Game feels boring and tedious

[Sandy]

Are all jrpgs like that and the genre just isn't for me?

So many things I don't like about this game.

1) Same mobs on every corner. Game has many copy pasted mobs all over the game.
And a weird thing that when you engage in a fight it transports you to some separate map.
Feels very out of touch.
Also you can just pass by them sometimes. Feels super weird. Like are they blind or something?

2) So many boring side quests. I hate this so much about games. And prefer for games not to have side quests at all.

3) Many dialogues don't even have a proper audio. Characters say "hmph" or "that's right" when there's half a page of dialogue in the text bubble.

4) Why the ai of my teammates so lackluster? Shionne stands in one place sometimes while the enemies jump on her and oneshot her.

5) Main character feels too corny. Like he is a super typical stereotype of a hero. Too bland.

6) The whole plot is too corny. Especially the fire villain. Even Boruto has more layers to the characters and more interesting plot. And Boruto sucks.

It's like I can't relate to any character and feel any interest in the story. And on top of that I need to do boring quests, engage in boring fights with copy pasted mobs all over the place and etc.

[Xengre]

1) Depends on the game. This is common in JRPGs and non-JRPGs of every genre, but there are those with more variety out there it just isn't as common, sadly.

2) You could play something like Grandia or just focus on the main story, but then you may or may not like other aspects so this is harder to say. You might be better off going for a JRPG like Final Fantasy (10 and earlier).

3) If lack of voiced dialogue bothers you then almost all of the most well received classic JRPGs are off the table. Many don't feature any voice acting or only partial as JRPGs tend to have far more dialogue than most games so it would typically be seen as unreasonable to voice act it all.

4) Try rebooting your PC and see if it helps the AI because Shionne is notorious for being the least likely to die of all the AI. Exception, her AI does seem to have issues when she runs completely out of CP (probably a bug based on her AI logic, but keeping her with 40 CP and more is non-issue, especially the more you progress). For Rinwell disable her melee ranged abilities and it helps her focus on her ranged casting benefits and survive better. The rest is varies (Kisara needs skills/accessories due to her lack of a dodge mechanic), Dohalim needs flashy staff moved disabled or to be set to be purely a caster, Law is hit or miss but if it is only one character Shionne is babysitting then it isn't so bad and his dmg output makes it worth it. As for being 1-shot... a bit of an exaggeration. Even on hard you wont be seeing people get 1-shot aside from tackling post game or especially high level side content way earlier than intended (like you at level 35 vs level 70 enemies), or using a special mask that is +100% dmg dealt and received. As for bosses you can equip the appropriate accessory to reduce their elemental dmg by 50% making them far less dangerous.

5) Main character is basically a blank slate as he lost his memories, has seen his fellow people enslaved, and wants to fight back for what is right. Zephyr's impact on him, who is very justice prone, further influences this trait but Zephyr also tells Alphen how he has to think for himself as even Zephyr was rubbing off on the blank slate too much and it wasn't good for Alphen's mindset. Cliche character archetypes are common in all types of media, but JRPGs they can at times be a bit more prominent. If you don't enjoy Alphen's character a lot, then you might as his character develops or at least you might find enough enjoyment for other party members as you play to make up for it.

6) You shouldn't really comment about a plot, that hasn't even really opened up to the real plot yet, when you are 2% into the game. The plot actually has several layers and reveals. It isn't the best plot ever, but it is decent, though apparently a lot of details slip way past many of the players so maybe it is a bit too complex for them... If you want one with real complexity/depth, though, I recommend Final Fantasy VIII, or even Final Fantasy IX. Xenosaga and Xenogears are other good ones. As for the fire realm lord, yup he is basically mostly brawn, or at least we see him as such. We find out later on there was more to him then that but because of our short time with him and just the front he puts up we did not get to see more to him. You will see more of some of the other realm lords, unlike this one.

[The Tempted Man]

1. It's normal for this series, since Zestiria. It's a budget series, so recolors are common occurence.

2. It's not different htan any other RPG game in this regard. Go fetch/go kill quest is a standard.

3. Voice acting is very expensive. I don't need to explain more I believe.

4. You can always set the AI to your liking in the menu.

5. Also normal for JRPGS.

6. The plot is complex in areas it tries to be, like character development but not everyone interprets this in the same way, as people have different degrees of intellect and not everyone sees the same thing despite having the same eyes.

Overall, it's a regular game these days, nothing spectacular but not particularly bad either.

[Simon]

From a game dev perspective, it is much easier to create the combat system by transitioning it into a battle field without needing to worry about the uneven field terrain blocking your attacks. Tales is an RPG series that mimics fighting game style combat, but much simplified, so it is its unique identity.

[Sandy]

Well, it seems the game just isn't for me. Forcing myself to have fun instead of actually having it.
Too many things that break immersion for me. And I care a lot for that. Game tries to make an illusion like it's a long game by adding tedious side quests (that don't even have a proper audio) and copy pasted mobs all over the place. Which is lazy to me. And actually makes the world dull (oh the irony).
While I don't care for any of the characters at all.

[tdkirb]

Your loss really. Game is actually a ton of fun if you really get into it.

[Simon]

Understandable. But I just want to say the characters are the charm of Tales series, so not caring about them makes you losing out on the main focus of the series.

