Tales of Arise is a 2021 action role-playing game created and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the 17th main game in the Tales series. The story follows a man and a woman from two opposing worlds, Dahna and Rena, as they work together to stop the Renans from controlling the Dahnan people.
The game was made by a team of experienced developers and new members who wanted to improve the Tales series. Minoru Iwamoto, an artist who worked on Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria, returned to design characters and lead the art team. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 to create its visuals.
Tales of Arise was first planned to release in 2020 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. However, it was delayed until September 2021 because of problems with the game’s quality and to add support for more platforms. It was also the first Tales game to launch at the same time in all countries worldwide. After its release, the game received praise from critics and won the Best RPG award at The Game Awards 2021. By February 2024, it had sold over 3 million copies. On February 5, 2026, a version of the game for Nintendo Switch 2 was announced, with a planned release date of May 22, 2026.
Gameplay
Tales of Arise is an action role-playing game, similar to other games in the series. While the gameplay has changed during development, it keeps the basic battle system called the Linear Motion Battle System. The game draws inspiration from Tales of Graces, a 2009 game known for its combat system. Unlike earlier games, it does not allow players to share control of characters locally. Instead, the developers focused on interactions between characters during combat, adding a feature called "Boost Strike," which lets multiple party members perform powerful attacks together under specific conditions.
Story
Arise takes place in a world split between the medieval land of Dahna and the advanced world of Rena. Three hundred years ago, the Renans from the artificial moon Lenegis in the world of Rena invaded and conquered Dahna. They enslaved the people of Dahna and divided the land into five separate regions: the dry and hot Calaglia, the cold and dark Cyslodia, the open plains of Elde Menancia, the mountainous area of Mahag Saar, and the rainforests of Ganath Haros. Every so often, a competition called the "Crown Contest" is held to choose one of the five Lords to become the next Renan ruler.
The people of Dahna who resist the Renan rule are divided into four groups across the planet. The only region without a resistance group is Ganath Haros, where the Lord has forced all people to obey him, no matter their background.
In Calaglia, a masked Dahnan slave with no memory of his past, known as "Iron Mask," joins a resistance group after helping save a Renan girl named Shionne from prison and retrieving a powerful object called a Master Core that she had stolen. While running from enemies, Iron Mask pulls a flaming sword from the Master Core and uses it to fight off the Renans. With help from the Crimson Crows, Iron Mask and Shionne defeat Calaglia's Lord, Balseph. During the battle, Iron Mask's mask breaks, and he remembers his name: "Alphen." After freeing Calaglia, Alphen and Shionne team up to liberate the other regions, gather the other Master Cores, and cure Shionne of a curse that harms others who touch her.
Alphen, Shionne, and their allies travel to Cyslodia, ruled by the Lord of Light. There, the leader of the Crimson Crows, Zephyr, is captured by agents of the local Lord, Ganabelt Valkyris, including Zephyr's son, Law. After seeing his father sentenced to death, Law helps Alphen and others rescue Zephyr, who is killed by Ganabelt. Law joins Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell, a member of the Silver Swords, to avenge Zephyr and defeat Ganabelt.
Next, the group goes to Elde Menancia, where the Lord, Dohalim il Qaras, has ended slavery and encourages peace between Renans and Dahnans. However, they learn from Migal, leader of the Golden Dust Cats, that Dohalim's aide, Kelzalik, is secretly poisoning Dahnans to steal their energy. With help from Migal's sister, the Dahnan knight Kisara, Alphen and others stop Kelzalik. Dohalim exiles Kelzalik and gives up his title to join the group.
In Mahag Saar, the group finds that the Dark Wings have overthrown the local Lord, Almeidrea Kaineris, who is hiding. Shionne tells the group that her goal is to collect all the Lords' Master Cores to create the ultimate Master Core, "Renas Alma," to cure her curse. When they learn Almeidrea has been captured, they attend her execution, only to discover she set a trap for the Dark Wings, killing them and escaping. Rinwell realizes Almeidrea is the Lord who killed her parents.
The group boards Almeidrea's ship and fights her until the Lord of Ganath Haros, Vholran Igniseri, appears and kills Almeidrea before attacking Alphen. During the battle, Alphen's mask breaks completely, restoring his memories and ability to feel pain. Vholran escapes with Shionne. Later, Alphen reveals he was a test subject in Renan experiments 300 years ago and was forced to participate in a ceremony with a Renan girl named Naori Imeris, an ancestor of Shionne. The ceremony failed, causing many deaths. Naori placed a mask on Alphen to erase his memories before sending him to Dahna in a spaceship, where he was frozen in sleep until awakening one year ago.
The group attacks Vholran's castle, frees Shionne from a curse Vholran placed on her, and defeats Vholran, collecting all the Lords' Master Cores. A mysterious being uses a sixth Master Core to absorb energy from the others, forming the Renas Alma, and flees with it and Vholran's body.
