The Tales series at its core has been rather consistent throughout its history. The use of real-time action-based battles has been constant since the series’ inception, while the world design has almost always seen characters traverse through a series of interconnected areas interspersed with loading screens. While it would be unfair to call the games repetitive or same-y, little has been done to mix up this core of the franchise over the years. It’s for this reason that the newest game in the Tales series, Tales of Arise, is so exciting, as the game promises some significant changes to the core of the series.
Announced during Microsoft’s E3 press conference and set for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in 2020, signs of this evolution are very much apparent. The combat was rather liberated in previous entries in any case due to it being a real-time action system, yet the combat shown in this new trailer appears to be a further evolution of this. This new ‘Dynamic Action’ system isn’t the only thing that’s new here, either. Rather than the segmented world series fans have become accustomed to over the years, seamless traversal of the world of Dahna will be possible in this new game.
While both of these inclusions may make it seem as though the game is less evolving from previous entries and more abandoning its legacy, that would not be a fair assessment. The series’ iconic anime visual style has returned, as has anime studio ufotable to handle 2D animation for this game. Other core pillars of the series are also being promised to return, which should help ease the worries of concerned fans who may feel that this new entry shares its name with the series they love but has been altered in ways they aren’t comfortable with.
Personally, I think this new entry in the series looks incredible, and I can’t wait to see more of the game between now and the title’s release in 2020. Tales of Arise promises to be a step forward for the series that changes up the formula while remaining true to what made people fall in love with the series in the first place, and I personally see a lot of potential for something truly special in this trailer. The game will be released for Xbox One, PS4 and PC in 2020 and you can find more info on the game over at Bandai Namco’s official website.