Overview
Tales of Arise is an action-RPG developed and published by Bandai Namco, released in 2021. It's the visual reboot of the Tales of series: the game moves to Unreal Engine 4, with an engine finally up to the task, while keeping the series' fundamentals (a party of heroes, real-time combat and lots of dialogue between characters).
Story and world
The world of Dahna has been enslaved for three hundred years by Rena, a far more advanced neighbouring planet. You follow Alphen, a slave whose face is hidden behind an iron mask, who has lost his memory and cannot feel pain, as he crosses paths with Shionne, a young woman from Rena afflicted by a curse that hurts anyone who touches her. The theme of oppression is handled more head-on than usual for the series, at least in the first half. The ending, however, falls back into the series' usual habits.
Gameplay
Combat happens in real time: you chain attacks and artes, dodge at the right moment to counter-attack, and each companion has a support attack you can trigger once its gauge is full. When an enemy is weakened enough, two characters can finish it off together with a combined attack. All of this makes for very spectacular combat.
Graphics and music
The new engine comes with a watercolour-inspired rendering style that Bandai Namco calls the Atmos Shader. That's what makes this visual reboot so striking for the series.
Verdict
Tales of Arise is the visual reboot of the series, with very spectacular combat and a theme of oppression handled more head-on than usual. The ending falls back into the series' usual habits, but the whole remains very good.