Tales of Arise

 PlayStation 5
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 727 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 543 out of 727
  2. Mixed: 73 out of 727
  3. Negative: 111 out of 727
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  1. Dorn1776
    Nov 8, 2021
    4
    I'm convinced most of these 10/10 reviews are fake. Expect cliche tropes, shallow writing, generic music, serviceable VA, bland combat, hollow set pieces, and uninteresting side mechanics.
  2. SOTZ
    Nov 15, 2021
    0
    Easily one of the worst stories the series ever told. A lot of grindy gameplay and its just not a good Tale's game overall and is being pandered unnecessarily to fame that an average game doesn't deserve.
    Tales of Arise is a dark future for the series if this is the direction they will take for it has lost the spirit the series once had.    Easily one of the worst stories the series ever told. A lot of grindy gameplay and its just not a good Tale's game overall and is being pandered unnecessarily to fame that an average game doesn't deserve.
    Tales of Arise is a dark future for the series if this is the direction they will take for it has lost the spirit the series once had.
    http://mysticallis.blogspot.com/2021/10/tales-of-arise-critical-review.html    … Expand
  3. CLAWS
    Oct 15, 2021
    1
    Exp from mobs is lowered x2 for ONE level difference. Is no gring here, PM of this project is ... worst game of the series
  4. Straight-truth
    Dec 23, 2021
    0
    After years of using Metacritic I made an account because I feel so betrayed by having believed all the positive reviews I read of this game before buying it. This site has gone terribly downhill due to this era of video game companies paying for fake reviews, and I'm starting to feel like Metacritic is just some aging used car salesman who will try and sell any piece of trash on behalf ofAfter years of using Metacritic I made an account because I feel so betrayed by having believed all the positive reviews I read of this game before buying it. This site has gone terribly downhill due to this era of video game companies paying for fake reviews, and I'm starting to feel like Metacritic is just some aging used car salesman who will try and sell any piece of trash on behalf of anyone who gives them money to do so. Tales of Arise is packaged as a brand new awesome JRPG with hundreds of rave 10/10 reviews, but so many of the reviews are from people who clearly have not played this game for any substantive amount of time, so here's the cold hard truth of a game 45 hours in:

    What starts off great, in fact just shy of fantastic, peaks at about 15 hours in, and then steadily declines with each continued hour of play until by the time you're 40 hours in, you feel you'd rather clean toilets at an all you can eat buffet for those 40 hours. The story feels written to the level of laziness you'd expect from one of those 600 lb beasts who patrol the aisles of Wal-Mart on an electric scooter whilst eating chicken nuggies. No character development whatsoever. In fact, negative character development. There are five lands you venture through, and most characters say virtually the same stupid things about the world dynamics at each juncture, to the point where you think the character maybe has a learning disability... and then you realize oh wait it's just a video game character, the person with a learning disability is clearly the idiot who created these characters and wrote all their dialogue.

    The battle system started off great, and seemed to have a lot of potential with how many skills there are and all that, but it quickly became a tedious button mashing endeavor that's a hodge-podge of all the popular JRPG battle modes (think a crappy dodge/parry from YS, combined with the skill usage of FF7 remake, mixed with the partner combos of the classic Chrono Trigger). The problem with the battle system is two-fold: 1) there is no diversity of enemies. You fight red wolves, then blue wolves, green, and then orange, etc., along with color variations of plants, winged gargoyles, etc. I've killed 1400 wolves that could fill a rainbow. 2) Over time, most of the skills that seem cool end up being completely useless, because some of them take so long to either charge, or have long animations, that are easily disrupted in the chaotic battles with lots of enemies, so you inevitably resort to the two best quick hitting skills. So basically you mash the same two skills 4 million times to the same ten enemies with different colors depending on what region you're in. Don't get me started on the broken targeting system, where sometimes main character Alphen will just start swiping in the weirdest directions anywhere but the target I'm locked onto.

    As far as navigating the world, it's a painfully linear map, where you go down winding narrow paths with different weather and colors, picking up crystals and treasure chests that are easy to find, there's no area that feels unique whatsoever, and it's honestly a horribly underpopulated world compared to some of the other great games out there. The giant capital cities feel tiny, and the world feels increasingly smaller the more you explore it, to the point where you feel like you're more on a small prison island and not a big country. Imagine being in one of those tiny Smart Cars with a capped speed limit of 35 mph, driving around the farmlands of Nebraska, and that will feel more majestic than traversing the realms of Arise. It feels like you walk two-three blocks from region to region.

