Hmm. This is a better "Tales" game than Tales of Arise. (Demo feedback)

[StackzGaming]

I need to see more, as in towns, story, etc. But of what I saw...I was fairly impressed at what they've done here and the world they're trying to build.

This is what Tales of Arise should have been, minus the corridors. IF there was more openness to the world, it would have been something special.

And in terms of general attractiveness and characters, it's what "Tales of Aionios" should have been. It's just a visually beautiful game and hopefully there's a lot more to it - towns, etc. - than just fighting. Because if there's a lot more to this, it might be a sleeper hit. And I say that as someone who's never seen the anime or played any of the fighting games.

The PC version should have gotten the demo. It was a great way to introduce people to what the game is about. I understand why they didn't - they were concerned about people hacking the game (which has happened before). But hopefully the goodies you get for beating the demo scenarios are made available at some point to all players (don't know what they are).

[Label07]

Hacking a single player/co-op is much less egregious than a MP vs game. "Hacking" (cheating) will always happen on any platform more so on platforms that it is easier on (PC unfortunately) is the main platform for that.

That's not the reason the demo is not on PC though. Again Sony has screwed us and paid to for exclusivity of the demo. Just be happy it's not an exclusivity deal like what they keep doing with the FF remakes where PC is locked out for 1 year+...

[Pozhinateli]

Tales of Arise is the only Tales game i turned off after 2h of gameplay and never returned to play. ToA is worst Tales game so far.

[Unrealtairo]

I have to agree sadly, and that was with all the DLC in ToA lol.

2 hours is about where I stopped also, funny thing is..... I got & played all the tales of games before ToA just fine, at their release date. So saying this is better than arise isn't saying much lol.

Sure it's better than ToA, in that I actually finished the demo (But I got bored at the end of the demo honestly)

[Village Idiot]

Arise had a good battle system with the exception of the boss battles due to hyper armor.

[badboyec24]

The only gripe I have with Tales of Arise is you fall below your enemies levels fast without spending money on levels. But I have enjoyed the story of what I have played and I've put 6 hours into the game which is a lot for me considering how often I game and juggling through so many different titles instead of focusing on just one.

After Tekken 8, which fighting games I have no problems getting through a story campaign in a reasonable time, I might actually focus on playing this title more than playing other games because this looks like a refreshing game compared to what I usually play. And the fact that I'm going most of this year without purchasing games could help me focus on one game instead of being distracted by another game that I purchase.

And yes I'll probably think this is better game than ToA based on the gripe I pointed out in the first sentence of this post.

[awanderingswordsman]

I don't recall ending up underleveled in ToA but it has been a while. Wondering if you skipped fights/quests or I just am remembering wrong (very possible).

[Legendary Mr. Tiddles]

Originally posted by awanderingswordsman:

I don't recall ending up underleveled in ToA but it has been a while. Wondering if you skipped fights/quests or I just am remembering wrong (very possible).

It is an RPG. Whether you are under- or overleveled depends entirely on your self-control.

[aristateles]

I played ToA for 73 hours all the way through but I have more fun in Relink demo lol.

[Toyosatomimi no Miko]

Originally posted by awanderingswordsman:

I don't recall ending up underleveled in ToA but it has been a while. Wondering if you skipped fights/quests or I just am remembering wrong (very possible).

You're remembering wrong. The game intentionally handicaps your XP so you'll always be below level of the bosses and tougher enemies in current zones unless you spend HOURS grinding. With your XP gain getting turned down exponentially the more you are above the unlisted "intended level" for an area. Combine this with annoying bosses, AI being unable to play half the cast without being a massive resource drain, the very damage heavy and dodge-focused combat resulting in very RNG-heavy runs because the AI is stupider than past games and gets hit more, AND the AI dodges less against boss-tier enemies even if they're reused as normal enemies. It creates a frustrating experience and there are several bosses designed as RNG walls to try and get you to buy the level-up DLCs.

[Aphelium]

Originally posted by Toyosatomimi no Miko:

Originally posted by awanderingswordsman:

I don't recall ending up underleveled in ToA but it has been a while. Wondering if you skipped fights/quests or I just am remembering wrong (very possible).

You're remembering wrong. The game intentionally handicaps your XP so you'll always be below level of the bosses and tougher enemies in current zones unless you spend HOURS grinding. With your XP gain getting turned down exponentially the more you are above the unlisted "intended level" for an area. Combine this with annoying bosses, AI being unable to play half the cast without being a massive resource drain, the very damage heavy and dodge-focused combat resulting in very RNG-heavy runs because the AI is stupider than past games and gets hit more, AND the AI dodges less against boss-tier enemies even if they're reused as normal enemies. It creates a frustrating experience and there are several bosses designed as RNG walls to try and get you to buy the level-up DLCs.

I just fought all the enemies in my path from one main scenario to the other, did the secondary quests, and I was never underleveled or underpowered against the bosses, and the DLC bonuses stayed unused for the whole duration of the run. But ok.

This seems more like a rant against "the already well known before arise DLC and microntransaction hell that tales of games are" than anything, if I'm honest.

[vaanomega]

Originally posted by aristateles:

I played ToA for 73 hours all the way through but I have more fun in Relink demo lol.

Relink seems promising, hope i will have as much fun as you did

[Gamrage]

Honestly, this isn't saying much. I'm a hardcore "Tales" fan but Tales of Arise was terribly written and the gameplay had potential but was altogether lackluster. Bosses were too spongy and felt more like stat checks rather than skill based challenges. Also, I don't particularly care for open worlds in games if they're just glorified walking simulators. There has to be content within the world.

[vaanomega]

Originally posted by Gamrage:

Honestly, this isn't saying much. I'm a hardcore "Tales" fan but Tales of Arise was terribly written and the gameplay had potential but was altogether lackluster. Bosses were too spongy and felt more like stat checks rather than skill based challenges. Also, I don't particularly care for open worlds in games if they're just glorified walking simulators. There has to be content within the world.

Arise gameplay was a little bit fun, but less then older Tales of, to me that means Relink could be a decent game

[StackzGaming]

Originally posted by Pozhinateli:

Tales of Arise is the only Tales game i turned off after 2h of gameplay and never returned to play. ToA is worst Tales game so far.

Lucky you. You didn't get to see the worst of it.

[Furia]

Originally posted by Pozhinateli:

Tales of Arise is the only Tales game i turned off after 2h of gameplay and never returned to play. ToA is worst Tales game so far.

yea... everything about ToA is bland, good thing I didn't pay full price.