes, but now it is 500 gards, which is a price that can not be afforded. The price of orange gummies that recover CP is usually 3000 gards for 100-200 gards, and the price of life bottles that recover incompetence is usually 1000 gards for 400-500 gards.
As for income, this work is not about the enemy dropping money after the battle, but whether to make money by selling valuable items dropped by the enemy, or to earn money by doing sub-events. It’s a pretty realistic system. For the time being, defeat the enemies on the field, collect all the found items, proceed with the game, and even if you have enough money to replenish the recovery items, this time you may not have enough money to equip it, so it is chronic I cannot deny the feeling of lack of money.
In the real world, lack of money is a matter of life and death, but it is the same in this game. That doesn’t mean that you can make money right away, so it’s a difficult place. On the other hand, if you could easily make money, it would have been a game where you prepared a lot of recovery items and indirectly hit with money. Therefore, I think this CP system is well thought out. The balance as a game of this work is exquisite.
As a side note, this work also has the tradition of “cooking” in the series, which can restore CP and HP, but it can be expected to have a dramatic effect that can overturn the problem of CP depletion. This is not the case, so don’t expect too much.
Exploration elements and sub-events are enriched, and fast travel is easy, so detours are fun
The field of this work is not an open world where free space continues forever, but it is a format often seen in old-fashioned RPGs that move on a fixed map. Unfortunately, in this work, it is not possible to enter the general houses in most of the towns, and the walking element has become thinner than in the previous series works (in the first place, the main character side who enters the general houses without permission is strange. But).
At first glance, the search elements are considerably thinned, and you may think that it is like a linear game, but since this work also has a lot of sub-events like the conventional series work, there are many detours. I think it will be.
In the sub-event, as I introduced earlier, you can increase your possession money, and you can also get points called SP to acquire new skills in the skill panel, so in order to proceed with the game smoothly and comfortably, do the sub-event as much as possible. You had better keep it. Also, since this work has destination markers for both the story and the sub-event, I think that there is not much hesitation. Of course, you can also delete these markers on the setting screen, so if you want to search by yourself, you should delete the markers. In addition, a fast travel function has been implemented to make these movements easier, and if the play of this work is only to break through the story, some people will go on quite quickly.
Let me conclude with a few points that I found inconvenient. The first is that in many parts the letters feel small. There is no problem with the subtitles displayed in the story and the skit that supplements the story, but on the menu screen and the screen of the skill panel for skill acquisition, I felt that the characters in the description were quite small from the name.
Since the skill panel has a function called scaling, I thought that it would be improved if I used this, but the displayed picture was only enlarged, but the characters were not enlarged. I’m using a 32-inch monitor, but I think it’s still too small. I think that this area can be supported by an update, so I would like it to be supported.
The other is that the button mapping when moving the field and walking is not very good, and the user cannot customize it.
To introduce some operations on the field, use the ◯ button to jump, the □ button to open the map, the ✕ button to talk and check with NPCs, the Option button to pause, and the touchpad to use the menu screen and games of other genres. The mapping is a little different than that. Even though ◯ and ✕ are reversed on PS5, it should not be changed in the action part that moves the character, and I do not hear much about opening the map with the □ button and I am not used to it, so I used the touchpad many times from my usual familiarity I feel the hassle of opening the menu screen thinking that it will open. After 10 hours, I learned a lot, but I made many similar mistakes when I wasn’t aware of it.
Immediately after the game started, I felt that it was difficult to do it, so if I tried to set my favorite setting with the key config, I think that I can only do the key config at the time of battle. This should be updated immediately.
Although it was such a button mapping, I was impressed. The right side of the cross key is the skill panel, the left side is the activity record (confirming the current purpose), and the bottom is the shortcut that is frequently used in the help and menu screens, so I thought this area was well thought out.
This was the first original title for home use in five years, but it was an ambitious and exhilarating game that not only emphasized the conventional series work, but also went further. Although the character graphics and character attachment are a little restrained compared to other series, it has acquired a new fan base and is breathing fresh life into existing fans, and this steering has been successful. I think.
When it comes to RPGs, it’s a genre that’s hard to reach out because you sit down and play for quite a long time, but it was a work that I wanted you to play from the beginning as a flashy action game with a refreshing feeling. I sincerely hope that new series of works will continue from here.
This work, which became the original title for home use for the first time in five years, became an ambitious work that made great progress by actively incorporating new elements while preserving the tradition of the series work. Although the battle system is a little complicated, once you learn it, you will feel a great sense of exhilaration, and there is no doubt that your feelings will be synchronized with the character aiming for further heights in the game. The CP system attached with an exquisite feeling gives a feeling of tension to the game, and this work that succeeded in achieving an exquisite balance is a must-see item for action game lovers.
