Tales of Arise remains, in my opinion, the best game in the series by a fair margin. It features glorious visuals, some really solid voice acting, and combat that feels fantastic. The story it tells is interesting and the cast of characters you get to meet and control is excellent too. It’s just a really good action RPG, and if you’re alright with some of the very blatant exposition and the anime-infused feel to it all, you’re going to have a good time playing it.
So it’s very good news that it’s now hopped on to the Nintendo Switch 2 in the form of the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn Edition, which bundles in the somewhat divisive DLC, but has the most important aspect that you can now take it with you into the wilds. Actually, it already played pretty well on Steam Deck, so that’s not exactly new, but it is new for the much bigger audience that’s amassing on Switch 2.
Now, you might not actually want to take this outside with you – I mean, we’re right in the middle of a god-forsaken UK heatwave, so it’s both far too hot and far too bright outdoors, and the first boss is a fire boss – but you can just curl up on the sofa instead. It’s somewhat fitting that the first area in Tales of Arise has the fire boss at the end of it, so at least I got to feel immersed as I checked it all out.
The main point of all this is to tell you how it runs on Switch 2 and, to cut to the chase, it runs really well. It looks amazing, and it feels very smooth to play. It almost feels like the right place for it too, as I’m sure I’m not alone in the Tales series being GameCube-coded in my head. It’s just one of those things that feels like it belongs alongside Skies of Arcadia and Baten Kaitos.
If you’ve been holding out to play this game, and a handheld version was the one that you really wanted, then you’re going to love it. You get all of the melodrama, all of the edginess, and all of the classic amnesiac protagonist in the palm of your hands, and it looks positively resplendent on a big TV screen too. The magic of switching between the two still brings a big smile to my inner child, and lord knows he needs it.
There’s still an absurd amount to do in this game as well. Alongside each character feeling different to play as, you’ve got so very many side quests, a big old main quest, and the DLC to get through as well. That’s to say nothing of the challenge bosses dotted around the world, nor of the various difficulties you can try if you want to as well.
You also get some goodies for buying this version, including some weapons to help you breeze through the slower-paced early sections, a few outfits, and an unreasonably large amount of fishing kit too. Seriously, you’d think it was the main part of the game if you didn’t know any better. This is a really good port of an incredibly enjoyable action RPG, and it really does feel at home on Switch 2, so if you fancy it, then treat yourself, because you deserve it. You also deserve ice cream.
