Tales Of Arise Dev Explains Why It Won't Be Getting A Direct Sequel

Most games in the series don't get direct sequels, so this is pretty standard. While I am considering getting this on Xbox to support Japanese games on the console, I may hold out for a Switch/Switch (2?) version of the game. It's supposed to be great, so if it doesn't make it to a Nintendo system within a year, I'll just stick with Xbox.

I guess that last part was just a long way of me saying I'm buying this game within a year. Lol

@IronMan30 I wouldn't want to play this game on Switch. I doubt it actually could run on Switch, but even if it could I think it would lose too much, it's a game that really is designed for more powerful hardware. Switch 2 may be another story, and Bamco has a history of late ports of Tales games, inconsistently, to Nintendo platforms, but Switch 1? Get it on XB (or wait for it to land on GP which is always possible.)

If nothing else, though, especially near the end, you do a lot of fast-traveling to different zones, and that would be painful on a non-SSD system. It made the last dungeon grind unoffensive. On slow loading machines I'd probably have called it "ridiculous" and given up before the end.

@Xiovanni I second Scarlet Nexus as well. Arise was one of those games I was depressed to be finished with and could find nothing else to do. Scarlet is the game I chose to fill the void with and, while it's incredibly different, it manages to fill that void well. Haven't had much gaming time for months so I'm still working through just Yuito's campaign and I'm not sure if I'll even get to Kasane's, but it's really fantastic in its own right (assuming one doesn't hate Platinum-style action games.)

@NEStalgia eh, I'm sure if they could make it work I wouldn't care knowing it will look/perform worse. In any case, I plan on getting it somewhere.

Arise is fantastic, ever so slightly better than Nexus, which is also great, btw. Tales games are sort of like Final Fantasy in that generally the games are all standalone, which is fine, i get tired of sequels sometimes.

I plan on buying Arise and Nexus on Xbox still to support JRPG's on the console as well. I just beat Strangers of Paradise on Series X, which was waaaay better than I expected. The combat becomes so addictive, and the levels so cleverly modeled after other historic Final Fantasy locations, that I didn't want it to end. I plan on maxing out all of the job classes before retiring the game to the collection shelf. I hope it gets a sequel.

I haven't played Scarlet Nexus yet, but Arise is definitely one of the best Tales games in a while (heck, my profile pic says it all)

@NEStalgia I want to believe Arise is possible on Switch. The engine changed, but the art direction remained the same. What will bother the switch is the excess of particle effects the game has, even on desolated areas. This is Tales' first UE4 game, and they just need to optimize it well (running on 900p with inconsistent 60fps on Series S is unacceptable for me)

@Savage_Joe Bandai in general has had issues with optimizing for Switch. The fighting games run fine. Vesperia ran fine, but the majority of Bamco games (including first-party-published Age of Calamity) run amazingly badly.

Plus load times would not be pleasant on Switch, and this is a game where the dungeon designs for the larger dungeons encourage fast traveling out for recovery items, or upgrades as you find parts, fairly frequently.

It's certainly possible they can get it to "run" on Switch, but I'm not sure "pleasure to play" and "run" are always synonyms. Maybe it could be less bad than Ys9?

@LifelessLimey I agree, it is very pathetic to buy games on a system you want to.

Tales of Arise and Scarlet Nexus were anime as hell, but both were so damn good. @IronMan30, I would totally replay both of these on Switch, a.k.a. my go-to RPG platform. All tech issues aside, there's something great about playing on the Switch and being able to listen to Arrested Development or Bojack Horseman on my TV in the background.

@PanFriedSoup yeah, some genres I do generally prefer on Switch, and don't mind performance or graphics there, including JRPG's. Even still, I'd like to support Japanese games for others who like them and have an Xbox so that's my biggest reason for considering the console. Shooters are absolutely more of an Xbox thing for me, though. That's one genre that I am almost guaranteed to buy there.

IDK, I love the format of switch, I'll never understand wanting to listen to music while playing a game that already has good music though 🤣

But a game like arise takes great care to offer beautiful scenery, and then you really never see it as it is. Something like twewy2 works better, the scenery is vibrant but not detailed or expansive. I miss the 3ds era where handheld games were designed for it and not just console games cut down to a poor performing version. Imo those were the best RPGs overall, too.

@NEStalgia that is one aspect of the pure handheld era I miss. Really would be nice if developers/publishers made Switch-specific versions of games, but I guess since it's HD they figure the cost is too high?

@IronMan30 Switch continues the plight of the Vita in that regard. Games for an hd handheld cost too much to make just for handhelds. But switch, she really Steam Deck really don't yet have the power to be truly portable full consoles either. It's getting there, maybe switch 2. But I'll miss the kind of games 3ds got made for it.

Tales of Arise was hands down my game of the year for 2021, I'm so happy it got put on Xbox. Hopefully their comment on "an opportunity to rediscover the history of the series" means we'll get some of the older games on Xbox as well.

Bandai Namco was really great with supporting the Xbox with Tales, Scarlet Nexus, and Code Vein and i hope they all sold well enough to make them keep putting their games on the system.

Played this on my laptop, and while I'm not sure if it was the best game I played last year, it's at least darn close (and the best Tales has been in a good while).

@NEStalgia (replying to comment #9), Age of Calamity isn't a Bamco game, it's Koei Tecmo.

I kinda feel bad for anyone discovering this franchise with this game is not like the games are bad they are very good but in some ways Arise is the odds one out because of the so called after taste the game has, don't get me wrong the game is not a happy one it can be really depressing at times and so have been the most recent Tales game which is a surprise when the ending doesn't makes you feel like crap, but some of the previous one do so if you go thinking all Tales game will have a feel good ending you are in for a surprise.

I mean you know what you get into when you find out the fact Arise was going to leave you with a "good after taste" was promoted as a selling point when the director was asked by the games ending