Tales of Arise |OT| The Man in the Iron Mask

[Dice]

Is it just me or does this game's story boil down to an extremely badly paced and, for a lack better words, less fun version of the plot of Tales of Symphonia?

I mean, the central elements are virtually the same:

Spoiler

The two planets, which are actually supposed to be one, vying for each other's mana; the enslaved populace being 'harvested' of their life force by mysterious oppressors in what are basically concentration camps; the fantastic racism; the fact that all of it turns out to be an elaborately engineered, centuries-old plan by some hidden actors, about which both the 'winners' and the 'losers' in that arrangement are both equally in the dark; etcetera

I mean, I totally get what this game tries to do: It's clearly much less interested in telling a story as such and more interested in exploring the theme of slavery / domination / exploitation from various angles. Which is why the bulk of the game consists of these five more or less self-contained episodes, each of them providing a different take on the same theme (what with each Lord having a totally different approach and so on...). The problem with this, however, is that the overarching plot goes mostly nowhere throughout these episodes – which is why we then get that infamous final part, where it's suddenly all exposition, lore dumps, cutscenes, JRPG plot twists, etcetera. Plus, I don't think that these episodes are really that interesting as such to warrant that more 'mature' or 'adult' approach, because at the end of the day we're still dealing with a trope-y anime JRPG here.

I just couldn't shake off this nagging feeling throughout the game that Tales of Symphonia managed to present a rather similar story in a way that was not only much better paced, but also just worked better as a whole and was simply more fun to experience. Okay, maybe these are the memories of my more impressionable, 20-years-younger self talking, but still: I think the saturday-morning-cartoon approach just works much better with these types of games just compared to Tales of Arise's overly talk-y, and, for a lack of better words, 'mature' approach of focusing on exploring themes while putting actual storytelling on the back burner.

Click to shrink...

Two major things:

1) A LOT of Tales stories really boil down to a few familiar plot lines. This isn't the first or even THIRD time the Tales series has done either "fantasy racism" or "twin world" stories (endgame Arise retreads a lot of familiar plot points to Phantasia, the first freaking game lol).

2) I actually wanted to bring this up as I got into the game. But I think it's harder for games to make as big expansive plots as they could in the past. Back then you could just write droves of dialogue for characters to say..... now it needs to carefully written, voiced, and acted. And to have a story get into the nuances of centuries old struggles is.... honestly probably a lot harder than we can give it credit for; and players these days are far more savvy about how they ingest their games compared to more humble presentations from back in the day.

This might be a fancy and fresh Tales game; but a Tales game nonetheless. It's got the same story and even pitfalls. Unless your game was called "Tales of the Abyss", the plot is a pretty standard and predictable fare; but for a "JRPG comfort food" series, it's pretty much on par for its plot lol.

 

[Soriku]

Got to that certain cutscene after the third realm. Uhh it was basically

Rinwell and Law got fucked up compared to the rest of the party

 

[Zhao_Yun]

Sorry if this has been answered before but what do Combat Points actually do? Do they affect my EXP & SP multiplier at all or are they both independent? I understand that by playing on Moderate I am getting a bonus on CP but I really don't understand how that benefits me at all at this point (I just arrived the 3rd area)

 

[Skulldead]

Plat done, the post game content was really good compare to the the 1/4 of the game at the end. I'm feel the game was super challenging on Hardess, not way i would been able to do them on chaos. I used all my items on these fight.

 

[SixtyFourBlades]

Sorry if this has been answered before but what do Combat Points actually do? Do they affect my EXP & SP multiplier at all or are they both independent? I understand that by playing on Moderate I am getting a bonus on CP but I really don't understand how that benefits me at all at this point (I just arrived the 3rd area)

Click to shrink...

CP does not stand for Combat Points. I believe it stands for Cure Points? It basically determines how much Shionne is able to heal the party during combat. If you're at the third realm already and never had to replenish your CP in a boss battle on Moderate difficulty, you must be a god at this game lol.

 

[tjlee2]

Sorry if this has been answered before but what do Combat Points actually do? Do they affect my EXP & SP multiplier at all or are they both independent? I understand that by playing on Moderate I am getting a bonus on CP but I really don't understand how that benefits me at all at this point (I just arrived the 3rd area)

Click to shrink...