It is an anime style game afterall, so immersion is not really their main focus. But I have to agree that the enemy variety in this game are too little compared to other Tales games.

But yeah, this game probably isn't for you if you are having other expectations. The game is still a Japanese RPG genre, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, because it is quite different than Western RPG.

[Tiasmoon]

Originally posted by SandVision:

Are all jrpgs like that and the genre just isn't for me?

So many things I don't like about this game.

1) Same mobs on every corner. Game has many copy pasted mobs all over the game.
And a weird thing that when you engage in a fight it transports you to some separate map.
Feels very out of touch.
Also you can just pass by them sometimes. Feels super weird. Like are they blind or something?

What genre of game are you comparing it to? An action ''souls like'' game such as Sekiro has a pretty similar amount of monsters. A shooter as well.

Ofcourse, these are both generalising statements. There's shooters or action games with a large amount of variety in monsters too, and the same holds true for jrpgs.

As for passing them by: they have a hitbox for activating combat and they dont instantly react to movement near them. Depending on how fast and accurate you move (and how much room there is) you could move past them before they can react and chase you into combat.

Originally posted by SandVision:

2) So many boring side quests. I hate this so much about games. And prefer for games not to have side quests at all.

Sidequests are very underwhelming in this game. Atleast in the first part. While nothing to write home about in second part either, they do become atleast somewhat relevant for the characters related to them.

I dont know what you mean with ''many side quests'' tho. There's not many quests in the first half of the game at all. Most rpgs have way more quests during their gameplay.

Originally posted by SandVision:

3) Many dialogues don't even have a proper audio. Characters say "hmph" or "that's right" when there's half a page of dialogue in the text bubble.

Yeah. That used to be a common issue with localization for japanese games, tho as far as I know that has become a lot less of an issue these days. However, in the case of this game the localization is below average for todays standards.

This is one game where if you can stand using Japanese voice, I really insist that you should use it. If you cant (or would understand nothing at all), then its a shame because your experience will likely be notably worse.

Originally posted by SandVision:

4) Why the ai of my teammates so lackluster? Shionne stands in one place sometimes while the enemies jump on her and oneshot her.

You have to change the AI tactic options so they become more useful. Unfortunately the game lacks an option to do that per invidual character so the end result ends up being more limited then it should be, if servicable.

You can also disable Artes you dont want the AI to use in the Artes menu. This is very important as you dont want casters to use melee Artes, or melee characters to use long animation attacks that leaves them open to attacks, but the problem is it does require you to learn which Artes are good for the AI and which arent.

Originally posted by SandVision:

5) Main character feels too corny. Like he is a super typical stereotype of a hero. Too bland.

That's a result of the EN voiceacting. In JP voiceacting the main character still has some of that, but he's a nuanced character on top of that.

One big issue with the EN, is that the voice direction directed the cast to get the usual ''over the top anime'' voiceacting, when in this game the characters are a lot more grounded. So characters will appear to be much more stereotypically anime and perhaps ''bland'' as a result, if you use EN voiceacting.

Originally posted by SandVision:

6) The whole plot is too corny. Especially the fire villain. Even Boruto has more layers to the characters and more interesting plot. And Boruto sucks.

Fire villain is the first villain in the game, and honestly pretty forgettable after you are done with that area. I agree that the obvious villains arent amazing and perhaps too anime, but they are not the point of the story.
You shouldnt see any invidual as the big villain in this story. Instead see the Renans (as a species) and their oppression of the Dahnans as the villains.

If you cant do that, you can realise that the plot isnt that ''corny''

Originally posted by SandVision:

It's like I can't relate to any character and feel any interest in the story. And on top of that I need to do boring quests, engage in boring fights with copy pasted mobs all over the place and etc.

That can happen with any story, no matter how great it or its characters are. You can also find yourself relating really well to a poorly told story, with weak characters.

That's down to your point of view and how you are experiencing the game/story. I've seen it be a somewhat common perspective to not relate to this game's characters or story, and that is mostly coming from jrpg fans. So I dont believe if you experienced that with this game, it also means you would feel the same with other jrpg games.




but for this game its imho, much worse if you are using EN voiceacting

[Tiasmoon]

Tho want to repeat that I dont understand the complaint about ''too many tedious sidequests'', when there's very few quests in this game and they are very easy to complete. Half of those few arent even available untill the last third of the game at that.

[Hodman]

Originally posted by SandVision:

Well, it seems the game just isn't for me. Forcing myself to have fun instead of actually having it.
Too many things that break immersion for me. And I care a lot for that. Game tries to make an illusion like it's a long game by adding tedious side quests (that don't even have a proper audio) and copy pasted mobs all over the place. Which is lazy to me. And actually makes the world dull (oh the irony).
While I don't care for any of the characters at all.

Even tho you are above refund requirements (time-wise) if you make a manual ticket you may get it still if the purchase has been made less than 2 weeks ago.

[bengl76]

100% agreed, Tales of Arise is one of the most mind-numbing games I've ever played. It's basically a movie that makes you click a few buttons every now and then.

But not all JRPGs are like that. I enjoyed Code Vein a lot. Much more to do there, exceptional build variety, very good enemy fights and bosses are good too. Difficulty is below soulslike but still engaging.