Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 406: Tales of Arise

(+) Yeah! (+)

Todays game is Tales of Arise. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

You can still rate previous days games if you want, just post the name of the game and the score. If you want to know what you rated a previous game just let me know. Nominations for future days are welcome.

Previous Results:
Clannad - 9.75 (4 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - 9.68 (11 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Planescape: Torment - 9.5 (13 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.5 (9 votes)
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem 9.38 - (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker - 9.33 (10 votes)
428: Shibuya Scramble - 9.27 (9 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.2 (20 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.19 (35 votes)
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - 9.15 (10 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.14 (13 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.06 (11 votes)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - 9.04 (8 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV (overall) - 8.98 (11 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.95 (31 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.91 (15 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.89 (14 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (21 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Nier - 8.75 (18 votes)
Omori - 8.75 (8 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.75 (14 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.71 (15 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.68 (28 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - 8.67 (6 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Portal 2 - 8.64 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - 8.64 (11 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.63 (32 votes)
AI: The Somnium Files - 8.59 (13 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.58 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.57 (28 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.56 (32 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (17 votes)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 8.53 (18 votes)
SOMA - 8.5 (6 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve - 8.48 (11 votes)
Fate/Stay Night - 8.48 (12 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.47 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.44 (16 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.44 (29 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.43 (12 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice - 8.42 (17 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.4 (41 votes)
Shadow Hearts - 8.38 (8 votes)
Blasphemous - 8.38 (4 votes)
Shenmue II - 8.38 (4 votes)
Snatcher - 8.33 (6 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.31 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.29 (38 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.25 (18 votes)
Dead Space - 8.25 (8 votes)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.23 (6 votes)
Fallout: New Vegas - 8.23 (13 votes)
Lunar: Silver Star Story - 8.22 (9 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 8.21 (19 votes)
Parasite Eve - 8.19 (9 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.19 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.19 (43 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.16 (22 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.15 (17 votes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 8.14 (7 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
The Witcher - 8.13 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 8.12 (14 votes)
Conkers Bad Fur Day - 8.11 (9 votes)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - 8.11 (9 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.11 (15 votes)
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice - 8.1 (5 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 8 (18 votes)
Portal - 8 (26 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: The Golden Country - 7.98 (5 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.98 (28 votes)
Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End - 7.97 (16 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 7.96 (14 votes)
Hades - 7.96 (22 votes)
Tsukihime - 7.94 (7 votes)
God of War (2018) - 7.93 (14 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - 7.92 (13 votes)
Persona 5 - 7.92 (27 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.92 (32 votes)
Alan Wake - 7.91 (8 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Cyberpunk 2077 - 7.9 (7 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Kid Icarus: Uprising - 7.86 (13 votes)
Killer7 - 7.85 (10 votes)
Night in the Woods - 7.8 (15 votes)
Silent Hill - 7.8 (15 votes)
Psychonauts - 7.79 (7 votes)
Deadly Premonition - 7.77 (11 votes)
Final Fantasy IX - 7.77 (26 votes)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 7.75 (14 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story - 7.75 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 3 - 7.75 (8 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - 7.75 (4 votes)
NEO: The World Ends With You - 7.75 (4 votes)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 7.75 (4 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.73 (32 votes)
The Last of Us: Left Behind - 7.73 (11 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - 7.73 (11 votes)
Mega Man Zero - 7.71 (7 votes)
Kentucky Route Zero - 7.7 (10 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Vagrant Story - 7.67 (6 votes)
Bioshock - 7.65 (24 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.63 (15 votes)
Suikoden - 7.63 (15 votes)
Paper Mario: The Origami King - 7.63 (6 votes)
Radiant Historia - 7.62 (13 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.61 (28 votes)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - 7.6 (5 votes)
Final Fantasy VII Remake - 7.58 (20 votes)
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - 7.57 (6 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Half-Life 2 - 7.55 (10 votes)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - 7.54 (12 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.51 (31 votes)

