Operation Backlog Completion 2026

More Details About Tales of Arise

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Jun 172019
 

At Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the next mainline Tales game was announced.

Since then, more details about Tales of Arise have been revealed (as well as the awesome art pictured here).

In an interview with Famitsu, translated here by Abyssal Chronicles, producer Yusuke Tomizawa answered questions about Tales of Arise.

Tales of Arise is aiming for a unique watercolor graphics style using Unreal Engine 4, as well as realistic character movements and expressions. They’re trying to increase immersion in many ways, including with more intimidating monster designs.

(Although he also suggests there might still be a mascot character, so here’s hoping its not as annoying as Bienfu or Teepo.)

Meanwhile, in an interview with Game Informer, Tomizawa clarified a few points that might have had fans worried.

Tales of Arise is not open world, but instead has a similar structure to past Tales games. And while the short glimpses of combat made fans concerned the gameplay would be dramatically different, the core formula of the Linear Motion Battle System will be intact.

And yes, there will be party members. I don’t know why people jumped to the conclusion that the two characters shown in the trailer would be the only playable characters, but the interview also confirms that Tales of Arise should have the sort of party size you’d expect from the series.

June 15-16 was also the Tales festival, where we got an extended trailer.

Following the trailer, the producer updated his blog with more information, which has been translated here by Abyssal Chronicles.

In it, he discusses the main characters, Alphen and Shionne. Alphen is a slave from Dahna, while Shionne is a woman from Rena who meets Alphen while on the run. Shionne suffers from a curse where anyone she touches feels pain, and she ends up working with Alphen because they unlock a special power when they’re together.

That’s all the new information we have about Tales of Arise. I’m pretty excited about it, and I can’t wait to learn more. The world/story setup sounds like it has a lot of potential.

What do you think about Tales of Arise so far?

E3 2019 Part 8: Nintendo Treehouse Gameplay

 Video games  6 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 152019
 

Table of Contents

EA
Microsoft
Bethesda
Devolver Digital
PC Gaming
Limited Run Games
Ubisoft
Square Enix
Nintendo
Nintendo Treehouse & Miscellaneous Announcements

Nintendo Treehouse Gameplay

We actually don’t have a lot to talk about from E3 after the press conferences (not like that one year when Nintendo sneaked in additional announcements throughout the rest of the week), but there’s still some good stuff to take a look at.

One game I was particularly interested in seeing more of was Luigi’s Mansion 3, so I tuned in both days it was shown during Nintendo Treehouse.

My concerns about this game are pretty much gone. While it still seems somewhat segmented, with each floor being self-contained and having its own theme, it doesn’t look like there’s a mission-based structure this time. It’s also clear that the boss ghosts have more personality than they did in Dark Moon.

Best of all, on the second day, they specifically said they paid attention to Dark Moon feedback and changed the structure as a result, bringing in more elements from the first game.

I’m pretty happy with what we’ve seen of Luigi’s Mansion 3, and now I just wish we had a release date.

Another game that stood out to me was Astral Chain. Of course, I was interested in Astral Chain from the start, but only in a vague “it’s PlatinumGames; it’ll probably be good” sort of way. After watching the Nintendo Treehouse gameplay, I realized it’s much more varied than what I expected and looks like it’s going to be really cool.

Moving on, I’ve been vaguely interested in Super Lucky’s Tale for a while, and now that New Super Lucky’s Tales has been revealed for the Switch, I might get it. It looks pretty cute, like the sort of 3D platformer I enjoy.

I’m also intrigued by Hollow Knight: Silksong. I still haven’t played the first Hollow Knight (although my copy arrived recently), but I’m looking forward to digging into that ahead of the sequel’s release.

There weren’t many additional announcements from E3 as far as I know, and the Nintendo Treehouse gameplay segments are what stood out to me the most.

Overall, I’m also looking forward to Tales of Arise, the gameplay demonstration of Final Fantasy VII Remake left me more interested in it than I was before (despite the Midgar focus), and there are several other games I’m looking forward to seeing more from.

What games did you enjoy seeing from E3?

E3 2019 Part 7: Nintendo’s E3 2019 Nintendo Direct

 Video games  4 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jun 112019
 

Table of Contents

EA
Microsoft
Bethesda
Devolver Digital
PC Gaming
Limited Run Games
Ubisoft
Square Enix
Nintendo
Nintendo Treehouse

Nintendo’s E3 2019 Nintendo Direct

Nintendo’s E3 press conference (or Direct) is one I always look forward to. I had many hopes going into this one, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it would beat Square Enix’s exciting press conference from last night.

They started out with a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC announcement, revealing the Dragon Quest XI Hero. That gave them a good way to transition into the Dragon Quest XI S trailer. It’ll be out on September 27.

Bowser appeared next as part of a funny skit introducing Doug Bowser, and then it was time for a game I was really looking forward to seeing, Luigi’s Mansion 3. It looks wonderful! There’s still a chance they’ll secretly sneak in a mission-based structure, but right now it looks more like the original Luigi’s Mansion than Dark Moon, so I’m thrilled.

Next up, I saw a Netflix logo and was confused by what appeared to be a game, but then it got cleared up. Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics is a tactical RPG tie-in game to a Netflix series. So that’s interesting.

Link’s Awakening was a great game, so I’m looking forward to the remake, which now has a September 20 release date. They’re also adding some sort of dungeon-making feature, which is cool.

Nintendo was already on a roll with this presentation, and they went on to announce that after all these years, Seiken Densetsu is finally getting localized… twice! Collection of Mana is available today for the Switch, a collection that includes Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana, and the newly-named Trials of Mana. Trials of Mana is also getting a remake in 2020, which is wild.

Meanwhile, The Witcher 3 is also coming to the Switch. Seriously. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition is coming to the Switch later this year.

They showed a new trailer for Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and then after a Resident Evil trailer that confused me since REmake is already on the Switch, they revealed that Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 are coming to the Switch as well. I’m not particularly fond of those two, but it’s still a cool announcement.

Now, Suda51 had teased news for E3… and it turned out to be No More Heroes III! I really need to try this series.

They announced Contra: Rogue Corps, as well as the Contra: Anniversary Collection. The Anniversary Collection is available today.

Daemon x Machina now has a September 13 release date, and Panzer Dragoon is getting a remake. They spoke just a little bit about Pokémon Sword and Shield, and then they moved on to Astral Chain. Astral Chain looks really cool, and I can’t wait to play it!

They announced a strategy game called Empire of Sin, showed more from Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and Cadence of Hyrule, then revealed Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Next up was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has been delayed to March 20. I’m not much of an Animal Crossing fan, but I know a lot of people were looking forward to this.

They switched to a montage of games, which includes the revelation that the Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Alien Isolation are coming to the Switch, along with a ton of other games.

Another Smash trailer revealed Banjo and Kazooie as DLC! Even without being a Smash fan, I love Banjo-Kazooie so much it was an awesome trailer. I loved it. The music made me so nostalgic.

That seemed like they end, but they came back with one more teaser… for a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

All in all, this was a crazy Nintendo Direct. I’m not entirely sure yet if this won or if Square Enix won, but both had really good presentations. Now the press conferences are done and it’s time to catch the Nintendo Treehouse live streams and the rest of the gameplay demonstrations!

What did you think of the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct?

 Older Entries  Newer Entries