May 242021
After the Tales of Arise release date trailer and gameplay footage, there were still a lot of questions, but a recent interview in Weekly Famitsu has revealed more information.
Translated here by Frontline Gaming Japan, producer Yusuke Tomizawa goes into more detail about the combat system in this interview.
A new feature in battles is the Boost Attack, a support action party members will use when you reach certain conditions. There are also Boost Strikes, powerful finishing moves performed by two characters.
It sounds like working together with party members is going to be a big part of combat, and so is dodging. It’s a fast-paced combat system that encourages the player to watch for enemy tells, dodge the attack, and counter. They’ve included difficulty modes and auto-battle options to help fans who aren’t as good at action games.
Traditional combat elements will also return, including Mystic Artes, although they’re activated in a new way.
Now, when the combat footage was revealed, the lack of victory screens (and therefore victory screen banter) stirred some fans up. Here, Tomizawa makes it clear that post-battle conversations occur on the field after the battle, so it really sounds like the usual banter is still present, just not on a distinct screen.
Another thing fans have been wondering about is the presence of skits. Skits are confirmed to be returning, but “in another form.”
I’m not really sure what that means or why they can’t be revealed yet. Are they going to be field conversations? Animated scenes? The party member conversations in skits are a big part of Tales, so I hope they still feel like skits in whatever form they take.
Tales of Arise also has more anime cutscenes than any previous Tales game.
The interview also confirms Hootle as the game’s mascot and a sign of the lighter elements the series usually has, and repeats the fact that there are still party members who haven’t been revealed yet.
Tales of Arise’s themes deal with division and friction between races and the two worlds of Dahna and Rena, which personally makes me think about Tales of Symphonia, so that’s a plus. The characteristic genre name for Tales of Arise is “an RPG to speak of the dawn of the heart.”
I’m really looking forward to Tales of Arise, and I have high hopes for it! I’m currently playing Tales of the Abyss, but I should be able to finish that without getting too close to Arise’s September 10 release date.
(Meanwhile, I’m also pretty excited about those new Final Fantasy rumors, but now I’m trying to avoid reading too much about rumors and supposed leaks ahead of E3, since surprises are often the most fun part.)
Anyway, what do you think about the latest Tales of Arise details? Are you looking forward to it?
Very much looking forward to it! Still waiting to pre-order. Wondering if I should splurge on that collector’s edition, though I am more interested in the art book than the large statue…
The CE seems overpriced to me, especially if it doesn’t include the digital bonus content like the EU collector’s edition does.