A month later, the group helps rebuild Ganath Haros until a machine sent by the Renans begins draining energy from Dahna to send to Lenegis. They temporarily stop the machine. Searching for answers, they find Alphen's spaceship, repair it, and travel to Lenegis. There, they learn that Vholran and the Renas Alma are held by the Helganquil, aliens who are the real inhabitants of Rena. The Helganquil plan to use the Renas Alma to repeat a ceremony that drains energy from Dahna to power the Great Spirit of Rena, which had already destroyed most of life on Rena.
The group attacks Rena, defeats the Great Spirit, and retrieves the Renas Alma. However, Vholran steals the core and challenges Alphen to a duel while Shionne traps the Great Spirit inside her body. Alphen defeats Vholran, who explodes along with the Renas Alma, destroying it. Shionne asks Alphen to kill her to stop the Great Spirit, but Alphen calls on the Great Spirit of Dahna to help. Together, they merge the two worlds into one, saving Shionne and curing her curse. Later, Alphen and Shionne marry, and they live peacefully with their friends.
One year after the worlds merged (and before their marriage), Alphen and Shionne rescue a girl named Nazamil, who is the child of a Renan noble and a Dahnan woman. She is shunned by both groups. The party discovers she was experimented on by the Renans, giving her special powers like Alphen and Shionne. During an attack on a town, Nazamil uses her powers to protect people, but some locals attack her, making Alphen angry and nearly kill them. Guilt-ridden, Nazamil flees.
Later, Nazamil returns with a mask that controls others' aggression, creating a cult called "Cal Beisel" to force everyone to wear masks for peace. The group tries to stop her but fails. Nazamil puts on a special mask called the "Reigning Visage," which takes over her mind. The group tracks her to Cal Beisel's base, helps her remove the mask, and
Development
According to producer Yusuke Tomizawa, the development of Arise began before the announcement of the Definitive Edition of Tales of Vesperia in 2018. The game was developed under the codename "Arise," with the goal of improving and updating the Tales franchise formula. The game's name came from its codename because it best showed the story themes and the team's goals. Unlike earlier Tales games, which used a special engine made by the company, Arise used Unreal Engine 4, which allowed for much better graphics than previous games. Character models and movement were also improved, with the team aiming to match the quality seen in 3D films and television. While the previous game, Tales of Berseria, worked on both older and newer PlayStation consoles, Arise was made only for modern hardware. Tomizawa said the team aimed for a quality that could be enjoyed worldwide but would still respect its Japanese fans.
Arise was developed by Bandai Namco Studios. The team included experienced members who had worked on earlier Tales games, such as Tales of Phantasia, as well as new members who were passionate about the series. Minoru Iwamoto was the art director and character designer. He had worked on both Berseria and Tales of Zestiria. This was the first time one person filled both roles, and it was part of Bandai Namco's effort to create a unified art style and themes. The game's world design was darker than earlier entries, both to continue the series' evolution and to appeal to Western audiences. Even though the game focused on 3D graphics, 2D anime cutscenes were still planned, as in previous games. Similar to earlier games, the anime sequences were made by Ufotable, and the game's music was written by Motoi Sakuraba. The game's theme song is "Hibana" by Kankaku Piero, which is the third Tales game to have both English and Japanese versions of its theme song. Piero also performed "We Still" as the theme song for the "Beyond the Dawn" DLC. Ayaka performed two songs for the game: "Blue Moon" as the grand theme song and a cover of My Little Lover's "Hello, Again (Mukashi kara Aru Basho)" as the insert song.
Release
The game Arise was announced at E3 2019, although details about the game were shared online a few days earlier. It was first planned to be released in 2020 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. However, the release was delayed until September 10, 2021, because of problems within the company and to support newer consoles like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
On October 3, 2021, new downloadable content (DLC) was announced. This included a special mission featuring Kirito and Asuna, the main characters from the Sword Art Online franchise (especially Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris), as well as new costumes inspired by their designs.
A story DLC titled Tales Of Arise: Beyond The Dawn was announced on September 14, 2023, and released on November 9, 2023. The story takes place one year after the events of the original game and introduces a new character named Nazamil.
Reception
Tales of Arise received mostly positive reviews from critics, as reported by the Metacritic website, which collects and summarizes reviews. The game won the Best RPG award at The Game Awards 2021. At the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Tales of Arise for "Best Role-Playing Game." IGN stated that the game had the best story and gameplay of any Tales game since Tales of Symphonia.
Within one week of its release, Tales of Arise sold more than 1 million copies, making it the fastest-selling game in the series. By April 2022, the game had sold 2 million copies. By February 2024, sales reached over 3 million copies.