Now that Tales of Arise reviews are out, it has seemingly done the impossible by topping Tales of Symphonia in terms of critic reception. In our own Tales of Arise review, we wrote that it “…is a game designed for long-term Tales franchise fans and those who have never picked up a franchise entry before, where story, combat, and various features come together to deliver a high-quality, highly-detailed JRPG.” Indeed, its combat is one element that many should enjoy thanks to its sheer versatility.

That’s not to say it can’t grow tedious, but when it does, there is a lot players can do to shake up the combat. One way to do so is to swap from control of Alphen to any of the other Tales of Arise characters. Besides a change of pace, players may also want to do so to make sure a specific Mystic Artes attack hits or a certain skill is used, and here’s how to change characters in the middle of Tales of Arise’s combat scenarios.

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Tales of Arise: Changing Characters in the Middle of Combat

Outside of combat, players can edit their party leader and their team composition by using the edit option in the main menu. However, that’s not an option once combat is initiated in Tales of Arise. Players will instead need to use one of two methods in order to change characters in the heat of combat.

The first and perhaps the most direct for a quick swap is to hold down the LB/L1 button. This will pause combat and allow players to cycle through the enemies on the field, learning their health. However, players will also notice on the bottom left that the party leader logo appears over their active party members. Pressing the corresponding button on the D-pad and letting go of LB/L1 will find players instantly in control of the new Tales of Arise character.

Secondly, when in the menu, players can use L1/R1 or LB/RB to cycle character as well. They appear on the right side of the menu this time around, and players will have to cycle through the list of active characters instead of swapping instantly. Still, if using an item, changing the party, or swap artes in Tales of Arise, it is a convenient option for a quick swap.

At the end of the day, Alphen may have the most interesting combat thanks to his flame strikes, but each and every character in Tales of Arise has a lot to offer from a strategic point of view.

Tales of Arise releases September 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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