If I had to describe Arise's problem in one word, it would be pacing. The first chapter in Calaglia was amazing, and if they were able to expand from there I would be satisfied. I think Arise suffers from the same issue as Final Fantasy XV: There was a solid foundation, but the presentation was awful. The overall plot and usual Tales twist was there, but because we never spent a long time in any area, it felt like rushed and unsatisfactory. Which is hilarious because the characters can't stop talking, but it's usually either things the player already has figured out or just empty, vapid conversations.
The best example of bad is probably Law: When you first meet him, he's brimming with anger for Zephyr because of his abandonment issues. Then literally the next scene with him he's crying that Zephyr is going to be executed. I need a couple of scenes in between to soften this emotional turnaround.
I had the misfortune of replaying Vesperia concurrently with this, and it just made it emphasized how much better Arise could be. Not that Vesperia didn't have its own problems, but you can see how much effort the developers tried in sewing the seeds of Alexei's machinations and plots everywhere in the first half. That's good planning on their part, which Arise just doesn't have.
Other than that, I disliked the final bosses. One thing I appreciate about Tales games is you usually understand on some level what the boss is doing. Like in Symphonia Mithos' solution to racism is to wipe out everyone except one race. Or in Abyss how Van is trying to destroy the world and replace it with clones to end the cycle of prophecy. They're very extreme but you get where they're coming from.
Both the Great Astral Spirit and Vholran are... eh. You never have a conversation with the Great Astral Spirit so you don't have that same emotional connection, and I feel it was just wrong: It's trying to save Rena but at the same time was responsible for its destruction? Like what's that about? Vholran is very bland. Dude wants to control everything out of anger for his past. Whatever. There's no depth to him.
I disliked a good portion of the party too. I wouldn’t say they're as shallow as Zestiria's characters, but some were annoying. The older I get, the less patience I have for tsundere shit, so Shionne's nonsense got old fast. Kirasa pulled the same thing as Law, first hating her brother and then suddenly never shutting up about how amazing he was, and Rinwell was fucking obnoxious, first jumping on Dohalim for not knowing about Dahnan burial practices and then she herself didn't know later. Really I think only Alphen and Dohalim were the only reasonable people in the whole party.
Sakuraba Matoi continues to do the music and I he they didn’t. Dude clearly ran out of energy and steam starting the PS2 era. I heard the OST for this is 133 tracks on seven CDs. I don't know how because I literally can only remember one song from the whole game. Really they should just get Go Shiina on board permanently. It's a shame because I think the Phantasia and Destiny tracks were on fire, but Sakuraba hasn't been of that caliber in a long, long time.
I still wouldn't say it's the worst Tales out there―I think that goes to Legendia and the developers have to work hard to beat that in shittiness―and there are some really positive parts. For example, this is a very, very visually appealing game. I remember when they first switched to 3D in Xillia instead of fixed-angle camera and I complained how everything either had right angles (in a cave!) or looked exactly the same. With the different environments in every area, you get a really different taste of what they can do. I had to actually stop and take in the beauty when I saw the frozen waterfall under the night sky in Cyslodia. Or the castle looming in the background behind the lakes in Ganath Haros. Or the solarpunk-esque style of Dohalim’s house. They did a great job.
They also had some memorable scenes. Migal turning into liquid and realizing that whole lake was dead people. Or Almeidrea being taken to the town square but then everyone else dying. Or when you find out the truth about Rena and how it's all just a mirage. Props to them for that.
The battle system is also nicely streamlined. Starting with Graces they've been experimenting (well, they did also revamped fighting in Rebirth but that was shitty) and with the basic attack and dodge buttons moved to R1 and R2, it frees up circle, square, etc. for moves without affecting the joystick, i.e. in previous games it would be right + square to pull Demon Fang or whatever. What did really fucking annoy me was the CP part, although toward the end of the game finally I acquired enough that I wasn't peeing my pants about healing. Also annoying is how the gel now aren't percentage based. I liked that about Tales over other series because that meant I was still using the same healing items even at the end, but now I'm never touching an apple gel after the first chapter.
Overall I feel Arise was a step back. I still have hope for the next game―Zestiria wasn't very good but Beseria was amazing―but I'm surprised at how poor this game was considering how long ago the previous installment was. Perhaps the pandemic really messed them up?
Also, was anyone else confused why the Vesper Rift in the postgame dungeon featured Xillia 2? Really weird. I did love how they kept that butterfly puzzle in the Symphony Rift. That was a nice, nostalgic touch.
