![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter-1.jpg\")
<\/article>\nThe Two Worlds Are Full Of Mystery And Conflict<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nTales of Arise opens by introducing you to two very different worlds\u00a0and how they intersect: Rena and Dahna. The technologically advanced Rena has ruled over Dahna for the past 300 years, but it wasn\u2019t always that way. The two once coexisted, with Rena regarded as a paradise and domain for the gods, while the lush Dahna was once believed to be \u201cindestructible\u201d and \u201ceverlasting.\u201d Then Rena proved that untrue, using its superior technology to wreak havoc and nearly obliterate Dahna. In an instant, the land\u2019s beauty was stripped, with Rena depleting its natural resources and forcing its inhabitants into slavery.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhen Rena conquered Dahna, its leaders split the land into five distinct realms, giving each leader a chance to rule how they saw fit. Tales of Arise\u2019s first chapter focuses on Orbus Calaglia, which is governed by a tyrant named Balseph, the lord of the Fire Master Core. He\u2019s about as big and fiery as you\u2019d expect in appearance, and the barren wasteland he commands is full of scorched terrain, oppressive heat, and dust storms.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCommon themes in previous Tales games include nature and coexistence, touching on racism, loss, and societal decline. However, Arise\u2019s opening is a brutal and frightening look at what happens when power and greed get out of hand, as you watch the Dahnan people suffer as slaves under the ruthless oppression of the Renan soldiers. While we learn the basics about these two worlds, it\u2019s clear there\u2019s a complicated history here, and that something needs to change to ensure a better future for all. Bandai Namco keeps a lot under wraps for you to uncover about these two different lands, and I liked feeling like I was constantly piecing together the truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter-2.jpg\")
<\/article>\nAlphen And Shionne\u2019s Relationship Is Intriguing<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nThe two characters at the center of this adventure are Alphen and Shionne, and they could not be more different. Alphen is from Dahna, spending his days\u00a0as a slave answering to Rena soliders\u2019 harsh demands. He has a strong sense of justice, as depicted in an early scene where he steps in front of a lashing meant for a child not performing up to expectations. This encounter is also where we learn he can\u2019t feel pain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nShionne\u2019s backstory is a bit more complicated, and she keeps her cards close to her chest about her upbringing and current situation. Where Alphen can\u2019t feel pain, Shionne can only cause it. She has a curse, where anybody who touches her gets engulfed in thorns that electrocute them. Shionne is also from Rena, but based on her being on the run, it’s clear she’s not in good standing there.\u00a0Her curse and checkered\u00a0past have left her\u00a0guarded, and she\u2019s quick to give Alphen a hard time whenever she can. Their relationship is full of banter and putting each other in their places, a bit akin to Aybss’ Luke and Tear, but their opposite lifestyles also bring out different sides of the current turmoil unfolding between the two worlds.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI loved watching this dynamic as you not only learn about the world through their different viewpoints, but you also see both characters come to understand one another and grow. Throughout the story, characters’<\/span><\/span>\u00a0identities and beliefs will be tested, and it will be interesting to see how Alphen and Shionne change throughout the adventure.\u00a0<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter-3.jpg\")
<\/article>\nThe Creative Freedom In How You Build Your Party Members Shows Promise<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nHow you learn new skills has been altered to offer more customization over your characters. Better yet, the new system implements the legacy \u201cTitles\u201d feature. Titles, names that can be assigned to your characters once unlocked by certain game events, have been a part of the series from the beginning, first appearing in Tales of Phantasia on the SNES. Since then, they\u2019ve been used in different ways throughout the series, such as providing special effects or abilities to party members when equipped.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019re becoming much more meaningful in Tales of Arise by getting tied directly into the progression system. Titles, like \u201cEscape Artist\u201d or \u201cSpeedy Chef,\u201d open access to new abilities and stat boosts for characters, which you unlock by investing the skill points you earn and leveling up. Every ability costs a certain amount of skill points, giving you options like gaining new artes\u00a0like Sonic Thrust, speeding up the charge on a special attack, or KO prevention. Every Title has five different abilities associated with it, and you get a bonus stat boost for unlocking all abilities within one. You can swap between various Titles or focus on one at a time.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThis portion of the game is really designed so that the player can have some freedom in making their own decisions,\u201d director Hirokazu Kagawa told us. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll have a difficult time deciding, \u2018Okay, what\u2019s more optimal?