Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, a great JRPG arrives on Switch 2!

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, the plot of the JRPG coming to Switch 2!

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition brings the latest installment of Bandai Namco's action JRPG saga to Nintendo Switch 2, and if you're curious to find out if Alphen and Shionne's adventures are as good as they were in 2021, you just have to stay on these pages to read our review. Tales of Arise arrived on PC and new and old generation consoles in September 2021, showcasing many qualities that won over both audiences and critics. Using JRPG gameplay with real-time combat, as is traditional for the saga, Tales of Arise takes us to a universe where two worlds clash: Dahna and Rena. Rena, thanks to incredible military and technological supremacy, has taken possession of Dahna for over 300 years and enslaved its inhabitants. The Dahnans work in extreme conditions to extract astral energy, which the Renan elite use to compete in a battle that will determine which of their five lords will hold absolute power for ten years. From this context, the adventures of our two main heroes, Alphen and Shionne, begin. Alphen is a slave who has completely lost his memory and, for some mysterious reason, feels no pain whatsoever. Shionne, on the other hand, is a Renan afflicted by a curse that causes anyone who touches her to experience intense pain. After the beginning of our story, the destinies of Alphen and Shionne will intertwine, also because, despite belonging to two totally different races, they find themselves in a situation where they are perfectly complementary to each other.

Alphen and Shionne, in addition to having matching physical characteristics, become part of the Dahnan resistance against Renan oppression and will embark on an adventure that will lead them to challenge the dangerous five lords, also thanks to the power of the blazing sword. This incredible weapon is guarded within Shionne, and only Alphen can wield it, precisely because of his peculiarity of not feeling any pain, including the terrible burns inflicted by holding it. A story begins that will see our heroes embark on a journey to defeat the five Renan lords and will lead them to experience a very particular relationship, where racial and caste differences become a protagonist without physical form, but of focal importance. Although the travel companions they will meet will be somewhat stereotypical according to the canons of Japanese productions, the plot offers very interesting narrative insights and manages to maintain a good pace, although, in the long run, there are also moments of stagnation. Furthermore, as the name suggests, Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition offers the original game plus the expansion that serves as an epilogue to the story at a launch price of 49.99 euros, providing a gaming experience that, overall, can easily exceed 100 hours.

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, gameplay and combat system

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, gameplay and combat system

The gameplay follows the classic Tales Of style, with free exploration of more or less vast areas and real-time combat. Enemies are clearly visible on screen, and once we touch them, the battle begins. The clash takes place within a confined area that we can consider an arena, and we can use one character at a time from our active party, consisting of a maximum of four protagonists, plus two on the bench. We can switch from one character to another, while the rest will be moved by good artificial intelligence that will follow our instructions, thanks to the possibility of giving general orders to our companions. The combat system of Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition is based on the use of simple attacks and arts, with the latter being assigned to specific controller buttons and used only if we have the right number of particular action points available. These recharge over time or with the use of dodges and other abilities, and the stronger the arts used, the more we will expend. Arts can be chained into a combo system, which is why it's worth taking some time to study the possible combinations and try to understand how much advantage the skills we unlock over time can bring. In addition to this, there are also Boost attacks, to be used as support, Boost Strikes, which combine the strength of two characters, and Mystic Arts, true devastating blows that unleash the full power of a single character. In short, the combat system of Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition is varied and fun, and as you travel the world, you will always find an opponent ready to challenge you.

The combat system proves, once again, to be extremely satisfying and pushes the player to seek various strategies to maximize inflicted damage, without forgetting that each playable character has their own peculiar style that could prove useful for a given enemy. Not for nothing, there is a great variety of adversaries, mainly Zeugles, which are monsters of various forms that appeared with the arrival of the Renans and infest practically the entire world of Dahna. Similar to animals or insects, sometimes elemental beings and other times grotesque armored creatures, Zeugles can be simple cannon fodder or extremely difficult obstacles to overcome, so much so that we will encounter several of them scattered across the game map that represent true mini-bosses to challenge only when you are truly confident in your abilities. These optional monsters are among the most intriguing challenges in the game, and don't worry if some of them seem unbeatable: you can always go back once you've gained enough experience or, perhaps, after studying the best way to utilize your party.

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, the technical aspect

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition, the technical aspect

In short, Tales of Arise was already an excellent title, and its Beyond The Dawn expansion was a more than worthy sequel to the main plot, which is why this edition brings with it a large number of merits, but we cannot refrain from talking about the problems related to the graphics. Although the artistic direction is always of a high level (see the cutscenes) and we will often stop to admire views and landscapes, from the point of view of performance, we are a bit disappointed. The resolution is 1080p, and despite this, the frame rate stops at 30 FPS (with some stuttering). The visual depth is lower than what was seen in previous versions, and there is some texture pop-up. The situation improves in portable mode, but the downgrade, while not extreme, is clearly visible to those who have already played Tales of Arise, which, in this edition, also loses the option to choose between the now classic "graphics" and "performance" modes. Let's say that the Nintendo console has shown us better, and Bandai Namco's work remains decent but leaves some regrets. The sound compartment remains sumptuous, with memorable tracks and excellent English and Japanese voice acting, with the latter option highly recommended, given the "anime" atmosphere that permeates the entire work. Furthermore, once again, Tales of Arise has all texts in Italian, a nice confirmation for local gamers. 

Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition is a commendable operation that expands the Switch 2 catalog and enriches it with a quality JRPG that will surely appeal to genre lovers who have not yet had the chance to play it. There remains the regret of a graphical rendering that is certainly not deficient, but a bit disappointing. Other titles have shown that the Nintendo console can deliver more than what is seen in this project, but this does not detract from the overall positive result. Absolutely a must-buy if you haven't played it yet and if you want to take it with you everywhere, leveraging the peculiarities of Switch 2, but if you have a good PC, a PlayStation 5, or an Xbox Series X, these remain the platforms where Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition performs best. If, on the other hand, you are loyal to Nintendo and only own their consoles and love JRPGs, the purchase is almost mandatory. Tales of Arise: Beyond The Dawn Edition awaits you to offer an exciting experience that represents one of the peaks of the Tales Of saga. The group of heroes fighting alongside Alphen and Shionne is looking for new heroes!