Policenauts - 7.5 (5 votes)
Erica - 7.5 (4 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 7.44 (8 votes)
Marvels Spider-Man - 7.43 (16 votes)
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - 7.42 (6 votes)
Dragon Age: Origins - 7.4 (10 votes)
Perfect Dark - 7.4 (10 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - 7.38 (13 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.38 (30 votes)
Her Story - 7.38 (8 votes)
Phantasy Star IV - 7.37 (6 votes)
Earthbound - 7.37 (20 votes)
Ghost of Tsushima - 7.36 (7 votes)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - 7.33 (8 votes)
Halo 3 - 7.33 (6 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.33 (29 votes)
Resident Evil (2002) - 7.32 (11 votes)
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 7.27 (24 votes)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - 7.27 (20 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Bravely Default - 7.25 (12 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.21 (30 votes)
Devil May Cry 3: Dantes Awakening - 7.21 (12 votes)
Resident Evil 4 - 7.19 (25 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Resident Evil (1996) - 7.16 (10 votes)
Resident Evil 2 - 7.13 (16 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
The Stanley Parable - 7.11 (14 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
Broken Age - 7.1 (5 votes)
The Last of Us Part II - 7.09 (16 votes)
The Last Guardian - 7.08 (6 votes)
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal - 7.08 (6 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
INSIDE - 7.06 (16 votes)
Warcraft III (overall) - 7.06 (8 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Hollow Knight - 7.02 (23 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (6 votes)
Halo 2 - 6.96 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood - 6.95 (11 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 6.95 (24 votes)
Paper Mario - 6.95 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem (2003) - 6.93 (21 votes)
Dragon Quest VII - 6.91 (8 votes)
Gone Home - 6.91 (18 votes)
Batman: Arkham Knight - 6.9 (5 votes)
Bioshock Infinite - 6.88 (20 votes)
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - 6.88 (4 votes)
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 6.86 (14 votes)
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - 6.83 (6 votes)
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA - 6.82 (12 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.81 (13 votes)
L. A. Noire - 6.8 (5 votes)
Outlast - 6.8 (5 votes)
The World Ends With You - 6.79 (24 votes)
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne - 6.79 (7 votes)
Firewatch - 6.77 (11 votes)
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - 6.77 (13 votes)
Silent Hill: s***tered Memories - 6.75 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening - 6.74 (19 votes)
Dragon Quest IV - 6.73 (8 votes)
Batman: Arkham City - 6.71 (12 votes)
Pokmon Black & White - 6.7 (15 votes)
Halo: Combat Evolved - 6.7 (10 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.7 (34 votes)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 6.68 (11 votes)
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - 6.68 (11 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - 6.68 (13 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.63 (20 votes)
Suikoden III - 6.63 (8 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.62 (30 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 6.61 (19 votes)
Dark Souls III - 6.6 (5 votes)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age - 6.58 (12 votes)
Grand Theft Auto V - 6.58 (12 votes)
The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings (7 votes)
Octopath Traveller - 6.54 (12 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 6.54 (26 votes)
Catherine - 6.54 (13 votes)
Metroid Dread - 6.54 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - 6.53 (15 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.53 (18 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles - 6.5 (16 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 6.5 (13 votes)
Transistor - 6.5 (8 votes)
Resident Evil Village - 6.5 (7 votes)
Katana Zero - 6.5 (6 votes)
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - 6.5 (5 votes)
Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - 6.5 (5 votes)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 6.46 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - 6.46 (12 votes)
Viewtiful Joe - 6.45 (10 votes)
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - 6.43 (15 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - 6.43 (20 votes)
Dishonored 2 - 6.43 (7 votes)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - 6.43 (7 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne - 6.4 (5 votes)
A Hat in Time - 6.39 (12 votes)
Professor Layton and the Lost Specter - 6.38 (4 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 6.36 (36 votes)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 6.35 (10 votes)
Bioshock 2 - 6.33 (9 votes)
Fire Emblem: Awakening - 6.33 (20 votes)
Final Fantasy V - 6.28 (27 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 6.28 (9 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 - 6.25 (4 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - 6.23 (12 votes)
Saints Row the Third - 6.21 (12 votes)
Bayonetta 2 - 6.2 (10 votes)
Kirby Super Star: Revenge of Meta Knight - 6.2 (5 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.15 (15 votes)
DOOM (2016) - 6.15 (13 votes)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - 6.14 (7 votes)
Tales of Vesperia - 6.13 (24 votes)
Golden Sun - 6.06 (17 votes)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - 6.05 (6 votes)
Banjo-Kazooie - 6 (12 votes)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - 6 (9 votes)
No More Heroes - 5.96 (12 votes)
Shadow of the Colossus - 5.94 (27 votes)
Assassins Creed III - 5.94 (8 votes)
Star Fox: Assault - 5.93 (7 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 5.86 (11 votes)
God of War (2005) - 5.83 (15 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 5.82 (17 votes)
Sonic Adventure 2 - 5.81 (27 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.8 (33 votes)
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - 5.8 (24 votes)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - 5.79 (7 votes)
Dark Souls II - 5.77 (12 votes)
Banjo-Tooie - 5.72 (9 votes)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 5.72 (9 votes)
Star Ocean: The Second Story - 5.72 (9 votes)
Metroid Prime - 5.72 (25 votes)
Tales of Xillia - 5.71 (12 votes)
Dishonored - 5.7 (10 votes)
Star Fox 64 - 5.69 (27 votes)
Hyrule Warriors - 5.67 (6 votes)
Hitman - 5.65 (6 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 - 5.64 (7 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 5.59 (14 votes)
Dragon Quest VI - 5.58 (6 votes)
Valkyrie Profile - 5.58 (6 votes)
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - 5.6 (10 votes)
Braid - 5.59 (11 votes)
Detroit: Become Human - 5.58 (6 votes)
Metroid Fusion - 5.56 (13 votes)
Journey - 5.56 (17 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth - 5.55 (20 votes)
Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days - 5.55 (10 votes)
Kingdom Hearts - 5.51 (33 votes)
Persona 4 Arena - 5.51 (9 votes)
Dead Rising - 5.5 (4 votes)
The Wonderful 101 - 5.5 (4 votes)