When you first enter the big zone for 3rd area, Law does his thing about chaining battles together. Combat point is the thing that fills that bar, and it increases chance for loot and has beneficial effect for xp (explicitly stated). Cannot confirm or deny it's also tied to score and sp.

 

[Zhao_Yun]

CP does not stand for Combat Points. I believe it stands for Cure Points? It basically determines how much Shionne is able to heal the party during combat. If you're at the third realm already and never had to replenish your CP in a boss battle on Moderate difficulty, you must be a god at this game lol.

Click to shrink...

I know what Cure Points are. Just forgot that both use the same abbreviation....

When you first enter the big zone for 3rd area, Law does his thing about chaining battles together. Combat point is the thing that fills that bar, and it increases chance for loot and has beneficial effect for xp (explicitly stated). Cannot confirm or deny it's also tied to score and sp.

Click to shrink...

Hm okay, thanks for the info. Was hoping for a more sizable bonus to be honest, but better than nothing :)

 

[Rainy]

The pancake skit is too good.

So I've kinda hit this weird point where I beat the game while around level 53 or so. The problem is a lot of the side quest bosses I have left are way higher level than me on moderate? I'm trying to beat the spirit temple boss but that's even hard for me. The Sylph boss is also pretty impossible lol. Hmm..

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I've been tackling Exposition Fest tonight. I just got to

Spoiler: End Game Ish

Vholran ceremony[

Ok. Now I am on a ship with an alien. Still lots of exposition.
/Spoiler]
I am tapping out for the night. I gotta be close.

 

[MrSaturn99]

That's how the game ends?

Really?

To say I'm underwhelmed would be...accurate, but as opposed to the past couple games I'm not spiteful about it. I'll elaborate tomorrow.

 

[Papercuts]

The pancake skit is too good.

So I've kinda hit this weird point where I beat the game while around level 53 or so. The problem is a lot of the side quest bosses I have left are way higher level than me on moderate? I'm trying to beat the spirit temple boss but that's even hard for me. The Sylph boss is also pretty impossible lol. Hmm..

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

I found the spirit boss to be pretty hard, but that one does get you an artifact that gives 80% more EXP which is where your level can start shooting up.

 

[Messofanego]

Great review in EDGE #364:

"While it follows a familiar structure, as these two journey across Dahna's realms to topple their respective lords, accruing allies along the way, this is more than simply the story of plucky resistance thwarting an evil empire. That's largely thanks to characters that go beyond anime archetypes (even if Alphen is yet another amnesiac protagonist) and an unflinching exploration of oppression and what it does to a race of people. Calaglia's conditions are so extreme that resistance seems impossible when everyone is concerned with trying to survive another day, whereas a regime of paranoia and collaboration defines Cyslodia. Later chapters ask us whether it's still oppression when both sides seemingly co-exist in harmony but the same hierarchical structures remain, or what happens when the oppressed become the oppressors. Dialogue-based skits interrogate these scenarios as much as they provide deeper characterisation, with the party a diverse one prone to disagreement. Shionne is at best a reluctant ally who barely hides her condescension towards other Dahnans, though this also means there's an equal (and understandable) distrust of Renans. Yet this inter-party conflict avoids devolving into bothsidesism, instead becoming a plea for tolerance and reconciliation.​

​

In tackling themes of slavery and colonialism with obvious real-world analogues, Arise's overwhelmingly pale-skinned cast feels like a glaring oversight - all the more so when the only notable person of colour is a Renan. Nonetheless, even in a fantasy context, it's refreshing to see such themes addressed with maturity and nuance, and they continue to resonate even when the game's third act spirals out of orbit, as JRPGs are wont to do. In some ways it recalls how Valkyria Chronicles managed to address the Holocaust while WWII games still tiptoe around the subject.​

