There’s a lot of video game anniversaries going on right now. This year marks major milestones in the lives ofThe Legend of Zelda,Pokemon, andPersona,and last year Nintendo celebratedSuper Mario’s birthday too. TheTalesfranchise also recently passed a milestone, celebrating 25 years at the end of 2020.Tales of Arise,the next installation in Bandai Namco’sTalesseries, already looks like a worthy celebration of the series. It plays on a lot of the themes and mechanics that longtimeTalesfans have grown to love while streamlining its combat mechanics to be more inviting to newcomers.
Tales of Ariseis under a lot of pressure to deliver, though. As appealing as it looks, comparisons to other particularly belovedTalesgames mean it could either be the nextTalesclassic or the recipient of criticism for failing to live up to its legacy. This year already had another example of an anime-styled RPG with a lot of eyes on it:Scarlet Nexus. Bandai Namco’s new IP generally received positive reviews, but a lot of critics agreed that there were areas whereScarlet Nexuscould’ve been improved. Ideally, Bandai Namco took note ofScarlet Nexus' reception going into the final months of development.
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Scarlet Nexus' Combat Reception
Combat is an important area whereTales of Ariseshould be mindful of theScarlet Nexusreviews. On the one hand,Scarlet Nexusplayers generally loved the psychic abilities that they could put to use fighting the game’s monsters. Between the upgrades on the protagonists' brain map andScarlet Nexus' various companions, the game offers a lot of ways to tackle each combat. However, many critics also said that the combat inScarlet Nexusgot repetitive toward the end, in large part due to a lack of variety in the game’s enemies.
These are both important things forTales of Ariseto bear in mind. Bandai Namco issimplifyingTales' combat systemsinTales of Arise,making traditionally complicated systems like Artes more approachable for new players. It needs to make sure that the combat is still deep and engaging, even if it’s easier for new players to pick up. On the other side of combat,Tales of Arisemust be stocked with a broad variety of enemies that make the adjusted combat system feel worth learning. RPG combat often shines when players feel rewarded for learning and adapting to a range of opponents.
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Tales of Arise Needs Solid Storytelling
Another thing thatTales of Ariseneeds to nail is characterization and worldbuilding.Scarlet Nexus' characters got a mixed reception. While some critics were fond of their arcs, others didn’t think they were interesting. Ideally,Tales of Arisedoubles down on building its characters, making their personal stories as important as the overarching story. TheTales of Arisecharacters inspire some optimism for that. They imply that Bandai Namco thinks the characters should be at the forefront ofTales of Arise,so ideally that philosophy will be reflected in the game.
It’s not just player characters that matter, though.One more area ofScarlet Nexusthat got consistent criticism was its side quests. Many players felt that they didn’t have reason to care about minor NPCs inScarlet Nexus,and criticized the side quests they offered as repetitive and unengaging.Tales of Arisewill surely offer a wealth of its own side quests, so Bandai Namco has to offer a lot of tasks for players to take on. They can’t all be monster hunting jobs or fetch quests; there should be a variety of little stories that help develop the latest setting in theTalesfranchise.
Bandai Namco seems determined tomakeTales of Arisesucceed. It wasn’t afraid to delay the game out of 2020 and deep into 2021 to make sure it lived up to player expectations. Therefore, it also shouldn’t be afraid to take criticism on its other projects and use that input on other games.Scarlet Nexusisn’t a bad game by a long shot, but it also wasn’t a perfect game for a variety of reasons.Tales of Arisewill be better off if Bandai Namco usesScarlet Nexus’feedback to help polish the new game.
Tales of Arisereleases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
