Tales of Arise is one of those video games that you just won’t be able to put down. From the get go, this game draws you in with an intriguing narrative and then, it just never lets up. You’ll be hooked and before you know it, it’s suddenly 3am and you’re still playing the game. However, is it the best in the series?



The story of Tales of Arise kicks off with players being shown a brief introductory video about the history of the planet Dahna. 300 years ago, Rena, a world with advanced technology, attacked Dahna and subjugated its people. The Renans divided up the world of Dahna into five distinct kingdoms, each ruled over by a Renan Lord. Fast forward to the present and not much has changed with the Renan’s still ruling over the world.

Players will take on the role of "Iron Mask" in the Kingdom of Calaglia. Calaglia is ruled by one of the five Renan Lords, Balseph. Balseph, owner of the “Fire Core”, rules over Calaglia without any mercy for the weak and has enslaved the local non-Renan population to mine ore day in and day out. “Iron Mask” is one of the enslaved and has been toiling away in the town of Mosgul without any memory of his past or even his real name. Renan soldiers are everywhere in Mosgul and they ensure that the slaves work themselves to the bone.



The next three paragraphs contain spoilers for the game’s introductory sequence so look away if you want to go in blind without knowing any major early story details.

“Iron Mask”, as the name suggests, wears an iron mask on his face which cannot be removed. He also miraculously cannot feel pain. After slaving away in the pits of Mosgul one day, “Iron Mask” awakes to his newly assigned task of pushing a freight train along with some other slaves. However, another freight train nearby is attacked by a group of rebels and this is when things escalate quite quickly.

In the freight train being attacked, a mysterious woman with long light pink hair wearing a white dress is chained up. The rebels break her free but she electrocutes one of them when he grabs her. She then flees by jumping into a ravine. She ends up in the cargo container of the freight train “Iron Mask” is pushing and the Renan soldiers quickly rush in to seize her. “Iron Mask” decides to save the woman and gets dragged into the rebel’s plan of action as they make their escape.

After a brief spat with the soldiers, both our hero and the mysterious woman end up at the rebel’s hideout and the game truly begins. The mysterious woman is revealed to be a Renan known as Shionne and has been cursed with “Thorns” which electrocute anyone who gets too close to her. The rebel hideout gets attacked and on the way out, something strange occurs when Shionne is hit in the chest by an arrow fired from a soldier. “Iron Mask” tries to pull the arrow out but is instead able to pull a flaming sword out of Shionne’s chest. The soldiers are defeated and Shionne explains that she carries the “Master Core” within her. She then decides to team up with “Iron Mask” because of his special ability and explains that she plans to take down Lord Balseph as well as the other Renan Lords that rule over Dahna. Stating anything further ventures too deep into spoiler territory and is best experienced for yourself when playing the game.



The story of Tales of Arise focuses heavily on the five distinct Kingdoms of Dahna. The game is effectively broken up into five chapters this way since each kingdom features its own environment and major plot points that occur. Tales of Arise’s story starts off in Calaglia and progresses at a slow but steady pace.

The lore built up in Tales of Arise is extensive and there’s an immense amount of effort that’s been put into the world-building here.

Players will learn more about the history of Dahna, its people and the conflict with the Renans as they adventure through the game. The lore built up in Tales of Arise is extensive and there’s an immense amount of effort that’s been put into the world-building here. The story does however feature some tropey JRPG writing, especially when it comes to specific characters. However, with all that said, the entirety of Tales of Arise will keep you entertained throughout and players will definitely grow to like the game’s cast.



Gameplay in Tales of Arise is where things get a bit complicated. Players will take on the role of one main playable character in battle while their party members will automatically attack using their “Artes” or normal attacks. Players can change their attack style by altering what their party members do via a menu option. When you take control of a character though you are free to move around in battle, jump and perform a range of powerful attacks. This involves using Artes as well as even more powerful character specific attacks which deal massive damage to foes.



The combat in Tales of Arise is extremely fast-paced with players moving around to evade attacks and let loose their own on enemies. The enemies in the game are quite varied too with plenty of massive creatures to take down which are truly the star of the show here. Ferocious enemy beasts known as “Zeugles” make up the bulk of the monsters you’ll be fighting but there are plenty of humans to be fought in battles too.

The battle system will feel familiar to anyone that’s played a previous Tales game but Tales of Arise incorporates enough new mechanics into the combat to keep things fresh.

Fighting off Renans and Zeugles never gets old in-game thanks to the sheer amount of Artes and attacks available throughout. Players will spend hours in game mixing and matching their attacks to find synergies to break through their foe’s defences. The battle system will feel familiar to anyone that’s played a previous Tales game but Tales of Arise incorporates enough new mechanics into the combat to keep things fresh.



