• Tales of Arise

    is the latest iteration of a 25-year-old Japanese role-playing game series with ten episodes.

  • From a typical heroic fantasy story, the game develops a universe rich in twists, characters and even reflections on the world.

  • With its graphics between watercolors and japanime, the title impresses on next gen consoles.

From

Final Fantasy

to

Dragon Quest

via

Fire Emblem

or

Secret of Mana

, the Japanese role-playing game, or J-RPG, is enjoying real success in the world in general, and in France in particular. Its specificity, and the distinction with the Western role-playing game, is due to “a more linear story, more developed characters, explained Raphaël Lucas, author of

The History of the RPG: Past, Present and Future

(Pix'n Love), at the release of

Final Fantasy XV

. But today, it is above all the aesthetics and the tone of the story that really make the difference ”.

Perhaps less well-known but with a dozen iterations, the

Tales

franchise

perfectly meets this definition.

The last episode,

Tales of Arise

, was due out in 2020 for the 25th anniversary of the series, but has been postponed because of the Covid and arrives in early September to better take advantage of the next gen.

A universe rich in fights and characters

For 300 years, the celestial planet Dhana has lived under the yoke of her twin sister Rena, who enslaved its population and plundered its natural resources. Alphen, an amnesiac warrior in an iron mask, and Shionne, a young runaway with strange powers, will lead the revolt and change the fate of both worlds. If the pitch of

Tales of Arise

is a classic, even a cliché, of

heroic fantasy

, the story gradually reveals a real wealth of characters, intrigues, as well as emotions and thoughts. The player is thus invited as much to dream of elsewhere as to question his world.

Tales of Arise

has made a name for itself thanks to its dynamic and spectacular fights - and combos - (who said messy?). However, he is not afraid to chain the cutscenes and dialogues for more immersion in the universe and empathy for the characters.

Persona

fans will

appreciate. The others will have to take their troubles a little patiently, or will be able to enjoy the graphics that do justice to the next gen, thanks to the “atmospheric shader” technology and its japanime rendering.

Morn

s

remake of Final Fantasy VII on the end of life and PS4 while new

FF XVI, XII and Dragon Quest

Persona 6

are announced but not before a few years,

tales of Arise

emerged as the must-J-RPG the next gen.

With a million copies sold in a week worldwide, it is already the best-selling game in the series.

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