Tales of Arise is out now worldwide on all platforms except Nintendo Switch, and you probably already know what this article will be about if you grabbed Bandai Namco’s latest JRPG yourself – the particularly intrusive DLC items ads.
Tales of Arise has several packs of DLCs on sale. Such as costumes and other cosmetic accessories, items including Gald (money) for an early game boost, etc. Nothing surprising there, we’ve been accustomed to paid DLCs like that for over a decade now for better or worse. From the Trails Series to Tales of, Japanese studios and games have been using DLC as a way to invite fans to support their favorite franchises. Swimsuit costumes, in particular, are pretty much a tradition in these cases.
However, what sets Tales of Arise apart and what’s bothering me and several players are the regular DLC ads the game displays.
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Tales of Arise could be a negative experience for newcomers due to its DLC
Right after booting up, the bottom of the title menu has a scrolling ad for the DLC items. What’s worse though, is that the same DLC ad is also displayed whenever you camp in-game, alongside an option to buy these DLCs. Easily tempted players could be pushed into buying these items.
This is especially alarming as Tales of Arise is purposefully geared towards newcomers. People who might not be accustomed to the series or even to JRPGs in general. Some players might be incited to just swipe instead of farming for a bit.
Tales of Arise has several difficulty levels, including one that pretty much makes battles trivial for those who simply want to enjoy the story. However, the majority of players will play in the default Normal difficulty. which is actually pretty hard especially in the first hours of the game. When you’re very limited resources-wise.
Cure Point system and immersion issues
This is coupled with the Cure Points system which might give you a hard time. Many players for example won’t realize it’s much more efficient to deactivate Shionne’s Resurrection Artes and simply buy Life Bottles. Cure Points restoring items like the traditional Orange Gels are incredibly expensive in this game too, and can only be bought after around ten hours of gameplay.
Last but not least, this is a much more minor issue, but the immersion-breaking side of it all is also worth mentioning. It’s weird to have a DLC ad in your face as the characters are bonding with each other while camping.
Arise has a pretty good story, nice characters, a fun battle system, endgame content, and even a top-notch localization. With some of the best Japanese game translators out there behind it. All my friends are agreeing it’s the first top-notch Tales of game since Graces, surpassing Xillia, Zestiria and Berseria by far. It’s a real shame Tales of Arise has that one DLC ad thing dragging it down. I personally hope it will be removed in a future update. I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’m seeing a JRPG do this with its DLC too, and hope this isn’t the next norm.
What do you guys think? You can always tell me on Twitter @A_iyane07. Tales of Arise is the first console game of the series in five years and has been pretty well received on social media so far. Twitter isn’t an accurate reflection of reality, but I’ve seen a lot of tweets praising the game. In Japanese, French, and English. We’ll have the first sales numbers, at least for Japan, next week. Depending on how the game goes, we might get some new remasters or remakes soon.
The post Why Tales of Arise Fans are Unhappy With the JRPG’s DLC System by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.