Tales of Arise – Beyond the Dawn Edition

Genre: Action-RPG / JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Tales of Arise, the seventeenth main installment in Namco’s Tales series, is an Action-RPG and JRPG released in 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with a port to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026 in the form of the Beyond the Dawn Edition, which includes the titular Beyond the Dawn expansion as well as additional items and costumes.

The story of Tales of Arise is set between the worlds of Dahna and Rena, centuries after an alien invasion of the former by the latter leaves Dahna subjugated and its citizens crushed under the weight of a cruel occupation by the Renans. The game takes the perspective of Iron Mask, an amnesiac Dahnan who cannot remove a face-concealing mask and who is somehow impervious to pain, and Shionne, a Renan girl who has been held captive by her own people and who suffers a curse that inflicts pain on anyone who touches her. Together, Iron Mask and Shionne recognize that not only do they both have the mutual goal of eliminating the five Renan lords controlling Dahna, but only together can they make use of a powerful flaming sword that Shionne can project from her form but cannot wield, with Iron Mask’s inability to feel pain making him the only one capable of holding it.

The story here is mostly a strong one, and though I feel like it doesn’t hit quite as hard as Tales of Berseria, it is nevertheless compelling, and largely only hindered by Shionne’s elitist and somewhat racist attitudes. But of course, characters grow and have arcs, and Tales of Arise does at least indicate early on that Shionne will improve as the game goes on.

The presentation here is mostly excellent on Nintendo Switch 2, with wonderful 3D cel-shaded characters in an anime style in some nicely-detailed environments. I will note something odd though – the framerates overall seem to remain around 30FPS as far as I can tell, but then in in-game cutscenes (including combat cutscenes) it jumps up to be around 60FPS. While it’s nice to see these moments where the game runs even more smoothly, it always feels a bit disappointing when things drop back down again afterward.

The sound is another area where things are mostly great, though I do have one major complaint. The voice acting (in English or Japanese) is excellent, with the voice cast doing a solid job selling the extreme emotions this game’s story calls for. And Tales of Arise’s epic soundtrack with grand orchestral and choral themes lends a grandiosity to everything. And… well, that’s also kinda’ the problem. When you’re just walking around in the eighth area of massive ruins in a row and hear big bombastic music as you’re fighting with random monsters… and then shortly afterward you’re leading an assault on one of the main villains running the slave mining camp and about to head into a big epic battle and hear another big bombastic theme, it’s not going to have the same impact.

When it comes to the gameplay, the Tales series once again continues to evolve their Action-RPG combat system, and I think it’s maybe the best it’s ever been here, with satisfying combat with a focus on timing, dodging, comboing, and coordinating special attacks. It’s still not quite on par with Spectacle Fighter-style games, but overall this is another step up in the series. My main issue I’d note here is that enemies can get a bit damage spongey, making combat a bit repetitive. Also, I wish the dodging was a bit more responsive and didn’t leave you quite so vulnerable when you’re mid-attack.

Overall, it’s easy to see why Tales of Arise is the most successful game in the Tales series so far. While I go back and forth over whether I prefer this game to Tales of Berseria, Tales of Arise is nevertheless a great Action-RPG with a compelling story, interesting characters, a good presentation, and fun and engaging (if a bit repetitive) combat. If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 and have yet to jump into the Tales franchise, this is the perfect time to do so.

tl;dr – Tales of Arise is an Action-RPG and JRPG about a slave revolt against a subjugating civilization led by an amnesiac masked man and a woman suffering from a nasty curse. This game combines a solid story, engaging characters, a good presentation, and enjoyable combat into an overall great package that’s well worth picking up.

Grade: A-

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