\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s good?\u2019 \u2018Where should I [focus]?\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly the process that we want people to go through. Whatever choice that they make, it\u2019s designed so that it can fit various play styles. You can really fit it to your liking and still be successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAs someone who loves to build characters, this system has me excited for the customization potential. I stopped at the screen many times, contemplating if I should save up my SP for KO prevention so I could withstand a deadly attack or if I should get access to more artes to have better combo options. I even wondered if I should be focusing on just one Title to get the stat bonus, but I kept being swayed by the variety of mixing and matching from a slew of different ones. This system has a lot of potential, but time will tell how far-reaching and satisfying it is. As with many other elements, Bandai Namco is trying new things, and they seem like intelligent innovations.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter-4.jpg\")
<\/article>\nCharacter Bonding Is Still Front And Center\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nA big strength of the Tales series is its relationship-building between the party members. Bandai Namco isn\u2019t dialing this back in the slightest. In fact, the development team designs the\u00a0world map with the characters and places for them to interact in mind. \u201cThe center of everything in the world-map design is always the character building and revealing more to the player about the character, whether that\u2019s dialogue, actions, or different activities. So, we always make sure that we can portray the character by building the world around them,\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0producer Yusuke Tomizawa told us,\u00a0pointing to various scenic points you can find in the game where characters will react to your actions and the places you\u2019re going.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe series\u2019 ultimate bonding moments, which fans best know as \u201cSkits,\u201d also are returning, but they\u2019re\u00a0getting an upgrade. Skits are no longer just character portraits with dialogue boxes; now, they feature 3D models in comic-book style interactions, akin to what we saw in Bandai Namco\u2019s recent action\/RPG, Scarlet Nexus. The cartoony feel of skits\u00a0is\u00a0gone, making them feel much more immersive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m glad to see the emphasis on character interactions hasn\u2019t diminished; if anything, it looks like Bandai Namco has only added in more moments for dialogue between the party. In fact, even in dungeons, Kagawa said to expect more banter and interactions between characters that add comedic relief.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/the-biggest-highlights-from-tale-of-arises-first-chapter-5.jpg\")
<\/article>\nDungeons Have More Decision-Making And Better Puzzle Implementation<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nThe first chapter takes you to a few different dungeons, but they\u2019re mostly smaller affairs. However, the final dungeon in the first chapter is called Glanymede Castle, and it\u2019s a vast structure that represents the fiery region and the style of its ruthless leader, Balseph. You\u2019re basically running up a colossal tower, trying to locate a key to switch the elevators back on. However,\u00a0Bandai Namco added some interesting conundrums\u00a0to keep things interesting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nBlazing walls block certain places, and you can spend CP to melt the flames. This choice creates an interesting dilemma. Do you spend the CP to find better items and equipment, or conserve it since using CP means draining your\u00a0healing resources? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\nKagawa says not every dungeon makes you choose between using CP, but a good portion will. \u201cThe idea behind the CP resource is that we really want to make the player think about their choices and formulate strategies,\u201d Kagawa said. \u201cComing up with a game plan is something that we believe is a very enjoyable and satisfying experience. We\u2019re making the player put their choices on a pendulum or scale. Are you going to use the CP for battle and survivability, or are you going to use it more for exploration and item finding?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nI liked this feature, as the risk and reward part made exploration more enticing. Time will tell if it wears out its welcome after a few dungeons, but I liked having some extra decisions to make in how thorough I wanted to explore. This also got me thinking of what else dungeons will offer to make them memorable beyond the boss fights, leading me to ask about puzzles.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDungeons in the Tales games have usually had some form of puzzles, whether you’re moving boxes or tapping switches in a particular order, but recent entries have dialed back on those elements. When I asked about puzzles, Kagawa had an interesting answer: \u201cThere will be some puzzle elements that might be familiar to you if you played the past entries,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we did want to make sure that these puzzles didn\u2019t feel out of place within the overall context of the world. And so we really were careful in designing these puzzles to make sure that they feel realistic and believable and that they\u2019re not completely removed or feel foreign to the world.