Tales of Arise: Ultimate Edition

Tales of Arise is the kind of JRPG that starts with a premise you've seen before - oppressed people, mysterious masked hero, a world split between colonizers and the colonized - and then actually commits to following that premise somewhere meaningful. You're looking at a 50-to-60-hour action RPG with a rotating party of six characters, each with their own combat style, personal history, and enough trauma to keep a therapist busy for years. The world of Dahna and its Renan overlords form a backdrop that Bandai Namco's team uses for genuine political commentary, at least in the first half. If you care about worldbuilding that asks uncomfortable questions rather than just dressing up a fetch-quest structure, Arise earns your attention early. The combat system is one of the strongest in the modern Tales lineage. You control one character at a time while the AI handles your party, and fights revolve around chaining Artes (special moves assigned to shortcut buttons), managing a Boost Gauge, and landing Boost Strikes - flashy joint attacks triggered when a downed enemy is vulnerable. Each character fights completely differently: Alphen is a straightforward damage dealer who burns his own HP to use his flaming sword, while Shionne plays a ranged healer-attacker hybrid, and Law brings relentless martial-arts aggression. Swapping your active fighter mid-build is viable, and putting together a party composition that covers elemental weaknesses while enabling consistent Boost Strike chains is genuinely satisfying past the 40-hour mark. This is not a system that runs out of things to teach you. Where Arise stumbles is the classic JRPG trap of confusing length with depth. The second half of the story loses some of the sharp political edge from the opening hours and pivots toward a more conventional save-the-world arc. Certain dungeon sections overstay their welcome, and a handful of side quests are pure padding - kill ten of this, gather five of that - with minimal narrative reward. The writing for the main cast, particularly the central relationship between Alphen and Shionne, is genuinely touching and well-paced. But the supporting characters can feel underserved in the back half, which is a shame given how strong their introductions are. The Kisara and Dohalim storylines in particular deserved more room to breathe. The Ultimate Edition bundles the base game with the Collaboration Costume Pack, Premium Costume Pack, and several additional item and gear packs, totaling 18 extra costumes on top of the originals. If you care about dressing your party in crossover outfits or want a head start on consumables, this version covers all of it. The costumes are cosmetic and the item packs are convenience rather than necessity, so the gameplay experience is identical to the base release - this is purely a completionist or cosmetic-focused upgrade. The PC version runs well, with solid controller support and enough graphical options to push the painterly art style to its full potential on higher-end hardware. For JRPG fans who want an entry point into the Tales series, Arise is the cleanest starting point in years. The story respects your intelligence in its first act, the combat rewards experimentation and tight mechanical play, and the art direction is consistently striking. It's not the most narratively daring RPG you'll ever finish, and the padding in the late game is real. But the highs - the Alphen and Shionne dynamic, a handful of genuinely affecting story beats, and the satisfaction of executing a perfectly timed party combo - make it worth the runtime. Monika, Scout Team