There's a lot of video game anniversaries going on right now. This year marks major milestones in the lives of The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, and Persona, and last year Nintendo celebrated Super Mario's birthday too. The Tales franchise also recently passed a milestone, celebrating 25 years at the end of 2020. Tales of Arise, the next installation in Bandai Namco's Tales series, already looks like a worthy celebration of the series. It plays on a lot of the themes and mechanics that longtime Tales fans have grown to love while streamlining its combat mechanics to be more inviting to newcomers.
Tales of Arise is under a lot of pressure to deliver, though. As appealing as it looks, comparisons to other particularly beloved Tales games mean it could either be the next Tales classic or the recipient of criticism for failing to live up to its legacy. This year already had another example of an anime-styled RPG with a lot of eyes on it: Scarlet Nexus. Bandai Namco's new IP generally received positive reviews, but a lot of critics agreed that there were areas where Scarlet Nexus could've been improved. Ideally, Bandai Namco took note of Scarlet Nexus' reception going into the final months of development.
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Combat is an important area where Tales of Arise should be mindful of the Scarlet Nexus reviews. On the one hand, Scarlet Nexus players generally loved the psychic abilities that they could put to use fighting the game's monsters. Between the upgrades on the protagonists' brain map and Scarlet Nexus' various companions, the game offers a lot of ways to tackle each combat. However, many critics also said that the combat in Scarlet Nexus got repetitive toward the end, in large part due to a lack of variety in the game's enemies.
These are both important things for Tales of Arise to bear in mind. Bandai Namco is simplifying Tales' combat systems in Tales of Arise, making traditionally complicated systems like Artes more approachable for new players. It needs to make sure that the combat is still deep and engaging, even if it's easier for new players to pick up. On the other side of combat, Tales of Arise must be stocked with a broad variety of enemies that make the adjusted combat system feel worth learning. RPG combat often shines when players feel rewarded for learning and adapting to a range of opponents.
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Another thing that Tales of Arise needs to nail is characterization and worldbuilding. Scarlet Nexus' characters got a mixed reception. While some critics were fond of their arcs, others didn't think they were interesting. Ideally, Tales of Arise doubles down on building its characters, making their personal stories as important as the overarching story. The Tales of Arise characters inspire some optimism for that. They imply that Bandai Namco thinks the characters should be at the forefront of Tales of Arise, so ideally that philosophy will be reflected in the game.
It's not just player characters that matter, though. One more area of Scarlet Nexus that got consistent criticism was its side quests. Many players felt that they didn't have reason to care about minor NPCs in Scarlet Nexus, and criticized the side quests they offered as repetitive and unengaging. Tales of Arise will surely offer a wealth of its own side quests, so Bandai Namco has to offer a lot of tasks for players to take on. They can't all be monster hunting jobs or fetch quests; there should be a variety of little stories that help develop the latest setting in the Tales franchise.
Bandai Namco seems determined to make Tales of Arise succeed. It wasn't afraid to delay the game out of 2020 and deep into 2021 to make sure it lived up to player expectations. Therefore, it also shouldn't be afraid to take criticism on its other projects and use that input on other games. Scarlet Nexus isn't a bad game by a long shot, but it also wasn't a perfect game for a variety of reasons. Tales of Arise will be better off if Bandai Namco uses Scarlet Nexus' feedback to help polish the new game.
Tales of Arise releases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.