Review of the addition Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn

As I wrote in my review of the original 2021 game, Tales of Arise is one of the most beautiful JRPGs of recent years, with an excellent plot that includes elements of fantasy and science fiction, and a well-constructed fatal love story. a central couple, an excellent combat system, a nice group of characters and, on top of everything else, a well-designed interface. So I’ve been thoroughly enjoying returning to this excellent game over the last few days, and while the paid expansion Beyond the Dawn doesn’t add much news beyond a new story, the timeless qualities of the original game have once again shone through, despite the competition.

• Platform: PS5 (review version), PS4, X1, XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 09/11/2023
• Manufacturer: Bandai Namco Studios (Japan)
• Genre: Japanese role-playing game
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: No
• Download data: 45 GB (including required base game)
• Game time: 10+ hours
• Price: 740 CZK (pairs)

Child of two worlds

The story of this expansion takes place approximately a year after the end of the original game. The events that took place there meant that two completely different human civilizations now had to learn to live together across the planet. At first glance, this may seem a little like a fairy tale, but only until you understand that one of these two civilizations is essentially “immigrants” and their integration into society or the occupation of their own territory is not without problems. In this way, the hero Alfen and his group remain on the path to mitigating conflicts and providing assistance where needed. The situation is further complicated by the fact that after the unification of all four elements into a single world, the balance in nature is disrupted by mysterious mechanical “mausoleums” that try to suppress parts of the energy of the elements.

But the main character of the new story is not Alfen, nor Shionne, nor anyone else we already know. The main character is a young girl named Nazamil, who was freed from life imprisonment thanks to the events of the original game. Nazamil is unique in that she is the daughter of parents from both planets, allowing her to use all six elements in a way that no one else could before. However, her origins are also the reason why both civilizations reject her as an outcast and even organize a hunt for her with the intention of lynching her. Of course, our heroes come to the defense of the young girl and help her find a safe home. But, as happens in such cases, what can go wrong, will go wrong.

The main character is a girl named Nazamil, the daughter of parents from both planets.

I entered the addon completely “untainted” by marketing – I almost forgot about it in the autumn rush, so when the review code arrived, I just installed and started playing. I highly recommend you do the same if you can. Because the story works much, much better if you don’t know anything more about the plot than what’s written above. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do this if you watch the official trailers, which reveal almost the entire story, including absolutely important twists and revelations. If you manage to avoid them, you’ll probably be just as intrigued and fascinated by the mystery of Nazamil’s origins and abilities as I was – I kept thinking that it wouldn’t just happen, and I wanted to know for sure. what was behind all this and what will happen next. As for Alfen and Nazamil’s relationship, you can’t help but feel like it was inspired by Geralt and Ciri from The Witcher.

Still one of the best JRPGs.

If you only play the main story missions, you can easily complete the expansion in about ten hours. But if you’re interested, you’ll also find a number of side missions in it, including some that fascinatingly develop the future destinies of individual members of your party. In addition, you will be able to hunt new types of monsters, create new weapons, and so on. With all the secondary content, the expansion will easily cost you twenty to thirty hours of play, also depending on the difficulty setting. The expansion starts at a higher level, but that’s where your characters end up. Depending on what you played in the original game, you will receive bonus experience and money before the expansion begins.

If I had anything to criticize Beyond the Dawn for, it would probably be that it’s a bit too much of a rewrite. The vast majority of the game takes place in familiar settings, and maps, costumes, and weapons often look the same as in the original game. At first glance, it would be very difficult to distinguish the encore footage from the footage from the original game. Luckily, however, the completely unique visual style, reminiscent of something like a vibrant oil painting in the background and beautifully rendered, detailed anime characters in the foreground, still looks incredibly good and unique. Also, the combat system is still great (in my opinion, much better than this year’s FF16), and I also praised the flash, clear menus and the ability to flash save the game almost anywhere.