​

While the combat has plenty of depth and variety, with far more Artes than you can feasibly map, the side activities could have been stronger: they're mostly of the rote fetch or kill variety, the latter taunting you early on to slay a ridiculously overleveled monster that's all but impossible until the endgame. Tales veterans may be disappointed by the absence of local multiplayer, while a desire to widen the series' appeal probably means it's unlikely we'll ever see a return to the pure anime cel shaded style of Tales Of Vesperia, for those still looking wistfully back. Yet these are small gripes: the series has taken a great stride forward with an instalment that can stand head-to-head with its competitors in Japan and should win over a new generation of players globally. Pandemic-related delays may have led to Arise missing the series' 25th anniversary by almost a year, but as one of the most memorable JRPGs in recent years, it has belatedly marked the occasion in fine style." [8]​

 

[Rainy]

Spoiler

I found the spirit boss to be pretty hard, but that one does get you an artifact that gives 80% more EXP which is where your level can start shooting up.

Click to shrink...

Gotcha. Might just lower the difficulty if I'm having more difficulties tomorrow.

 

[ZeroX]

Oh yeah I beat the game a few days ago

It's good but yeah that last dungeon and the story pacing really falls off a cliff at the end there. It's weird that it starts to drag out with twists and a brutal dungeon but then also the actual ending is pretty damn fast? Probably just budget stuff. I dunno, like 80% of the game is well paced and generally well done so I can give them stumbling at the end at the pass.

Overall a good Tales game in pretty much every way. Story passable. Characters, all likable, but nobody great except Dohalim borders on it. Music was... not as bad as other Tales games but nothing memorable. Graphics were held up by good art direction. Combat was very solid, probably best since Graces, just held back by damage sponges (double damage artifact is HUGE). The game really didn't excel at anything but also nothing was particularly poor either which I haven't been able to say about a Tales game in what, 15 years? Would say Arise overall was greater than the sum of it's parts, but still not great great.


(NEO TWEWY was easily a better JRPG for my tastes but also that's a niche ass sequel)

 

[Dougieflesh]

The SAO DLC costs $16 lol.

 

[dark494]

Yet this inter-party conflict avoids devolving into bothsidesism, instead becoming a plea for tolerance and reconciliation. Nonetheless, even in a fantasy context, it's refreshing to see such themes addressed with maturity and nuance

Click to shrink...

You'd never guess this was the case from how loudly some people in this thread have tried to argue against it. It's a shame really.

 

[ZeroX]

I don't think the game handled the themes perfectly or with a great deal of depth/nuanace, but I think it did a fine enough job with them for a children's video game and nothing about the game struck me as poorly intentioned. Imperfectly executed or naive, sure, but at no point was I like "damn somebody writing this game lowkey fucks with facism/slavery/supremacy huh". Like you know when somebody trying to sneak shit in there and I didn't get that from this game

 

[FinalRPG]

I'll echo some others in this thread that the game just isn't grabbing me like I'd expect. The story being a "go beat each element" thing I'm just so sick of. Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell are just so BORING. Law is a bit better, and I guess I'll see about the other two. The combat is pretty much the only thing keeping me going. The high reviews had me so hyped :/

 

[Manu]

The SAO DLC costs $16 lol.

Click to shrink...

They can keep it.

 

[ZeroX]

I'll echo some others in this thread that the game just isn't grabbing me like I'd expect. The story being a "go beat each element" thing I'm just so sick of. Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell are just so BORING. Law is a bit better, and I guess I'll see about the other two. The combat is pretty much the only thing keeping me going. The high reviews had me so hyped :/

Click to shrink...

The last party member is the best by far

 

[Kuro]

The first 5 "chapters" do try to tackle those themes in different ways although extremely surface level and also just tapers off after the 3rd area. I really can't agree with that review's take on the story though because there are plenty of moments that weren't handled well.

Like this clip for example, it starts off well meaning enough and Alphen makes some good points and even Shionne is finally showing her point of view (30 hours into the game roughly) but then they bungle it up. Compound that with the fact that Shionne comes to the conclusion that she has changed despite not having done so at all up until this point lol and says that line right after literally both sidesing the races.


[

Spoiler: end of 4th area

]


I can find more receipts from all over the game where the main story gets in its own way and is inconsistent with many side skits that do handle the party chemistry better and the Renan/Dahnan stuff. The negative moments like that will always stand out in peoples' minds over the actually good bits which also happen to be very optional.

