I'm starting to see why people think the writing is bad

[Reaper]

I swear, compared to Berseria, the characters on both sides of this game are so one dimensional. Shionne especially seems like she just looked up the definition of tsundere and decided that would be her entire personality. The villains as well don't have any personality besides "we are evil" and seem to have no motives driving them.

None of the party has any connection with each other either. I can think of at least 5 memorable skits instantly from Berseria (mostly involving Magilou) yet essentially every skit in this game so far has been basically just explaining some lore/backstory or worse, repeating information the game thinks the player needs to know for an upcoming area.

[Shiki Yui]

TBH Shion feels like a better tsundere than most considering her background. The villains are evil I'll give you that but they also get a little more info later in the story. Play some more because the cast actually do grow more the further you're in the game.

[Will]

Originally posted by Shiki Yui:

TBH Shion feels like a better tsundere than most considering her background. The villains are evil I'll give you that but they also get a little more info later in the story. Play some more because the cast actually do grow more the further you're in the game.

What? Her background is generic, so that doesn't add remotely anything. And her story climaxes with a cliche generic anime hug.

[Shiki Yui]

Originally posted by Will:

Originally posted by Shiki Yui:

TBH Shion feels like a better tsundere than most considering her background. The villains are evil I'll give you that but they also get a little more info later in the story. Play some more because the cast actually do grow more the further you're in the game.

What? Her background is generic, so that doesn't add remotely anything. And her story climaxes with a cliche generic anime hug.

I guess if all her life of being experimented on, having nightmares of a world ending threat, unable to touch anyone without causing pain, and her real goal of suicide is considered generic to you then great. I'm not really fond of tsunderes but at the very least Shion's a lot more bearable to me because let's be honest a majority of tsunderes are trash.

[Treskittle]

Shionne is a good tsundere. She's not mean spirited, just due to her mission she'd rather not get comfy with anyone. But of course, deep down, she does want to help people (her map action being Heal Other), so she's sort of at odds with her intentions and she grows as a person from that, eventually able to reconcile both paths in life for herself in a semi realistic and organic manner.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Shiki Yui:

TBH Shion feels like a better tsundere than most considering her background. The villains are evil I'll give you that but they also get a little more info later in the story. Play some more because the cast actually do grow more the further you're in the game.

I really don't like that "it gets better 20 hours in" logic. It was the same thing people said about FF13 getting more open halfway through the game. It still doesn't change the fact the first half was a hallway. Look at Berseria, Velvet had actual motives and reasons for what she did within the first 2 hours. She had a goal, she worked towards that goal, and changed plans when things didn't work out. Alphen and Shionne on the other hand have a vague goal of "kill bad guys, save world" and set out to accomplish that goal by the master strategy of "stab until dead". And it stays that way for at least the first quarter of the game. The cast of Berseria all had their own motivations for following the group. Every new member for at least as far as I've gotten basically joins the group to follow the exact footsteps of Alphen (save world, kill bad guys)

Best comparison I can think of is Cloud from FF13 to Alphen. Basically a mindset of "I'm going to save everyone" And the answer to how is basically fight with no real plan other than once everything stops moving, the world will suddenly be better.

[Xen0christ]

It's funny you say that because I thought Berseria was an absolute pile of ♥♥♥♥. Especially the characters. Game was way too damn edgy and cliche with horrendous writing.

Initially felt Shionne was a cliche ♥♥♥♥ but I love her now.

[Xen0christ]

The characters have a ton of depth and bond with one another in Arise. Bonds aren't instant, gotta be built.

[PhantomMaster18]

I respectfully disagree. Shionne is probably the character that is furthest from 1-dimensinonal in my opinion.

Shionne is a girl who is cursed to hurt anyone who touches her, and hates everything about her curse. She is a girl who is dead set on killing all the lords, and wants to do so as quickly as possible, even if it means teaming up with a Dahnan. Despite this, we also see the side of her that is a glutton for food, and is also willing to heal others under the pretense of "they'll benefit me further down the line". Mind you, this is all within the prologue of the game, which is about 2-3 hours from what I remember (Might be less for some depending on how quickly you move through I was taking my time).

The rest of the party does more or less join under the same goal, but I personally don't see it as a bad thing. They did at least introduce some background to each character, however it feels rushed in some cases. It's a big mismatch of people that steadily bond of the course of the game, and I enjoyed it.

Although I will agree that all the lords (minus Dohalim) are incredibly bland. Ballseph is a ballsack meme , Ganabelt was slightly interesting with his manipulation, Dohalim is just Lord to try and forget his past, Almeidrea is a monster/generic mad scientist, and Vohlran... don't even get me started on him.

[Mograx]

Originally posted by Fear_TH3_Reap3R:

None of the party has any connection with each other either.

Most of your post is your subjective opinion, some I agree with some I disagree with, but this statement here is just objectively, empirically false. Unless you meant to say you didn't feel like their connection was genuine? But then I assume you would've just typed that.

It's more like the group of 6 is 3 groups of 2, at least at a foundational level. Each pair plays off each other frequently, and adds depth to their characters that's more than the sum of their parts. Dohalim and Kisara's connection I found particularly endearing. Alphen, being the protag, has a bit more interactions and connections outside Shionne.

Additionally, Rinwell seems to have her own unique, developing relationship with everyone, not just Law. Her authentic development toward Shionne and Dohalim are especially connected not to just their relationship, but the central theme of the game as a whole.

If you've paid even somewhat attention to the character's relationships, there's quite literally no way you can conclude the character has no connection with each other.

[The Tempted Man]

It seems OP simply doesn't have enough ability to look from the perspective of a said character in regards to the reality they live in and lore.

[MRKING2030]

Gotta disagree with you there buddy and I don't even have to explain why as everyone else has explained why your wrong in very detailed manners but hey, if that's the way you think then I won't disturb you any longer.

[Naijiro]

i love opinions and discussions honestly I do, one person's "BEST STORY EVER!" could be another person's "Meh..terrible story" and vice versa.

[Starwolf]

Yep, the characters are incredibly underdeveloped.

Its a shame really.

[Pigeon_Senpai]

Tales stories usually get dumber as they go on so this isn't anything new.

[war624]

Originally posted by Fear_TH3_Reap3R:

Originally posted by Shiki Yui:

TBH Shion feels like a better tsundere than most considering her background. The villains are evil I'll give you that but they also get a little more info later in the story. Play some more because the cast actually do grow more the further you're in the game.

I really don't like that "it gets better 20 hours in" logic. It was the same thing people said about FF13 getting more open halfway through the game. It still doesn't change the fact the first half was a hallway. Look at Berseria, Velvet had actual motives and reasons for what she did within the first 2 hours. She had a goal, she worked towards that goal, and changed plans when things didn't work out. Alphen and Shionne on the other hand have a vague goal of "kill bad guys, save world" and set out to accomplish that goal by the master strategy of "stab until dead". And it stays that way for at least the first quarter of the game. The cast of Berseria all had their own motivations for following the group. Every new member for at least as far as I've gotten basically joins the group to follow the exact footsteps of Alphen (save world, kill bad guys)

Best comparison I can think of is Cloud from FF13 to Alphen. Basically a mindset of "I'm going to save everyone" And the answer to how is basically fight with no real plan other than once everything stops moving, the world will suddenly be better.

Bad comparison. XIII didn't open up at all. It was artificial as hell, simply giving you a bigger area to run around and still do nothing. Nothing changed because of that.