    If you're still reading this, I'm guessing you're really doing your research on this game, or you're like me and going how the hell did this have so many 10/10 reviews, it's an injustice! This game really is a 4-5 out of ten, but I needed to give it a 0 to offset so many of these garbage fluff reviews. To be honest, this should not even be in your top 20 game radar, and unless you've got nothing else to do but kill 50-60 hours, play anything but this. Xenoblade Chronicles 1+2, YS VIII&IX, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Persona 5 Royal, Octopath Traveler, right here is a list that will come with 600 hours of playtime easily well spent above this one, and my guess is most of you already played these. Arise could have been a great game had the developers put actual effort into it, but it feels like a mega-corporation gave them stringent deadlines, they had an alright concept, and just grinded out to get their paycheck, rather than deliver something fans would love for decades. Forgettable bosses, forgettable characters, no fun side quests or worth side stories, just a hodge podge of mediocrity.

    And that's the straight truth.    … Expand
  5. Supernerd47
    Sep 15, 2021
    4
    The only thing this game really has going for it is the combat, and even that is little more than button mashing.

    The story is only decent.
    The characters are stock standard anime/JRPG tropes.
    Music is completely forgettable.
    Graphics are a mixed bag. Characters are a high resolution but have the animations of a PS2 game, and the environments are pretty flat with TERRIBLE pop-in.
  6. slothjaw
    Sep 27, 2021
    3
    This game's story is awful. Characters say and do things that don't make sense constantly, the dialogue sounds unnatural (either due to mistranslation or plain bad writing), and the society the game is depicting feels like it was constructed by a middle-schooler taking their first civics class.
    The game is basically all about classism and tyranny but it clearly doesn't actually understand    This game's story is awful. Characters say and do things that don't make sense constantly, the dialogue sounds unnatural (either due to mistranslation or plain bad writing), and the society the game is depicting feels like it was constructed by a middle-schooler taking their first civics class.
    The game is basically all about classism and tyranny but it clearly doesn't actually understand these topics. You kill some tyrant and BOOM, everything is better. What about his second in command? Who's going to take over leadership? How are these subjugated people going to learn how to create some semblance of a fair and functioning society? Don't bother thinking about it because the writers sure didn't.
    This lack of effort extends to the characters too. They act in ways that don't make sense for people of their background. You can pretty much sum up every character in one sentence.
    Overall I'd say this game is beyond mediocre; It's straight up bad. If this is the "Best JRPG of the year" then they sure aren't what they used to be.    … Expand
  7. Zelvh
    Oct 24, 2021
    0
    Поиграла совсем немного и слава богу что не стала тратить больше времени на эту унылую игру...Единственное что мне понравилось это дизайн главного героя...Самое большое для меня огорчение в этой игре это диалоги между персонажами, они правда глупые и детские если не сказать грубее, почему то большинство аниме игр этим грешат, это китч, не понимаю почему такая идея еще умерла...Поиграла совсем немного и слава богу что не стала тратить больше времени на эту унылую игру...Единственное что мне понравилось это дизайн главного героя...Самое большое для меня огорчение в этой игре это диалоги между персонажами, они правда глупые и детские если не сказать грубее, почему то большинство аниме игр этим грешат, это китч, не понимаю почему такая идея еще умерла...
  8. Jmaneater21
    Sep 20, 2021
    0
    This game is a hollow shell if the effort they used to put into tales games. Tales of symphonia is so much better than this game. The dialog is horrible. I cannot emphasize that enough. There is absolutely no character development where it needs to be and I cannot bring myself to give a **** about this story. They give you a overpowered weapon before you reach your first boss. You pull itThis game is a hollow shell if the effort they used to put into tales games. Tales of symphonia is so much better than this game. The dialog is horrible. I cannot emphasize that enough. There is absolutely no character development where it needs to be and I cannot bring myself to give a **** about this story. They give you a overpowered weapon before you reach your first boss. You pull it out of crystal's **** The enemy's have no variation at all. They give you a quest to defeat a level 40 plus monster before your even level 10. There are pop ins. The game doesn't look nearly as good as the trailers. Stupid owls instead of hidden chefs. No different npc dialogs from different characters like the old games. This is a lazy game and I wasted my money because of the 10 out of 10 reviews for this game. It's garbage and there are many better jrpgs.… Expand
  9. shiftyman
    Sep 21, 2021
    0
    Absolute trash in every sense of the word, easily the worst tales game yet, a lot of fake 10/10 scores, no way is this an improvement on Tales of Berseria,
  10. Tortor
    Aug 8, 2022
    2
    As a huge fan of Tales Of games, this was just awful. The characters are what really carry these games usually but all of these fools are just so painfully boring. Honestly can't think of anything to grab onto to enjoy any of these characters, they feel like tropes and nothing else. Like puppets playing a part rather then actually characters to relate to. Tropes also extends out to theAs a huge fan of Tales Of games, this was just awful. The characters are what really carry these games usually but all of these fools are just so painfully boring. Honestly can't think of anything to grab onto to enjoy any of these characters, they feel like tropes and nothing else. Like puppets playing a part rather then actually characters to relate to. Tropes also extends out to the painfully generic plot and step by step type delivery. It leaves very little room to wonder where the plots going to go when it constantly reminds you the steps needed to get there. Only fun thing about this was the combat. It was nice and flashy. Combats hard to enjoy though when that's really all there is to this game.