 

[Gurgelhals]

Two major things:

1) A LOT of Tales stories really boil down to a few familiar plot lines. This isn't the first or even THIRD time the Tales series has done either "fantasy racism" or "twin world" stories (endgame Arise retreads a lot of familiar plot points to Phantasia, the first freaking game lol).

2) I actually wanted to bring this up as I got into the game. But I think it's harder for games to make as big expansive plots as they could in the past. Back then you could just write droves of dialogue for characters to say..... now it needs to carefully written, voiced, and acted. And to have a story get into the nuances of centuries old struggles is.... honestly probably a lot harder than we can give it credit for; and players these days are far more savvy about how they ingest their games compared to more humble presentations from back in the day.

This might be a fancy and fresh Tales game; but a Tales game nonetheless. It's got the same story and even pitfalls. Unless your game was called "Tales of the Abyss", the plot is a pretty standard and predictable fare; but for a "JRPG comfort food" series, it's pretty much on par for its plot lol.

Click to shrink...

Oh sure, I don't expect a great degree of novelty from my JRPG plots, lol. By now I find it mostly amusing how every single JPRG eventually gets to the point where the protagonists have to kill God and stuff… So yeah, maybe my low-key disappointment with Arise's plot and/or approach to storytelling also has to do with the fact that by this point it's all very predictable to us anyway.

But the weird thing is that I just thought the whole thing felt very small and underwritten (I know, lol). Budgeting might have indeed been an issue, because creating the assets and environments for these games today clearly is more expensive than in the Gamecube era where you could have not one but two massive fricking world maps and all. However, the weird thing in Arise is how a great deal of effort clearly went into the writing and voicing of cutscenes, skits, etc. The problem is just that it's all extremely redundant. There's an absolutely massive amount of writing and voiced content in this game, but it's mostly used to repeat the same points over and over again instead of driving the story forward. Talk about an inefficient use of resources…

So I think pacing really matters a lot with these games, ultimately. Arise's pacing is horrible, which is why the entire thing feels sort of small in a strange way (and cannot but derail in the final act when it actually has to get its act together). Symphonia, from what I remember, has excellent pacing. It's not that the story isn't predictable or cookie-cutter or anything, because it definitely is. But it really does a good job at gradually revealing the layers of the plot and raising the stakes, which is what makes the whole thing come across as appropriately big in contrast.

Same thing, interestingly enough, with the Xenoblade series, imho. XC1 had excellent pacing (in terms of knowing exactly when to reveal / tell / show what) and felt absolutely grand because of it. XC2, in contrast, really didn't. It starts off alright, but then quickly loses both steam and focus. So for several chapters it really doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. And then it has to hastily tie everything together in a rushed set of very short final acts. My overall impression there was the same in the sense that the game felt rather small because of this – and despite obviously having been a similarly budgeted title as its predecessor.

 

[SpectrumWarrior]

Those new arena fights were way too easy.
People that want weapons to match their DLC costumes may want them before lv 40 and lv 80 is too low when you've already finished the post game content.
Weird level requirements.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Gotcha. Might just lower the difficulty if I'm having more difficulties tomorrow.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I lowered the difficulty to normal (was on Moderate) for the post game; you can confidently go against bosses 5-8+ levels above you on normal if you are used to moderate.

 

[ARobotCalledV]

devolving into bothsidesism, instead becoming a plea for tolerance and reconciliation.

Click to shrink...

Guess they missed the literal both sides lines and the entirety of chapter 4.

 

[MatrixMan.exe]

The pacing at the end is so bad that I've been playing through the final dungeon in short bursts since the weekend. It's such a slog, after the slog you have to endure to even get there in the first place.

Overall a really great game, but "Part II" shows serious development budget and time constraints that dampen the experience. I was going to go and clean up trophies after the credits roll but may need to take a bit of a breather instead.

 

[Magneto]

I want to get the game, but i've been hesitant between getting in on PS5 or PC (aka i want something to play on my LG CX, but i feel like 2K @ 120 fps might be possible on my pc). Someone on PC with a beefy computer (Like 3080 + Ryzen 5900 ~) played the game on a 2K display screen ? Was it well optimized ? Thanks !

