Although Tales of Arise hasn't received a release date yet, it's one of the most anticipated titles of 2021 given the franchise's history. While the Tales series has always been popular in Japan rivalling the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, it's always kept a lower profile in the West. With the announcement of Tales of Arise, Bandai Namco plans to evolve the series by taking the series in a darker direction to appeal to a larger Western market.
Comprised of a team with both Tales veterans as well as passionate newcomers, Tales of Arise aims to secure the franchise's future both domestically in Japan as well as overseas. Over the years, the Tales franchise has received criticism from Western fans for the poor localizations and limited marketing of the games. With Tales of Arise due to arrive sometime this year, Bandai Namco aims to create a game that both Japan and the rest of the world will be proud of.
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Although Tales has become popular in the West ever since Tales of Symphonia arrived in 2004, the series rarely feels as big as it does in Japan. The Tales games often have limited to no marketing in the West and the localization quality has dipped over the years. Unfortunately, this means that even when games like Tales of Berseria receive critical acclaim, they often fall short of their true potential due to awkward translations or uneven side stories.
Alongside the heavily criticized Tales of Zestiria, the Tales franchise has felt like it has fallen short over the past few years and Bandai Namco has finally decided to make a change with Tales of Arise. With the development of Tales of Arise, the team has stated that its focus will be appealing to both the Japanese and international audiences alike. The future of the Tales franchise in the West heavily depends on the success of Tales of Arise and Bandai Namco will also need to ensure that their Japanese fans aren't neglected.
In order to evolve the franchise further, the developer behind Tales of Arise is comprised of both series veterans and newcomers so that the series will retain its charms while continuing to innovate. Unlike previous entries in the series, Tales of Arise is being developed in Unreal Engine 4 which will allow for better graphics while retaining a familiar visual style through custom shaders. Moreover, Tales of Arise will be the first title in the franchise made exclusively for modern hardware instead of being cross-gen.
Much like Tales of Berseria, it seems that Tales of Arise will have a darker tone than previous games in an attempt to appeal to a wider Western audience. Taking place on a planet named Dahna, the world has been pillaged and subjugated by a nearby planet named Rena. Though the details of the story are still unclear, it seems that Tales of Arise is embracing a different direction in storytelling from previous Tales games. The new changes in Tales of Arise should be an exciting prospect for fans of the series given the ambition to appeal to a worldwide audience. While it's uncertain whether Tales of Arise will address all of the issues with the series, it does seem that these changes will help secure the future of the Tales franchise.
Tales of Arise is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.