The only major gripe I have with Tales of Arise’s combat lies in the fact that the enemies seem to soak up a lot of damage without flinching much. In Scarlet Nexus, also from Bandai Namco, the combat felt a lot more visceral with players feeling as if they were really causing massive damage to their enemies. In Tales of Arise however, this only seems to be the case when you break specific weak points on enemies or pull off an extremely flashy boost attack. Enemies can therefore seem to be a bit spongy in the game on the normal difficulty setting.




With all that said though, the fact that players can go from exploring the gorgeous locales on offer in Tales of Arise and load into a battle with an enemy in mere seconds is great. Touching an enemy on the exploration field instantly loads you into a battle sequence fought in a circular arena. Upon defeating foes, you instantly load back out and can continue exploring again. Tales of Arise also features a system known as “Cure Points” where Shionne uses her powers to heal your party. If you fall in battle, you’ll respawn back out on the field and can continue onward. Players will therefore need to monitor their “Cure Points” and replenish this via camping out in-game or sleeping at an inn.



Camping is an aspect that Tales of Arise has seemingly cribbed from other titles. At camps, players can view a list of previously viewed visual novel-esque story scenes or major story cutscenes. They can also view entirely new story segments which further explores character interactions, history and more in-game lore. At camps players can cook food too which imparts buffs to your party based on the dish you cooked. It’s all very reminiscent of Final Fantasy XV to be quite honest but that’s not a bad thing.



While out in the field exploring, there’s an audible prompt that can be heard when a new story cutscene is accessible for viewing. By pressing R1, you immediately load into the scene and players will be treated to a short burst of story interactions between characters. This happens throughout the entire game and it’s great because these scenes expand on the game’s story at a steady pace while you’re out exploring without bogging you down with walls of text to read through. Players can also choose to ignore these scenes and view them later at the camps since they are automatically added to the list available once unlocked. Thankfully all of these scenes are fully voiced acted.

The game’s stunning environments practically beg for you to explore every single nook and cranny since each area in the game is flat-out gorgeous.

If you aren’t out adventuring and exploring, players can spend time with the game’s fishing mini-game, grind out some side quests, OR go out to harvest resources or materials for crafting and cooking. The game’s stunning environments practically beg for you to explore every single nook and cranny since each area in the game is flat-out gorgeous. Tales of Arise also lets you freely fast travel between locations by simply using the map so long as there isn’t a story quest blocking you from doing so. This means that you can jump between areas ridiculously fast and take on enemies or gather resources without suffering through countless load screens or running back and forth between places manually.



While exploring players will also be able to find owls which unlock cosmetic items for their characters. These owls give off an audible cue when they are nearby in the environment which indicates you to look for them. Once you come across a couple by chance, you’ll be motivated to explore everywhere to get them all throughout the game.



Levelling up your characters abilities in Tales of Arise is done by acquiring points which can be spent in the “Skill Panel” to unlock new Artes and more. Completing a pentagonal set in the skill panel will award you with a “Title” which rounds off a group of skills or buffs with a bonus. Players will unlock more of these pentagonal sets for their characters as they progress throughout the game. Additionally, characters will also learn new attacks while battling enemies on the fly and it’s always great to see them suddenly pull off some new flashy skill while in the heat of battle.



When it comes to graphics, Tales of Arise is ridiculously beautiful. From the deserts of Calaglia to the frozen wastelands of [Redacted], the lush forests and more, all of the environments in the game are a visual feast for the eyes. It’s a shame that the game does not have a photo mode because it so desperately needs one, especially with such amazing environmental art and design on showcase here. There are times where you’ll just stop to admire the scenery because it’s chock full of detail.

Players can thankfully view character models in the game’s menu and these do look great when you’ve kitted them out with unlocked cosmetic items. There’s also quite a bit of cosmetic DLC which is available for purchase should you be so inclined to do so.



The soundtrack of Tales of Arise has been composed by Motoi Sakuraba and you won’t be disappointed. There’s a lot of storytelling which gets elevated even further thanks to the game’s orchestral soundtrack and excellent voice acting. The voice acting, both English and Japanese, has been performed by seasoned veterans of the gaming industry who have lent their talents to numerous games over the years. Hearing Shionne screaming “Gemini Aqua” will surely engrave itself into your brain throughout the course of the game. There is one minor gripe to be had here though and that lies in the fact that not every single interaction in the game is voiced. Talking to side quest characters and other NPCs is unfortunately not voiced here.



Overall, Tales of Arise features a colourful cast of characters with extremely enthralling stories and deep lore behind them. Each character plays an integral role in making the combat gameplay excel and despite the fact that the game follows some standard JRPG video game design seen in other games both from Bandai Namco and their competitors, it does it remarkably well. There isn’t much that will disappoint you here. This is a ridiculously good JRPG that will entertain you for upward of 50 hours as you explore the breathtaking environments of Dahna. If you’re looking for an addictive JRPG to sink your teeth into, Tales of Arise comes very highly recommended.

*PS5 Review code provided by Bandai Namco