 

[Chasex]

Finally surrendered and put the game on story mode. The 4th realm boss was the final straw but every boss had been a struggle up to this point. Even after perfectly figuring out the rotations it would take forever to down them. I'm too busy to grind out levels and no way I'm paying for them. Found myself dreading the fights and not wanting to play the game. This is the first time in my life I've ever dropped the difficulty below normal. Damnit I might be officially old now.

 

[Ark]

I want to get the game, but i've been hesitant between getting in on PS5 or PC (aka i want something to play on my LG CX, but i feel like 2K @ 120 fps might be possible on my pc). Someone on PC with a beefy computer (Like 3080 + Ryzen 5900 ~) played the game on a 2K display screen ? Was it well optimized ? Thanks !

Click to shrink...

I have a 3700x and a 3080, I play at 1440p and I generally get anywhere between 140-240 fps. I'm using a G7 so 1440p 240hz monitor.

 

[SpectrumWarrior]

That weapon is what matches Shionne's school outfit?

Dohalim gets a pencil, Law wood squares and Shionne an assault rifle (but with a cute rabbit head)...

 

[Magneto]

I have a 3700x and a 3080, I play at 1440p and I generally get anywhere between 140-240 fps. I'm using a G7 so 1440p 240hz monitor.

Click to shrink...

Thanks !

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Platinum completed, beat the game last week, and decided to platinum the Castlevania Advanced Collection before getting back to this, the end game was kind of weak in this one, but still a great game, and I will probably do it again on the PS4 version to get a 2nd platinum at some point.

 

[dark494]

Unknown mode is here. Let the real fun begin.

Oh and Easiest for everyone else.

 

[Deleted member 91227]

I've been tackling Exposition Fest tonight. I just got to

Spoiler: End Game Ish

Vholran ceremony[

Ok. Now I am on a ship with an alien. Still lots of exposition.
/Spoiler]
I am tapping out for the night. I gotta be close.

Click to shrink...

I played through roughly the same part last night, maybe not quite as far through it as you as it got late. I didn't mind the exposition dump really as I'd been getting pretty bored with combat so it was nice to have it switch to visual novel-ish for a bit.

Finally surrendered and put the game on story mode. The 4th realm boss was the final straw but every boss had been a struggle up to this point. Even after perfectly figuring out the rotations it would take forever to down them. I'm too busy to grind out levels and no way I'm paying for them. Found myself dreading the fights and not wanting to play the game. This is the first time in my life I've ever dropped the difficulty below normal. Damnit I might be officially old now.

Click to shrink...

I went to down to story around the same part. Fights just take too long and I'm not really interested in really digging into maximizing damage. I've been old for a while though and have played through a lot of RPGs on easy these past several years. I'm there for the story, characters, lore, questing etc. rather than the combat anyway. The combat in this is more fun to me than turn based games, but just got boring after awhile with how long many fights were taking me on normal. Lack of skill and knowledge with builds, elemental weaknesses etc. is part of it but I just don't enjoy figuring that stuff out.

 

[obeast]

I think that part of the problem with the "both sides"-type dialogue is that the plot twists that give some supporting context to the focus on understanding and reconciliation occur very late in the game, much later than the offending lines. To be more specific -

Spoiler: High-level plot spoilers

when you learn that the oppressors are not precisely colonialist invaders stripping resources from an enslaved people, but rather pawns of an alien race that is itself a pawn of an abstract ball of energy, it becomes much more reasonable to view the Renans as victims themselves, particularly because it becomes apparent that many if not most of them are subjugated by a chosen few. And even the chosen few have been manipulated by said aliens.

None of that absolves specific Renans for their abuses, precisely, but if some of these revelations had come to the characters before they started dropping "good and bad people on both sides"-type dialogue I think it would have gone down a lot smoother. Personally, I think the game does just fine when it limits this stuff to specific characters and places (your Renan companions really are good people; some of the revolutionaries really have gone too far; etc.). It gets pretty dodgy, though, when people start delivering lines placing both sides on more or less equal footing long before you get any plot context that could help make that kind of sentiment at least a little bit reasonable.

Generally, the plot twists come much too late, and not just for this reason. You spend way too much of the game in a state of plot limbo, just as a matter of narrative pacing.