    Tales of Berseria absolutely moved me, this game moved me to turn off my Ps5 after generic plot line #187 popped up.    … Expand
  11. AigleAveugle
    Dec 5, 2021
    4
    This game is for children or teenagers.
    Its shallow, unimaginative and immature.
    Combat is a total failure, too much things going on and way too fast. Everybody is screaming lightning bolt or something all the time. Enemies takes all the screen space. Items feel like cheating because the balance is broken. Boss are just bullet sponge with 100k health. There is absolutely no depth    This game is for children or teenagers.
    Its shallow, unimaginative and immature.

    Combat is a total failure, too much things going on and way too fast. Everybody is screaming lightning bolt or something all the time. Enemies takes all the screen space. Items feel like cheating because the balance is broken. Boss are just bullet sponge with 100k health.

    There is absolutely no depth here. I regret the time I lost playing this.

    Gets a 4 because of straight Japanese culture and design of visual. The rest feels like 1980.    … Expand
  12. vvv123
    Dec 19, 2021
    4
    I liked the music and visuals. But I could tell the story/characters would be bland and the combat was quite repitive. I didn't feel the extra dialouge scenes added anything substantial to the story. Other JRPG's are able to hook me sooner.
  13. Rising333
    Jul 1, 2022
    4
    This game is an enormous disappointment and I'm baffled at its positive reviews. I feel compelled to at least warn others as to what they are getting if you waste money on this.

    This is essentially a linear walking simulator in which you spend just as much time reading dialog ue and being interrupted by a nine style party dialog ue scenes as you do walking and engaging in the boring    This game is an enormous disappointment and I'm baffled at its positive reviews. I feel compelled to at least warn others as to what they are getting if you waste money on this.

    This is essentially a linear walking simulator in which you spend just as much time reading dialog ue and being interrupted by a nine style party dialog ue scenes as you do walking and engaging in the boring combat.

    The game chose to make armor sets and costumes two different thing to compell microtransactions as well as be lazy and not have to have a different design for each armor you equip.

    The game also compels microtransactions by making even grinding to level up extremely tedious.

    To call this game an open world rpg is just an outright lie. All progression is locked behind linear progression of the story in terms of the skill trees. It will become quite clear early on just how far from an rpg or even an action adventure game this is. It may look pretty but it plays like a mediocre game from the early 99s