It stumbles a bit towards the end but I'm still gonna say 7.5.

It stumbles a lot towards the end.

2

Unpopular opinion but I did not mind the last 20 percent. I actually kind of enjoyed it.

7

Not going to rate since I only got about 10 hours in but there was basically nothing about the game that made me interested D:

pyresword posted...

Not going to rate since I only got about 10 hours in but there was basically nothing about the game that made me interested D:

That's my current status with Zestiria (see playthrough topic) - I'm like 15 hours in and have no strong feelings about it yet. I've also heard that the last 20% of that game is "the JRPG equivalent of Chernobyl."

I am only popping in to see how high of a priority Arise should be for me. I got it unbelievably cheap when it was new after stacking three things at GameStop (Black Friday sale + a $25 gift card + my $5 Pro monthly voucher).

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I'm like 15 hours in and have no strong feelings about it yet. I've also heard that the last 20% of that game is "the JRPG equivalent of Chernobyl."

This is incorrect.

It's the last 30%.

7.5/10. I enjoy it a lot early on, and the cast is quite good, especially Shionne. The skits can be pretty fun too. Unfortunately, it gets damn infodumpy, and some of the moralizing is garbage, plus Vholran is an abysmal character.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

That's my current status with Zestiria (see playthrough topic) - I'm like 15 hours in and have no strong feelings about it yet. I've also heard that the last 20% of that game is "the JRPG equivalent of Chernobyl."

this is incorrect

Chernobyl is an amazing TV show

7/10

It was going so smoothly. The "5 Worlds" idea was simple, it slowly developed characters along the way, and it was so good...until the ending grinding everything to a stupid sci-fi halt.

