Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Tales of Luminaria Details Coming on September 24

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Sep 152021
 

Tales of Arise is out now, but don’t forget that we’ve got a new mobile Tales game on the way as well.

New details about Tales of Luminaria will be coming soon, in a live stream announced for September 24. The live stream will reveal details about the world and characters.

As we discussed before, Luminaria is a completely original game with its own cast and story, instead of being a crossover like previous mobile Tales games.

I’m still hopeful that Luminaria will be a regular game, with no gacha, but I doubt will get that information this soon.

From other comments made recently, it sounds as though mobile games are a way to bring in a more consistent stream of money while they work on new entries and remasters/remakes. I’d be happy to see that, especially since Arise feels great so far (although I dislike its DLC practices).

I just hope the western release of Luminaria isn’t left to die like Link and Rays, and I hope Crestoria sticks around long enough for me to get a device that can play it!

Anyway, after the live stream on the 24th, we should have a better picture of what Luminaria will be like.

What are you hoping to learn about Tales of Luminaria?

Tales of Luminaria Has an All-New Cast and Story

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Aug 272021
 

When the new Tales game announced at Gamescom turned out to be a mobile game, I was a bit disappointed.

Not that I expected a whole new mainline title to be announced before Arise is even out, but I was hoping they’d remaster some of the other titles.

Instead, they announced Tales of Luminaria for iOS and Android, the latest in a long line of mobile Tales games that haven’t had much longevity in the west. The most recent was Tales of Crestoria, which I’d like to play for its story once I get a newer tablet (so I really hope this isn’t a sign that Crestoria will be shut down like the others).

However, Tales of Luminaria is not a crossover game.

According to the recent developer messages posted by Bandai Namco, “none of the previous series characters will appear in this title, so you will have the experience of following the encounters and growth of an all-new cast of characters.”

They also said it will have “a volume of content that surpasses that of previous original titles.” Its official themes are “possibilities and discoveries.”

Back when Tales of Crestoria was first announced, that’s what it sounded like it would be, until they revealed the crossover element. It’s interesting to hear that Tales of Luminaria is completely original. The way they describe Luminaria makes it sound like a normal Tales game, just built for mobile devices.

Is it too much to hope that means it won’t have gacha? I’m not crazy about mobile games, but I’ll be interested in learning more about this one and what they have planned. What do you think of Tales of Luminaria?

Tales of Arise Demo Impressions

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Aug 202021
 

Wednesday was not only the day of Pokémon Presents, but also the day the Tales of Arise demo became available.

I downloaded it, and while I didn’t dig into it as much as some fans have, I played through it and enjoyed it quite a bit.

First of all, Tales of Arise is beautiful. I’ve seen debates about Tales switching away from an anime art style to a realistic style, but that’s not really how I’d describe Arise. It strikes me more like a painting, but whatever the art style is called, I love the way the world looks.

The camera is pulled in a little too close for my taste, but I got used to that as I played.

Exploration was one of the high points of the demo for me. There’s nothing I love more than running around a beautiful environment grabbing items, so the vegetables to collect at gathering spots for cooking made me happy. Being able to jump into the water and swim to new spots was great, too.

There’s a lot going on in the combat, and I didn’t quite get the knack for it yet. However, I’m sure that’ll be easier in the full game, when elements are introduced more gradually.

Then there are camps. At camps, you can rest and cook a meal to provide the party with benefits. Cooking as Alphen also gave me one of the funniest skits in the demo.

Skits are told in the comic-like style we discussed previously, and I enjoyed them, although it still feels odd to me. Not being able to see all of the characters’ faces/reactions when a pane focuses on a specific character might be why it doesn’t feel right.

Still, they were fun enough. More importantly, they gave me an idea of the character dynamics, and we could have some pretty entertaining interactions with this cast.

(Characters trying to interpret Dohalim’s way of speaking stood out to me the most. Also, it seems Hootle doesn’t talk, so he could be a non-annoying mascot after all!)

The demo provides very little story context (and for people criticizing the unvoiced “cutscenes,” I’m almost certain those exist only for the demo), but I don’t mind that, since that lets the demo give you a full party without risking spoilers. Overall, I enjoyed the Tales of Arise demo and it left me even more excited for the full release!

Did you play the demo for Tales of Arise? What did you think of it?

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