 

[Rainy]

Question about the post-game dungeon.

What's the battle theme in the first world (The Destiny World), is that from Tales of Destiny? The battle theme or some other theme from the game?

 

[datschge]

Question about the post-game dungeon.

What's the battle theme in the first world (The Destiny World), is that from Tales of Destiny? The battle theme or some other theme from the game?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's the later battle theme "Surprise Attack!" from Tales of Destiny.

 

[tiebreaker]

Finally surrendered and put the game on story mode. The 4th realm boss was the final straw but every boss had been a struggle up to this point. Even after perfectly figuring out the rotations it would take forever to down them. I'm too busy to grind out levels and no way I'm paying for them. Found myself dreading the fights and not wanting to play the game. This is the first time in my life I've ever dropped the difficulty below normal. Damnit I might be officially old now.

Click to shrink...

Boss fights suck as you can't break the boss aside from hitting the glowing spot. And they hit like a truck, usually I spend most of phase 4 of a boss healing and reviving.

Normal mobs I can get through quickly just fine.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

My trick to AI teammates dodging like garbage: turn off their AI (set to Do Nothing) when a boss goes into their overlimit. It'll make your team stop casting artes, and when they aren't casting/fighting, they are actually solid at dodging. I realized this when I tried to suicide in a boss fight. I set them to Do Nothing and died, and picked up my phone to surf while the others died. I looked up a minute later and realized my team hadn't been touched a single time. The boss kept ramming at them, and they just dodged right outta the way.

 

[tjlee2]

I'm not done with the game yet but I think i've seen enough where the guide I've been working on feels pretty complete. For anyone that wants to enjoy everything the combat system has to offer, hopefully this will help.

Tales of Arise Combat System Guide

-10/20- Added mid air damage mod to shionne. Added owl attack mod to Rinwell Added Rinwell silence to ailment section. -10/19- Added double flame strike setup at end of flame strike section. Fixed incorrect information regarding elemental damage mod on accessories, which are same category as cou...

docs.google.com

 

[SageShinigami]

I'll echo some others in this thread that the game just isn't grabbing me like I'd expect. The story being a "go beat each element" thing I'm just so sick of. Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell are just so BORING. Law is a bit better, and I guess I'll see about the other two. The combat is pretty much the only thing keeping me going. The high reviews had me so hyped :/

Click to shrink...

This is wild to read. To me, Law is a cliche and Rinwell is trash. Alphen and Shionne have grown on me so much I'm actually surprised.

 

[SixtyFourBlades]

I'm not done with the game yet but I think i've seen enough where the guide I've been working on feels pretty complete. For anyone that wants to enjoy everything the combat system has to offer, hopefully this will help.

Tales of Arise Combat System Guide

-10/20- Added mid air damage mod to shionne. Added owl attack mod to Rinwell Added Rinwell silence to ailment section. -10/19- Added double flame strike setup at end of flame strike section. Fixed incorrect information regarding elemental damage mod on accessories, which are same category as cou...

docs.google.com

Click to shrink...

Will definitely check this out. Thank you for your efforts! I only play on the weekends now since I'm back to working full time, and this is the type of game I prefer to sit down for some hours to sink into it. Will give it a whirl this weekend.

 

[FinalRPG]

This is wild to read. To me, Law is a cliche and Rinwell is trash. Alphen and Shionne have grown on me so much I'm actually surprised.

Click to shrink...

They are all a bit cliche but at least Law lightens up the mood at times. Alphen is too pure hero and Shionne is too "strong stoic female character that doesn't want anyone's help and doesn't care about anyone". That scene where Alphen talks about the great lengths someone took to hide a cooking pot was such cringe. Keep in mind I'm only on the 3rd area so it's possible I'll like them more by the end, but it wasn't a great start.

 

[Synohan]

I'm not done with the game yet but I think i've seen enough where the guide I've been working on feels pretty complete. For anyone that wants to enjoy everything the combat system has to offer, hopefully this will help.

Tales of Arise Combat System Guide

-10/20- Added mid air damage mod to shionne. Added owl attack mod to Rinwell Added Rinwell silence to ailment section. -10/19- Added double flame strike setup at end of flame strike section. Fixed incorrect information regarding elemental damage mod on accessories, which are same category as cou...

docs.google.com

Click to shrink...