6

Tales of Arise was well on its way to becoming my favorite Tales experience since Symphonia. The pacing was very good(often times even a little too fast), the characters were likable, the main overarching plot was shrouded in mystery which made the game compelling and even the skits were paced very well for a change.

Sure it wasn't a perfect gaming experience or anything. It had enemy variety that would make Final Fantasy XIII blush. Its battle system was too reliant on combos and while that made boss battles fun, often times it made fighting random mobs a chore. And of course that lol Act 4 scene between Law and Rinwell. However still, even until the very end of the fifth act, I was enjoying the game so much.

Now Tales games are known for having weak final acts (Vesperia) and mid-game lulls (Berseria) even in the best of them. What I witnessed in Arise's final act however is the biggest fall from grace that I have witnessed in a JRPG maybe ever. I say this because the drop of quality from Act 1-5 to the Final Act is like comparing the quality of Television between the Finale of Breaking Bad to its Pilot episode.

We enter the final main area of the game that consists of about only a few screens (clearly very very rushed) but then we get about 4+hours of cutscenes and skits mashed together and jammed within those few screens of gameplay sections. Now I am one who loves huge cutscenes and story segments in video games (MGS, Xenosagas, Trails and currently playing Xenoblade 3 and loving it)..... if done well. Tales of Arise manages to have a cutscene or a skit every few seconds you walk in the final area and despite the scenes and skits logging over 4 hours of runtime cumulatively, it manages to convey so so very little. The big reveal about Alphen's amnesia sadly ends up being the most generic thing imaginable which is very deflating. And then you have the myriad of plot exposition which could have easily been told in 20 minutes or so. Dohalim, a character I was fond of entered annoying territory by default because he is the scapegoat used by the developers to drill stuff into the player that has been explained 4 or 5 times already by then.

The final dungeon certainly does the game and its story no favors either. It is the most boring, uninspired crap imaginable littered with tedious endless combat all over the place with enemy reskins you've probably seen over a hundred times at this point. When I was wishing I was playing the final dungeon of Berseria instead, I knew Arise had fumbled and tumbled massively at the finish line. The ending is alright but by that time, I'm breathing a sigh of relief that it is over. Such a huge contrast from what the game initially was. I do still look upon the game's story favorably because I enjoyed everything until the final act probably more than any other Tales game except Symphonia.

It really is amazing how two specific things (one about face Act 4 scene and the ending crunch) can utterly destroy a game's narrative. I don't think anything other than SO3's plot twist completely sucked me out of an experience faster. Maybe Star Ocean 5's Star Trek scene or Eternal Sonata's "FLASHBACK TO A FLASHBACK OF THE SAME SCENE," but that would be charitable.

I wanted Velvet or Shionne to somehow cross time and space and smack whoever wrote this. "You're better than this. Stop being stupid."

Strife2 posted...

I don't think anything other than SO3's plot twist completely sucked me out of an experience faster.

Difference is Star Ocean 3's plot was not very good before the plot twist either. The plot twist (as bad as it was) infact made the plot memorable if anything.

That is true. It was...inoffensive at best until the twist.

Up.

Strife2 posted...

Eternal Sonata's "FLASHBACK TO A FLASHBACK OF THE SAME SCENE,"

This sounds amazing lol

7/10

5/10

Had an incredibly strong start but then the rest of Part 1 is somehow simultaneously way too fast and way too slow. The cast outside of the main party is pretty much nonexistent which is baffling for a Tales game, the final villain is one of the worst if not the worst in the series and the story completely disintegrates in Part 2. Almost all of the skits being a summary of the cutscenes you just watched while adding nothing of value was painful.

andylt posted...

This sounds amazing lol

https://youtu.be/jVG_2A4k794?t=682

3

I didn't seem to dislike it or anything while playing it but if you asked me to remember anything about it would be very little. No lasting impression.