I believe that alone should be enough to make everyone try the game, but in case you want to read more, then kindly read what I thought after playing the game. I’ll try my best to make it spoiler free.

1. Story & Characters – 9.5/10
Tales of series is a long running franchise that is known for their story and characters, and Tales of Arise didn’t disappoint in that regard at all. The story is quite dark as it tackles slavery and oppression, but it never gets too dark, because they were able slid in funny tropes and skits from the main characters.

The 6 main characters were all portrayed amazingly, having well told backstories and progressive character development, my favorites being Rinwell and Dohalim. It definitely felt like I was travelling with them as the story progresses.

The only thing I can honestly nitpick is that there are very few instances that the skits and cut scenes were occurring consecutively for a while that it felt like I’m watching an anime instead of playing a game anymore.

2. Gameplay & Exploration – 9/10
Tales of Arise is an action RPG, and compared to all the previous Tales of games, it’s definitely the best in terms of gameplay. The gameplay was smooth and fluid, it revolves around dodging/blocking then countering the enemies to deal damage. It can be hard at first, especially if you use Alphen as he has self-damaging skills, but it was satisfying once you get the hang of it.

Exploration is similar to Pokemon, where you travel around the world to gather materials and talk to NPCs, then you need to run towards the enemy to trigger a separate battle scene. It would be amazing if we can battle the enemies right away without the separate battle scene, making the map and area play bigger roles in the battles. The game doesn’t support multiplayer as well, which is a bummer for some like me.

3. Graphics – 9.5/10
The game was built using Unreal Engine 4, with few animated cut scenes produced by Ufotable, so obviously the game has amazing visuals. The high quality is very consistent throughout the game as well, even in the DLCs. My only wish is the animated cut scenes of Ufotable have similar quality to Demon Slayer or Fate series next time, one can dream right haha.

4. Soundtracks – 8.5/10
I love the two main tracks of the game. It will definitely feel nostalgic and give me goosebumps when I hear them 3 or more years from now. But those are honestly the only ones aside from few tracks played during Rinwell and Shionne’s emotional scenes that stuck and resonated with me.

5. Post-game & DLC – 8/10
If you’re like me who wants to 100% complete a game, Tales of Arise has a good amount of post-game content, from finding all the owls, catching all the fish, cooking all the ingredients, watching all the skits, clearing all the sub-quest, etc. There is definitely a lot to check but it was pretty fun and quite challenging.

The DLCs are definitely the main reason Tales of Arise has any negative review, they locked THREE skill panels on DLC, which obviously disappointed some people. The SAO DLC was surprisingly the hardest content for me in this game, but buy it when on discount please, it’s not worth it at full price.

CONCLUSION
BUY IT, IT’S WORTH IT! Thank you for reading my thoughts of the game.