This was a great read and clears up a lot of things I've noticed and haven't fully understood yet. Fantastic work. I'm curious about the type of skills you feel are worthwhile to chase, especially when opening up Skill Transfer.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

I'm not done with the game yet but I think i've seen enough where the guide I've been working on feels pretty complete. For anyone that wants to enjoy everything the combat system has to offer, hopefully this will help.

Tales of Arise Combat System Guide

-10/20- Added mid air damage mod to shionne. Added owl attack mod to Rinwell Added Rinwell silence to ailment section. -10/19- Added double flame strike setup at end of flame strike section. Fixed incorrect information regarding elemental damage mod on accessories, which are same category as cou...

docs.google.com

Click to shrink...

Threadmarked this for anyone interested or looking for tips, thanks!

 

[tjlee2]

This was a great read and clears up a lot of things I've noticed and haven't fully understood yet. Fantastic work. I'm curious about the type of skills you feel are worthwhile to chase, especially when opening up Skill Transfer.

Click to shrink...

You mean for accessories?

 

[Synohan]

You mean for accessories?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, for Accessories

 

[tjlee2]

Yeah, for Accessories

Click to shrink...

I haven't gotten any good accessories yet but I've thought about it. So these are ideas that have not been tested.

Alphen: Biggest advantage is near death full charge flame strike, so focus on pure burst
+Has no native atk mod so accessory with additional attack is an option. (15% firex4 for 1.6x atk mod)
+If sub character BG+8% for boost attack spam which should break the game in certain situations. Don't do this if you feel like it makes the game boring though.
+Pen to go for juicy crits. Alphen already does obscene amounts of damage by aligning down (hopefully the boosted value), near death, some kind of atk mod (sharpness by default), 5.5x flame strike mod, and curse when applicable (where i'm at right now that's 1.5x1.6x1.3x5.5x2=39.6 meaning that dinky little 400 dmg hit is now 16k). Just one more 2.1x mod and your damage should shoot through the stratosphere. Least reliable but most hilarious when it happens.

Shionne: No comment right now, running Cast speed for comfort.

Law: Awakening and on-demand steel makes him have high atk all the time, theoretically.
+Counterattack is always good, especially since Law is particularly good at chase down against enemies mid move.
+Penetration again, especially 80% pen for resist, since he shouldn't be getting hit anyways. Also because 15% atk is really bad value when he is always hovering above 90% by default.

Rinwell: Has a ton of possible options, no comment because really need to test to know. Cast speed or 15% light damage feel like safe bets.

KIsara: Counterattack carry over on reversal GI.
+Only one option, 4x counterattack. This makes her base damage modifier after guard ignition 3.1x (3 from skills, 4 from acc).

Dohalim: No comment, haven't learned how to play him yet.

 

[SageShinigami]

They are all a bit cliche but at least Law lightens up the mood at times. Alphen is too pure hero and Shionne is too "strong stoic female character that doesn't want anyone's help and doesn't care about anyone". That scene where Alphen talks about the great lengths someone took to hide a cooking pot was such cringe. Keep in mind I'm only on the 3rd area so it's possible I'll like them more by the end, but it wasn't a great start.

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You're as far (or farther) as I am. Alphen is playing against type to be honest, and Shionne's behavior makes perfect sense, but I think you're misreading the whole "doesn't care about anyone" thing. She DEFINITELY cares, but she's ashamed to outwardly show her emotions.

 

[mcruz79]

Is anyone just…Not clicking with this game at all? I don't know what it is but I just can't get into the game at all. I beat the 2nd lord but am really struggling trying to go forward.

I love the Tales games, I consider it one of my favorite series of all time and I've even loved the games that most people dislike, such as Legendia and Zestiria.

I don't know what it is, I was waiting for this game from the moment it was announced and it just isn't there for me. Anyone else feel similar?

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its not clicking with me to.
But im not a big JRPG fan and the only tales I played and finished was the remaster of the Vesperia, that I really loved.
story, characters and writing is kind of boring for me at moment.