\u201d Kagawa also confirmed that since Tales of Arise\u2019s characters can swim and jump, the team also incorporated that into some of the puzzle-solving elements of dungeons. Color me intrigued!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nWant to see the game in action? Check out our latest New Gameplay Today<\/a>. You can learn more about Tales of Arise in our latest cover story<\/a>\u00a0and discover more about the battle system and enhancements to world exploration in our previous hands-on preview<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When Rena conquered Dahna, its leaders split the land into five distinct realms, giving each leader a chance to rule how they saw fit. Tales of Arise\u2019s first chapter focuses on Orbus Calaglia, which is governed by a tyrant named Balseph, the lord of the Fire Master Core. He\u2019s about as big and fiery as you\u2019d expect in appearance, and the barren wasteland he commands is full of scorched terrain, oppressive heat, and dust storms.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Common themes in previous Tales games include nature and coexistence, touching on racism, loss, and societal decline. However, Arise\u2019s opening is a brutal and frightening look at what happens when power and greed get out of hand, as you watch the Dahnan people suffer as slaves under the ruthless oppression of the Renan soldiers. While we learn the basics about these two worlds, it\u2019s clear there\u2019s a complicated history here, and that something needs to change to ensure a better future for all. Bandai Namco keeps a lot under wraps for you to uncover about these two different lands, and I liked feeling like I was constantly piecing together the truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The two characters at the center of this adventure are Alphen and Shionne, and they could not be more different. Alphen is from Dahna, spending his days\u00a0as a slave answering to Rena soliders\u2019 harsh demands. He has a strong sense of justice, as depicted in an early scene where he steps in front of a lashing meant for a child not performing up to expectations. This encounter is also where we learn he can\u2019t feel pain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Shionne\u2019s backstory is a bit more complicated, and she keeps her cards close to her chest about her upbringing and current situation. Where Alphen can\u2019t feel pain, Shionne can only cause it. She has a curse, where anybody who touches her gets engulfed in thorns that electrocute them. Shionne is also from Rena, but based on her being on the run, it’s clear she’s not in good standing there.\u00a0Her curse and checkered\u00a0past have left her\u00a0guarded, and she\u2019s quick to give Alphen a hard time whenever she can. Their relationship is full of banter and putting each other in their places, a bit akin to Aybss’ Luke and Tear, but their opposite lifestyles also bring out different sides of the current turmoil unfolding between the two worlds.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I loved watching this dynamic as you not only learn about the world through their different viewpoints, but you also see both characters come to understand one another and grow. Throughout the story, characters’<\/span><\/span>\u00a0identities and beliefs will be tested, and it will be interesting to see how Alphen and Shionne change throughout the adventure.\u00a0<\/p>\n How you learn new skills has been altered to offer more customization over your characters. Better yet, the new system implements the legacy \u201cTitles\u201d feature. Titles, names that can be assigned to your characters once unlocked by certain game events, have been a part of the series from the beginning, first appearing in Tales of Phantasia on the SNES. Since then, they\u2019ve been used in different ways throughout the series, such as providing special effects or abilities to party members when equipped.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n They\u2019re becoming much more meaningful in Tales of Arise by getting tied directly into the progression system. Titles, like \u201cEscape Artist\u201d or \u201cSpeedy Chef,\u201d open access to new abilities and stat boosts for characters, which you unlock by investing the skill points you earn and leveling up. Every ability costs a certain amount of skill points, giving you options like gaining new artes\u00a0like Sonic Thrust, speeding up the charge on a special attack, or KO prevention. Every Title has five different abilities associated with it, and you get a bonus stat boost for unlocking all abilities within one. You can swap between various Titles or focus on one at a time.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis portion of the game is really designed so that the player can have some freedom in making their own decisions,\u201d director Hirokazu Kagawa told us. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll have a difficult time deciding, \u2018Okay, what\u2019s more optimal?\u2019 \u2018What\u2019s good?\u2019 \u2018Where should I [focus]?\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly the process that we want people to go through. Whatever choice that they make, it\u2019s designed so that it can fit various play styles. You can really fit it to your liking and still be successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n As someone who loves to build characters, this system has me excited for the customization potential. I stopped at the screen many times, contemplating if I should save up my SP for KO prevention so I could withstand a deadly attack or if I should get access to more artes to have better combo options. I even wondered if I should be focusing on just one Title to get the stat bonus, but I kept being swayed by the variety of mixing and matching from a slew of different ones. This system has a lot of potential, but time will tell how far-reaching and satisfying it is. As with many other elements, Bandai Namco is trying new things, and they seem like intelligent innovations.