    It's merely a playable movie of a very generic, extremely repetitive and half baked anime. If that's your thing have fun.    … Expand
  14. Vigor1983
    Nov 1, 2021
    0
    Сюжет убог и уныл. Персонажи и их логика за гранью любого здравого смысла. Боевка однообразна.
  15. shw079
    Mar 1, 2023
    4
    No thanks. I bought the game due to the good reviews. However, the game really disappoints. The plot is so predictable and the skits are especially annoying. Why can't they just make them into cut scenes? I feel the developers are just being lazy and it feels weird for gamers to stare at some static slides and listen to the unimportant dialogues. The only thing I like about the game is theNo thanks. I bought the game due to the good reviews. However, the game really disappoints. The plot is so predictable and the skits are especially annoying. Why can't they just make them into cut scenes? I feel the developers are just being lazy and it feels weird for gamers to stare at some static slides and listen to the unimportant dialogues. The only thing I like about the game is the combat but overall it was a total waste of time.… Expand
  16. lllxianlll
    Apr 22, 2022
    0
    I love the Tales Series … but this game is the worst Tales game … bad story, boring characters, boring combat …
  17. glacierstone
    Jul 24, 2022
    2
    Game starts out promising but then the story gets kinda weak and drags on. Combat is fun enough to plow through over half but towards the end I was done, combat very repetitive. Side quests and intermittent quests all extremely repetitive. I could bring myself to finish the game and pretty sure I was about 90% through. Lost interest in story and gameplay mechanics.
  18. saturn812
    Aug 13, 2022
    2
    You can feel that this game was made by a team of interns with very low budget. Plot holes down right and center, 10 enemies re-skined 15 times, 10 weapons re-skined 15 times, 10 costumes re-skined 15 times, you get the idea, even boss enemies re-used. They even didn't bother making the ending in 3d, they just put the cheap 15 fps anime cutscene (PS5 version haha). Many times there are noYou can feel that this game was made by a team of interns with very low budget. Plot holes down right and center, 10 enemies re-skined 15 times, 10 weapons re-skined 15 times, 10 costumes re-skined 15 times, you get the idea, even boss enemies re-used. They even didn't bother making the ending in 3d, they just put the cheap 15 fps anime cutscene (PS5 version haha). Many times there are no transition between the levels, just the black screen. I wanted to rate this higher since I did finish the game, but they did not even include very limitted co-op which we used to have, but don't believe this is because of the new "unique" and "dynamic" combat system, it was just cut to save money just like everything else. Absolute garbage… Expand
  19. Cyril40
    Oct 7, 2022
    1
    Jeu old school a couloir, gameplay limité en combat et brouillon, surtout si on est habitué aux souls, bestiaire pauvre, arbre de talent inintéressant, loot ridicules dans les coffres, le jeu n apporte rien a part une lassitude dans le temps.
  20. Esperwolf
    Feb 9, 2023
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The first half of the game is great. It feels like a Tales of game. It really drops the ball in the second half though. There are so many plot holes it may as well as be swiss cheese.

    Daeq Faezol is where you learn the truth of the Renan home planet. A planet that is pretty much dead, mind controls its inhabitants and wants to syphon energy from its neighbor to create a void; pretty much killing itself?

    Renan's syphoning energy to gain power makes sense, they seem power hungry throughout the game. Then suddenly you find out its the planet itself. There are people called Helganquil and the crown contest is pretty much pointless for the Renans. Since both Soveriegns are revealed to be Dahnan's and there has never been a Renan Soveriegn.

    Oh, and the people on Lenegis are clueless. Though probably somewhat effected by their home world. Yet, there is no mind control from the Renan planet on the Dahnan home planet. Meaning all Renan's on the Dahnan home planet are free of its influence.

    What, I gathered from this information is the Renan planet wants to commit double suicide.
    It's people left its influence.
    The Crown contest is a sham.
    And the last half just complicates things so much that it ruins the first half.

    I am ashamed to call this a Tales of game.

    Character wise and gameplay wise. It is really good; it just drops the ball with the story.    … Expand
  21. MarshiPlayer
    Aug 31, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ''Let's Go..................................................................................................................................''… Expand

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2021
17
#17 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 76 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 76
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 76
  3. Negative: 0 out of 76
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 19, 2022
    85
    The latest entry in the Tale series offers everything loyal fans could have expected, but also has a chance to enamor many newcomers. The story about two heroes from the opposite sides of a conflict joining forces is surprisingly multi-layered, the combat is flashy and satisfying, and the journey leads you across beautiful, varied regions. As for the flaws, I need to mention problems with map legibility and the necessity to grind, but fortunately both issues are occasional. [12/2021, p.68]
  2. Gamersky
    Dec 2, 2021
    85
    Tales of Arise achieved steady progress under the traditional JRPG framework. With a solid plot and refreshing battle, a very good JRPG experience has been created for players. Although the overall quality is very high, the game still has some problems in character creation and story logic, which prevents it from reaching the peak of the JRPG category.
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  3. We Got This Covered
    Nov 3, 2021
    90
    Tales of Arise offers fast and fluid combat and an epic story, paving the way for the first great JRPG of a new console generation.
    Read full review
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