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A big strength of the Tales series is its relationship-building between the party members. Bandai Namco isn\u2019t dialing this back in the slightest. In fact, the development team designs the\u00a0world map with the characters and places for them to interact in mind. \u201cThe center of everything in the world-map design is always the character building and revealing more to the player about the character, whether that\u2019s dialogue, actions, or different activities. So, we always make sure that we can portray the character by building the world around them,\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0producer Yusuke Tomizawa told us,\u00a0pointing to various scenic points you can find in the game where characters will react to your actions and the places you\u2019re going.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The series\u2019 ultimate bonding moments, which fans best know as \u201cSkits,\u201d also are returning, but they\u2019re\u00a0getting an upgrade. Skits are no longer just character portraits with dialogue boxes; now, they feature 3D models in comic-book style interactions, akin to what we saw in Bandai Namco\u2019s recent action\/RPG, Scarlet Nexus. The cartoony feel of skits\u00a0is\u00a0gone, making them feel much more immersive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m glad to see the emphasis on character interactions hasn\u2019t diminished; if anything, it looks like Bandai Namco has only added in more moments for dialogue between the party. In fact, even in dungeons, Kagawa said to expect more banter and interactions between characters that add comedic relief.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The first chapter takes you to a few different dungeons, but they\u2019re mostly smaller affairs. However, the final dungeon in the first chapter is called Glanymede Castle, and it\u2019s a vast structure that represents the fiery region and the style of its ruthless leader, Balseph. You\u2019re basically running up a colossal tower, trying to locate a key to switch the elevators back on. However,\u00a0Bandai Namco added some interesting conundrums\u00a0to keep things interesting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Blazing walls block certain places, and you can spend CP to melt the flames. This choice creates an interesting dilemma. Do you spend the CP to find better items and equipment, or conserve it since using CP means draining your\u00a0healing resources? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Kagawa says not every dungeon makes you choose between using CP, but a good portion will. \u201cThe idea behind the CP resource is that we really want to make the player think about their choices and formulate strategies,\u201d Kagawa said. \u201cComing up with a game plan is something that we believe is a very enjoyable and satisfying experience. We\u2019re making the player put their choices on a pendulum or scale. Are you going to use the CP for battle and survivability, or are you going to use it more for exploration and item finding?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I liked this feature, as the risk and reward part made exploration more enticing. Time will tell if it wears out its welcome after a few dungeons, but I liked having some extra decisions to make in how thorough I wanted to explore. This also got me thinking of what else dungeons will offer to make them memorable beyond the boss fights, leading me to ask about puzzles.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Dungeons in the Tales games have usually had some form of puzzles, whether you’re moving boxes or tapping switches in a particular order, but recent entries have dialed back on those elements. When I asked about puzzles, Kagawa had an interesting answer: \u201cThere will be some puzzle elements that might be familiar to you if you played the past entries,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we did want to make sure that these puzzles didn\u2019t feel out of place within the overall context of the world. And so we really were careful in designing these puzzles to make sure that they feel realistic and believable and that they\u2019re not completely removed or feel foreign to the world.\u201d Kagawa also confirmed that since Tales of Arise\u2019s characters can swim and jump, the team also incorporated that into some of the puzzle-solving elements of dungeons. Color me intrigued!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Want to see the game in action? Check out our latest New Gameplay Today<\/a>. You can learn more about Tales of Arise in our latest cover story<\/a>\u00a0and discover more about the battle system and enhancements to world exploration in our previous hands-on preview<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/article>\nAlphen And Shionne\u2019s Relationship Is Intriguing<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/article>\nThe Creative Freedom In How You Build Your Party Members Shows Promise<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/article>\nCharacter Bonding Is Still Front And Center\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/article>\nDungeons Have More Decision-Making And Better Puzzle Implementation<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n